The Killer Is Not Alone

Julio, the only son of a wealthy businessman, living in the coastal city of Avilés in the north of Spain, is a young man with many problems, including a pathological fear of women due to a psychological trauma he suffered during his childhood.  One night, as he prowls the sleazier quarters of the city, he picks up a prostitute and follows her to a seedy hotel room. As she tries to arouse him to action, he responds violently, garrotting her with a length of piano wire, leaving her dead on the bed, covered with blood.
 
Julio takes the train to Madrid and checks into a boarding house in the city. He is much younger than the rest of the residents and soon Monica, the boarding house owner’s teenage daughter, finds herself attracted to the new arrival. More murders by the sinister “wire killer” are reported in the newspapers and it seems the police have no clue as to who it might be. As Monica gets ever closer to the troubled Julio her mother tries to warn her off the young man. But it’s too late; and soon it seems likely that Monica herself will fall victim to the dreaded “wire killer”.  This was director García de Dueñas’s only feature film. He worked mostly for TV and was a noted film critic in Spain. This is the film’s world premiere on Blu-ray and its first appearance, in any form, in the US.
 
Cinematography of this rare Spanish “giallo” is by the masterly Fernando Arribas (THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE, BLOOD CEREMONY).