hae13400 Reviews

Death Walks at Midnight (1972)

The Pretty Disappointing

[5/10 · 5 March 2004]

A fashion model, Valentina, participated in a pharmacological experiment which was supervised by Prof.Donatti. But during the experiment, she impermanently got some kind of extrasensory power and unwillingly saw a middle-aged man murder a young woman. And because a journalist, who recorded the whole experiment, sensationally wrote an article about the witness, the murderer realises Valentina saw his-or-her crime... This is the third Giallo film by Luciano Ercoli and, sadly enough, I have to say this one is pretty disappointing partly because it is nothing but an ill-organised comedy-tasted film full of stupidities and therefore it has neither Giallish tensity nor intensity, and partly because it simply lacks originality. For instance, the weapon the killer pseudo-characteristically uses in this film is the same thing as the killer in L'ARTIGLIO BLU (1968) used. Overall, although this 1973 film is not the worst, it is much worse than LA MORTE CAMMINA CON I TACCHI ALTI (1972) which is the director's second Giallo.

My Wife, a Body to Love (1973)

The Rather Small-Scaled But Unique Giallo

[8/10 · 4 March 2004]

A successful businessman, Paolo, has a beautiful wife named Simona whom he profoundly loves in his own way. But he isn't and can't be happy because Simona is the nymphomaniac who is busy with extramarital intercourse, and Paolo sometimes dreams of killing her. And now a young man named Marco interferes their (or better to say, his) married life, and the three cumulatively begin to think how to eliminate one's own obstacle... This is rather small-scaled but unique Giallo film. It is unique mainly because its leading figure is a nymphomaniac whom Antonella Murgia characteristically plays. And the most impressive element this film has is nothing but the Giorgio Gaslini's unforgettable music which adequately expresses the sexual tensions between the heroine and her men, and beautifully colours and heightens the film's psychological dimension. Overall, this film is neither particularly excellent nor violent but still above-average Giallo which has the uniqueness, and seems to be suitable at least for the die-hard Giallo lover like me.

White Fury (1989)

The Laughably Cheap

[3/10 · 11 October 2003]

Eldora, Colorado. There are two young couples, namely, Danny, the award-winning snowboarder and his lover Christine, and Greg, the award-loosing snowboarder and his new girlfriend Lesley. And the four go to the villa of Danny's uncle. And in the city of Boulder, Colorado, there is a group of bank robbers, namely, Tyler, Marcus and Marvin. They kill sixteen people in the bank and, after Tyler executes Marvin for the wrong information about the bank, go to the problematic villa in Eldora...

First of all, it should be stressed this action film is laughably cheap and therefore neither building nor vehicle is cinematically destroyed. When the robbers wildly machine-gun in the bank, the building is, strangely enough, not damaged at all. And when the snowmobile is close to the explosion point, it transforms into a toy. And the screenplay is so unrealistic that every civilian character in this film knows how to use the bazooka, and every weapon has countless bullets. To make matters worse, the direction is too naive to make any kind of suspense, cinematography is TV-like, music is amateurish, dialogue is stereo-typed, and acting is simply bad. For good or bad, this film has two young actresses, namely, Christine Shinn and Chasity Hammons, who play almost opposite types of post-feministic girl. And partly because the two are not desirably beautiful, and partly because their acting is pretty bad, it can be said they have some familiarness rather than attractiveness. But that's all this film has, and even their familiarness is too weak to make the film recommendable.

Il delitto di Via Monte Parioli (1998)

A Little Over-Modernised Giallo

[7/10 · 22 July 2003]

In the city of Rome, Mirko Reggiani is not only a university student who can't happily graduate from the university but also an amateur and only one detective of MARLOV & CO. One day he meets a beautiful fair lady in a department store and falls immediately in love with her, but his best female friend hinders him. Soon, in a rather strange way, Mirko meets the lady, who is actually an unhappy housewife named Vera Grimaldi, again. Unfortunately it is not a happy reunion; both Mirko and Vera are deeply and almost independently trapped in a twisted web of vicious crime... This Italian film is influenced by the notorious BASIC INSTINCT, only in point that there is a crucial key in the middle of the carnal-activity-with-homicide. Actually, in the prologue of this film, which is a carnal rather than love sequence, the audience can fragmentally see and hear the criminal, but hardly understands what is precisely going on there and therefore hardly knows who the problematic criminal is. And interestingly enough, the sequence of this film is structurally much more complex than that of BASIC INSTINCT, and it shows the criminal both visually and extra-visually, rather than simply audio-visually. And except for the limited influence of the US film, this Italian film is nothing but a Giallo which has characteristic beauties, twisted web of vicious crime with double crosses, Euro-tasted music (by the popular Southern-Italian musical group, AGRICANTUS), and surprisingly identified murderer. And it should be added that the Polish beauty, Katarina Vasilissa, provides not a few nude scenes. Still it seems to be difficult to say this film is a typically Giallish one; in short, this 1998 film is too modern to be typical mainly because of the simple fact that the hero, Mirko Reggiani, is not only long-haired but also anti-social kid who always eats junk food and habitually plays with his favourite yo-yo. Consequently, although this is not particularly bad film, it seems to be inevitable that the director's 1995 Giallo masterpiece, LA STRANA STORIA DI OLGA "O" is much better than this a little over-modernised one.

The Man with Icy Eyes (1971)

A pre-TRUE-CRIME Giallo

[15 June 2003]

An Arizona State Senator named Neil Robertson is murdered in front of his house, and the local police arrest a male suspect who has icy eyes. Then an Italian journalist, who is obliged to use somehow Americanised name, Eddie Mills, finds a strip-teaser named Anne, who seems to be a witness of the murder. And, partly because Anne testifies against the accused, the man with icy eyes is found guilty. But soon Eddie realised something wrong with the whole case... First of all, I want to say this film is not particularly bad. Indeed, this one is much better than the director's 1972 Giallo titled SCENES FROM A MURDER. However, this film doesn't seem to be a masterpiece mainly because its latter half is almost exclusively concerned with HOW TO STOP THE WRONG EXECUTION. Consequently, in proportion as the story develops, apparently most important question, namely, WHO IS THE ACTUAL KILLER?, becomes less and less important. Indeed, this film as a whole doesn't seem to be serious about the question. Furthermore, the last sequence of this film is much less suspenseful than that of Robert Wise's 1958 film, I WANT TO LIVE!, though these are concerned essentially with the same. And I think this being-less-suspenseful in the most important sequence is due to the director's almost characteristically paced direction rather than to the story-and-screenplay themselves. And, instead of the cinematic tension I WANT TO LIVE! has, this film has the rather (unnaturally) theatrical, like the scene in which Eddie and his partner, Hammond, are attacked by some robber just 20 minutes before the execution. Here, it seems to be natural to add this film more or less resembles Clint Eastwood's 1999 film, TRUE CRIME. However, this 1971 Giallo is much better than the 1999 junk. Indeed, as mentioned above, I don't think this film per se is not particularly bad one mainly because it has a unique element, namely, astrology. The film has a astrologer named Isaac Thetham, and he prophesies there will be two unidentified dead persons by midnight. (The execution is planed to be done at the very midnight.) The leading character, Eddie Mills, doesn't believe such a story, but soon he realises the astrologer's words become to be truthful. And this film almost surprisingly succeeds in using astrology effectively. Incidentally, for good or bad, Barbara Bouchet is rather manor in this film, even though she is the second person in the cast section of the credits of the very film. Her character, Anne, sometimes seems to be important, but ultimately she is nothing but decorative. So it can be said this is not a right film at least for the serious Bouchet fans.

High School Spirits (1986)

Is This Really A Rarity?

[3/10 · 12 June 2003]

An university graduate, Kyle Skudstad, and his buddy named Andy (both are the members of SCIENCE CLUB) go to the FULTON HOUSE (a.k.a. DEATH HOUSE), and succeed in taking photographs of the ghost of Joshua Fulton who was killed in its loo (actually, this old man was attacked, stupidly enough, by the spiders in the chamber pot!). But then, strangely enough, their teacher, Dr. Dick S. Blunt, somehow confiscates these photos... My American Friends and I were forced ourselves to find this 1986 film (of which filming location is Springville, Utah) simply because not a few informative-but-not-always-trustworthy literatures seemed to assert this film was nothing but a rarity which one could hardly find. (But, actually speaking, one could and can rather easily find this American film at least in Portugal and Japan where each subtitled VHS was rather broadly released.) And now, I can tell this film, which is heavily influenced by GHOST BUSTERS, is not particularly boring but cheap and almost nonsense junk of silliness, and therefore I have almost nothing say about it. Still, mainly because some of my friends seemed to find themselves liking (if not loving) this one, I want to add something interpretative. As mentioned above, I don't think this film is particularly boring simply because it is almost continuously and even self-destructively full of jokes. But, problematically enough (though it also has rather harmless but less laughable parodies of PSYCHO, THE EXORCIST, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and, of course, GHOST BUSTERS) most of these jokes are directly and/or indirectly made based upon a simple (fictional) fact that the leading character, Kyle Skudstad, is a seriously virginal (rather than simply shy) and therefore funny man. That means the very source and/or centre of almost every jokes this film has is nothing but one person's virginity. Here, although I don't really care whether John Doe (or Jane Doe) is a virgin or not, I want to say one's virginity is definitely not a laughing matter. (Partly because there are some philosophical theories which insist one's virginity is nothing but an expression of his-or-her choice through his-or-her responsibility for his-or-her-own belief and/or even emotion. But this not right time and/or place to develop so-called PHILOSOPHY-OF-VIRGINITY.) But, even instead of the problematic unwholesomeness this film as a whole has, I can admit Neil LaBute is an almost surprisingly talented comedian. Because of the above mentioned virginity, his character, Kyle Skudstad, has almost unnaturally limited expressiveness and therefore not only visually but also interpersonally funny. Furthermore, interestingly enough, this character is almost fanatically crazy about golf. Needless to say, according to the Freudian psychoanalysis, his golf is substituting for his (interpersonal) sexual activity, and LaBute effectively, it not superbly, expresses this substitutiveness. So it can be said that if one can (like my friends could) simply enjoy his acting, there is a possibility he-or-she finds himself-or-herself liking or even loving this film.

Gli assassini sono nostri ospiti (1974)

An Interestingly Developability-Oriented Giallo

[9/10 · 8 June 2003]

In the city of Milan, a criminal group rob a jewellery shop named JOYERIA'S JEWELLERY. And, in spite of an adequate success in the robbery itself, some unexpected accidents happen to the members, and three of them (including the injured member named Franco) are obliged to find and go to the house of Dr. Guido Malerva. But, mainly after the late arrival of another member named Eddie, some troublesome people begin to visit the house... I think this is rather a unique Giallo film, even though its visibly-indoor-but-at-the-same-time-invisibly-outdoor sequences seem to be the same kind of those of Enzo G. Castellari's COLD EYES OF FEAR. Indeed, unlike the rather static COLD EYES OF FEAR, this one has something much more twistedly dynamic; after the arrivals of the criminal group, not only its original members but also Dr. Malerva and his blonde wife, Mara, unwillingly become the members of an extended and inevitably tensional indoor group. And the interpersonal relationships in this indoor group seem to continuously develop based upon a psychological fact that there are both conscious and unconscious emotional forces underlying behaviour in a group. Here, interestingly enough, Mara somehow almost one-sidedly falls in love with Oriana, the only one female member of the criminal group, and the lesbian love-scene between these two, which effectively expresses the instantaneously reflecting power of their desire, is not only the most impressive one this film has (and it should be added it is expressed in some binary way which consists of the directly female-homosexual and the indirectedly bisexual), but also the apparently prime mover of the latter half of the story, where almost every main character seems to personalise the highly influential lesbianism. And almost symmetrical attractiveness of the cool-and-almost-icy beautifulness of Margaret Lee, who plays Oriana, and the rather-warm-and-friendly charmingness of Livia Cerini, who plays Mara, creates a highly aesthetic rather than simply carnal lesbianism. Furthermore, there is a calculatedly invisible rather than simply potential couple in the indoor group. In short, the whole story of this film is full of the suspenseful developability, and is enriched by Roberto Rizzo's not theatrical but appropriate music. Here, for the sake of fairness, I have to add this 1974 film is not a gory one. It has shootings, injures, deaths and consequently some blood, but the film as a whole has no noteworthy gore. In conclusion, it can be said this is a high-qualitative story-developability-oriented film, and is recommendable even for the serious Giallo-lovers, but not for the gore-lovers.

The Lion's Share (1985)

Can This Be Called A Typical Giallo?

[7/10 · 1 June 2003]

A traumatised and suspended overbearing Italian cop, Marco Borelli, returns to his home-town, Sun City, RSA (Republic of South Africa), and begins to high-handedly investigate the mysterious death of his father, which is the very cause of his life-long trauma (actually, the young Marco saw his father was attacked by someone and consequently eaten by lions !). And soon, Marco's Roman partner, Enzo Gatti, shows himself to help Marco to figure out who attacked and let the lions eat his father... Although I believe I'm one of the serious Giallo-lovers, I had not even realised the very existence of this Italian-German-RSA co-produced film until my Afrikaans friend, who is also crazy about Gialli, introduced it to me. And now I have to say sorry for our disagreement that, though she is almost proudly announcing this is a typical Giallo which unusually sets in RSA, I can hardly think so. On the contrary, I have to say this is not a typical Giallo at all. Actually, this film doesn't have so-called Giallish elements, like homicide-maniac(s), serial-murders, highly-cinema-graphically expressed violence, and not-only-always-beautiful-but-also-occasionally-naked female characters. Instead of these, this one has the revengeful cop, rather usual influential-bad-guys, and drug-addicted and tired women. Indeed, it can be said the world of this film is essentially not only of the simply male-centric but also of the potentially male-homosexual, which regards women as the passive and static rather than the actively living. And furthermore, it should be said what this film has seems to be anti-South-Africanism rather than South-Africanism. For instance, the film-makers describe Sun City as the miniaturised and simplified Las Vegas or Reno at its worst. (And it should be added this 1973 film has strange ignorance of apparently inescapable problem of so-called apartheid.) To make matters worse, the action sequences of this film are unacceptably cheap, and self-destructively spoil the whole to a certain degree. Especially, the apparently unnecessary karate scene of the last sequence is incredibly amateurish and laughable. (After all, there is an uncomfortable possibility that this 1973 film is badly influenced by ENTER THE DRAGON.) Still, I don't think this film as a whole is not particularly bad mainly because of its very last scene which has almost unexpectedly astonishing impact. Indeed, in the 90% of this film, I could hardly understand the necessity of the very existence of Enzo Gatti, whom Venantino Venantini characteristically played, and even thought he was nothing but an unnecessarily added character, but now I can tell he is, at least in a sense, the most indispensable enriching character in this film. So, ultimately, it should be stressed the film-makers trustworthily know how to end the film dramatically. In conclusion, I can say this is a film which is not apparently recommendable to the serious Giallo-lovers but is adequately recommendable to the general thriller-lovers.

Shadows Unseen (1972)

Not a Giallo But a Great film

[9/10 · 30 May 2003]

On one night, a journalist named Enrico Galiardin was attacked and killed by not a few people. And then, Inspector Luca Micheli begins to investigate, and somehow finds a suspect named Delogo. But, though the suspect himself confesses that he murdered Galiardin, Micheli doesn't and can't believe he did by himself. So he keeps investigating under the troublesome circumstances that both some crime organisation and the police itself force him closing the case with the only one suspect... Some apparently informative literatures seem to innocently presuppose this Italian film is a Giallo (and, strangely enough, their treatments seem to be all too brief), I don't and can't think so. On the contrary, I think this is nothing but a political drama with an unusually serious police officer, which excludes so-called Giallish elements. And, though this film betrays me exclusively because it is not a Gallio at all, I believe this is a simply great film. Concretely, the strength of this film lies mainly in two and independent powerfulness; its passionately and almost fanatically serious leading character, Inspector Luca Micheli, whom Frederick Stafford superbly plays, (indeed, this male character is too serious to be realistic and therefore has not only unacceptably official but also tragically marital/familial dysfunctions, and at the same time he is so powerful that does not perform a series of actions one after another but at one stoke brings about a series of events one after another), and Riz Ortolani's highly impressive music (his music is, of course, not event(s) and therefore do not straightforwardly enter into the casual relations, but is so powerful that can bring about event(s).) And furthermore, the director, Camillo Bazzaoni, has trustworthy talent for making each scene impressive. Especially, I am unexpectedly and almost astonishedly impressed by the aesthetic violentness of the last scene, which is adequately heightened and enriched by Ortolani's music. And here, as one of the Giallo-lovers, I want to add that the aesthetics of the last scene of this film has some interesting similarity to that of Dario Argento's FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. In conclusion, I can say this film is a great one which is recommendable to the general Italian-film-lovers rather than to the Giallo-lovers.

L'uomo più velenoso del cobra (1971)

One of the Weakest Gialli I Have Ever Seen

[6/10 · 30 May 2003]

When Johnny Garden was murdered, his fiancee, Leslie, and his brother, Tony, go to New York, USA and Nairobi, Kenya to figure out who killed him. But, in Kenya, Leslie sees Johnny's illusion, and a girl who introduces herself as Johnny's friend is found dead in Tony's room... Although the first thirty-minute of this Spanish-Italian co-produced Giallo sets in Europe and USA (and it should be said this thirty-minute is definitely of a cheap B-action-film rather than of a Giallo), this is a Giallo which is best known with and only with regard of its unique setting in Kenya. And I can admit this Kenyan setting produces almost unexpectedly visual impacts, especially in the sequence that Tony Garden disposes of the troublesome body of the almost strange girl and then the police find it. (Unfortunately, this highly impressive sequence is badly independent and therefore is almost unconnected with the latter sequences. Indeed, this film per se seems to be full of strange segmentalness.) Sadly, this apparently enterprising Giallo has not a few problems. For instance, neither George Ardisson, who plays Tony, nor Erika Blanc, who plays Leslie, looks like a desirable hero(ine) whom audiences naturally empathise. Of course, this film has its Italian title, L'UOMO PIU VELENOSO DEL COBRA, so it can be said and even presupposed they are calculated to be venomous. But their apparent venomousness destroys the twisted developmentalness of the very story of this film, and this strange self-destractiveness is the very reason why I am not impressed by the new turn which the last sequence of the film takes. And to make matters worse, Stelvio Cipriani's music is, if not inadequate, disappointingly weak. And this weakness seems to be the same kind of that of Jerry Goldsmith's music in the junk-rather-than-jungly adventure film titled CONGO. In conclusion, I have to say this 1971 film is one of the weakest and even most boring Gialli I have ever seen.

Primetime Murder (2000)

A Canadian Rather Than an Italian film

[4/10 · 27 May 2003]

After the three models have been serially murdered by a black-gloved killer with his-or-her shears, a young and delicate model, Francesca Werther, gets a chance to be the very star of the forthcoming show titled LA NOTTE DELLE STELLE. But the problematic killer continues to murder people around her, and then both Inspector Di Palma of the Homicide Division of the local police and Francesca's room-mate, Claudia, begin to investigate the cases...

The fisrt five-minute of this film seems to be worth hoping; like in the Dario Argento's Gialli, a black-gloved and black-shod murderer with his-or-her shears, razor, and spooky voice attacks the brunette model and puts her down from the 10th floor of the building. And then the body falls and crashes the modernistically-reinforced-glass-roof of the next building, but no one realises it mainly because there is an orchestral performance. This seems to be a desirable opening sequence of a Giallo, and can be expected to produce some brilliant ongoingness. Unfortunately, though the impressively delicate beautifulness of Sascha Zacharias is highly attractive, the rest of the film is almost unexpectedly bad. Indeed, though this Italian-Canadian(-and-partly-Czech) co-produced film is interestingly influenced not only by the Italian Gialli but also by the American horror films (particularly by THE BURNING which has a famous killer with his impressive shears), the film as a whole seems to be a cheap Canadian B-horror-film rather than an Italian Giallo. To make matters worse, the very identity of the murderer is independently problematic; the film-makers seem to superficially, carelessly, and almost innocently adopt the noble ideas of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and of TENEBRE. But, after all, the director/co-writer, Alessandro Capone, isn't and can't be Dario Argento, and therefore the problematic identity of the murderer isn't and can't be surprising; it is simply provocative and/or disappointing. In addition, it should be said this film has incredibly many meaningless and/or useless elements. For instance, the two detectives of the Homicide Division are meaninglessly always taking about making and breaking their vows not to smoke, and Claudia, who is the room-mate of the heroine, is always announcing the sadly amateurish knowledge of the Freudian psychology, and her apparently meaningful words are, after all, meaningless and/or useless. In this sense, this film has something common with Maurizio Prodeaux's below average Giallo, DEATH CARRIES A CANE (a.k.a. THE TORMENTOR). Still, as I already pointed out, it seems to be much better to say that this film as a whole is nothing but of the exactly same kind of the post-SCREAM Canadian films, like THE CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT and RIPPER.

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970)

An Average but Somehow Troublesome Giallo

[7/10 · 24 May 2003]

In one evening, a beautiful married woman, Minou, is attacked by a strange man who informs her husband, Peter, is a murderer. Although Minou can't and doesn't want to believe the apparently crazy story, her best friend, Dominique, meaningfully suggests that a man named Jean Dubois, who was found to be drowned, might be somehow murdered. So, even in the troublesome circumstance that people around her including the police Commissioner can't conform the stranger really exists, it is natural that an unpleasant idea that Peter killed Jean Dubois crosses Minou's mind... Ostensibly the story of this film is a little too old-fashioned to be that of a 1970 Giallo. But, in the last sequence, it takes an desirably satisfactory (if not new) turn which not only is manifestly influenced by Mario Bava's THE TELEPHONE (which is the first and most Giallish segment of his 1964 BLACK SABBATH) but also has rather an usual Giallish element of bisexuality which conforms the Freudian thesis that sadism and masochism must be assessed in the framework of the bisexual organisation. Speaking of the Freudian psychoanalysis, the two leading characters, namely, Minou as a masochist and the black-mailer as a sadist, are almost innocently conformable to the Freudian definitions of masochism and sadism, which are accountable for the different roles of the female and the male. Especially, Minou is a very typically Freudian woman who is, paradoxically enough, so dependent upon her husband that she can sleep with the black-mailer to protect her husband. In this sense, though Dagmar Lassander adequately plays Minou whose actions and reactions, spoken and unspoken utterances, tones of voice, facial expressions and gestures are Freudian and/or psychoanalytically explainable, this film per se isn't and can't be the one in which Lassander is at her best because her character lives in and only in the strangely self-limited world. (Incidentally, I think the 1970s' film in which Lassander is at much better is nothing but SO YOUNG, SO LOVELY, SO VICIOUS...in which she plays much more humanly ambivalent person named Irena. Unfortunately this 1975 film per se is a little to melodramatic to be an average Giallo.) And regarding the Ennio Morricone's music, though it per se doesn't seem to be particularly bad, its strangely independent cheerfulness is not adequate for the appropriately essential seriousness of the film at all. Indeed this music is an unnaturally added sense of the-reality-IN-the-film, and confuses and/or disturbs the-reality-OF-the-film. In conclusion, though I can say this film as a whole is an average Giallo, I have to say the director's similar Giallo film, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, which has more serious and twisted detectiveness, is better than this.

Plot of Fear (1976)

One of the Most Unique Giallish Story

[8/10 · 20 May 2003]

In a Milanese night, a masochistic man, Mattia Grandi, is strangled with the hands of a female prostitute in his house, and a middle-aged woman, Laura Falconieri, is killed with a spanner in the empty bus. In each case, the killer leaves a meaningful illustration of the children's book titled PIERINO-PORCOSPINO. And then the Naples-born Lieutenant Lomenzo, who is in charge of these cases, meets an informative model named Jeanne who tells him that there was an accidental sudden-death of a prostitute named Roza Catena at the meeting of a club named WILDLIFE'S FRIENDS in which the two victims participated... I think the whole story of this film is one of the most unique ones of the Gialli in the 1970s'. Indeed the concludingness of its serial murders seems to be too unique even for the serious Giallo lovers to gladly accept. But it is not unexpected one because most of the murders in this film are a little too large-scale to be conventionally concluded. And it should be add that the cool beautifulness of Corinne Clery, who superbly plays the enigmatic model, is highly appropriate for the very mystery this film has. Unfortunately, as a post-TORSO giallo, this film has something problematic; not only Daniele Patucchi's music but also Giovanni Capelli's special effects are definitely weak and almost minimalistic (except for the only one murder sequence which has unusually energetic music. Strangely enough, although most of the murder sequences of this film are disappointingly light, the same one is exceptionally gory, too.) Incidentally, this film has at least two prints. For instance, in the shorter print (and this not-Italian-but-English-speaking one seems to be so-called International Version), the murder sequence of Laura Falconieri is heavily cut, and therefore one can hardly understand what is precisely going on in the problematic bus. Indeed, in the problematic print, the victim is simply murdered without giving notice, and therefore it is no longer a murder sequence; it is rather a murder scene.

La redada (1973)

A Typically Bad Euro-Action-Film

[3/10 · 18 May 2003]

In the city of Barcelona a journalist, Miguel, who works for a newspaper titled NEUVO DIARIO, witnesses that an Algerian man chases and kills a blonde woman with an Arabic-lettered knife. And then Miguel and his fiancee, Linda, who is an audacious free-lance photographer with her favourite Nikkormat camera, begin to privately investigate the case, and follow an Inspector in charge of the case and his men from JEFATURA SUPERIOR DE POLICIA (police headquarters) to some place in the city. But a man, who is in the disguise of a priest, shoots the Algerian killer in a construction site near there... This Spanish-U.K. co-produced film unexpectedly disappoints me precisely because it is not an Italian-Giallo-like film at all. Indeed this one is nothing but a not-only-cheap-but-also-not-suspenseful-at-all B-action-film of a-comedic-couple-meets-childish-gang-strife-with-illegally-young-female-pro stitution which has no detectiveness; it has no Giallish elements like cinema-graphically recollecting and artistically gore scenes, and the killer in the film have no masks and no gloves and their identities are specifically and almost exhibitionistically descriptive. Instead of the Giallish elements, this film has cheap three-minute car chase scene and cheaper shooting scenes. And to make matters worse, although Stelvio Cipriani's music per se is not particularly bad, the very film does not use the music adequately and therefore it has so many strangely unpolished scenes without any kind of music. In addition, although this seems to be one of the films in which lovely Linda Hayden at her best, her character named Linda, who is a badly comedienne-like photographer, is definitely inadequate for the very film and therefore spoils it to a certain degree.

Miami Golem (1985)

The Unexpectedly Bad

[2/10 · 14 May 2003]

A reporter, Craig Milford, who works for The James Keller Public Telecommunication Center, has an interview with a German professor of a Floridian university, who made an unknown creature based upon some substance of meteor(s). But then a man named Anderson, who is trying to control the whole planet with the creature, and his man kill the professor and his assistants and plunder the creature. So Craig and his new female psychic partner, Joanna Fitzgerald, who can communicate not only with human being but also with alien friend(s) of the creature, begin to find the creature and try to send it to an alien spaceship... This film has some great casts and staffs. For instance, it has the actor, David Warbeck of THE BEYOND, the actress, Laura Trotter of NIGHTMARE CITY, the special visual effects creator, Sergio Stivaletti of Dario Argento's masterpieces, and the director (and also the story- writer), Alberto De Martino of THE MAN WITH ICY EYES and THE KILLER IS ON THE PHONE. And these talented people make an incredibly bad film, named, nothing but this MIAMI GOLEM which is essentially a confusedly combined film of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND with E.T.THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. And this not-only-confused-but-also-crammed film has something worth; genetic engineering with psychical research. Consequently the film has at least one scientific and/or technical flaw; genetic engineering and psychical research are never compatible. (Strangely enough, regarding this strangely childish combination of genetic engineering and psychical research, the leading character, Craig, himself says THERE MUST BE A BETTER EXPLANATION to the short-haired psychic, Joanna. But, after all, the whole story of the film doesn't and can't present any kind of BETTER EXPLANATION.) In addition, this film has something more laughable; its problematic music. What the composer, who is credited as Robert Marry, provides is nothing but the strangely insistent BEVERLY-HILLS-COP-tasted music. I don't want to say this Italianised theme of BEVERLY HILLS COP per se is particularly bad music, but I have to say it seems to be manifestly clear the music does not have the fitness for this film per se at all. Indeed just who can think BEVERLY HILLS COP has the compatibility with genetic engineering and/or psychical research?

Fashion Crimes (1989)

An Almost Meaninglessly Noisy Giallo

[4/10 · 12 May 2003]

On her way home, a fashion model, Gloria, saw a man fought against a woman and killed her in a strangely noisy room in the old villa where a German Countess named Greta Stella used to live. But when the police Commissioner, who is crazy about fishing, and his dull assistant go to the problematic villa in the next morning, the villa is perceived to have been empty for twenty years and there seems to be nothing criminal left. And then Gloria asks help from a playboy-typed psychiatrist, Gianmarco Contini, who is one of the eight joint-owners of the problematic villa... In the second half of the 1980s', the Italian film-makers made what is called Giallo-with-fashion-models films, and this is the one of them. And in a sense, this is the most unique one partly because this has something common with LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH; as far as the visualness and auditoryness are concerned, the heroine, Gloria, is passive. Whatever she does, it has no effect upon her being passive. Similarly(and badly), the Commissioner's and the psychiatrist's actions have no influence upon her passiveness. And furthermore, this film has more unique element; the hypnotherapy which indeed seems to be the central element of the film. Unfortunately it is the most problematic element of the film, too; Dr.Contini puts Gloria under hypnosis many times, but he doesn't and can't make anything meaningful at all. And therefore it should be said in the most parts of the film the hypnotherapy is nothing but the decorative. But in the last sequence putting the illogically-identified murderer under hypnosis on only one occasion solves the whole case with unbelievable and unacceptable immediateness and simplisticness of his-or-her exhibitionistic self-destructiveness. And therefore it can be said in the most parts of the film every character badly wastes his-or-her time with an unbelievably simply trick in the old villa.(Actually, the trick is definitely too simple for anyone who goes there not to be realised.) This is highly problematic because all characters' wasting their time with their meaningless activities can be nothing but the audiences' wasting their time with the very film. Indeed every character in this film is too childish, or even too foolish, to be satisfactorily realistic and therefore the film per se cannot be satisfactorily realistic. Or more precisely, almost every scene of this film is as meaninglessly fluctuating and/or as meaninglessly imperious as if they were not under any of the characters' control at all.

Yudono-sanroku noroi mura (1984)

The Somehow Badly Confused

[8 May 2003]

About one hundred and eighty years ago, a bonze of the Mikoku temple, named Yukai, had felt in love with a girl named Shino. But then the other bonzes of the temple forced him to be mummified, and Shino committed suicide. And now, the president of a famous food company, Awaji, and a bonze of the Mikoku temple call a university lecturer, Taki, for the consultation of the excavation of the Yukai and other mummified bonzes. But soon Awaji is murdered in a locked bathroom. And there are mummified human hands over the body. And then Taki begins to privately investigate the way the murderer takes his-or-her action in the room which has only small ventilating window and the meaning of the mysterious hands... This film is based upon the award-won novel by Masao Yamamura. Its story itself is a little complex because it has two and badly disconnected historical backgrounds. And to make matters worse, the leading character, Taki, who is meaninglessly non-stop-talker and has inadequately comedic tendency, is somehow popular among female characters. And this kind of male character is never popular among Japanese audiences, and partly therefore this film itself seems to be unpopular in Japan. (Incidentally, Taki in the novel is a man who is over-eating, over-drinking, and crazy about quizzes, and therefore is much more inadequately comedian-like than he is in the film.) But the most problematic part of the film seems to be the very identity of the murderer.



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In the last part of the film, the early-teen daughter of Awaji confesses to Taki that she and her younger brother killed their father because he was one of the bad men who raped their grandmother and aunt; the girl had taken the mother's hypnotic in the father's drink, and then her brother entered the problematic room through the ventilating window, and killed the father. (After all, the little boy was the only person who can go through the window.) And the girl set up his alibi in the upper room. Well...this seems to be logically possible. But it is too artificial and/or fictional to be naturally acceptable and/or believable. Although it is difficult to say child(ren) never kills his-or-her parent(s), it is much more difficult to believe a early-teen girl and her little brother conspiratorially do murder their father not only in the logically planned way but also at the house where not a few people gather. And there is another problem about the case. Although the most parts of the film almost meaningfully stresses the mummified hands, the girl confesses she found them by chance and therefore used them casually. Just who can accept this irresponsible joke? Indeed this confused film has not a few unnecessary and/or meaningless elements and therefore becomes much more confused.

Bakterion (1982)

The Sadly Bad

[2/10 · 8 May 2003]

Because of an accident in the laboratory of a British chemical company simply named Chemical which joins the government's so-called Prurima Plan, one of the leading researchers, professor Adams, becomes a fresh-eating monster, and attacks a local teenager couple of Betty and her boy friend, Lucas. And then, the government decides to order the RAF to use the mass-destructive weapon... Although I believe I am one of the Italian-horror-film-lovers, I have to say this Italian film is as sadly bad as the notorious MIAMI GOLEM. The story of the film seems to be trying to express the biological and/or chemical crisis of the city of Newton where the ex-professor monster is, but the film itself has no tense atmosphere from beginning to end. And the pizza-faced monster effects which created by Rino Carboni are not only simply cheap but also problematically unrealistic; at least his face seems to be too swollen to eat raw human fresh. And to make matters worse, this film has, as other reviewer already pointed out, not a few badly independent and almost meaningless scenes. For instance, in the first one third part of the film, Captain Kirk and Sergeant O'Brien find a giant pizza-faced mouse in a manhole of the old factory, and the Sergeant says OH, MY GOD! And that's all there is to it. Since then the composite-photograph-like mouse never shows up, and no one mentions it. In addition, this film has NIGHTMARE-CITY-like crazy credits; at the very ending part of the film, with the cheap TV-like music by Marcello Giombini, one can see WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN MIGHT REALLY HAPPEN...PERHAPS IT ALREADY HAS!

Together Forever (1975)

The Music is Great but...

[4/10 · 2 May 2003]

Michael Williams, who works for BBC, finds a somehow impressive Italian picture which gets mixed in the material of his ongoing task titled DIABOLICAL ART: A DOCUMENTARY. But since his wife's mysterious death her daughter, Emily, has been emotionally disturbed, so he goes Spoleto, where the problematic picture is, with her and her nanny, Jill. And there is a Countess, who is also a psychic, and she informs him that the picture was somehow made at the night that a young witch named Emilia was executed. Michael doesn't believe her story, but after that Emily has hysterical spasm and Jill is killed... This Italian film is, of course, almost innocently influenced by THE EXORCIST, but this one is much cheaper, much simpler,and in a sense, much dirtier. First of all, it should be said this film is full of confusion. For instance, the story shows Emily is a reincarnation of Emilia. But when Emily sees her in the flashbacks, she perceives her exclusively from a third-person's point of view. But if she is the reincarnation of Emilia, she should and must see the past from nothing but Emilia's point of view. Confusions of this kind, which the film has many, are almost exclusively based upon a problematic fact that the film is too cowardly, rather than ambivalent, to specify its own quasi-Freudian theme, namely, pre-adolescent girl's one-way incestuous wish. To make matters worse, this film also has characteristic problem (if not confusion); every character is too naive and helpless to be realistic and/or believable living human. Regarding Emily (or Emilia), she is after all a child, and one can say it is difficult to blame her mainly for her naiveness and helplessness. (And according to the Freudian theory, every girl wants to have her father's child(ren) in her own way. In this sense, Emily is not exclusively pathological; only her way of excluding other women from her father's love is problematically pathological. But, as I already mentioned, this film per se is too cowardly to be Freudian.) The problem is that adult characters are as childish and naive and helpless as Emily is. And because of this characteristic weakness even the psychic who can see almost everything cannot do anything down-to-earth, and because of the same weakness the very story of the film is ended in a badly escapist way. In addition, special effects of this film are incredibly cheap and laughable. Although Stelvio Cipriani's music is noteworthily beautiful (indeed this one is so good that it seems to be worth having it alone), the film as a whole is nothing but a cheap B-film which can disappoint even the 1970s'-Italian- horror-film-lovers.

The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)

A Unusually Serious Giallo

[9/10 · 30 April 2003]

A young pianist, Giorgio, has kept his highly delicate happiness only by having his girl friend, Francoise, and therefore when someone stabs her to death at a park everything is badly changed. Although the police arrests a middle-aged man named Alessandro as the primal suspect of the murder case, Giorgio isn't and can't be satisfied with the judicial system itself any longer. But the whole situation becomes more complex when he meets a girl, Sarah, who is a daughter of Alessandro... This Italian film begins not only with the highly impressive music by Gianni Ferrio but also with the unusual visual introduction of its eight major characters, namely, Marta, Francoise, Sarah, Maria(mother of Sarah), Alessandro(husband of Maria), Giulio(lawyer), Giorgio, and Eriprando(father of Giorgio). Needless to say, Mario Bava did same kind of thing in his 1964 classic SEI DONNE PER L'ASSASINO, but in contrast to its expandability the introduction part of this film limits its own story and therefore one can easily expect the self-limited story is ongoing almost exclusively among the eight characters. Indeed one can even say every part of this film is trying to almost minimalistically exclude any kind of cinematic unexpectablity. And this seems to be one of the reasons why this film is not always loved by so-called Giallo lovers. Leaving from that question, this film is definitely not so-called Gestalt psychological and therefore one can and should realise that, at least in this film, not only music and/or musical event per se isn't and can't be emotion(s) but also music and/or musical event per se doesn't and can't have emotion(s); it merely indicates emotion(s). And this is the very reason why Giorgio chooses the unfamiliar gun instead of the familiar piano. Indeed I believe this anti-Gestalt-psychology, which does not allow for various players and/or listeners to have different emotional interpretations of the same music and/or musical event, is the most unique and powerful side this film has. And regarding the film's tile, THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY, has its own importance. Giorgio had given Francoise the present of a blue-butterfly-figured pendant. And when Francoise was murdered the butterfly was, at least symbolically, stained with her blood. And latter when Giorgio begins to take the law into his own hands the now-invisible-butterfly becomes to be stained not only with the problematic murderer's blood but also with Giorgio's own blood. I think this film as a whole is an almost unusually serious and realistically-oriented film with its own high-quality, whether it per se is Giallo or not.

Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)

A Behaviouristic Giallo

[7/10 · 25 April 2003]

Maria Zani, who is one of the regular customers of a beauty parlour, violently argues with her husband. After that a gloved person paralyses her with a medical needle, and stabs her to death. And then the Inspector Tellini begins to investigate, but still the murderer continues to take women's lives... This Italian-French co-produced film visually shows a wasp paralyses a tarantula with its sting and then tears the spider's abdominal region. In the very film, same things happen between the murderer and his-or-her victims. Indeed the symbolically spidery (not waspish) side of the story is the most unique side this film has. The story itself, which consists of illicit traffic of drag, blackmail, and serial murders, seems to have some kind of realistically-oriented detective drama; the investigation of the Inspector, Tellini, reaches not a dead end but several dead ends, and his experiences are structured rather than piecemeal. Indeed this film itself is so-called behaviouristic one which takes the Stimulation-Response theory and therefore both Tellini and the murderer take their actions based upon their immediate and naive experiences. So it can be said this film should be behaviouristically seen not as a whole but as the sum of its contents. Unfortunately the behaviouristicness itself is the weakest point of this film. One can see this weakness concretely in the very reason why the murderer takes his-or-her actions. Regarding the music side of the film, the composer, Ennio Morricone, and the conductor, Bruno Nicolai, do good jobs. Unfortunately the climax of the music fittingness for the visuality is the first two-and-half minutes which consists of the pre-story parts of the film. In this sense I can call the whole music of this film excellent. In addition, this film lacks the typical Giallo film techniques. It has, for instance, no cinema-graphically recollecting scene. The ongoingness of the film is, for good or bad, normal. Still this film as a whole is not particularly bad. But one should remember that the director, Paolo Cavara, does much better job in his 1976 Giallo, PLOT OF FEAR, which has highly attractive complexity.

Dove comincia la notte (1991)

Not Bad at All But...

[9/10 · 23 April 2003]

A handsome young man, Irving, returns to his home-town, Davenport, Iowa. And soon he finds something bad happened in the old house where he meets a beautiful girl, Sybil, and something worse is happening in the same house... Although this film itself is not bad at all, it unexpectedly disappoints me to a certain degree only because it is not a typical Giallo at all. Its atmosphere is definitely the 1970s' Gialli but it has no Argento-like cinema-graphic technique, no graphic violence, and no female nudity. Regarding the second, this film is highly suggestive and one can naturally understand there is some kind of violence but cannot see it. And more, although this film has no first person narrator, everything there is seen and heard by one person, Irving. And therefore the entire story depends upon his visual and auditory perceptabilities so that everything depends upon whether one can trust those or not. In this sense, the world of this film is not essentially of Giallo but simply of PSYCHO. Still, as I already mentioned, the film itself is not bad at all. The delicate hero, Irving, has to know not only the unknown past but also the more unknown ongoing present. But why? Pupi Avati's story-and-screenplay is much better than I expected to be. Also the director, Maurizio Zaccaro, trustworthily knows how to cinema-graphically use glass and mirror and how to sharpen the only one bloody scene the film has. And Kim Mai Guest, who plays one of the heroines, Sybil, is noteworthily attractive. Strangely enough, Guest in this film is highly resembles Juliette Lewis in her late teens, not only in their outer appearances but also in their ways of acting. Unfortunately one can see Guest but cannot hear her because her English is dubbed in Italian. (Incidentally, her stand-in is Ilaria Stagni.) But above all, legendary composer Stefano Caprioli does excellent jobs here again. I believe the most impressive element of this film is nothing but the theme song, IRVING SONG, which is sung by Susan Zelouf. It is so impressively beautiful that I cannot even think about this film without it. In addition, although none of my Iowan friends sees, or even knows, this Italian film, its main filming location is Davenport,IA itself, not the usual Rome or something like that. One can see, for instance, the Davenport Public Library as one of the key places of the film.

L'arma l'ora il movente (1972)

A Very Average Giallo With an Interesting Side

[7/10 · 23 April 2003]

A young clergyman, Don, has had two loves, and now he chooses one of them, Julia, as his only one lover. But soon Don is found dead in the chapel. And there is a witness, Felcio, who tells almost nothing about the murder to the police. But the murderer continues to take people's lives, and finally Felcio decides to inform of the very secret of the first murder... This is a typical Giallo film with good music by Francesco De Masi. The problem is that he does better jobs in other films. Indeed almost everything about this film seems to have average quality and therefore I have almost nothing say about it. Still it can be said that the story itself, which is nether complex nor confused, has at least one interesting side. Person like the first and leading victim, Don, is immoral. And killing the immoral person is much more immoral. But not revealing those immoralities is immoral? Or is there clear distinction between killing and letting-die? Although this film as a whole is not a moralistic one its religious and/or philosophical side, which seems to support the classic claim that there can be a deductive proof that the God does not exist based upon the existence of the evil, is rather unique and therefore can be interesting.

So Young, So Lovely, So Vicious... (1975)

An Irregular Giallo

[8/10 · 22 April 2003]

A beautiful teenage girl, Angela, somehow pathologically loves her father, Dr.Batrucchi, so that she naturally hates his refined girl friend, Irene. And when the situation becomes worse partially because Irene herself is somehow problematic, Angela begins to obsessionally think about the indirect way of killing her... This Italian film is not exclusively so-called psychoanalytically oriented, still is at least psychoanalytically explainable one. The leading theme, or only one theme, of the film is so-called acting out, namely, regressive discharge of instinctual energy. Angela seems to have the typically adolescent addict to action, but the main problem is her acting out by its very nature has the forfeiture of her capacity of mastery.

Leaving that question, this film has no twisted element; ongoingness of its story is almost every film-lover can expect to be. In the last scene, as one can easily expect, something bad happens to one of the female characters, and then sudden rain pours over her. This rain becomes to be most impressive phenomenon this film has mainly because the very film almost unnecessarily stresses it. If one can think this is liquefaction of self-punishableness or something like that, (s)he can be satisfied. But one thinks this is simply unnatural or melodramatic, (s)he can be disappointed to a certain degree. As a whole, this film can be called Giallo only in the ambiguousness of the very word. At least this is not a typical Giallo.

Cemetery of Terror (1985)

Some kind of four-sided triangle

[1/10 · 18 April 2003]

After his seventeenth murder in moving lift, a psychiatric patient named Devlon was killed by the police. Nevertheless Dr.Cardan, who has been the psychiatrist in charge of the patient for years, insists his body must be burnt. But three male medical students and their female friends steals the body for their party in an empty house nearby the cemetery. Soon Dr.Cardan and Cap.Ancira begin to find the body, but this night is the Halloween so that five local kids go to the problematic cemetery for tests of their courage... This Mexican zombie film, which consists of chaotic elements of Halloween, the Evil Dead and Death Screams, is so multifariously bad that I can write about only three major points. First, the lightning is technically problematic. This film, of which total running time is 91 minutes, has only 8 minutes day-time scenes, and 90 per cent of the whole is night-time scenes with amateurishly poor lightning so that at least half of the film seems to be almost black-and-white. Second, the dialogue is much more problematic. For instance, the psychiatrist, Dr.Cardan explains two contradictory facts to the policeman, Cap.Ancira, namely, 1)the patient's body must be cremated, and 2)the patient's body can be destroyed only with an old document named Black Book. Just what kind of foolishness is this? Maybe Dr.Cardan,M.D. is the same kind of more famous Dr.Butcher,Medical Deviate. Indeed the entire dialogue is so childish that words of the psychiatrist and of the five elementary-school kids are almost exchangeable. And third, the ending scene is terribly bad. I can tell what exactly it is, but I can tell its unbelievable irrationality turns the whole film to be some kind of four-sided triangle.