The beautiful Belgian tourist Hilde (Susana Taber) is enjoying a private cover, swimming and sunbathing when a snorkeler in the rubber wetsuit comes along. At first, she is pleased to see him—does she know him, perhaps? Then, the knife appears. Passing boater Zachary Kendall (Ricardo Vázquez) stops off to help, but the murderer has gutted poor Hilde like a fish and fled. Zachary can only stand by and gape at the woman and her towel, the latter of which features an image of a wide eyed fish that brings back tragic memories from his own childhood …
Meanwhile, Derek (Wal Davis) has arrived from England. He’s a hunky dude looking for a ride to the Kendall place. Along the way, he meets the lovely, free-spirited Mónica (Montserrat Prous) who invites him back to her place for some whisky and fun. When he wakes up with a terrible hangover, Derek discovers someone has been in the room, slashed the girl while he slept beside her. Terrified of police involvement—he knows he will be suspect numero uno—Derek flees, taking her car and racing out to the Kendall house. There, he reveals the crime to Zachary, his wife Virginia (Norma Kastel), and their student/friend Marina (Ada Tauler). They urge him to contact the police, since this is the second bloody crime to strike the area.
While the chief inspector (Barta Barri) has plenty of suspicions, he lets Derek continue to exist as a witness instead of a suspect. However, Derek knows it is only a matter of time before the noose cinches around his throat unless he can seek out the actual guilty party. However, there are numerous suspects, including lothario Marco (Rex Martín), the mysterious Marina and her Aquarium obsessed father Pedro (Victor Israel), a nurse (María Elena Arpón), and others. However, the killer will not be stopped. Driven by an obsession with a crazy fish sketch and the artwork it later resulted in, the knife will not stop chopping in Pedro L. Ramirez’s giallo, The Fish with the Eyes of Gold (1974).
The Italian giallo films from the 1960s and 1970s are known for both their animal themes as well as their ornate titles (one need look no further than 1972’s Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key or 1970’s The Bird With the Crystal Plumage). It was a fertile period of creation and creativity for the murder mystery, and the successes it saw would only find interested creators and copycat productions in other countries. Spain has their share of gialli, some co-produced with Italy or German and others made wholly by Spain producers. This picture is one of the latter.
La Pez con Ojos de Ara is a musical title. The English translation is less so, but it nevertheless carries that lovely Italian giallo one-two punch of wordiness and animal themes—however, if internet trivia is to be believed, Ramirez’s picture stakes a claim as the first giallo to include an aquatic animal in the title.
The mystery is the real star of this show. The suspects and investigators are lovely to look at, amazing to watch (more on that in a moment), and enjoyable, but the characters they play do not deviate too far from archetypes that international audiences will recognize. That said, the picture is still a mostly enjoyable affair from a filmmaker who had projects in just about every genre.
Pedro L. Ramirez is not a household name for cinephiles the way that Jess Franco is. His output remains largely unknown here in the States, but if The Fish with the Eyes of Gold is any indication, this needs to change. While the picture is not without its faults, it shows a good eye and head for assembling images and telling a visual story. It also shows a quirky affection for outrageousness and humor as well as a fair head for assembling a suspense scene.
That said, The Fish with the Eyes of Gold shows a limited sense for how to align music with mood, so a scene involving failing breaks and an out of control car is played to a jaunty pop tune instead of something either dramatic or sinister. And a lengthy chase scene in the final act is accompanied by only the splashing of feet in the waves, no music whatsoever, and the sequence is all the poorer for it.
Which brings us to the acting. Oh, the glorious line performances, especially the facial expressions people wear! My goodness, they are … interesting. Impassioned, terrified, sultry, sinister, surprised, suspicious, agonized, smoldering … The actors enjoy putting everything on their face and then ramping it up to eleven. Everything. So, all the emotions are bigger than big, huger than huge, and all right there for the audience to bask in. Some viewers will be turned off by such generosity, but I cannot help but be charmed. There’s something endearing about an entire cast who agreed to wear every emotion on their sleeves and let subtlety be damned.
Wal Davis may be the protagonist and therefore given the largest number of opportunities to show his talent for expressions, but this blond giant is more than a one trick pony. He’s also handsome, knows it, and leaves us to wonder if he will ever find a shirt to cover his manly pecs underneath the plethora of jackets he apparently brought on vacation with him.
Norma Kastel is a treat as the wife who’s hiding secrets, and Ricardo Vásquez is enjoyable as hell as the man who witnessed a crime and might have more information than even he knows about subsequent killings. Barta Barri is given the thankless task of being the investigator, the voice of reason in an world given over (temporarily) to irrational crimes, but even he takes his role over the top as well …
And it’s hard not to love Victor Israel’s Pedro glaring at his child in her too short skirts and skimpy bikinis before shrieking for her to help him. “Marina! It’s time to feed the fish!” he says as though such words convey a deeper, eerie meaning … And since he’s the head of the local aquarium, is it any wonder he named his daughter Marina?
There are a lot of hits along with the occasional misses here. Plenty of highs to compensate for the lows.
The Spanish Blood Bath Blu-ray set has not been terribly impressive watching for me. This film was one I came to last because I was unfamiliar with the director (unlike Franco and Grau, who had both made pictures I enjoyed), and it turned out to be the best of the three offerings. It’s not a great watch, often slower than it needs to be, especially during a chase scene in the final third that is neither half as suspenseful nor visually interesting as it thinks it is. However, the picture nevertheless starts off with a bang and keeps the mystery/suspense plot rolling along at a nice clip.
For The Fish with the Eyes of Gold, Vinegar Syndrome’s release includes a terrific transfer and good sound. The features are slim, taking the form of only an interview with and recommendations for additional Spanish giallo pictures from Sitges Film Festival director Ángel Sala. The former revolves around this filmmaker and his pictures, which is quite interesting for film history buffs who might not have access to such detail.
While The Fish with the Eyes of Gold might not draw large numbers of new eyes to Spanish exploitation films of the 1970s (that don’t feature Paul Naschy!), the broad filmography of Pedro L. Ramirez, or to Spanish giallo pictures in general, it’s nevertheless an intriguing blend of suspense, shock, logical mystery, and some outrageously cool acting choices. There’s a cult audience that doesn’t even realize that this film is out there waiting for them to discover it. But when they do, it will be heaven.
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The Fish with the Eyes of Gold is available in standalone DVD and VOD editions. The best way to see it, however, is via the Vinegary Syndrome Spanish Blood Bath Blu-ray set. For me, it is the highlight of that set and worth seeking out.
Writing for “Marina! It Is Time to Feed the Fish: The Fish with the Eyes of Gold (1974)” is copyright © 2024 by Daniel R. Robichaud.
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