Jess Franco remade this in 1977 as Kiss Me Killer, but before that, this black and white slice of noir feels like an altogether different director. Sure, there's jazz - Franco himself is playing saxophone in one scene - but this looks and feels different to me. Sure, the easy difference is the black and white, but it feels like a different kind of sexy, if that makes sense. Both this and Rififi in the City have a certain look that I'd like to have seen more often.

Years ago, a guns for money deal went wrong. Trumpet player Julius Smith (Manuel Alexandre) thought he got away with it and then one night he's spotted by Lina (Perla Cristal), whose husband Castro was killed when it all went wrong. Now, she's married to another man of loose morals, Paul Vogel (Georges Rollin), who knows way more about hos Julius died than he lets on. The cops decide to find out just how much and have a new singer named Maria Santos (Danik Patisson) join the club and get close to him. Then, Castro (Conrado San Martin) comes back, the final member of the old smuggling operation, stinging from a decade in prison.

This movie looks great, way better than its budget and I get it, it's not New Orleans, but who cares? I also love that this is an early shared universe for Jess, as The Stardust nightclub also appears in Rififi in the City. All that's missing is a jewel thief, Dr. Orloff, Lina Romay in a blonde wig (that said, she was eight when this was made), vampire women and a mist that makes women enraptured.

Here, the celebrated Euro-cult filmmaker Jesus Franco gets to put his own spin on the entire film noir genre. The atmosphere is potent, the music is excellent, the story pretty straightforward, and the performances universally engaging. Conrado San Martin stars as Federico de Castro, who's out for revenge against crime kingpin Vogel / Radeck (Georges Rollin). Vogel had set up de Castro and his associate Julius Smith (Manuel Alexandre) two years ago; de Castro had gone to prison, and Smith ends up run down in the street shortly into the story.

The cast also includes Gerard Tichy, Danik Patisson as a sultry singer, Perla Cristal as Radecks' wife, and Adriano Dominguez & Fortunio Bonanova as the authorities. They're all pleasing to watch, especially lovely ladies Patisson & Cristal, and Rollin as an enjoyably cold villain. (Yet he is not *completely* inhuman - he does suffer nightmares.) The black & white photography (by Juan Marine) is first-rate, and the film really benefits from its milieu of smokey jazz clubs & its soundtrack. Set in Jamaica, it does have an exotic appeal you don't see in the majority of the genre. The pacing is pretty snappy, resulting in a very reasonable run time of just over 81 minutes. The film is sexy, violent, and works in an effective and amusing twist into its trim little tale.

Overall, "Death Whistles the Blues" is indicative of Uncle Jess' versatility; some of his very best output came out of this decade. A jazz musician himself, he also has a brief, uncredited cameo as a saxophonist near the beginning of the film.

Seven out of 10.

Tio Jess plays the saxophone in the Jazzband during this movie. Shot in beautiful black & white. In the opening-scene one of the characters says they're waiting for Lina, could it be that Tio Jess had the foresight of meeting his muse Lina Romay in the 70s? If you love Tio Jess or if you are a completist, this one is highly recommended.