Hot on the heels of 1973’s Horror Rises From the Tomb, 1974’s Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll brings us another effort from the catalog of Spanish filmmaker Paul Naschy. A drifter named Gilles (Naschy) meanders from town to town and eventually winds up in a French village.

There Gilles gets work at a large villa owned by three sisters: Claude (Diana Lorys), Nicole (Eva León) and Ivette (Maria Perschy). As a homicidal maniac stalks the town, newcomer Gilles finds himself viewed as the primary suspect.

Whereas Tomb went with a decidedly supernatural bent, Eyes finds itself more firmly in the real world. It also takes its sweet time in terms of its thriller elements, so don’t expect an action-packed affair.

Indeed, parts of Eyes seem downright lethargic. The opening comes across as awfully slow-paced, and we see borderline interminable shots of people as they walk places. These get more than a little tedious.

Still, I like that Eyes gives us a gradual investment into its main plot. It takes one-third of the film before the murders start, and even then, it never exactly turns into what we’d call a pot-boiler.

Given the nature of the film’s first act, one could easily mistake it for a softcore romantic tale. The handsome-ish stranger winds up in a home with three lonely ladies – bring on the porn music!

Which Eyes does, even when the movie changes pace. Dear Lord, what a terrible score! Dated as it sounds, the music makes some sense during that romance-oriented first act, but once the film goes down a darker, more violent path, the score stays oddly chirpy and peppy. This becomes a notable distraction.

Even so, I do like the film’s semi-“bait and switch” nature, as a viewer unaware of a plot synopsis probably won’t see the twists that come. Yeah, the movie telegraphs some of its shifts, but it manages to follow a fairly natural path and gives us intriguing narrative choices.

All of this leads to a decent murder thriller. As was the case with Tomb, nothing about Eyes elevates it to the status of genre classic, but it creates a moderately engaging mystery that keeps us with it.

Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.33:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not great, the transfer seemed more than adequate for its age and origins.

Sharpness usually worked pretty well. Occasional signs of softness popped up, and I saw sporadic light edge haloes, but overall delineation appeared pretty accurate.

I witnessed no shimmering or jaggies, and print flaws remained minor. A few specks and spots occurred but most of the presentation remained clean. Oddly, the movie’s final shot came with a bunch of marks and defects, but that acted as a rare problematic sequence.

Eyes opted for a natural palette that demonstrated reasonable clarity. While the hues could veer a little brown, they appeared fairly full much of the time.

Blacks appeared dark and tight, while low-light shots demonstrated positive delineation. Despite some weaknesses, the image usually satisfied.

I felt less pleased with the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, as it appeared dull and limp. Dialogue always came across as unnatural and flat, largely due to terrible dubbing. While they lacked edginess or shrill tones, the lines still seemed artificial and canned.

Music offered some depth and warmth, but the score lacked much high-end and seemed a bit muted. Like the dialogue, effects didn’t display a lot of realism – while clean enough, they failed to convey much oomph. This led to a mediocre soundtrack.

Note that the Blu-ray offered an English dub of Eyes as well. It suffered from the same sonic flaws as the Castillian track and added terrible voice acting. Stick with the original Spanish mix.

The set’s extras open with an audio commentary from film historians Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at the movie’s connection to Italian gialli, story/characters, connections to other Paul Naschy efforts, cast and performances, sets and locations, themes, music, and similar topics.

I liked the Barnett/Guinn chat for Horror Rises From the Tomb, and they continue to fare well here. Actually, with its details about genre areas, this one offers even more depth, and it becomes an informative and engaging overview of the movie.

A Spanish Credit Sequence runs five minutes, nine seconds. It’s identical to the opening/closing in the version found elsewhere on the disc except – surprise! – it lists the credits in Spanish.

In addition to two trailers, we get a still gallery. Its running montage lasts two minutes, 28 seconds and includes 31 shots that mix publicity elements and shots from the production. It becomes a decent collection.

The package concludes with a booklet. It provides production notes for Eyes and four other Paul Naschy movies. The text finishes the set in a positive manner.

A generally low-key thriller, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll seems a little too sluggish much of the time. Still, I like the fact it offers a few curveballs and manages to turn into a decent mystery. The Blu-ray provides mostly good picture as well as bland audio and bonus features led by a solid commentary. Eyes never excels but it still turns into a decent drama.

Note that Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll can be purchased only as part of a five-disc “Paul Naschy Collection”. The set also includes Vengeance of the Zombies, Horror Rises from the Tomb, Human Beasts and Night of the Werewolf.