Nine Guests For A Crime

Nine Guests For A Crime

Genre: Giallo

Original title: Nove ospiti per un delitto 

Director: Ferdinando Baldi

Year: 1977

A family consisting of a patriarch, his much younger wife, his troubled sister, his sons, and their wives go on a vacation to a remote Mediterranean island where years earlier the father and sons had murdered the lower-class lover of their aunt

This not often seen Giallo has a pretty similar premise to that of Mario Bava's 5 Dolls for an August Moon with affairs taking place on a remote ireland followed by murders.

Nine Guests For A Crime starts of incredibly sleazy with a few drawn out sex scenes and plenty of female nudity, around half hour in it drops all this (probably for the best) in favour of a more traditional gialli plot. 

Director Fernando Baldi (mostly known for his Spaghetti Westerns Texas, Adios & Blindman) fails to create atmosphere or any level of suspense which really lets this film down in the places where it just has to deliver. The plot is a tried and tested one with the males of the cast for the most part giving pretty solid performances but it rarely ever feels thrilling enough considering its premise. 

It's not a terrible example of the genre but at the same time it's really no surprise that this one has been so forgotten about.

Rating: ★★½

"People are being killed left right & center but who cares.. we have J&B!"