I used to be ecstatic and very hopeful every time I stumbled upon an obscure horror title that didn't yet have a single user-comment here on IMDb, but few years and several disillusions later, I'm now rather wary and skeptical whenever I'm the first person who has to submit a review. One of the many things I sadly learned over the years is this: if in this hi-tech day and age, with new media and advanced restoration techniques, a certain movie is still undiscovered, well then that's probably for very good reason! Or, in other words, it's probably a movie so bad that it deserves its status of total obscurity. "The Killer is one of Thirteen" is such a discovery that made me cautious
It's a giallo from Spain. This wondrous horror sub-genre, which happens to be my favorite stream of '70s exploitation cinema, originates from Italy but a handful of clever Spanish directors jumped on this profitable wagon as well. Spanish gialli generally are a lot less stylish and qualitative than their Italian counterparts, but still there exist a few worthwhile gialli titles from Spain, like for example "A Dragonfly for Each Corpse", "The Fourth Mrs. Anderson" or "Seven Murders for Scotland Yard". This "The Killer is one of Thirteen", on the other hand, is completely unknown, but let's give it an honest chance because – after all – it does benefit from a typically attractive giallo title and synopsis, and it stars the one and only Spanish horror monument Paul Naschy (albeit in a much smaller supportive role than usual)
The plot resembles another umpteenth and shamelessly blatant imitation of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". Not ten but thirteen unsuspecting people are heading towards a secluded mansion in the country, following an invitation of the young and beautiful widow Lisa Mandel. There aren't any logical connections between them, except that the lady of the house is persuaded that every single one of them could very well be the potential murderer of her late husband. Via the element of surprise of this confrontation (and after ordering her staff to sabotage their cars so that they can't escape), Mrs. Mandel hopes to identify the real culprit. Rather than to confessions, the gathering leads towards painful revelations, double-crossing and – of course – vicious new murders! "The Killer is one of Thirteen" honestly isn't a disastrous effort, and I'm really glad I saw it, but director/co- writer Javier Aguirre nevertheless makes some fundamental rookie mistakes. First and foremost frustrating: for more than a full hour, there's nothing happening except talk, talk, talk and more talk! Seriously, because of the overly talkative first hour, the body count is disappointingly low! When you put the number thirteen in your title and plot description, you basically imply that the body count will be ginormous and in that case you can't afford that more than half of your ensemble cast survives the ordeal! And another thing, the title and plot description are quite misleading. There are thirteen guests invited to the mansion, but there are also four members of the household staff that behave increasingly suspicious, so in fact the killer is one of seventeen. Never overlook the household staff; that's a mistake Agatha Christie didn't make. And yet, in spite of having so many suspects with so many versatile motives, the film foolishly reverts to literally the oldest cliché in whodunit-history when the moment arrives to reveal the killer's identity. But hey, there's also a fair portion of good stuff! Since the first hour is so bloodless and gossipy, Javier Aguirre has got oceans of time to introduce all characters in great details. They're a bunch of loathsome and selfish aristocrats, with only power, money or lust on their minds. The amount of murders may be bitter low, but the least you can say is that they are vile and nasty! The cast contains few familiar names, but the performances are quite adequate. Paul Naschy makes a small but remarkable appearance as the perverted chauffeur. In the release year of this film, 1973, Naschy starred in no less than nine horror movies. Apart from this one, two more of those were directed by Javier Aguirre: the much inferior "Count Dracula's Great Love" and the much superior "The Hunchback of the Morgue". Busy guys, those Spaniards
The plot resembles another umpteenth and shamelessly blatant imitation of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". Not ten but thirteen unsuspecting people are heading towards a secluded mansion in the country, following an invitation of the young and beautiful widow Lisa Mandel. There aren't any logical connections between them, except that the lady of the house is persuaded that every single one of them could very well be the potential murderer of her late husband. Via the element of surprise of this confrontation (and after ordering her staff to sabotage their cars so that they can't escape), Mrs. Mandel hopes to identify the real culprit. Rather than to confessions, the gathering leads towards painful revelations, double-crossing and – of course – vicious new murders! "The Killer is one of Thirteen" honestly isn't a disastrous effort, and I'm really glad I saw it, but director/co- writer Javier Aguirre nevertheless makes some fundamental rookie mistakes. First and foremost frustrating: for more than a full hour, there's nothing happening except talk, talk, talk and more talk! Seriously, because of the overly talkative first hour, the body count is disappointingly low! When you put the number thirteen in your title and plot description, you basically imply that the body count will be ginormous and in that case you can't afford that more than half of your ensemble cast survives the ordeal! And another thing, the title and plot description are quite misleading. There are thirteen guests invited to the mansion, but there are also four members of the household staff that behave increasingly suspicious, so in fact the killer is one of seventeen. Never overlook the household staff; that's a mistake Agatha Christie didn't make. And yet, in spite of having so many suspects with so many versatile motives, the film foolishly reverts to literally the oldest cliché in whodunit-history when the moment arrives to reveal the killer's identity. But hey, there's also a fair portion of good stuff! Since the first hour is so bloodless and gossipy, Javier Aguirre has got oceans of time to introduce all characters in great details. They're a bunch of loathsome and selfish aristocrats, with only power, money or lust on their minds. The amount of murders may be bitter low, but the least you can say is that they are vile and nasty! The cast contains few familiar names, but the performances are quite adequate. Paul Naschy makes a small but remarkable appearance as the perverted chauffeur. In the release year of this film, 1973, Naschy starred in no less than nine horror movies. Apart from this one, two more of those were directed by Javier Aguirre: the much inferior "Count Dracula's Great Love" and the much superior "The Hunchback of the Morgue". Busy guys, those Spaniards