Phantom Of Death

Phantom of Death

Genre: Giallo, Horror, Psychological Thriller

Original title: Un delitto poco comune

Director: Ruggero Deodato

Year: 1988

Police Comissioner Datti is investigating the murder of a female doctor whose murderer seems to be a thirty-fivish year old man. Soon another murder follows: Pianist Robert Dominici's girlfriend is found killed. The killer also challenges Datti on the phone and says he can't be caught since he has a secret which makes him invulnerable. In the meantime the clues seems to point in strange directions

As you can see from the plot summary, Phantom Of Death is a convoluted film with moves into different directions as it goes along. It stars Michael York (Logan's Run, Austin Powers) as Robert Dominici who's girlfriend is murdered early on. He is a suspect & for a while it feels like the classic Gialli setup of a man under suspicion who has to do the investigating himself to find out the killer. The film up this point is pretty gripping, however they make the mistake of moving into a new direction far too early as the killer is revealed and the film progresses into more of a psychological thriller.

Also starring is the queen of Gialli, Edwige Fenech. She plays a fashion designer who is having an affair with Michael York's character and becomes pregnant (even in her early 40s Edwige is still looking fantastic). Then there's Donald Pleasence who is typically (& unsurprisingly) playing the ageing inspector who's doing his best to hunt down the killer. A partner of his is killed later in the picture and he runs around the town center screaming "WHERE ARE YOU, I'LL KILL YOU BASTARD!" which was just classic Pleasence.

The killings are pretty damn gory which is no surprise considering it was directed by Ruggero Deodato who's films rarely ever shy away from the brutal nature of violence. Though make sure you get the version that was originally released in Europe as there's a TV version which removed any said bloodshed leaving the film a much tamer affair.

I think I'd of preferred Phantom Of Death to of remained a more "whodunnit" kind of giallo as the first 40 minutes are pretty gripping and felt like it could of been one of the better late entries to the genre. Once the reveal of the killer is made the film begins to have pacing issues & despite the talent involved, the film slowly fizzles out to an anti-climatic finish. A mixed overall, yet one which has just enough going for it that I'd recommend it cautiously.

Rating: ★★★

Nothing Underneath

Nothing Underneath

Genre: Giallo, Thriller, Mystery

Original title: Sotto il vestito niente

Director: Carlo Vanzina

Year: 1985

Set in Milan, a serial killer uses scissors to assassinate top-models. A park ranger, from Usa, arrives in the city to protect his sister, but she has vanished. The guy will meet a lot of people and will know the (sometimes dangerous) world of international jet-set. But soon the killer will search for him too...

Nothing Underneath is a Giallo I've seen almost only poor reviews of, though after seeing it I think I have to disagree with the majority. It has all the ingredients of a good Giallo even if like most of the films from this period it's heavily Americanised. 

The late 60's to early 70's Gialli now feel like classic affair, they are what we immediately think of when the genre comes to mind. This being slap being in the middle of the 80's does make it feel incredibly incredibly dated, but the film does sum up the excesses of the era really well with the fashion, the catwalks & the cocaine. 

There are some fun characters such as the perverted hotel receptionist who looks through key-holes & sniffs knickers & then there's the legendary Donald Pleasence, playing a detective with a poor European accent & a moustache. Pleasence was never one to turn down a pay-packet & this is another of his 'comes-&-goes' in five minutes bit parts.

It's far off being an essential addition to the Gialli cannon but if you are looking for one of the genre's later efforts that's well shot, well paced, has nicely staged kills & most of all, i fun, then you can't go too wrong with Nothing Underneath.

★★★½

Time for Donald Pleasence to lose the Moustache

Nosferatu in Venice

Nosferatu in Venice

Original Title: Nosferatu a Venezia

Genre: Vampire, Gothic Horror

Director(s) Augusto Caminito, Mario Caiano

Year 1988

Paris Catalano travels to Venice to investigate the last known appearance of Nosferatu  in 1786, yet after a séance the all-powerful vampire returns.

Nosferatu In Venice is an infamous release mostly because of one man, Klaus Kinksi. Batshit crazy or a temperamental genius, which ever way you look at it he must of been an absolute nightmare to work with.

Given that arguably Kinksi's most famous role came in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu The Vampyre it came as no surprise that he'd be approached to revive the character again which he made so unforgettable. So the deal was set for Kinksi to once again transform into the bald headed, chalk-white skinned vampire nine years later in this gothic tale set in Venice. Unfortunately Kinksi arrived on set with a full head of long white hair & made it clear that under no circumstances would he be going through the painful make-up sessions again, so that idea was scrapped & the hair remained. This was possibly the catalyst for a violent argument that Kinksi had with the director Mario Caiano on the very first day, Kinksi then refused to work with him. Caiano left after receiving his full salary, this happening after people had already earlier left the project. Producer Augusto Caminito decided to direct the film for free to save the film from collapsing under financial disaster, its also reported that Kinksi himself ended up directing segments of the picture. To top this off two of the actresses accused Kinksi of assault. This must of been one of many times when producers regretted having Kinksi onboard.

Given all the problems on set it comes as no surprise that the film feels an incoherent mess with pacing issues  & underdeveloped characters, the most notable coming from the legendary Donald Pleasence. He has a few lines of religious mumbo-jumbo & just disappears, it is a completely disposable part & a real waste of talent. That said, the film does have a number of positives that prevent it from being a disaster. First of all you have the location of Venice which is always so beautifully cinematic. The alleyways, crumbling buildings and rivers create a haunting atmosphere, especially in a scene where Kinksi is stood upright on a boat with the mist in the background, it is a visually stunning scene. 

As for Nosferatu, they choose to ignore many of the classic vampire rules, crosses do not effect him & he has no problems with daylight & despite all of Kinksi's problems on set he still manages to portray the character as an incredibly creepy beast that has almost supernatural powers. Vangelis best known for scoring Blade Runner provides added atmosphere with a very gothic sounding score. Usually I'm not fond of  80s scores & whilst he uses many of the instruments & sounds of the era that would usually be a turn off for me they really come together well providing a very gothic feel.

Given the problems on set this film should be a complete monstrosity & despite it being a real mixed bag it has enough positives to make it worthwhile, though it is one I'd only recommend to Kinksi or Vampire completists.

Rating: ★★½

Kinksi, getting his freak-on