Calling All Police Cars

Calling All Police Cars

Genre: Giallo, Poliziotteschi

Original Title: ...A Titte :e Auto Della Polizia...

AKA: Without Trace / The Maniac Responsible

Director: Mario Caiano

Year: 1975

A wealthy Dr's daughter goes missing & the police pull out all the stops to find her

This effort from Mario Caiano is often seen as genre hybrid of Gialli & eurocrime. Though, where something such as What Have They Done To Your Daughters manages to combine the best parts of both genres into a true hybrid, Calling All Police Cars seems to miss out on the important traits & beats that both genre's rely heavily on. This could be seen as a good thing, a film that doesn't get caught into the expected trappings - However, Caiano seems more interested in the details of the case rather than the thrills as we spend the majority of the film trapped in never-ending police procedural's.

The initial set-up is good, often crime films of this era will skip over fleshing out characters in favour of getting straight to the crime, however the time spent with the daughter & her family gave a layer of depth to the story which felt refreshing. After an intriguing initial 20 minutes the daughter has disappeared & then things seem to come to a standstill. Antonio Sabata is cast as the main police chief & is unfortunately wasted, his character isn't given much in the way of story, nor does Sabata get to show off any physicality. 

The plot regards a prostitution ring of school-girls, so of course there is plenty of young looking women in the nude - minus this, & a few graphic murders towards the end the exploitative side of this film is played down in favour of the plot. The problem is that nothing ever really comes to life quite how it should.

Lallo Gori's score is of the pulsating variety & is probably the most exciting thing on offer here. Calling All Police Cars does just about enough to make it a worthwhile watch, however anybody expecting the thrills of a euro-crime, or the kills of a Gialli will probably be disappointed. 

Rating: ★★½

Sabata investigates, & investigates some more.

Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Genre: Giallo, Horror, Thriller, Psychological Horror

Original title: Il rosso segno della follia

AKA: Blood Brides / Red Wedding Night / The Red Mark of Madnes

Director: Mario Bava

Year: 1970

A bridal design shop owner kills various young brides-to-be in an attempt to unlock a repressed childhood trauma that's causing him to commit murder.

I was underwhelmed with this Mario Bava picture. For a giallo it's different as there is no real Who-Done-It, instead we spend the film with the character of John (an unconvincing Stephen Forsyth) as we see him struggle with his own sanity more and more as the film progresses, killing off women along the way. This kind of thing has been done brilliantly in films such as Psycho, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer & Maniac, where the writers choose present us with more of a character study, whilst still offering kills, thrills & spills along the way. Here though, the plot is more geared toward what has caused John to behave this way & is delivered in a drawn out manor which is never as interesting as it should be. 

Mario Bava is an outstanding visual director, the kind that can make a bog standard scene feel alive, unfortunately my major problem with many of his pictures is that I've rarely found him to be a great story-teller. That element of his work always seems to be secondary behind the visuals & this kind of plot suffers in a big way because of it. 

The film does have it's moments though, there's a fantastic scene where John has just killed a women on the top of the stairs & two suspicious investigators come in & start questioning him about some screaming they've heard. Blood begins to slowly drip down the dead womens arm, through her fingers, then slowly drops down the stairs making a gentle splashing sound, this happening closely to where the police are questioning John. The tension built here is really fantastic. That added with a really fantastic score by Sante Maria Romitelli that is used to great effect in the film from the beautiful piece on the opening credits to the briliant loud electric guitar when John's character makes a turn for the worse, it's almost reminiscent of Harmonica's theme in Once Upon A Time In The West how it hits you out of nowhere.

Overall, quite an average Bava picture that I'd only recommend to Gialli obsessives or Bava completests.

Rating: ★★½

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: ★★★

The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire

The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire 

Genre: Giallo

Original title: L' iguana dalla lingua di fuoco

Director: Riccardo Freda

Year: 1971

In Dublin, a young woman is brutally murdered in her home by a maniac that throws acid in her face and then slits her throat with a razor. Her mangled body is later discovered in the boot of a limousine owned by the Swiss Ambassador

A giallo, set in Dublin? An interesting concept & I do enjoy seeing different cities from back in the day unfortunately the following piece of information tells you all you need to know about this picture.

"When the German Co-Producer Artur Brauner saw the finished film, he decided to skip a theatrical release in Germany, just due to the quality of the film which he wasn't satisfied with." 

This sums the entire film up in a nutshell. 

Director Riccardo Freda, who had made a couple of semi-successful gothic horrors in the late 50s to early 60s (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, The Vampires) really failed to ignite any kind of spark with The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire, its poorly put together with shoddy editing, a terrible script & remains completely uninteresting throughout. 

In its defense I did see a pretty shoddy print of the film which was terribly dubbed but I can't imagine a pristine copy of this film being able to prevent pure boredom.

There were a few positives, the Stelvio Cipriani score was pretty solid & the amount of gore was surprisingly high (even for a giallo) but then you could argue that it was only inserted to try and cover up the fact the film has zero suspense. Then there was enough talent in the cast from Dagmar Lassander to Werner Pochath & Luigi Pistilli (playing an Irishman!) that it perhaps should of been a decent film but everything is so poorly executed that all their performances feel redundant. 

It's not very often I really struggle to finish a film, even the bad ones I usually find some sort of enjoyment value from but this is a case where the film drags on for what feels like an eternity & you ask yourself afterwards why you even bothered to finish it. 

Rating: ★½

Paddy Pistilli

Knife Of Ice

Knife Of Ice

Genre: Giallo

Original title: Il coltello di ghiaccio

Director: Umberto Lenzi

Year: 1972

Martha Caldwell is a mute traumatized by her parents death in a railway accident. Whilst staying at her uncles home somebody begins killing people she knows off one by one.

This really is an unmemorable Giallo in almost every way. Director Umberto Lenzi who usually delivers nasty, gruesome & sleazy flicks plays this one surprisingly tame from start to finish. Any kills are pretty much shown off camera which wouldn't be a problem if the story was captivating & engaging, but it's far from that. It's the sort of film which may of got a pass from me had it made up for its shortcomings in its predictable plot by piling on the violence & nudity but it remains frustratingly uneventful throughout. 

It stars Carroll Baker who has appeared in hugely successful pictures such as How The West Was Won & Kindergarten Cop though she also appeared in a handful of Gialli such as Orgasmo & A Quiet Place To Kill so is not stranger to the genre. She spends most the film struggling to communicate with people as the murders are happening. It is a serviceable performance, though she benefits from having her character be a mute so she doesn't have to work with the horrible dialogue that the rest of the cast were doomed to deliver. 

I did enjoy the use of weather throughout. There are some nice scenes of fog & thunderstorms that create the little atmosphere that the picture generates but with its sluggish pace nothing in this picture ever feels like it really gets going. 

One of Lenzi's poorer attempts & one that is so forgettable that an hour into the film I began to realise that I'd seen the film only two years previously.

Rating: ★★

It can't be much fun talking to Carroll Baker on the phone

Man Without a Memory

Man Without A Memory

Genre: Giallo, Mystery

Original title: L' uomo senza memoria

AKA: Puzzle

Director: Duccio Tessari

Year: 1974

A man can't remember who he is and now thugs are after him for something he hid... and he doesn't know where it is, let alone what it is

Luc Merenda who is known mostly by Gialli fans for his role in Sergio Martino's Torso plays a man named Edward who has lost his memory in a near fatal car crash in London. He is linked back to his wife who lives by the coast in Italy by some bizarre circumstances. Other characters come into the picture and claim to know Edward but we can never be sure if what we are hearing is the truth. 

There are only six main characters in this film yet they are all well written & integral parts to this picture. Legendary Italian character actor Bruno Corazzari (who appeared in so many Italian productions in the 60s & 70s) plays a real menace & then there's Anita Strindberg who whilst isn't on screen a great deal plays a big part in moving this picture forward. Elsewhere there's a straight talking child actor who is pretty hilarious with his responses at times, a rarity for Gialli as quite often child actors can be incredibly annoying.

Man Without A Memory (more commonly known as Puzzle in most parts of the world) has Gialli elements but those who like their Gialli to have plenty of violence, blood & flesh may be disappointed. This picture decides to take it's time seeing out a well written script with some fleshed out characters. It's a slow burner, yet is always engaging & builds up nicely to a really explosive final few minutes with its thrills & reveals. An overlooked gem which is almost Hitchcockian in it's delivery.

Rating: 

★★★★

The Italian Chainsaw Massacre

Murder Rock

Murder Rock

Genre: Giallo, Slasher

original title: Murderock - Uccide a passo di danza

AKA: Murder Rock: Dancing Death

Director: lucio Fulci

Year: 1984

The owner of a prestigious New York ballet school teams up with a male model to solve a series of bizarre murders of a few of the students

I'm not the worlds greatest Lucio Fulci fan to start with, most of his 'golden period' is a bit take it or leave it with me so I had little expectations for one of his films from as late as '84, however, It turned out to be better than I'd imagined. 

Given the success of Flashdance the year before in typical Italian style they decided to base the plot around a dance school. As you can imagine, the dance scenes are pure cheese with a soundtrack to match it's eightiesness. Also despite being often called a Giallo I'd argue that this sits more comfortably in the slasher genre as the influence of the American films of the time really shows here.

For a fulci film the violence was surprisingly tame. The kills, whilst shot well, barely showed any gore & were always over quickly. Something I cannot deny about Fulci's films are his unique visual style which I have to admire. Here we are treated to a really trippy dream sequence which is the films best shot sequence. 

The first third of the film is pretty entertaining, unfortunately it loses steam shortly after & kind of just fizzles out with a not very believable reveal towards the end. It's not the atrocity I was expecting, quite enjoyable at times yet too many problems throughout really prevent the film from being the entertaining flick that it perhaps should of been.

Rating: ★★½

One sweaty workout.

My Dear Killer

My Dear Killer

Genre: Giallo, Horror

Original title: Mio caro assassino

AKA: Time To Kill, Darling

Director: Tonino Valerii

Year: 1972

A mysterious decapitation leads Inspector Peretti into a case of blackmail, deceit and the unsolved kidnapping of a young girl.

My Dear Killer directed by Tonino Valerii (best known for being the screenwriter & assistant director on A Fistful Of Dollars) is decent yet hugely disappointing Giallo from the genre's peak period. 

The film starts off well with one of the most imaginative kills I've ever seen with a really well shot decapitation by way of a giant crane! There's also a spectacularly gory killing of a schoolteacher by way of a power-drill which is fantastic in its execution. Unfortunately in terms of blood & thrills theres barely anything else worth mentioning. 

Gialli superstar George Hilton is the lead here, what should of been more appropriately titled George Hilton Investigates as a good 90% of the film is exactly that. Hilton tries to pull the pieces together to find a missing school girl whilst each time he gets nearer a witness is taken out. He'd give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money with his clue solving. Some of this is entertaining however, there's just so fucking much of it! Questioning, investigating, plot, plot, plot, it never lets up. Even the final 10 minutes is anticlimactic with Hilton revealing the ridiculous plot in a room full of suspects until he reveals the killer & the film ends

. 

Ennio Morricone provided the score although my must say it's not one of his more memorable ones. It works best in tension filled scenes with a jarring type of quality but unfortunately there's not enough moments in the film for the score to blossom like it perhaps should have. 

This review probably sounds like I disliked the film, I didn't. There are some really great moments in here, Hilton is never dull despite his characters constant questioning & despite there only been limited kills the ones we get are incredibly memorable. 

My Dear Killer had many of the elements needed for a great Giallo in place however it didn't hit the sweet spot nearly as often as it should of.

Rating: ★★★

George Hilton Investigates, again & again & again.

A Black Veil for Lisa

A Black Veil for Lisa

Genre: Giallo / Crime

Original title: La morte non ha sesso

AKA: Death Has No Sex

Director: Massimo Dallamano

Year: 1968

An aging policeman is investigating a string of murders. He is also suspicious of his beautiful young wife, believing that she may be cheating.

A Black Veil For Lisa is Massimo Dallamano's second picture & his first dip into the Gialli genre. Like his most popular gialli What Have They Done To Solange? the film has much more depth than your standard Giallo mixing euro-crime elements into the mix. Also being an early entry into the genre the film concentrates on a complex script rather than giving us any of the gore & sex you'd expect from later entries from the giallo cannon.

It stars the well respected English actor John Mills, a man who was in everything from Great Expectations, to  Mr Bean, to Ghandi! Its not often that you'll find a 'Sir' in Italian genre cinema thats for sure. He plays Inspector Bulon, a man investigating a string of murders but isn't fully committed to his job as he constantly has one eye on his younger wife Lisa who's played by former Bond girl Luciana Paluzzi. Surprisingly, the murderer is revealed early on in the picture, Max Lindt played by Robert Hoffmann who's best known for his part in Umberto Lenzi's Spasmo plays a cold blooded assassin. So instead of the classic 'whodunnit' story we are presented with three well written characters which become more complex as the film progresses with its noir style themes.

It's a film where its best to go into completely cold, the IMDB plot Synopsis (shamefully) pretty much gives the entire film away. All I'll say is that the three lead characters paths cross in different ways throughout the film to create a really tense crime picture that gathers momentum as the plot thickens. In some ways it reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy which would come out four years after this picture.

The print I saw had a hissy English soundtrack which cut into the Italian soundtrack at times, presumably because the English dub was originally cut in places so with the scenes which had been put back in had no English dub available but it was no big deal.

This is a hugely underrated Massimo Dallamano film, his Gialli were unlike anybody else's with so much emphasis put on the actual crime & police procedure. Visually it doesn't match some of his later work but in terms of a brilliantly written characters with & thrilling story you can't go very wrong with seeking this gem out. 

Rating: ★★★½

                              

Naked You Die

Naked You Die

Genre: Giallo

Original title: Nude... si muore

AKA: The Miniskirt Murders, The Young, the Evil & the Savage 

Director: Antonio Margheriti

Year: 1968

 A group of young students are stalked by a leather-gloved killer at an exclusive girl's school. As the bodies pile up, and the list of possible murderers grows longer.

This is a very much toned down & light-hearted Giall from director Antonio Margheriti which takes place in a private girls school. Now, many films of the genre have this kind of premise and deliberately take advantage of this with tons of sex & flesh on show however Naked You Die always remains restrained. Even the kills were left more to the imagination or just very graphically light. Had this script been made a couple of years later it'd of been a completely different picture. 

If the film lacks on the exploitive side of things it does deliver a engaging mystery/thriller plot which is helped by a really fun set of characters that always keep things ticking along nicely. Also, being from '68 you get a very swinging sounding soundtrack with an opening theme that wouldn't sound out of place on a James Bond Bond film. 

It's a decent example of a late 60's Giallo that relies more on it's well written script rather than any visual thrills that the genre would soon be so famous for.

Rating: ★★★

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

Genre: Giallo, Horror

Original title: La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba

AKA: The Night She Arose From the Tomb 

Director: Emilio Miraglia

Year: 1971

A wealthy pervert traumatized by the loss of his cheating wife lures beautiful redheaded young women to his castle & kills them off one by one whilst people close to him aren't the friends he believes them to be.

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is a slow burning film that mixes elements of the Giallo genre with the classic Gothic setting. It's a little bit bloated in the middle and definitely could of done with 15-20 minutes cut off but overall it's a pretty solid picture with some nice camera work. I felt it could of done with one or two better known faces from the era to elevate the picture however the performances are all serviceable enough & there's some nice yet restrained flair from the direction of Emilio Miraglia. 

The highlight is definitely the score by Bruno Nicolai who most notably worked alongside Morricone as conductor on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 

However, there is a lack of thrills & whilst the twists are believable & not too over the top they never seem to be delivered with any kind of emotional punch. Despite it's flaws it holds up as a pretty solid mix of gothic horror & Giallo. I'd recommend checking out Miraglia's only other Gialli, Red Queen Kills 7 Times, which overall is a much well rounded & entertaining picture.

Rating: ★★★

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!"

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

The Perfume of the Lady in Black

The Perfume of the Lady in Black

Genre: Giallo, Psychological Horror, Thriller

Original title: Il profumo della signora in nero

Director: Francesco Barilli

Year: 1974

Sylvia, an industrial scientist, is troubled by strange hallucinations related to the tragic suicide of her mother

The Perfume Lady In Black is a wonderful, slow burning Psychological Horror in the mould of greats such as Polanski & Hitchcock. It's executed with such style, elegance & conviction by director Francesco Barilli that it can proudly stand aside the works of those great film-makers. It's a damn shame that Francesco Barilli only did one other Giallo (Who Saw Her Die?) as judging from this film alone he could of been up there with the Argento's & Martino's of this world had he made a few more Gialli of this quality.

We see the majority of the film through the eyes of Sylvia played by the lovely Mimsy Farmer who is no stranger to Italian productions having starred in Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet a few years earlier. Sylvia is haunted by her past & strange occurrences are constantly happening in her life putting her more and more on edge as we go along. 

The cinematography & location work on this picture are truly magnificent, the story takes it's time & doesn't result to gory kills or sex to get it's point across, it doesn't need too. 

I do feel about an hour into the film it kind of lost it's way a little. It becomes kind of obvious where the story is heading & we have to hang about to see it out. It's never dull but it just feels like you are waiting for the inevitable. 

However, the final couple of minutes we are presented with a really shocking and gruesome ending which completely caught me off guard & was brilliantly done.

An all round well executed classic story which I think people that either dislike the genre or aren't accustomed to Gialli flicks will get alot out from.

Rating: ★★★★

Mimsy Farmer in her best performance

Plot Of Fear

Plot Of Fear

Genre: Giallo

Original title: ...e tanta paura

AKA: Too Much Fear

Director: Paolo Cavara

Year: 1976

Illustration's from a children's book are found next to victims of a series of murders

Paolo Cavara is best known for The Black Belly of the Tarantula, he also directed Plot Of Fear which appears to be of almost forgotten about which is a shame as it's a pretty decent ride.

A mix of Giallo & cop-thriller, Plot Of Fear sees members of some weird swinging sex-club being murdered. In one scene they sit around giving out handjobs whilst watching some bizarre cartoon porn, this whilst a chimpanzee is in the room watching, it's that kind of film. 

I was really impressed with Michele Placido who plays Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo, alot of humour in his performance that actually worked. The first half is really tight but it slowly loses some steam after that which caused me to lose interest in the plot (no pun intended) but despite its faults it's a solid Giallo which deserves to be remembered more fondly than it currently is.

Rating: ★★★

Groovy CCTV

Primal Impulse

Primal Impulse

Genre: Giallo, Psychological Thriller, Mystery

Original Title: Le Orme

AKA: Footprints / Footprints on the Moon

Director: Luigi Bazzoni

Year: 1975

A woman is tormented by strange dreams of astronauts on the moon. She visits a deserted seaside town whose inhabitants know her even though she does not know them.

Le Orme [Footprints/Primal Impulse] is a completely unique oddity in the gialli genre. It is such a radical departure from the norm that it's probably debatable to whether it is actually one or not. 

We spend almost the entire film with the character of Alice as she tries to piece together three days of her life that have completely disappeared from her memory. She is played wonderfully by Brazilian actress Florinda Bolkan who also appears in Don't Torture a Duckling & A Lizard in a Woman's Skin. She perfectly conveys the confusion & isolation that her character is feeling, often just through her facial expressions. 

We get some trippy sci-fi flashbacks through her eyes of a man being dumped on the moon & a few scenes with none other than Klaus Kinski. The trailer sold this as some kind of Giallo in space with Klaus Kinski, so on that front it is disappointing as this is just a tiny fraction of the film, Kinksi must have no more than a couple of minutes screen time in this picture. 

The beginning of this unusual flick is done really wonderfully. Alice is constantly surrounded by huge buildings overlooking her which creates an uneasy claustrophobic atmosphere that is often very quiet and eerie. There's a real gentle score which just adds to the mood that the visuals have already supplied. The film moves onto small tourist location of Garma & here she meets people who have spent time with her during her lost period. It's all done in a very ambiguous manor and we see the entire film through this one character. It works for a while but unfortunately this formula is repeated for the rest of the movie and loses momentum half way through the picture. Fortunately the film is beautifully shot and remains visually engaging even if the plot outstays it's welcome.  The film fizzles out with a confusing ending which is left open to interpretation to the viewer.   

I can definitely see the cult appear to a film like this, it is one which may possibly become clearer on repeated viewings. If you want a giallo that is a bit different to the norm then it's one well worth seeking out.

Rating: ★★★½

Florinda Bolkan, a very confused woman.

Red Queen Kills 7 Times

Red Queen Kills 7 Times

Genre: Giallo, Horror

Original title: La dama rossa uccide sette volte

AKA: The Corpse Which Didn't Want to Die

Director: Emilio Miraglia

Year: 1972

Two sisters, Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) and Evelyn, are cursed by a family painting depicting a seven year-cycle in which a Red Queen is raised from the dead to kill seven times. After Evelyn seemingly perishes and multiple killings ensue, their niece Franziska (Marina Malfatti) and Kitty start to suspect that Evelyn may be the Red Queen.

A year after directing The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave, Emilio Miraglia made his second (& final) Gialli which once again featured a character called Evelyn coming back from the grave.. or has she? 

The problems with his first film were down to pacing issues & a general lack of thrills, this time around Miraglia almost hits the nail on the head. Once again there is a absolutely fantastic Bruno Nicolai score. 

Barbara Bouchet & a very naked Sybil Danning provide the sex appeal & there's some really good kills scattered throughout the film with a story that actually works & is engaging. Sure it all leads an overly ambitious reveal at the end that is as ridiculous as it is outrageous, but that's one of the traits of the genre so you have to kind of accept how far fetched it is. 

After such a vast improvement in just a year from his first attempt it's a damn shame Emilio Miraglia never got to make a third Evelyn film to create a trilogy as further improvement could of seen him make a real classic.

Rating: ★★★½

Red Queen, an overlooked gem

Slaughter Hotel

Slaughter Hotel

Genre: Giallo, Exploitation

Original Title: La bestia uccide a sangue freddo

AKA: The Beast Kills in Cold Blood / Asylum Erotica

Director: Fernando Di Leo

Year: 1971

A masked killer stalks an institution for mentally disturbed rich women

This is often listed under the Giallo genre but I'm not so sure it deserves to be there. This is pure exploitation, it boarders into erotic-film territory with full on female masturbation scenes & has more of a slasher feel than you'd expect from a film from 1971.

Top of the films bill is the legendary Klaus Kinski, which is the main reason I wanted to see it. He is an actor who can be absolutely mesmerizing, unfortunately here he's clearly cashing in a Cheque. He's only on screen for maybe 15 minutes in the whole picture and doesn't really do anything of any importance. A real waste. 

The films major problem is, shockingly, director Fernando Di Leo. For someone who's directed the cream of the Poliziotteschi genre I can't believe he could shoot a film so poorly as he manages to here. There's zero attempt to do anything interesting with the camera & scenes which should be tension filled just go on forever.  He somehow makes a game of Croquet look even more boring than it already is. 

There's some entertaining characters, you've got a nymph who tries to fuck anything walking in the hospital who finally gets her way with the gardener, we are then treated to a really awkward sex scene which lasts far too long. When someone comes in & the nymph won't leave him alone he gives her a good old fashioned Italian slapping. Then there's plenty of pure exploitive scenes including a Lesbian scene which they build up forever with so much flesh nothing is left to the imagination.

It's pure sleaze from start to finish, which unfortunately is for the most part incredibly poorly executed. It's one for the Exploitation fan more than the Gialli crowd. It's a pretty bad film & entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

Rating: ★★

Nymph's, Lesbians & rich women.

Spasmo

Spasmo

Director: Umberto Lenzi

Year: 1974

Christian and his girlfriend are taking a walk on a deserted beach when they discover a woman's body lying. A closer look proves that she's alive. The next day Christian meets her again at a yacht party and they fall in love. Later at a nearby motel, something weird happens as they prepare to go to bed together: An intruder breaks in and starts beating Christian who accidentally shoots him with his own gun. A few hours later they find out that the corpse is missing and a series of weird incidents takes place.

Spasmo is quite an odd film that doesn't make sense very often, the dialogue is ridiculous in places & then there are the latex dummies which are constantly being hung & stabbed, yet never seem to play an important part in the film. 

This is a pretty confusing Umberto Lenzi flick starring Robert Hoffmann & Suzy Kendall. The Ennio Morricone score didn't have the most memorable theme but really came to life in the more tension felt scenes, very disorientating at times. The twists in the final 15-20 minutes keep coming and coming in a what-the-fuck kinda way. 

That said, Spasmo remains a unique and highly entertaining Giallo despite it's many flaws, it may be incoherent with a daft plot but this oddity somehow delivers the goods.

★★★½

Suzy Kendall being strangled, as usual.

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh

Genre: Giallo, Erotic Thriller

Original Title: Lo strano vizio della signora Wardh

AKA: The Next Victim! / Blade of the Ripper

Director: Sergio Martino 

Year: 1971

An ambassador's wife discovers that one of the men in her life - either her husband, an ex-lover or her current lover - may be a vicious serial killer.

This Sergio Martino picture goes by many different names, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh. Blade of the Ripper, Next! & The Next Victim. This is Martino's first Gialli & is fine first attempt that combines all the classic Gialli trademarks & pairs the King & queen of the genre, George Hilton & Edwige Fenech together. 

The director's camera flair is there, the exotic locations, the beautifully shot kills & Fenech's body is constantly on show. For some reason I prefer most of Martino's other Gialli to this, though this is definitely one I want to revisit as I feel a second viewing could benefit my enjoyment of the film.

Rating: ★★★½

The ever creepy Ivan Rassimov.