In Christian Molina's directorial debut, Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy appropriately enough plays an aged horror film star named Pablo Thevenet who, sadly, is having to come to terms with the fact that his glory days are behind him. Striving to earn a meager living in an industry that worships the young and beautiful while simultaneously shunning and disregarding the elderly, Pablo's down on his luck and not in the best of shape anymore. When his manager, Martin (Francisco Algora), finds one last gig for him working as a human statue/doorman at a strip club named Pandora's, he's hesitant but takes a shot at it anyway. The gig pays well enough that he takes it on and as such signs a contract with the owner of the establishment, Mr. Reficul (Miguel Del Arco).

Things start off okay for Pablo as he enjoys the new found financial freedom that his new position offers him as well as the fringe benefits (including but not limited to fancy cigars, free cutlery, and a romp in the sack with his designated personal assistant – a former lady of the evening named Tick Tock, played by Mehn-Wai). But soon something inside Pablo snaps, and boy does it snap hard.

After making short work of a few of the up and comers in the industry, Pablo's offered a chance to get behind the camera and direct some films that, according to producer Herr Fuchs (Guillermo Montesinos), will make great use of his talent he can't resist the offer. Things of course go horribly wrong when Pablo finds out he's been brought on board to direct a snuff film and he winds up enraged when things to go far and he's reminded of his own daughter's rape and murder from a few years back.

Eventually Pablo finds out that his fate is sealed, however, and that he really should have read the small print in the contract that he signed with Mr. Reficul – a contract he tried to break but couldn't.

Written by Naschy himself (and obviously influenced by Faust and, at least in terms of the murder sequences, Theater Of Blood), the film does a nice job of relaying the aggravation and frustration that aging genre stars have to deal with in their golden years. The Hollywood machine does tend to chew'em up and spit'em out so to speak and in all reality, many performers probably feel just as bitter about it as Pablo does in the film – Naschy himself included in that lot.

Molina's direction is slick and graceful. The transitions, which at times border dangerously close to overkill, are also quite interesting as the movement of a cane touching the ground gives way to a completely different scene almost seamlessly. The cinematography is carefully planned with plenty of steadicam action and a nice, distinctly European looking, lighting scheme on display throughout (particularly during the scenes that take place inside the club).

The real reason to watch the film though is for Naschy's performance. He's fantastic as the lead and is able to portray the frustration and the anger that his character experiences very well with nothing more than a simple glance. He makes the most of his intense facial features and the script plays to his strengths.

While at times the storyline verges on the absurd, Naschy's good enough in the film and Molina's direction accomplished enough throughout that the movie moves by at a nice pace and proves to be entertaining throughout. While hardly a gore fest, there's enough wanton bloodshed in the movie to keep us in tune with the film's horror roots even if at is as much a character study as it is a slasher film.

Video:

For whatever reason, the 2.35.1 widescreen transfer isn't anamorphic but that's the only major strike against it. Edge enhancement is minimal as is print damage (if you look really closely you'll notice both, but you have to really be watching for it). Mpeg compression isn't a problem and the colors look nice and rich throughout playback. Overall, the film looks quite solid though those who watch the film on widescreen sets might be irked a bit.