MARÍA ELENA APRÓN SLASHING 'THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD'

María Elena Arpón in The Fish With The Eyes Of Gold/ El pez de los ojos de oro Year: 1974 Rates: ***1/2

The primary cover art for Pedro L. Ramírez's Spanish Giallo THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD is a composite of two actresses, one killed in the opening, the other towards the conclusion: both by an unseen/unknown man with very large knife, and right on the beach... as he has an obsession with those titular fish...

The gorgeous round face with full lips belong to Spanish Scream Queen María Elena Arpón, the scene-stealing vampire girl from TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD, making her final acting appearance here... and the hair-length/color's for longer-faced Susana Taber, violently kickstarting what's both Thriller and Mystery while using one of the most popular universal Neo-Noir tropes...

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

And our token falsely-accused Wrong Man... initially hitchhiking through a 1970's-colorful Spanish resort/museum town... is handsomely nomadic Englishman Wal Davis, whose long blond hair and muscular build makes him nearly as pretty as the women...

More suspect than the comparably average scientific-leaning older men (with one womanizing/red-herring exception) since he's always around when sexy ingenues are murdered, including THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF star Montserrat Prous... all the while remaining contentedly protective of vulnerable leading-lady Ada Tauler...

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

As EYES OF GOLD works much better as a proto-slasher b-movie than the intended whodunnit, mostly since the primary culprit is fairly obvious through his quirky and enigmatic behavior... ultimately spoiled by María Elena Arpón's slow-motion running-through-the-sand murder...

Which is technically hindered by hard-to-see/day-for-night lighting while underlined by a surreal techno-soundtrack, peaking in a particularly suspenseful location before being deliberately/awkwardly cut off for the next: overall making FISH a visually-creative yet somewhat plot-disjointed arthouse gumshoe-style throwback— that actually needs several viewings to be fully absorbed and embraced.

From THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Susana Taber in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Susana Taber in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Montserrat Prous in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD with Wal Davis

Wal Davis in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD with Ricardo Vázquez

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD with Wal Davis

Norma Kastel and Rex Davis in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD with Ricardo Vázquez

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Susana Taber in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

María Elena Arpón in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD with Wal Davis

Ada Tauler in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Montserrat Prous in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD

Montserrat Prous in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD with Wal Davis

Montserrat Prous in THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD