Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll

Lore & Background

The film follows Gilles, a drifter who arrives in a French village and is hired as a handyman by three sisters: Claude, who has a prosthetic hand; Nicole, a nymphomaniac; and Yvette, who uses a wheelchair. Meanwhile, a black-gloved killer murders blue-eyed women and gouges out their eyes, storing them in a jar of water. Gilles becomes a prime suspect due to his past abuse of a girlfriend, and a posse kills him, but the murders continue. The killer is revealed to be a doctor who lost his daughter in an accident and preserves her body, but the eyes are for his own collection, not specifically to replace her eyes.

Reader's Guide

Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is significant as Paul Naschy's take on the Italian giallo genre, though it was not theatrically distributed in Italy, France, or Germany. The film was seized in the UK under the Obscene Publications Act during the video nasty panic, likely due to its lurid box art. It was released in the U.S. in edited versions as House of Psychotic Women and House of Doom. Today, it is available complete and unedited on DVD and Blu-ray. The film features graphic gore and nudity, and its soundtrack includes a jazzed-up version of 'Frère Jacques' during murder scenes. Its legacy includes a theater marquee displaying House of Psychotic Women in the 1980 film Times Square.

Did You Know?

• The film was seized in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
• Most prints are missing a brief scene where a pig is slaughtered on a farm.
• The film was released in Belgium as Mystery of the Blue Eyes.
• The tune 'Frère Jacques' is played during murder scenes, jazzed up with bass, drums, and violin.