Cross Current
"You are careless, leaving a gun around in anyone's reach."
Recovering from a speed boat crash and risky surgery, Marco Breda (Philippe Leroy) returns to his villa to recuperate, joined by his wife, Monica (Elga Andersen) and their friends Burt (Ivan Rassimov) and Terry (Rosanna Yanni). Marco is under strict doctor's orders to avoid stress, but he is haunted by gaps in his memory and questions about his life before the accident. When a former gardener turns up dead, the police ask questions that he can't answer and before long, more people close to Marco are murdered. Did Marco black out and commit murders he can't remember? Or is someone trying to drive him crazy? Soon, Marco resumes his affair with Terry, putting himself in even more danger. Who is behind these murders and how is Marco involved?
Cross Current is an interesting take on the classic film Diabolique, re-imagined for the post-Argento age. The fun of the film is as much in figuring out the conspiracy as finding the identity of the killer. Besides an Argento-esque eye for production design and costumes, there's also a sly reference to Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca with the Breda's scowly maid.
- This is director Tonio Ricci's second movie and his first giallo, but he had good sense to fill out his cast with giallo veterans like Rassimov, Franco Fantasia, and Franco Ressel.
- The original Italian title is Un Omicidio Perfetto a Termine di Legge, which loosely translates as A Perfectly Legal Murder.
- Check out Liana Del Balzo as the gardener's mother. She would go on to play a small but pivotal role in Dario Argento's Deep Red.
- If you think the editing of this film was a little, shall we say, "poorly realized," consider that it was dome by Armedo Giomini, who was also responsible for Slaughter Hotel. It all makes sense now.
The movie opens with an extended dialogue-free speed boat race, but we're given no context about how things are done and what's going on. What's at stake? Who's winning? Why is there no sense of urgency?
There's a fantastic death scene where a victim wearing all white stumbles across the length of a white room in slow motion, smearing blood on absolutely everything in her path.
Fashion Moment
The Bredas' house and furnishings have a tastefully georgous ultra-modern style and the clothes were okay. But the thing that caught my eye were the 1970's era racing helmets with the cool Speed Racer-style bubble visors.
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