Death Packs a Suitcase

Critical Perspective

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  La muerte hace las maletas is a very handsomely shot and reasonably entertaining detective story, with good production values, a solid cast, and plenty of visual inventiveness, factors which help to alleviate one’s impatience with the tangled and obscurely motivated plot. … If this had been another of Franco’s ‘Red Lips’ films, with Janine Reynaud and Rosanna Yanni investigating, instead of bland Euro-hunk Fred Williams quivering indecisively between Eva Garden and Elisa Montés, like a blasé playboy at a society party, it would be far more memorable. Instead, what stays in your mind afterwards is the compositional elegance of the photography and mise-en-scène. There are some truly lovely shots involving mirrored hallways, spiral staircases, ornate balustrades, fluorescently illuminated nightclub table-tops, and a classic ‘shot from underneath’ moment peering at two characters through a glass coffee table strewn with bottles and decanters. Add to this a constant barrage of wide-angles, fish-eye lenses and deep focus and you’ll rarely see a more stylish and exuberantly mannered Seventies crime thriller. … So yes, dig the visuals, but the fact that this is supposed to be a thriller can lead to thwarted expectations.