The Black Belly of the Tarantula

 

Black Belly of the Tarantula has everything a great giallo should have. An interesting mystery, an interesting killer method, high society setting, bloody kills, music that switches between sultry and eerie, and of course beautiful women. What sets this one apart though is the police and investigation aspect to it. While this isn't usually classified as a giallo-poliziottesco hybrid it is an early attempt at that. It has a forensic investigation aspect. It has an incredible foot chase scene in the middle of the movie where these films usually lag. The main character is vulnerable cop who has a family which is something different from the tough lone wolf cops you usually see in crime movies. His job actually getting to him gives this a different mood at times. Ennio Morricone's score is one of his best encompassing al the different traits I've said about the movie through the music. 

Synopsis: An Italian detective (Giancarlo Giannini) hunts a health-spa killer who uses a knife dipped in venom.

The movie starts with the ungodly beautiful Barbara Bouchet getting a massage. Morricone's sultry music with the human voice adds to the feel of the scene. She gets a call presumably from her husband or significant other and then leaves. The scene transitions to her and her husband fighting. Her husband Paolo Zani (Silvano Tranquilli) holds up a picture of her topless with another man to show he knows she has bene cheating on him. During the fight this picture gets torn in half. Some time later a man breaks into Maria's (Bouchet) house and kills her. The killer plunges a giant needle into the back of her neck near the base of her spine and she gets a harrowing 1000 yard stare. the killer than stabs into her lower stomach and slashes upwards. 

Inspector Tellini (Giancarlo Giannini) is on the case. The cops find only her side of the missing picture. Tellini goes back home to his wife Anna (Stefania Sandrelli). They have a very natural conversation about the furniture in their new home and how his job is getting to him. There are some interesting details next. In a forensic scene that I always enjoy in these movies they talk about not finding any fingerprints at the house. Zani has the other side of the picture and heres a private investigator to help him find the man in it. A woman played by Annabella Incontera is stalked and murdered in a room full of mannequins. The quick cutting between mannquins adds to the feel of the scene. Morricone adds in some drums to make the score go along with the kinetic energy of the scene.

The coroner talks about how the needle paralyzes the victim. Tellini traces Zani's whereabouts to the doctor who uses such needles. Zani then hilariously threatens Tellini in his car with a gun saying to back off but he won't turn himself in because he wants to do his own invesigation. Tellini goes to a professor in an awesome scene where the professor talks about how wasps use venom to paralyze spiders and lay eggs in them. Hence the title of the movie. The ending of this scene is where I could use more. The scientist tries to sneak up on Tellini with a spider but then runs outside where cops have him surrounded. Could have used more of a chase. 

Tellini and his wife have another natural feeling scene where they end up having sex. The natural feel of this scene is perverted by the fact that someone is filming them for blackmail. This is the second time we've seen Claudine Auger's character who is giving instructions to the man in the other half of the photo to film them. The cops see find a jet in the background of the photo and are able to trace where the photographer lives based on that. At the same time the PI and Zani arrive at the house.

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I always loved this chase scene because of the different viewpoints that increase tension. The cops are behind and on the ground while Zani and the photographer are all ready on the roof of a tall building. The geography is well set and I enjoy the lingering shots on the spiral staircase. There is a real feeling of dread when Zani falls from the building. Eventually Tellini chases down the photographer but a car comes and runs him over. I love how much this film pays attention to detail because the cops say the vehicle was registered to him and we see Claudine Auger in the background in a different color car. Tellini eventually finds another person involved with blackmail and the people who take the pictures. There is a great suspense scene when he goes to visit this character played by Rosella Falk as when he approaches one door of her place we see the killer near another door. In a terrible diabolus ex machina she doesn't want to talk about the case until the next day. The killer breaks in and kills her.

Tellini has another human scene with his wife where he says he wants to resign because he feels guilty for not being able to save her. After an attempt on his life is made, in the form of a log truck almost hitting his windshield he wants to solve the case. A girl at a health spa who wants to talk to the cops named Jenny (Barbara Bach) is killed before she can say anything. Just a quick aside, I always wondered if Barbara Bach had some no nudity clause in Italian films. I've never seen her naked in an Italian film but I did se her topless in Force 10 from Navarone a PG rated film by the way. Tellini finally goes to the health spa and interrogates all of the employees. One of them is a hilariously stereotypical gay waiter played by Eugene Walter of House with the Laughing Windows. Tellini accuses Laura (Claudine Auger) of knowing more. Once again she says won't talk until later when she finds proof. She calls him the middle of the night. Tellini goes to the spa and sees her dead. He finds white colored contact lenses on the floor. He had previously seen an employee there with the contacts on posing as a blind masseuse. This is the same masseuse from the beginning with Barbara Bouchet. Tellini races home as the masseuse is attacking Anna. They have a much more physical fight than a typical giallo. Tellini eventually knocks him out and saves Anna. A doctor explains that the blind man had killed his wife who very dominant and humiliating toward him. He posed blind so he could find more women. His relationship with Barbara Bouchet's character was similar and it re-activated his urge to kill. He didn't stop there. Tellini doesn't want to hear anymore and he quits his job. 

I really like all of the details in this movie. Upon rewatch you can all ready see what is going on and all the plot details in the first 5-10 minutes of the movie, yet I always love how it unfolds and all the minor details. Something as subtle as hearing the dog bark during the kill at Barbara Bouchet's house and then seeing the dog bark at her husband the next day. Little things like that I love. I always love when an image or thing is linked to the mystery hence finding the jet in the background of the picture. This killer is one of the most nasty in any giallo movie. Not only reprehensible for posing blind but just how he needs the women to feel what he is doing to them. As he says to end at Anna I need you to wake up before I kill you, I don't get any pleasure if you can't feel it. Yikes. I love the chase and all the forensic investigation stuff with consulting the professor. I like all of the scenes between Tellini and Anna though they do slow the movie down a bit. As a person used to seeing Claudine Auger as Domino in Thunderball I love seeing her play a much more femme fatale role in gialli movies like this and Bay of Blood. Morricone's score is certainly one of his most versatile. 

Rating: 9.5/10 If this movie were just five minutes shorter it would be a 10. The pacing is very good, just not perfect. 

Trivia: When Zani's body falls from the building it is a mannequin. The mannequin falling and breaking a window was an unintended blooper they left in. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaXnpLSjkw4

The Great Alligator (1979)

 

Just like any other Jaws rip off the Great Alligator does a good job making you wonder who the true villain really is. When a rich millionaire decides to build a resort over Native American land so tourists can indulge in hedonism you start to root for the alligator. On the other side what is interesting about this film is that the Natives are depicted in some ways as just as villainous though it has more to do with their religious than the hedonism of the rich white people. This is actually a great combo of a Jaws ripoff with the Italian Mondo cannibal genre because it features similar sociopolitical and sociocultural themes that those movies have as well. The biggest problem with this movie is the two main human characters aren't interesting. The alligator carnage in the first half is very sparse. The second half of the movie is where the carnage and those themes really start and the movie is much better. 

Synopsis: An African God takes the form of a giant man-eating crocodile and attacks tourists at a newly built resort after it becomes angered by encroachment on its land.

The movie starts with photographer Daniel (Claudio Cassinelli) going to an island resort built by rich entrepreneur Joshua (Mel Ferrer). Joshua wants the resort to be a vacation spot and also wants to have tour boats to explore the tropical island's animals. Daniel meets anthropologist Alice (Barbara Bach). Joshua, much like John Hammond is talking about how great his resort is how many species of animals there are. Not only that but all the signs for certain areas and the jungle cruise type tour boat make this feel a lot like a precursor to Jurassic Park. It's more anti-colonial than anti-corporate. In the first half of the movie there are few alligator attacks. There is one at night where we first see the alligator. While the alligator in this movie doesn't look great I love how green the eyes and the underwater footage is great. Things like underwater nets expand on that colonial theme as it seems like this is just as much a movie about the culture Joshua is bringing to island and how he wants to keep Native influence out. 

Before long the Natives start getting superstitious. They believe that the giant alligator is a form of their God trying to get revenge on those who built something over their land. After two people are killed and one goes missing Daniel and Alice want the tourists to stay put and not venture in the water. Joshua won't do anything without proof. Daniel and Alice investigate. They want to find out if anyone has seen this "God." Their investigation leads them to a crazy Christian missionary played by Richard Johnson who spends a few minutes chewing the scenery. To get there they have to traverse some steep rocks and waterfall. Just like in Slave of the Cannibal God this sequence is well shot and the waterfall is deafening. Alice is eventually taken for sacrifice by the Natives. 

The film's final act is glorious. The hedonistic resort tourists go out drinking and having fun on a boat, there is some great animal photography here. The boat is attacked, and much like the ending of Alligator we get to see the rich get eaten and high society get what they deserve. There is some great blood shots of people being eaten and the alligator doesn't just stop at one or two. The actual makeup and gore effects are low but I still like how it’s done. At the same time the Natives show up to kill anyone else trying to escape as they seem to believe that not only do they need to sacrifice but they believed they could be in trouble for not going against those who dishonored their God. This actually shows that both sides are in the wrong and I like that this movie showed that because it could be a great example of how across history the colonists did bad things but so did the Natives. Daniel eventually manages to get an explosive tank into the mouth of the alligator (Jaws anyone) and blows it up.

Good shot of the Alligator in this movie

I really want to watch the Code Red restoration of this movie as I bet it was a little better than whatever HD version I watched. As with any of these Italian movies that take place on an island it looks great. I do like the way the alligator looked and I liked carnage at the end of the movie. The first half was just really dull. I think movies like Alligator and both Killer Crocodile movies are more entertaining as a whole but the last 30 minutes of this is great. I enjoyed seeing some other Italian genre cinema players like Romano Puppo, Bobby Rhodes, Silvia Collatina, and Anny Papa in small roles. I thought the whole Native superstition and the alligator as a God thing were cool ideas. The post-colonial themes and the Mondo cannibal influences made this more interesting and different than your typical Jaws ripoff. I just wish the first half was more interesting. The characters Barbara Bach and Claudio Cassinelli play are just not memorable. 

Rating: 6/10

English Dubbing cast: 

• Susan Spafford dubs Barbara Bach as Alice

Trivia: Richard Johnson's scenes were all shot in a cave interior in Italy 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDzGJAycllw

The Black Phone

 

The Black Phone does seem inspired by and borrows from things like It and a Nightmare on Elm Street. While those movies were much more supernatural with a hint of grounded reality, The Black Phone is more grounded with some supernatural. I don't know how much of this was based off of Joe Hill's book but he uses a lot of subtle things both character wise and setting wise that his father does but he puts his own stamp on those things. The premise of the Black Phone is one of the most intriguing ever. It leads to a predictable, but also thrilling movie. It wouldn't work without outstanding performances from leads, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw. Those two together create what I believe is one of the best brother-sister relationships in cinema history. 

Synopsis: Finney Shaw (Thames) is a shy but clever 13-year-old boy who's being held in a soundproof basement by a sadistic, masked killer. When a disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, he soon discovers that he can hear the voices of the murderer's previous victims -- and they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

The filmmakers do a good job of making you like Finney right off the bat. He is shown not being able to strikeout a really good baseball player named Bruce. Bruce is apparently kind of the town hunk among kids Finney's age. While Bruce is biking home he is taken by the grabber. At school Finney is bullied by three individuals. His friend, Robin is sometimes able to chase the bullies off. Robin is also eventually grabbed by the Grabber. The movie does a good job of showing that even tough young boys are no match against adults, something Summer of 84 did well also. Finney and his sister Gwen have an interesting relationship. At one point Finney is being attacked by the three bullies. Gwen comes over and hits one of them with a rock. Gwen is also having dreams about the Grabber and his van with the black baloons. The police ask Gwen for more information but she cannot give them any as she doesn't necessarily know how to control her dreams. Finney and Gwen's father Terrence is an abusive alcoholic and beats Gwen and blames her for the police coming to his place of work. He tells her that her dreams aren't real. Apparently the matriarch of their family took her own life as a result of not being able to control her own dreams or supernatural abilities. 

Finney is eventually Grabbed. While the first tow abductions only showed the two victims approaching the van and the scene quickly blacked out, we see Finney approach the van and get caught and try to fight back. Ethan Hawke is absolutely magnetic and terrifying as the Grabber. I like how much he looks like a Lon Chaney character with the mask. I also really enjoyed the look of this movie. Instead of forcing a bunch of late 1970s references on the audience the movie naturally occurs in that time. There is a conversation I enjoyed between Robin and Finney about how Finney needs to see the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and how Robin had seen at the the drive in. For the time that totally makes sense. Madeleine McGraw is going to be a star. Her ability to flip between dramatic and comedic at times in this movie was incredible. I like seeing Jeremy Davies, who plays Terrence in anything. He always has a mysteriousness to him. 

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Some of the Stephen King similarities and references in this are subtle and others a bit heavy handed. For the most part I liked a lot of them. A kid wearing a yellow slicker in the rain, an abusive parent, a trope which I hated at first. I thought really, another Stephen King like story with an abusive alcoholic character?! They do a good job though of showing Terrence's changing attitude throughout the story. By the end they feel like a proper, if not a little dysfunctional family again. Another Stephen King trope is bullies and even ones getting by rocks. I know this is a Joe Hill story but he uses a lot of the same things as his father does. Again though, the bullies, like Terrence are shown as human beings and not completely evil. Once Finney is abducted the film becomes a great thriller. I enjoyed hearing what Finney could find out from the previous victims about the house.

While the first jump scare was very well done, the rest felt unnecessary. The movie does something I like though where you don't have to jump scares you can have people in the background of a scene suddenly appear out of focus and I actually think that is more effective than jump scares. The axe kill at the end was awesome. The first victim retelling their story and then connecting with Gwen in her dream was awesome. That reminded me of the first time Abra and Rose interact in a dream in Doctor Sleep and I love that kind of supernatural synchronization stuff. It never feels to be fantastic to me. I really liked how they had that scene a little past the middle of Finney almost escaping because when that happens it makes the actual escape and resolution more rewarding later. The misdirection where it seemed the cops were going to the wrong house, only for it to be the house right across was great as well. The intersecting storylines coming closer and closer together was very well edited.  I did have a slight problem with having no explanation for the supernatural stuff here. I would have liked at least so exposition like oh the characters have the shining or something. It's still interesting but I always like an explanation for that stuff. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Trivia: The mask was designed by Tom Savini. 

Trailer: 

Cherry Falls

 

It's like American Pie mixed with Scream and a sprinkle of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The problem is it's like all those movies if they were edited for television. Cherry Falls has great inversions of the typical tropes of the slasher genre. The high school setting is great and you really feel like the location is real. It has the more glamorous look to the high school characters and the sets like most post-Scream slasher movies. While the killer reveal is quite predictable, the backstory isn't and is quite interesting. Interestingly enough the backstory and the prior evil within the story fit in with sociopolitical happenings of recent years and the me too movement. While it is a sanitized and censored version of what it could be Cherry Falls is still a fun, innovative, and memorable slasher movie. 

Synopsis: A small-town sheriff, Brent Marken (Michael Biehn), discovers the presence of a serial killer in his sleepy hamlet. Since the perpetrator has been targeting only virgins, both male and female, the deaths cause panic in much of the local high school population. Sheriff Marken's daughter, Jody (Brittany Murphy), is among the potential victims, since she has yet to sleep with her boyfriend, Kenny Ascott (Gabriel Mann). Can the lawman stop the killer before he goes after Jody?

The movie starts with two people, Rod and Stacy getting killed while on a sexcapade in a car. Rod is doing this amusing nerdy alien role play trying to seduce her. The opening kill is one of those we've seen before where the killer appears in front of the car and Rod goes out to investigate. Rod gets slashed a bunch of times, you hear it but don't see anything besides a little blood. It does have one of those suspenseful reveals where Stacy is in the car in silence and Rod suddenly pops up. The killer breaks in and kills her. The killer is someone with long black hair and a gray streak. 

The scene then transitions to Kenny (Gabriel Mann) and our main character Jody making out in a car. Kenny out of left field says he wants to break up when she doesn't want to have sex. Jody's mother (Candy Clark) comes out and starts heavily flirting with Kenny, or rather he flirts with her. This is the start of one of this movie's odd identities. Characters, regardless of age difference are always either flirting with each other or there is some sexual tension in every scene. It gives this movie a weird identity and kind of feels like a parody of the hypersexuality seen in other slasher movies. We are inroduced to Sheriff Brett Marken (Michael Biehn) as he sneaks up on Jody in her room as she was out past the curfew he set for her. Biehn is delightful in this film bringing his usual authentic feel to authority figure roles and giving this character a depth. He looks like a real sheriff handling the gun and wearing the uniform. No surprise Tarantino decided to cast him as the Sheriff in Planet Terror.

Stacy's delightfully funny gay friend Timmy is introduced and he tells her that Rod and Stacy were killed the night before. The next scene is similar to the fountain scene in Scream that introduces all the relevant high school characters and you see their character types and quirks based on their reactions to the killings. Just because of this scene and others, using process of elimination you can probably find out who the killer is just by their relevance within the film not necessarily making sense to the rest of the story. In a scene in the cafeteria one boy is confronted by a girl he had made up rumors about. This girl, Annette is later killed at her house. There is some good suspense here where the killer seems to disguise his voice as that as a vulnerable woman who needs help so Annette opens the door. The killer then then smashes her neck into the door. Again, a relatively tame kill, though the aftermath is a little bloody. The word "virgin" is found carved into all three victims' legs. Sheriff Marken calls a town meeting at the gym that Jody and Timmy attend in a separate hallway. Marken says that all three victims were virgins. This is an ingenious plot twist to usual slasher motives and tropes.

A chase through the school ensues and I love the sequence where Jody throws a bunch of glass at the killer in the science room. It reminds me of Scream where the killer is vulnerable and a bit of a doofus because they are human. Timmy is killed and in the quite possibly the most graphic effect in the movie you see his throat slit in the aftermath of the kill. Again good suspense with his body in the locker. Jody gets away from the killer and does a police sketch. Brett is immediately seen as suspicious of the sketch. Who is this killer and why? 

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I actually find the backstory more interesting than the reveal. In a movie before the me too era it is interesting to have a main authority figure in a slasher movie be the real cause of the prior evil, and to be a rapist. While the movie doesn't necessarily redeem Brett's character he seems to at least have understood what he did. This also seems similar to things that happen in real life though as he was the star athlete and was going on to a bright future and the people who knew covered it up. While I enjoy Jay Mohr as the teaher in this film it is obvious he is the killer. I mean just using process of elimination, it's like the character of Randy's mother in Scream 2 where why are they there if not to be the killer? 

Originally the kills were supposed to be much more brutal and violent. This movie got an NC-17 rating and never got distribution so the cut version was telecast on the USA Network. At the end with the orgy there was supposed to be a much more graphic orgy rather than the slow dancing and kissing. I could've done without that. The kills though could have been much better. I really like how realistically awkward both the high school crush scenes are where characters who like each other can't talk to each to save their own lives, and the sex scenes are even more awkward. Jody and Kenny specifically have quite an awkward scene though I find it to be realistic that when Jody becomes the more dominant one Kenny is no longer interested. I mentioned earlier that the movie reminded me of Nightmare on Elm Street really for a couple of specific reasons. The sheriff and his wife are separated, the mother/wife is a drunk, and she explains the backstory of the parents' sins being the reason for the prior evil and killer's motivation. 

There are so many scenes in this with sexual tension or hypersexuality. Not just all the teens talking about it and doing it toward the end of the film. The principal and his secretary give a look, Jody and her father while sparring give a lingering stare, Jody always seemingly flirting with her teacher, the Sheriff and his deputy always giving looks. It's odd but again it adds something to this movie that other movies don't have. The final chase is great. The kill where the killer kills the one cop near the house with the axe is good. I enjoy Brittany Murphy in this. While I've never found her to be a drop dead gorgeous woman she exudes a type of attractiveness and charisma on screen. I like how her character is shown to be curious and interested in her sexuality and still is the final girl. I also really like the look of the killer and I think he/she may have been more influenced by J-horror ghost movies from the time with the long hair and all. 

SLASHER MOVIE ANATOMY:
• Prior Evil: Woman gang raped and the local town covers up the offense
• Body Count: 8
• Whodunit: yes, and you do you care because the killer is someone you see. Some are whodunits but you don't necessarily care if you don't know who their characters are until the end (See Friday the 13th).
• Mask or outfit: Long Hair
• Locale: High School and Town 
• Best Kill: Axe kill to the cop

INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH

• Knife
• Gun
• Axe

CHARACTER TROPES:

• Final Girl: Jody
• Authority Figure: Sheriff Brett Marken
• Class Clown or Joker: Timmy

SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY
• Kingdom: Movie
• Phylum: Horror
• Class: Slasher
• Order: Post-Scream
• Family: No Nudity
• Genus: Realistic
• Species: Meta and somewhat satirical

Rating: 7/10

Trivia: Michael Biehn wasn't interested in the movie after reading the first 15 pages saying it was just another slasher movie. His agent convinced him to keep reading and he liked the satirical approach so he signed on. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGdlArQiXFo

Shock Waves (1977)

 

Zombie movies that trade blood and gore and social commentary for strictly atmosphere are rare. Some may find this movie boring or underwhelming, I think the atmosphere here is great. While this was filmed in West Palm Beach and Miami it looks like the hottest tropical island in the world with some swampy water. I could feel the sunburn on me and the dirty water while watching this. I can't think of any other movie that has made death by drowning seem scarier or quite as memorable. The idea of Nazi Zombies and the backstory with them gives this movie a Raiders of the Lost Ark type of historical fiction relevance. Peter Cushing is charismatic as ever. Not only does the tropical island setting work but the abandoned hotels among other things give this such a lost at sea or marooned type of feel that is incredible. The snyth-scape sounding score only adds to the atmosphere.

Synopsis: An old Nazi's (Peter Cushing) sunken battalion rises from the sea as a death corps of begoggled zombies.

I like how early on you spend time with the people in the ship. I like seeing Brooke Adams in any movie from around this time. Same goes for John Carradine. I like how every character gets a name and when we find out a little about them. I really enjoyed the sunny orange mirage effect when the ship's navigation system goes off. How many movies since this have used the trope of a ship suddenly appearing in front of the people on the main ship. Ghost Ship and Event Horizon to name a couple. This movie does it too. I enjoy how the ship looks like a giant skeleton version of a ship during the day. The group of survivors quickly makes their way to an abandoned hotel that just looks like something out of a nightmare. There the survivors meet a man played by Peter Cushing. He eventually reveals he was an SS commander who commanded a death corps of zombie soldiers designed for survival in any environment. His specifically were made for aquatic warfare. This is another interesting departure for typical zombie movies as zombies either usually aren't in the water much and they certainly aren't primarily aquatic creatures. It also gives this movie some factual basis in Nazi occult type lure. Nazis experimented with a ton of interesting things and this seems like it could be real. The zombies have a very interesting look with their water logged bodies and the goggles they wear. They kind of look like the face of Butterball from Hellraiser mixed with a green looking zombie pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean. Almost like Stellan Skarsgard's character from those movies. 

Spoiler Section 

Eventually Cushing and most of the survivors are killed by the zombies. The way the synth-score is done during the suspense scenes where the zombies are rising out of the water and killing people is great. The ending to this movie is quite interesting in that it circles back to the beginning of the narration that Brooke Adams' character was writing about the start of the movie and what had happened. Did this all happen? Is it all in her head? Has she gone crazy after being lost at sea after escaping the zombies? Did the orange mirage thing make her go crazy? I really like the ambiguity of the ending. Credit to Richard Einhorn for his score that helps the atmosphere and suspense. Ken Wiederhorn makes a different type of zombie movie here that is one of the best in terms of atmosphere and the nazi zombies only make it seem more real and adds some pathos to it. 

Rating; 8/10

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEXN4FLGtBk

The New York Ripper (1982)

 

Lucio Fulci made his first violent and gory horror film in 1979 with Zombie Flesh Eaters AKA Zombi 2. He followed those up with his Gates of Hell Trilogy. The New York Ripper is him taking those violent images and putting them in a real New York City setting. This movie is violence and sexuality in so much excess that I'm almost embarrassed to say it's one of my top 5 favorite movies ever. At the same time that is what makes this movie so good to me. Fulci makes us feel guilty and takes us to our breaking point as an audience. You want a sexual and violent horror movie, so much so you may not enjoy showing it others or having to admit you like it? Look no further. I think he was saying be careful what you wish for. What is interesting about this movie is how well edited and shot some of the suspenseful kill sequences are. Fulci adds a sense of twisted humor to the excess by having the killer quack like a duck. While Fulci was accused of being a misogynist, it is the likability of some of the film's characters that actually make some of the kill sequences more suspenseful. 

The movie starts with a man walking his dog finding a decomposing hand near a New York harbor. This opening scene all ready starts Fulci's trademark style of a close on someone's face becoming an extreme closeup as the hand is revealed. The film transitions to the opening of Francesco De Masi's funky, and disco score. The body is revealed to be that of a model. Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) talks to the woman's nosy landlord and she reveals that she had agreed to meet a man with a voice that quacked like a duck. As this is one of Fulci's much more faster paced movies the film transitions quickly to the second victim (Cinzia De Ponti). While Fulci is apparently a misogynist, he certainly isn't afraid to use it as something to garner sympathy for a character in his movies. Cinzia's character accidentally hits a man's car while riding her bike. His response: "You woman should stay home where you belong! You're a menace to the public!" This sets her up as sympathetic, or at least a character who doesn't deserve to die. She goes on the ferry to vandalize the man's car and she is cornered by the ripper. While the close ups of the blood and the knife are awesome, I actually find Fulci does a great job of staging this scene to give a sense of peril. Cinzia is pinned to the wall and unable to escape as she can't get out the door of the car giving the scene a feeling of doom. 

The police find that this killing, the one of the model with the severed hand, and another one in Harlem are are all smiliar. Fulci cameos as the police chief telling Lt. Williams to keep a lid on the serial killer talk to the public. Meanwhile Jane Lodge (Alexandra Delli Colli attends a live sex show, along with a man with two fingers missing on one hand, Mickey Scellenda (Howard Ross). The woman performing naked in the live sex show is Italian Genre cinema regular Zora Kerova. This is the first of some overtly sexual but also somewhat meta sequences. Not only are we watching two people have sex, we're watching people watch them. Jane is seen getting off and recording her reactions and the sounds of the performers. I really think Fulci is trying to make us feel uncomfortable for us. He's trying to say I know you enjoy this but let me present it as you are watching. In an era now where so many people watch porn or so many people have and subscribe to things like Onlyfans, I think this movie translates well. Fulci is trying to call us out for all having some kink or sexual interest we are afraid to show or talk about. While those people in this movie who are actually more liberal are the ones we root for. 

The woman performer goes back to her room after the show is over. The movie makes sure to highlight that Mickey has left his seat. What comes next is one of the most suspenseful and best shot kill sequences in any giallo movie. The performer's room is in this dark green light. Fulci builds the suspense by making the music silent and the killer's quacks being the thing that breaks the silence. A broken bottle is stabbed into the performer's vagina. I enjoy how dark the blood looks in the green light. There is a funny exchange between the coroner (Giordano Falzoni) and Lt. Williams. The coroner says "A knife was stuck right up her joy trail. It was good, efficient butchery." Lt. Williams later consults the sarcastic, but lively Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco) on the case. Davis in a scene with no consequence later is shown to be gay as he guys a gay pornography magazine from a stand. Again, Fulci is not afraid to show us an audience that some of the people in this movie are more liberal about their sexuality. The heroes of this movie, interestingly enough end up being people with little to no sexuality or people who try to hide it. That is true in the case of Williams, who is banging a prostitute, Kitty (Daniela Doria) but never admits to it and is all concerned when the Ripper calls him at her house. 

The film finally transitions to our main female character, Fay Majors (Almanta Suska). In another great suspense sequence she is stalked on a train by Mickey. This sequence is particularly well done as he is on the other side of the train but then the lights go out and he is right in front of her. Again great use of silencing the music and then making it loud when he appears in front of Fay. Fay manages to get away but is stabbed by an unknown foe outside of a theater. While taking cover in the theater she is cornered by a killer (Andrea Occhipinti) who stabs her across the stomach and in the neck. The rushing blood out the neck is an incredible part of this kill. While Fay wakes up hurt, at least part of her ordeal is revealed to be a dream sequence. On top of it the man who stabbed her is revealed to be her boyfriend Peter. Meanwhile Jane is revealed to make the recordings for her husband, Dr. Lodge (Cosimo Cinieri). She goes to a dive bar and is recipient of a man putting toes in her vagina for a thrill. Again this sequence while gross and uncomfortable at times shows Jane's interests and doesn't necessarily denigrate her. She eventually meets up with Mickey for a sexcapade. Mickey makes a phone call, implied to be the killer. This sets up a confrontation and Mickey becoming the number one suspect for the police. 

Spoiler Section

This is another fantastic sequence as Jane hears Mickey being named the number one suspect in the killings on the radio next to her. The problem is she is tied naked to the bed right next to him. In another great suspense sequence she manages to get away from him without being detected. Just when you think she might be okay she is killed by the ripper. Meanwhile Fay goes back home with an injured leg. Davis and Williams clash over the case. Davis thinks that Scallenda was just a person getting bait for the killer and a just a common gigalo. The killer is more intelligent to him. Williams who really couldn't be bothered to think more just thinks it's Scallenda. Williams goes to visit Dr. Lodge and tells him "Your wife was free to live, and free to die." Williams is.a total hypocrite and he's the main hero. Again Fulci is trying to say that the lively people, the one's free to live are the ones who die. The killer targets Kitty. The police trace a call to the phone booth and in a Dark Knight style bait and switch the killer is all ready in Kitty's apartment. In one of the most awesome and vicious kill sequences ever put on film the killer slices Kitty's stomach, slices her nipple in half and slices vertically across her eye with a razor blade. This is where Fulci's seeming desire to push this movie towards a sexual and violent breaking point reaches it's peak. I can't deny that i like seeing this violence because it's awesome. I can't deny that I like seeing Daniela Doria, Alexandra Delli Colli, and Zora Kerova all naked because they are attractive. Yet, having to tell someone that and tell them how they die is something I would be embarrassed to talk about. How many of us have that kind of kink or guilty pleasure? That is what Fulci is forcing us to confront in this movie.

Mickey's body is found. The coroner rules he died eight days ago, four days before Kitty was killed. This sets up an awesome final reveal and confrontation. Fay is the other main character who isn't really shown to have much of a free sexuality to her. Unlike Williams, she is no hypocrite but she isn't very interesting. With Jane specifically Fulci does a great job of using her sexuality to show her character's personality. I do enjoy an exchange between Fay and Peter where he says something like how does a girl with an IQ of 182 want me? Peter leaves the house at one point and Fay is confronted by Mickey sometime before his death. Peter had gone to visit his daughter, Suzy. Suzy is terminally ill and will never grow up to be the a developed beautiful women, the type of women Peter was killing. He used Suzy's condition to create a second personality as the Ripper to justify his bloodlust. In another great sequence at the end you may not know who the killer is so hearing Peter talk to the Ripper on the phone is interesting. Fay eventually stabs him a couple of times. She remembers the knife on the concrete wall as proof that part of her dream was real and Peter did attack her. This sets up one of the best headshots ever as Williams shows up blows Peter's face apart. The movie ends on a very downbeat note as Suzy is seen crying for her Dad to show up. Davis gives us the typical Psycho ending explanation of the killer having two personalities. 

The New York Ripper because of its excess sexuality and violence is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is essentially what if someone decided to push the breaking point of what slashers were doing at that time. The editing, cinematography, and music are all top notch. The dubbing and quacking duck adds some twisted humor to it that it really needs. The sympathetic victims give the suspenseful kills scenes more pathos. I love the over the top psychological motivation for the killer. Look for some other Fulci and Italian genre cinema regulars such as James Sampson as one of the men at the sex show. Barbara Cupisti plays Heather in one scene, one of Davis' students. Michele Soavi plays a newspaper buyer.

English Dubbing Cast: 

• Edward Mannix dubs Jack Hedley as Lt. Williams
• Steven Luotto dubs Andrea Occhipinti as Peter
• Frank Von Kuegelen dubs Paolo Malco as Dr. Davis
• Robert Spafford dubs Giordano Fanzoni as the Coroner 
• Pat Starke dubs Daniela Doria as Kitty
• Carolyn De Fonseca dubs Mickey Scallenda's Female Landlord

Rating: 10/10 

Trivia: Catriona MacColl who played the main woman character in every movie of Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy was supposed to play Fay in this. I don't mind Almanta Suska in the role but her character would have been more interesting and more sympathetic if Catriona had played that role. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5U7F0NJ1RQ

U.S. Marshals (1998)

U.S. Marshals has some great action sequences and stunts. Everything from the sequence at the graveyard to the building shootout leading to the jump from the building to the train is great. Stuart Baird, being primarily an editor stages every action sequence beautifully. There is both a positive and a negative to this being a sequel to the Fugitive with a whole new story. It has the continuity between Tommy Lee Jones and most of the same team of U.S. Marshals from that movie. Wesley Snipes plays a sympathetic and much more active and not cerebral as a fugitive as Harrison Ford. What is different from the first movie is in the writing. While the first Fugitive movie interwove the storylines of the fugitive, authority figures, and the other villains well this doesn't do that quite as well. Instead of feeling like one movie it almost feels like two and a half at times. The brilliantly staged action sequences as well as ones that have much more culture and geographical sense than most modern action movies make up quite a bit for long runtime.

Synopsis: An airplane bearing gruff U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) crashes in the wilderness. On board the same flight is Mark Sheridan (Wesley Snipes), a federal prisoner accused of double murder, who escapes during the ensuing chaos, but not before rescuing several people from the wreckage. Gerard is ordered to hunt down the fugitive along with State Department agent John Royce (Robert Downey Jr.), and the two pursue Sheridan relentlessly, despite growing doubts about his guilt.

The movie starts with surveillance footage where a person with a briefcase shoots two people. Mark Roberts (Snipes) is driving a tow truck when he gets into accident. He is arrested, as the police have obtained evidence from the government that he shot those two agents at the beginning months ago. His fingerprints were found at the scene. Meanwhile, Deputy Sam Gerard, and his team of U.S. Marshals played by Joe Pantoliano, Daniel Roebuck, LaTanya Richardson, and Tom Wood, do a sting operation on a family of drug dealers. I enjoy seeing Tommy Lee Jones undercover in a big chicken suit. I enjoy seeing Joey Pants and Roebuck having to try to fight Donald Gibb. Nowadays if this scene were a real thing people would definitely talk about excessive use of force. In a very relevant scene for today's sociopolitical climate Tom Wood's character, Noah Newman shoots one of the criminals who keeps retreated to his baby's crib. It is revealed there was a shotgun in the crib. Sometimes deadly force is necessary. At the same time Gerard goes and hits Doanld Gibb's character in the face with a shotgun. 

Gerard is reprimanded for his use of deadly force by his boss played by Kate Nelligan. They are shown to have a completely unnecessary romantic relationship. Gerard is then tasked with security on a prison transport plane that Roberts happens to be on. Roberts thwarts and attempt on his life. This leads to the plane depressurizing and crashing near a small Ilinois town. I do like the sequence where they are all trying to get out of the plane. It shows a different side to Gerard as he repeatedly goes into the sinking plane to save more prisoners. Roberts disappears. This leads to a fun sequence where Tommy Lee Jones gets a shirt from a local town restaurant and all of the Marshals go into the swamps with local boat drivers. Diplomatic Security Service Agent John Royce (Robert Downey Jr.) is assigned to work with Gerard and his team. 

In a confrontation with Roberts in the woods Gerard is shot. Gerard and his team eventually see in the surveillance footage that the man had gloves on. They show this video to the head of DSS and it is eventually revealed that Roberts' real name is Sheridan. He is a former Marine and worked in the CIA. He was part of a plan to find a mole within the US Government who was selling secrets to the Chinese government. That is when the opening scene happened and allegedly he was the one who shot two people. This shows that Roberts is a different fugitive from Harrison Ford's character. He is much more dangerous, a little less calculating but every bit as observant. He does things much quicker and more decisive. As the Marshals, Sheridan, and the Chinese agent the corrupt agents were selling secrets to are lead to the same place, this leads to a great action sequence in a graveyard, car chases, and chases inside tall buildings. 

This graveyard sequence is edited beautifully and shot well by Stuart Baird and his crew. The geography is well defined and each person's view is clear. It's one of the better action sequences in any 90s action movie truth be told. While I enjoy Wesley Snipes' ability to play both a more dangerous and sympathetic fugitive I do think it's a bit of a problem that he spends some part of the movie threatening ordinary civilians. Do they get any say in what happens to him even when he's proved his innocence? Harrison Ford's crimes in the first movie were more like stealing keycards and fraudulent identity. He never really tried to hurt anyone. While I like seeing Gerard and his team I think each thread in this movie could be shorter. Instead of showing so much of Snipes it could just be more of a Criminal Minds episode where it strictly focuses on the authorities and they find out what Snipes is doing as we do. I think this would have worked better as miniseries but the action sequences are still great. 

Spoiler Section 

The mystery in this movie is actually more fun to watch for upon rewatch, even if it again adds a lot of time to an all ready fat movie. This movie is like a great steak with some fat on the corners and even in the middle. There are many times, such as when Robert Downey Jr.'s character doesn't put up his flare where you can tell he wants Sheridan alone so that he can kill him. There is even more venom to his villainy when he decides to shoot Noah and how he acts all innocent after. I'm not sure if I missed something but is Royce really that stupid thinking that giving Sheridan his gun and filing off the serial number would fool Gerard. Why not just bring a different gun so that Gerard may not have been able to recognize it later. Again I can condone it just because I enjoy seeing Gerard having to draw faster than him like in a western duel at the end of the movie. Seeing a much more cold, vengeance-driven, rogue Gerard at the end was awesome too. I honestly wish we would've gotten another movie with Tommy Lee Jones as this character but instead of showing too much of the fugitive it could be more police procedural. Roebuck and Pantoliano are great also. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: When Sheridan rents his apartment from across the U.N. Building his response to the landlord is "It's perfect." That is the same line used by Harrison Ford when his character rents an apartment in the Fugitive. Samuel L. Jackson was the first choice to play Mark Sheridan. 

Trailer: 

 

Executive Decision (1996)

 

The best thriller movies to me are ones where you invest in in the characters and drama to so you're devoted to the suspense that happens throughout. The first time I saw Executive Decision I thought where is the action? This isn't really an action movie, it's more of a suspense thriller in the Hitchcockian vein where one thing happens after another than makes you more anxious and frustrated until you get rewarded at the end. The movie takes a while to get going as the first act sets up the highjacking and is about the special forces team getting on the plane. Then the second act is about them planning to take plane, and ante is up because they have a time constraint, they have to save the people in the plane, and the people below from the nerve agent in the plane. The film has so many threats to the main characters and their objective that it never gives you a moment to rest. As an audience you will feel more excitement toward the end when the action starts because of the build up to it. It's like going up a roller coaster and waiting for the drop. The cast is one of the best of 90s action movies. I'd argue this movie taking the Die-Hard-Scenario tropes and turning them into a suspense movie rather than an action movie is something more movies should do. People may call it imperialistic and stereotypical because of it's depiction of Islamic Extremism, however five years after this 9/11 happened and it gives the movie a very authentic quality in retrospect. 

The movie starts with Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis (Steven Seagal) and his special forces team unsuccessfully trying to recover a nerve gas agent called DZ-5. In this sequence you get some spectacular Seagal moments such as stabbing people in the throat. I love how in sync the team looks. I love the MP5-Navy submachine guns they have. There are plenty of gunshot blood squibs which I love in these movies. We find out later than David Grant (Kurt Russell) is responsible for sending Travis and his team on the mission in which they lose one of their team members. The film then transitions to David Grant learning to fly a small plane in Washington D.C. Meanwhile Nagi Hassan (David Suchet) leader of the associates of imprisoned terrorist El Sayed-Jaffa (Andreas Katsulas). This sequence is interesting in that the other men have hidden guns aboard the plane and Hassan assembles a Glock out of parts he had hidden. He also has a fun disguise with facial hair and a wig. In the meantime they kill one flight attendant played by 80s action movie staple Mary Ellen Trainor. 

Grant and Travis both go to a military meeting. Grant in similar role as Alec Baldwin's Jack Ryan in In the Hunt for Red October is invited into the crisis room as he is an expert on Hassan. Grant believes that Hassan has hidden the nerve gas on the plane and plans to land the plane in Washington to detonate the nerve gas. As in other action movies Grant gives a sample of how deadly the nerve gas is by taking a water drop and saying that could kill everyone in the room. Instead of having the plane shot down Travis talks about an experimental way to board a stealth bomber and use it board the plane while in mid flight. For this they consult DARPA agent Dennis Cahill played by Oliver Platt. In the meantime there is some great tension between flight attendant Jean (Halle Berry) and Hassan. She hides the flight roster from him so a U.S. Marshall (Richard Riehle) is safe. That part of the story is similar to Bonnie Bedelia and Alan Rickman in Die Hard. Just like Die Hard there is also another subplot about a Senator (J.T. Walsh) who wants to negotiate the hostages so he can get more favor with public opinion as he is running for President. 

While Travis' team and Grant are able to board the plane, Travis is killed while trying to board to make sure the plane doesn't blow up. One of Travis' men, Cappy (Joe Morton) suffers a vertebrae injury, paralyzing him. The second half of the film consists of Grant, Cahill, and Travis' team, soldiers played by B.D. Wong, John Leguizamo, and Whip Hubley. The film attempts to deny you any level of comfortability, as the stakes are frequently increased. They can't take the plane because they don't know how many terrorists there are and where. They have to find the nerve gas. There is a bomb on board that will go if Hassan's plan goes wrong. They eventually find out there is a sleeper agent on the plane waiting to detonate said bomb. They have a limited number of hours before the plane reaches U.S. airspace and is given the go ahead to be shot down. All of these conflicts come to a head and have an exciting and cathartic resolution. Along the way Jerry Goldsmith's great score adds to the tension and suspense. 

I really like how in this action movie the team of experts doesn't all get killed and is actually what saves the day. While this diverts from the one or two man army formula that normal Die Hard scenario action movies have it still has the same feel and intensity that rivals some of the greatest thrillers ever. Look for some other great cast members like Charles Hallahan playing the general in the crisis room. When the action finally hits at the end it is great. Plenty of awesome gunshot blood squibs as these movies always have. Also the plane sets look so authentic. It is interesting to see Kurt Russell play a role like this. He never usually plays alpha male tough guys but in this he plays something to the opposite of what is usual for him. There is a sense of vulnerability and seriousness to him that he doesn't always have while retaining his usual confident charm. Steven Seagal in limited time seems quite authentic as a special forces leader. Halle Berry is charming and likable and it's no surprise she went on to become a star. Leguizamo is funny and exudes a certain toughness like always. David Suchet is one of the better Alan Rickman clones giving a mysterious and at times great angry acting performance. 

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: Apparently Kurt Russell got so sick of Leguizamo's frequent improv of his lines that they got into a physical altercation. The line "hope the smell doesn't give us away," started the fight. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY4EfSHyIyA

All the Colors of the Dark (1972)

 

There are few movies ever that blend psychological and hallucinatory horror with the gothic quite like Sergio Martino's All the Colors of the Dark. Along with all of those influences it is a great satanic panic film where you feel the main character is trapped by those around her. The movie at times makes you think something is real and not a dream sequence, through the scene replaying in different ways. With any of the characters possibly being cult members you don't know who is being truthful. This all leads to a satisfying ending. Martino combined the influences of Roman Polanski's psychosexual hallucinatory nature of Repulsion with the satanic panic of Rosemary's Baby. What the main character goes through is a great allegory for anxiety but also presents the differing ways people like to deal with mental health. Is the best way to deal with it through therapy, medication, or even black magic cults? The movie shows all three perspectives. Usage of surreal colors, backdrops, distorted lenses, and Bruno Nicolai's loud, and at times chaotic score only add to the feeling of hallucinatory and supernatural. Edwige Fenech looks the most beautiful any woman has ever looked in this movie. 

Synopsis: A woman tormented by frightening nightmares decides to join in with satanic rituals out of fear that a man is trying to kill her, but the sinister ceremony seems to bring her nightmares to life.

The movie starts with Jane having a nightmare. There are many different images and musical cues that are memorable in this scene. The guy with the wig and the black teeth, the pregnant woman (Dominique Boschero) being stabbed in the bed, the doll. Prior to the start of the nightmare there is this footage of a beautiful sunset. The nightmare is only in a black background giving it a surreal feeling. This all happens while Bruno Nicolai's score changes between a chaotic sound to a downbeat voice. The scene then transitions to this white and purple thermal color and we see a car crash into a tree. Jane (Edwige Fenech) wakes up. We get an extended shower scene with her in a transparent white shirt. Her husband Richard (George Hilton) berates her for not taking her pills. They try to have sex but Jane has PTSD about the nightmare. Meanwhile, Jane's sister, Barbara (Susan Scott, AKA Nieves Navarro) is encouraged by her sister to see psychoanalyst Dr. Burton (George Rigaud). 

Edwige looking like a goddess

She goes to the appointment and Dr. Burton says she has trauma going back to her childhood seeing her mother die at a young age.  Richard accosts Barbara for sending Jane to a therapist. This is another memorable shower scene that you might want to remember for other reasons than seeing Susan Scott topless. Around this time Jane starts seeing a mysterious blue-eyed man almost everywhere she goes seemingly stalking her. This is a memorable role for great Italian genre cinema actor, Ivan Rassimov. She sees him in the waiting room, on a train ride, outside of her apartment, and when she goes for an appointment to meet a lawyer (Luciano Pigozzi) the blue-eyed man tries to kill her. Jane eventually meets one of her upstairs neighbors, Mary, played by Marina Malfatti. Mary takes Jane to a "sabbath." This sabbath is really a satanic blood cult orgy. This is a fantastic sequence filled with many interesting people, this includes cult leader J.P. McBrian (Julian Ugarte) a memorable looking man with a beard and long fingernails. This scene features one of Bruno Nicolai's best works filled with great use of synchronized voice, drums, and screaming voices to ramp up the intensity and weirdness. 

Ivan Rassimov and his Blue Contacts

Julian Ugarte and other strange cultists

In a great transition, the orgy transitions into Jane having sex with Richard and climaxing. All seems well until Jane sees the blue-eyed man again at a restaurant. This is very relatable to anxiety. While a lot of people don't believe Jane as no one else has seen the man he just seems to pop up everyone. That is what anxiety is like, it's never ending worry no matter how you try to get rid of it. This leads to Jane going to yet another initiation. This leads to death, more possible nightmares, and basically everyone around Jane either dying or not believing her about her situation. What is a nightmare and what is real? Who is on her side telling the truth or lying to her?

Martino's style in the second half is great. In some scenes to add to the hallucinatory feel there is some foggy and hazy lenses. There are scenes where movements are rewinded and replayed, specifically during a scene involving Ivan Rassimov's character attacking her. It reminds me a lot of the assault scene in Repulsion. There is a sequence toward the end where a character has seen something happen before or seen that it will happen which reminds me of the end of Basic Instinct. The influence of this movie can be felt on other American movies. I would be quite surprised if Stanley Kubrick never saw this and put some of it into Eyes Wide Shut. This is my favorite psychological giallo because of the great mix and wonder between nightmares and reality, the incredible images conjured up by Martino, Edwige looking like Aphrodite incarnate, an empathetic Bruno Nicolai's memorable score, and the many satisfying twists at the end. While Jane isn't the strongest character mentally her traumas and mental health issues are relatable. I like that unlike the slasher movie, this genre allows female characters to be more liberal with things like drugs and sexuality and still be the "final girl." There are some amazing shots like a spinning staircase that makes you dizzy. All of the castles and caverns add some gothic atmosphere to the all ready psychedelic feel. Martino does an excellent job of making you think anyone could be with or against Jane without beating you over the head of suspecting them. Everyone is their own character. 

Rating: 10/10 

Trivia: Sergio Martino discovered the mansion where the cult rituals are while filming in England. He had considered shooting in Ireland. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpVXC5WDIg

A Bay of Blood (1971)

 

Most people say that the giallo is a precursor to the slasher genre. Look no further than a Bay of Blood. It eschews from the more investigatory nature of most giallo films. It has a high body count, more of a mystery to do with it's backstory than a murder-mystery, and it all takes place around one bayside location. There is even about a 25-30 minute sequence that could really be it's own movie separate to the main story. Mario Bava uses a combination of gothic imagery, rapid pullbacks and zooms, beautiful nighttime sequences, and transitions with Stelvio Cipriani's versatile score that make the movie almost self-aware and satirical at times. This movie has kills and camera shots that other slasher movies would go on to use. 

Synopsis: A wheelchair bound Countess (Isa Miranda) is murdered and various greedy heirs and interested parties assemble and try to take hold of her bayside property. 

The movie starts with the Countess Federica Donati in her house. She is strangled to death by her husband Filippo Donati (Giovanni Nuvoleti). He makes it look like a suicide and has a diary entry right next to her hanging body to bolster that claim. As Filippo leaves the house he is stabbed to death by someone else. That sets the tone right there for Bava constantly upstaging each murder sequence as it seems like one person after another dies in rapid succession and in spurts. This scene and the bayside mansion is one with Bava's throwback gothic looks and I wouldn't be surprised if it was filmed in a place where he had filmed before. It has a fireplaces, gray walls, red couches, mirrors, and an excellent atmosphere with the rain and the surrounding ocean. 

This is a hard film to understand upon one viewing and the backstory towards the end shines more light on that. The only thing I'm going to explain to you in advance is the relationship between some characters. I think this movie's backstory isn't hard to get but it might be hard to understand who is in league with who and why. Frank Ventura (Chris Avram) a real estate agent and his girlfriend Laura (Anna Maria Rosati) had teamed up with Filippo after his wife didn't sell the property to them. They have no idea he is dead now. Simon (Claudio Volonte, brother of Gian Maria Volonte) is the Countess' illegitimate son and rightful heir to her money. Simon lives on a separate shack near the bay. Paolo Fossati, (Leopoldo Trieste) an entomologist and his wife, a tarot card reader named Anna (Laura Betti) also live on the property. They witness all the murder and mayhem throughout. 

A few teenagers come to property after reading about the murders and being interested. They do little to setup these four characters besides giving them names. What I am impressed with in this long sequence, which is basically a mini slasher film is the music, kills, and a cinematography. There is one pullback shot near the bushes where you know the killer is there but you don't see them. That could've inspired a similar shot in the first Friday the 13th movie. There is a close up on an eyeball that is quite expressive behind a hole signalizing voyeurism. The scene where a naked Brigitte Skay as Brumhilde runs on the dock and swims could've inspired a similar scene in Friday the 13th Part 2. Her kill scene where is running and gets chased down and slashed in the throat by a killer with a curved machete is similar to the opening kill in Scream. The double penetration spear kill is exactly like the one in Friday the 13th Part 2. Another teenager dies by an awesome, Tom Savini-esque meat cleaver to the face. Throughout this while sequence after every kill the film transitions to shots of the purple and pink sunset. Pleasant music by Cipriani plays. After one kill at some point the fender of the car the teenagers drive is shown and the curved fender and lights makes it look like a smile which shows that Bava is on on the joke. He is essentially saying yeah I know you like seeing these people die and everyone in this movie deserves it. 

The Smiling Car

After the teenagers have been offed it is revealed that Filippo's daughter Renata (Claudine Auger) has come to the property with her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli) to collect her inheritance. She finds out from Paolo and Anna that Simon may be the rightful heir and now they plan to get rid of him. They are also joined by their children played by giallo child star Nicoletta Elmi and Renato Cestie. The second half of the film is a cat and mouse game between each partner and person involved to see will kill each other first, what will get revealed, and who ultimately will come down with the inheritance. 

This is an influence on the eventual slasher genre. It is a fun and great movie in it's own right. The ending, and I mean the very end is one of the jaw dropping WTF moments ever in cinema. If I ranked the most surprising movie endings ever this would be close to one. Again Bava's cinematography in combo with Cipriani's music are top notch. What I do enjoy early on this some of the conversations the characters have that seem natural. There's just enough character development between the killing sprees to make me like the characters well enough, even if everyone in this movie is really a villain. I like seeing so many Euro cinema stars. One of the coolest things is how Renata seems more more like alpha than Albert does in their relationship. Seeing Luigi Pistilli as well as Edward Mannix dubbing his voice in english, take a backseat to anyone is just odd. 

Rating: 10/10 

Trivia: Due to the film's low budget Bava was his own cinematographer