Severin has released several films by director Eloy de la Iglesia, the largest set if which is a three film set of his quinqui films. But these weren’t the only films Iglesia made. Two other titles that fell under the genre of horror films but might more have been suited as giallo films are also being released. One of those is NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM.
Elisa (Carmen Sevilla) is a woman living in Spain who makes her way through life as the mistress of a wealthy man in London. Her wealthy benefactor wants her to come up and when she refuses gets angry with her. She breaks off the affair and stays home that weekend.
The apartment building she lives in is nearly empty for the weekend with only the nearly deaf concierge and her next door neighbor home. After taking a shower she hears noises next door and when she opens her door to investigate discover her neighbor Miquel (Vincente Parra) about to drop the dead body of his wife Nuria (Maria Asquerino) down the elevator shaft.
Elisa runs into her apartment locking the door behind her intent on calling the police. Before she can do so, Miquel cuts her phone line and then crawls across from his balcony to hers, holding her at gunpoint. Rather than shoot her, he forces her to become his accomplice and help him dispose of the body.
They gather the body from the base of the elevator shaft and wrap it in Elisa’s shower curtain. Stuffing the body in the trunk of her car, they head for the vacation home heard Elisa talking about at nearby San Juan Lake. On the way they are stopped by police but Miquel keeps his gun on Elisa. There’s been an accident and the police force them to take one of the wounded to a nearby hospital.
Waiting for the police to provide information to them, Miquel is frightened when he hears them talking about a dead woman in their car. Fortunately for him it wasn’t his wife’s body they’re speaking of but the woman they brought to the hospital. As their journey moves forward a distinct bond between the two starts to build, one that might lead to romance.
Several plot turns better left unsaid take place in the remainder of the film making it one that keeps you guessing as to where it will lead. Fans of the genre may determine what happens by the end of the film but my guess is not completely.
The production values of the film are solid here and offer a nice backdrop for the story. The story itself seems a little strange in that Elisa begins to become attracted to a man who just killed his wife, but it attempts to make that as plausible as possible. The acting by both leads works through translation making them believable in their roles.
Severin has done a wonderful job with this release beginning with an HD scan from the original film negative. The only extra included here is “Eloy de la Iglesia and the Spanish Giallo” and interview with film scholar Dr. Andy Willis.
Fans of Spanish films and giallo films in particular will
want to make sure and add this one to their collection.
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