Al Pereira (Antonio Mayans) is a lowly private eye who seems to always
get into trouble and thus be on the run from somebody - this time
crossdresser Gene, one of the crime kingpins of the region whom Al owes a
little too much money. But when Al has already packed his bags to skip
town, enter a mysterious blonde, Lina (Lina Romay), who offers him the
money he needs if only he gets her a bag from a crashed car at a junkyard.
And while he should have known the money she offers is too much for the
little "favour" she asks him, he goes to the junkyard anyhow, is
caught in the act by the junkyard owner, and shoots him in self defense.
He only now knows he has been had, but when he confronts Lina with this,
she just offers him sex instead of an explanation - and he falls for her,
only to later find out she performs porn shows at a nightclub. And yet
later, he finds out she's actually Gene's wife. But then Al learns that
Gene and a few other men and women, the junkyard owner among them, are
actually running a big empire of brothels and nightclubs as well as having
their hands in the drug business - and thus Lina thinks if she gets her
husband and all or his partners out of the way, she might inherit the
whole pie. But she can't do it alone, so she needs someone tough (and
gullible) enough to support her, someone like ... Al Pereira. Pereira
soon starts killing Gene's partners one after the other, and even though
he walks into more than one trap, he seems to always come out unscathed,
and Lina pays him with sex, and lots of it. Finally, the list is down to
Gene himself, and Bruta, Lina's erstwhile lover who she kills while
seducing her for old time's sake while Al shoots Gene. But when Al comes
to collect his reward, Lina and all the money and the empire that come
with her, she shoots him during sex ... Botas Negras,
Látigo de Cuero is a so-so sex-and-crime flick that shows some of the
elements one has come to like about a Jess Franco flick - nudity and
sexual situations aplenty, with silly excuses to show yet another boob and
the like, plenty of genre mainstays, even a hint of irony - while on the
other not displaying too many of his qualities as a director, like making
his shots look aesthetically interesting or adding atmosphere and
inventiveness to the proceedings. You might still like it if you're in for
a bit of sleazy fun, but definitely not one of Franco's best.
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