Argentinian director Carlos Hugo Christensen was a big fan of Cornell Woolrich. Released within a month of If I Should Die Before I Wake, Christensen’s other 1952 adaptation of Woolrich’s work, No abras nunca esa puerta (US: Don’t Ever Open That Door) is actually two Woolrich tales in one. In the first episode (“Anguish”), Angel Magana plays Raul Valdez, whose sister Luisa’s (Renee Dumas) gambling addiction leads to multiple tragedies. In the second, longer episode (“Pain”), criminal and murderer Daniel (Roberto Escalada) finally returns home to visit his old, blind mother (Ilde Pirovano) but under dramatic circumstances: he arrives with two of his collaborators on the run from police, one dying, and pays little attention to his mother or his cousin Maria (Norma Giménez) whom he hasn’t seen since childhood. Rosa and Maria become increasingly terrified of their unwanted, murderous visitors and plot to save themselves, creating an exceedingly tense sequence that comes to a conclusion in an unexpectedly moving moment. Art director Gori Munoz creates gorgeous domestic sets enhanced by Tabernero’s lighting and camera work, which, for example, slow zooms to a telephone ringing on a small table at night to notch up the tension to nearly unbearable levels. Mother Rosa’s deliberately paced preparation of the house for a showdown, including removing the criminals’ guns while they sleep and shutting the lights a la Wait Until Dark (1967), leads to a crescendo of expressionistic melee.