Highly misleading title which will scare away some who will enjoy it and lure others who might not. So, not a ghastly slasher or even a giallo copy but instead an effective tale of jolly and not so jolly Mexican life among the better off. More especially a drama involving the possessive, chauvinistic Hispanic males and the largely put upon wives and maids. Things do get a bit hairy towards the end when the nutter really gets into his groove, chasing the lovely lead all over with his axe. Otherwise this is notable for the aforementioned 'nutter's penchant for ladies hair. He has a locked cabinet full of lady's locks and we see him have the odd chop to expand his collection. Bit of thriller then, lots of drama, oh and lots of humour plus lots of good looking girls, a shower scene from the lead as a bonus and in the end who can complain. Decent offbeat viewing.
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christopher-underwood17 January 2007
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Isabel (Maribel Guardia), a naive young housewife isolated from the world, sees her fantasies of black lace take a nightmarish turn one fateful night when she's stalked by a killer in an apartment high rise populated by the hedonistic, opportunistic, and perverted.
This Mexican-made movie is a mild, claustrophobic black comedy with a feminist slant that has the wide-eyed heroine surrounded by the type of men women need to be liberated from. Ruben (Jaime Moreno), the fantasy man Isabel meets on the street when she does manage to break out, could free the princess imprisoned in the penthouse if he wasn't on the make but her innocence and loyalty get in the way. Paradoxically, the premise can also be perceived as a slightly misogynistic morality tale warning of the dangers of trying to find fulfillment outside the home and marriage. Isabel's possessive, violent husband (Gonzalo Vega) is right in thinking it's a dangerous world out there for an unescorted wife and the maid (Claudia Guzman), along with three single gals in an apartment below, illustrate the reasons why men don't trust women in the first place. Fantasies don't come to fruition in this film and when the beautiful, long-haired Isabel crosses paths with another neighbor (Claudio Obregon), a perverted masher with a hair fetish who's crimes against women escalate, some suspense builds as the tale reaches a climax that exposes private traps in a "No Exit" kind of way. This well-made film with a hint of Almodovar won an "Ariel" (Mexico's "Oscar") for Best Supporting Actress (Guzman) with nominations for Best Actress & Best Score. There's some very brief nudity, one killing, and almost no violence but holds the interest nonetheless. The title refers to a specific incident and although neither horror nor giallo, TERROR AND BLACK LACE isn't bad but isn't reely a dark-themed tale which is surprising for an ostensible black dramedy. -
lazarillo19 July 2006Some would say this is what happens when you make a Mexican genre film without Santo. Actually, there is neither any "lucha libre" or "monstruos" in the film at all. The title suggests that it might be a Mexican answer to an Italian giallo, but it's a more of a staid domestic thriller that takes awhile to get started but isn't really that bad if your expectations aren't too high. The lead is Maribel Guardia, a former Miss Costa Rica and still a big TV star and tabloid attraction in Mexico today well into her 40's. She's at the height of her beauty here (and a lot less annoying than she is on television). She plays a kept woman whose oafish husband is insanely jealous of her even leaving their penthouse apartment. Aside from an occasional shopping trip, she mostly just sunbathes topless, reads horoscopes, works out in her g-string spandex, models lingerie in the mirror (thus the title), and takes a lot of long, hot showers. She meets a man on a shopping trip and nearly has an affair, but decides to stay loyal to her husband and remain at home. Bad idea--because her upstairs neighbor is a psychopath with a hair fetish. And with her phone dead and a loud party going in the apartments below she winds up trapped in her penthouse with this madman.
Viewers unfamiliar with the domestic relationships of the Mexican upper classes or with Mexican cinema in general might be a little puzzled by this film, but it is interesting and unusual both as Mexican film and a foreign release. While the American horror and thrillers often "punish" promiscuous characters, the heroine here puts herself in danger because she does NOT take advantage of an opportunity to cheat on her loutish husband(and it's made pretty clear that he would cheat on her if he had chance). The husband is actually a comical buffoon who spends most of the movie trying to get to the airport to catch a plane for a make-or-break career meeting. Meanwhile, there are three single party girls living below her (very atypical in Mexico even today). In your typical horror/thriller they would be fodder for gratuitous nudity and the killer's the knife, but nothing really happens to them. The same is not true of the heroine's sassy young maid though who, despite living at home with her strict parents, has no qualms about enthusiastically stripping off her panties and sitting on the killer's lap (even though he's much more interested in her hair). There's an unusual social message here, even though it's not completely clear what it is.
This is by no means a great movie. It really drags at times--there is a definite lack of violence and some may find the cheesecake nudity a little tame. The young maid role is also another unfortunate example of the "Paz Vega syndrome" (see the recent movie "Spanglish") as it is filled by the kind of incredibly sexy actress who would NEVER be working as a maid in any country, and this makes the scene where she throws herself at the truly unattractive, middle-age killer even more laughably implausible. The ending is kind strange and abrupt too. Still if you want to see something different. . . -
BandSAboutMovies8 July 2020Why did I watch this? Is it my OCD-fuelled need to get overwhelmed by any film genre the more I study it? Or is it because its title - translated in English as Terror and Black Lace - references one of my favorite films of all time, Mario Bava's seminal Blood and Black Lace?
The answer is ambas, mi amigos.
Isabel is a good wife, one who stays at home and patiently waits for her abusive husband to come home and knock her around. She thinks that the next door neighbor is the polite and kind man of her dreams, but this being a Mexican exploitation movie from 1985, we all know that he's going to be a maniac as well.
As she sits and waits for hubby - clad in black lingerie, so there's the reason for the title - she watches said neighbor dispose of a body in a kind of La Ventana Trasera situation. The neighbor is played by Claudio Obregon, who is no relation to noted Andy Sidaris villain Rodrigo Obregon.
Actually, I was too rough by lumping this film into the exploitation world. It's lead actress Maribel Guardia was nominated for an Ariel Award for this movie. So maybe if you come in expecting a giallo, instead you're getting drama. Which probably isn't what you want with a title like this, hmm? -
The_Void19 June 2007As you can probably work out from the title, Terror and Black Lace is Mexico's answer to Italy's popular Giallo export, and it's a damn good answer too! As this film is head and shoulders above many of the (many) Giallo's I've seen, and even stands up among the best of the films to come out of Italy; and that is high praise indeed coming from someone who loves Giallo as much as I do! The film doesn't adhere to all the Giallo standards, and indeed it is closer to the dramatic side of the genre than it is to the horror; but this is sexy and sleazy, and director Luis Alcoriza tells a damn good story! The plot focuses on Isabella; a bored housewife who is tired of the way her husband is treating her and the fact that he wants her to stay at home all the time. While out one day (against her husband's wishes), she bumps into a handsome stranger who takes an interest in her. Meanwhile, there's plenty going on at her apartment block: the pretty maid is poking her nose where it isn't (and is) wanted, there's a party going on in the apartment downstairs. Oh, and there's a maniac with a hair fetish living there too!
Most of the film is build up to the last twenty minutes, and while this might not sound like much fun; it is because the build up is interesting and the director paints an interesting portrait of all the leading characters, which pays off when we finally do get to the end. Unlike the proper (Italian) Giallo's, there is no score in this film; which feels rather odd as the music is such a big feature of the Giallo. The only music in the film comes out of the stereo in the party apartment; and unfortunately it's all eighties trash! There isn't much violence in this film, and the focus is never on the horror. Rather, Luis Alcoriza puts the focus on the storyline and it paid off if you asked me. The director also clearly has an eye for beauty, and the buxom leading lady is always a pleasure to see (especially when she's wearing that black lace!) It's true that the film does drag at times, but the slow build up of the storyline really allows the viewer to get on board with it all, and the way that everything is wrapped up at the end is good. There are a few things in the film that don't make a lot of sense (the pivotal scene involving the maid and the maniac in particular), but I didn't worry about those things and found this be a highly entertaining thriller. Very much recommended! -
EVOL66628 May 2006TERROR AND BLACK LACE is a very solid outing that feels very much like an 70's Italian-style thriller - so if you like giallos, and other Italian films of that nature, you should probably give this one a look. I haven't watched too many "south of the border" films, so I don't know what to compare it to from that region...
The story revolves mainly around a wife who is basically kept "prisoner" by her overly-jealous husband. Aching for a "connection" to the real world, Isabella ventures out and meets a young man who quickly falls for her. Simultaneously, we also get a glimpse at the lives of other residents of Isabella and her husband's apartment complex. There's a creepy old musician that runs around the town cutting locks of hair from hookers and other women, and keeps them in a locked "vault". Below him lives a group of "party-girls" that do nothing but dance around while listening to horrible 80's dance music. Intertwining these characters is an "errand-girl" who does odd jobs for people in the complex. Things get out-of-hand when Isabella witnesses the accidental murder of the errand-girl by creepy musician guy, and he takes off after Isabella so that she can't rat him out...
TERROR AND BLACK LACE is a solid thriller entry overall that has a strong storyline and decent acting from all involved. My main gripe is the glaring lack of nudity from our female lead who is quite smokin'. We get like two quick tit shots, and that's it...criminal if you ask me. Other than that, the film is well-thought out and executed, and should be checked out by thriller-fans...8/10 -
TERROR Y ENCAJES NEGROS (1985) ***½ Gonzalo Vega, Maribel Guardia, Claudio Obregón. Misleadingly marketed as a horror film, Terror y encajes negros ("Terror and Black Lace") is more melodrama than anything else. It's the story of Isabel (Maribel Guardia), a young woman suffocated by her jealous, controlling husband (played perfectly by Gonzalo Vega), who keeps her virtually imprisoned in their apartment. The first two-thirds of the film chronicles Isabel's struggle to break out of this extreme isolation. The story takes a sharp turn in the final 30 minutes, when Isabel is terrorized by the psychotic Cesar (played by veteran character actor Obregón), after she witnesses him disposing of a dead body in her building. To the film's credit, though, Isabel's ordeal isn't just horror for horror's sake; it's skillfully woven back into the main story as a way of highlighting both Isabel's loneliness and her husband's irrational distrust. Guardia was nominated for an Ariel Award (Mexico's equivalent to the Oscars) for her performance. Worth seeing. In Spanish with English subtitles.
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insomniac_rod30 October 2006"Terror y encajes negros" displays the sad reality of a part of Mexican society. Here we have three different situations in the building. We have the upper class couple who do not have a good relationship, the creepy musician who later becomes a psycho because of his hair fetish, and we have three young hot students who share a department. Mexican society is displayed pretty close to a reality of upper classes with these characters. Believe me, I know many people like these, and we are in 2006 for God's sake.
First, the couple... They are the typical wealthy macho man who does not let his beautiful, hot wife do anything but read and fix her nails. Maribel Guardia portrays a woman so hot that she is unbelievable. That face, that body, come on! she's not from this planet. She's also the kind of woman that follows orders but truly loves her husband. But one day, the wife gets tired of her imprisonment and decides to get free in order to go to the movies, have a drink, etc.. Her husband can't do anything but accept the new situation. On the other hand, Gonzalo Vega's character is a 100% macho man that wouldn't mind cheating on his wife or even beat her. He's too busy with his business to take care of his wife. On his defense, he's a comical macho man. Their lives change for good as now the wife can enjoy the real world, and his wife can go to work and kiss his boss's ass without worrying about his wife. That is until she meets a young "attractive" man (played by ass-face Jaime Moreno) and starts going out with him, but without being too "indecent". When she has the chance to go to his apartment and probably get laid, she decides to stay loyal to his husband (oh, until now). Anyways, if she proceeded to have an affair, probably her life would be better... I'll get back on that. Meanwhile, her husband is trying to get a promotion. To do that, he needs to take a flight to reunite with his boss, but his bad luck just won't let it happen.
Then we have the creepy musician (played by veteran and talented actor Claudio Obregòn). He enjoys listening to classical music while reading or having a drink. He seems calmed, but he gets really mad whenever the hot young students play 80's crappy music (not even "Timbiriche" crap). He has a hot maid who would do anything for him... When your hot maid takes off her panties without asking her for it, it means that she's very kind, not slutty. One good day, his hair fetish turns him mad to the point that he murders his maid and that's when things start to get ugly. The same night that the wife decides to stay loyal to her husband, she witnesses how the creepy musician carries the maid's corpse. He takes an ax and chases her in the style of Jason Voorhees. Heck, he even breaks a glass door and acts really like a psycho.
Well, the best thing about the movie is how everyone ends up getting involved in the same situation. All because a hair fetish...
Now, "Terror y encajes negros" isn't by any means a Horror movie. OK, it has some Horror elements but not enough to consider it a part of the genre. This is a Dramatic Thriller with Comedic and Horror elements. That's it. And a good one I must say. These kind of movies aren't produced nowadays in Mèxico mainly because everyone wants to reach Hollywood and star in lousy scripts.
The acting is pretty good. Maribel Guardia is not only spectacular, hot, and beautiful. She's a good actress but in my opinion, she delivered a theater/soap-opera oriented performance in this movie. Gonzalo Vega plays a funny macho man who gets into dumb situations, but when he needs to be rigid, he's a bad ass. Claudia Obregòn (better known for her nude scenes) is truly fresh and delivers a sexy performance. What a pair of legs! The rest of the cast is just okay. Claudio Obregòn shines as the psycho in the last 20 minutes of the movie. Jaime Moreno just tries to look good with his immense chin that makes him look like an ass (literally).
The direction is pretty good. The director knows how to create tension when necessary. The music is average.
Pleae, watch this movie because it isn't something you commonly find in Mèxico. Well, the closest to it may be "Video Teatros" or mini-series.