Marta

 

"You don't need me. All you need is your own ball of shadows and hatred."

 

 

Miguel (Stephen Boyd) is a wealthy man of leisure with severe Oedipal issues and a family history of mental illness, who lives alone in a sprawling estate outside Rome, ever since his unfaithful wife, Pilar (Marissa Mell), left him. One day, a beautiful stranger named Marta (also Marissa Mell) appears on the estate, desperately explaining that she killed a man nearby and needs to escape. Miguel takes her in and covers for her when the police start asking questions. Before long, Marta and Miguel start a romantic affair despite her lingering questions - where is Pilar? What were the circumstances in the mysterious death of Miguel's mother, Clara (Nélida Quiroga)? Is Marta who she says she is and why does she look exactly like Pilar? A trap is set, but you'll be guessing until the end about who is the hunter and who is the prey.

This little gem of the genre almost didn't make the list, because it was unclear if it met all the criteria to be called a giallo. But after finally getting to review it, I can say that this is clearly a giallo and a really fun one at that. The beginning might be a little slow, but the last half hour ramps up with a succession of mind-bending twists that make it really fun.

• A cast of giallo all-stars makes this one particularly good. You'll recognize Marissa Mell from Una Sull'altra and Isa Miranda, who plays the maid, Elena, was in Mario Bava's Bay of Blood. And, of course, the great George Rigaud, who appears as butler Arturo, was in Knife of Ice and The Case of the Bloody Iris, among many others.

 

• For the purposes of the checklist above, the manor's staircase curves, but isn't spiral. Also, the rooms are decorated with several animal trophies, but none were killed during the course of the film. Also, there were two deaths on screen, but one appears to be a genuine accident, rather than a murder.

 

• The title Marta does make sense, but the original Italian title, which translates to ... After That it Kills and Devours the Male does not.  It's possible that this relates to Miguel's insect collection, but if there was a scene that ties the title in, it was cut from the final edit.

• There's a quick shot of a famous location from another giallo - Miguel and Marta have a date at the Spanish Steps, where The Girl Who Knew Too Much took place.

What the Hell am I Watching?

Marta is an accurate title for this movie, but a more precise one might be Every Hitchcock Movie at the Same Time. At the beginning, a guy with oedipal issues shows a desperate woman to her room, spies on her through a peep hole in the wall as she undresses and then contemplates killing her in the shower. Clearly an homage to Psycho. Later, it's revealed that Marta and Pilar look identical and Miguel keeps pushing to get Marta to look more and more like his lost wife. Sounds a lot like Vertigo to me. As the mystery deepens, Marta dresses in a 19th century ball gown to match a painting in the great hall, before the servants reveal some ulterior motives, much like in Rebecca. Throw in some of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" and you've got a movie!

Fashion Moment

SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

There seems to be a loose color motif in Marta's wardrobe. When we first see her, she's making maximum visual impact in a striking white mini dress with a matching cape and black thigh-high boots. Hard to miss with all that flowing fabric.

 

Throughout the movie, she seems to wear black and white outfits when she is at her most vulnerable and innocent. Here's a different dress she wears while hiding, as Miguel distracts the police.

When she's feeling more confident or when emotions are heightened, we see Marta in red or pink. She wears this sequined gown several times as her romance heats up, along with a Neuhu-style suit and several other red and pink looks.

Is she Marta or is she Pilar? Late in the movie, we discover that she actually has a third identity - Veronica! And Veronica's color seems to be blue. She wears this exact same outfit - with the black pants and slouchy belt- in red earlier in the movie.

 

Honorable Mention: Marta (posing as Pilar) is ready to log on to the Matrix in this chic leather duster. The director seems eager to find any excuse to get Marissa Mell out of her clothes, but she always looks her best when she's making these flowy, draping outfits move.

 

 

Five Women for the Killer

Five Women for the Killer

"When you've stared death in the face, you never forget it."

Writer Giorgio Pisani (Francis Matthews) rushes home to see the birth of his son, only to find that his wife has died in childbirth. On top of that, he discovers that the baby isn't his - medical tests show that Giorgio is sterile. But as he pieces his life together, the police are investigating a gloved killer whose victims are all pregnant women - or women believed to be pregnant. Could Giorgio's grief and confusion be driving him to murder? Or perhaps smarmy pediatrician Dr. Betti (Georgio Albertazzi), who has just impregnated his mistress, is covering his tracks? The Police Inspector (Howard Ross) must find out before more women die!

Five Women for the Killer (not to be confused with Six Women for the Killer, a.k.a. Blood & Black Lace) is a decent post-Argento giallo that follows a pattern: a woman character is introduced, the woman reveals that she's pregnant, the woman is killed. By the fourth time this pattern plays out, the audience knows what to expect (and may find it a little boring) but the filmmakers pull the rug out from under our expectations in the final scenes. The script is cleverly set up to let the audience figure out the identity of the killer about two minutes before it's revealed on screen.

• Director Stelvio Massi was the cinematographer on one of my favorite gialli, The Case of the Bloody Iris.
• Composer Giorgio Gaslini, who would go on to contribute music to Deep Red, imitates the noisy, funky bebop of Ennio Morricone's Bird with the Crystal Plumage soundtrack.
• The title "sort of" makes sense because while only four women ended up dead, there were five intended victims.

What the Hell am I Watching?

If you're a main suspect in a series of murders and find yourself at a fresh crime scene before the police arrive, don't be like Giorgio and pick up the murder weapon. Major facepalm.

Fashion Moment

Nothing to report here. The plot doesn't include any cocktail parties, receptions or gallery shows, so none of the characters have a reason to dress up in anything fancier than sport coats and ties. 1970's casual wear abounds.

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats

"I always feel like I'm in terrible danger when I'm with you. A woman likes that."

On the night of his birthday, wealthy aristocrat Patrick (Chris Avram) invites party guests to explore his family's old theater, which has been maintained but unused for 100 years. The group includes his sister, Rebecca (Eva Czemerys) and her lover Doris (Lucretia Love), Patrick's ex-wife, Vivian (Rosana Schiaffino) and her new husband Albert (Andrea Scotti), Patrick's daughter Lynn (Paola Senatore) and her boyfriend Duncan (Gaetano Russo), Patrick's fiancé Kim (Janet Agren) her ex, Russell (Howard Ross) and a mysterious man in a nehru jacket whom nobody can quite place (Eduardo Filipone). Before long, the guests find themselves locked inside the old theater and one by one they turn up dead. Everyone seems to have a motive, but who could be the killer? The answer lies in an ominous secret curse that has haunted Patrick's family for centuries!

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (not to be confused with The Killer is One of Thirteen) places the familiar "Ten Little Indians" scenario in an old theater and adds a supernatural twist. The result could have been a moody and stylish but is instead plodding, dull and about 40 minutes too long.  Patrick's 100-year family curse was obviously cribbed from The Red Queen Kills Seven Times and the murder scenes in a theater are likely a nod to Herschell Gordon Lewis's The Wizard of Gore. The characters in Nine Seats may be better fleshed-out than most and a torchlit journey to the underground catacombs at the end is an interesting move, but just about everything this movie tries to achieve has been done better elsewhere.

• This is the last of director Giuseppe Bennati's nine movies and his only giallo. 
• Composer Carlo Savina was a favorite musical director and orchestra conductor for Frederico Fellini and Francis Ford Coppola.
• You may recognize Chris Avram from Bay of Blood and Andrea Scotti from So Sweet, So Dead and The Fifth Cord. Of course, Howard Ross started his career in sword-and-sandal movies and later appeared in notable gialli like Naked Girl Killed in the Park and The New York Ripper.

What the Hell am I Watching?

The movie drags but it does have a few crazy moments to watch out for, starting with the mysterious disembodied voice that bellows a monologue from Othello from the stage for a good five minutes.

The killer wears an old man mask that is suitably disturbing. It's a giallo, so of course it's paired with black gloves and a cape.

The killer punishes lesbian Rebecca by stabbing her repeatedly in the lady parts and then nailing her hand to a board. By far the most brutal killing in the movie.

The biggest WTF moment comes late in the movie, when Lynn copes with the situation by popping pills and deleriously dancing naked in her room. It's a welcome break in the action, but it's ruined when she starts to make out with her own father. Gross gross gross gross gross.

Fashion Moment

Here's Vivian killing it in a sexy black gown:

And the mysterious stranger may (or may not) be over 100 years old, but his fashion sense is right up to date in his blue silk nehru jacket, accentuated by a silver medallion.

New York Ripper

New York Ripper

Don't accept rides from anyone with two fingers missing on his right hand, okay?

A serial killer is on the loose in New York City and Lt. Frank Williams (Jack Hedley) is on the case. The victims are all beautiful young women, but that seems to be the only factor they have in common. As the bodies pile up in the morgue, the killer grows bolder, calling Lt. Williams before each murder and taunting him with a squeaky Donald Duck voice and quacking noises. Could the deranged killer be Mickey Scellenda (Howard Ross), a brooding eight-fingered man? Could it be jealous husband Dr. Lodge (Cosimo Cinieri)? With the help of psychology professor Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco), Lt. Williams must find the answers before the duck-voiced killer strikes again!

New York Ripper isn't Lucio Fulci's best movie (that would be supernatural thriller L'Aldila), it's not his best giallo (that would be Perversion Story) and it's not the most fun to watch (that would be Murder Rock), but it's the Fulci-est Fulci movie ever, featuring all his signature moves: beautiful women in mortal jeopardy, lots of blood, close-up gore, zoom-ins on peoples' eyes, the killer's POV, Donald Duck, creepy and inappropriate sexual encounters, eyeball injuries, a gritty setting, helpless police, and a plot that hinges on a childhood trauma. This movie was made at a time when traditional gialli were being eclipsed in popularity by slasher films and Fulci gives his audience what they want, with slow-motion, blood-soaked shots of razors cutting off a woman's nipple and slicing through her eyeball. The plot may not make sense, but gore fans will cheer.

• The movie starts with a standard Law & Order opening. A man is going about his day, walking his dog along the river when he stumbles across the first body.
• Fulci makes a cameo as Lt. Williams' police chief.
• There's a scene of a cool radio DJ warning people about the killer on the loose between songs and asking him to "leave those ladies alone." The way it's shot and acted, it seems to be an obvious homage to the DJ in The Warriors.
• Fulci also seems to be paying homage to Bava and Argento when he lights the third murder scene in saturated greens and reds.
• Killer's POV is a pretty standard giallo move, but I can't recall seeing Police POV before New York Ripper. 
• You may remember Andrea Occhipinti from his starring role in the great Blade in the Dark.

What the Hell am I Watching?

In a weird subplot, Jane Lodge (Alexandra Delli Colli) keeps getting herself into more and more dangerous sexual situations, recording them on a mini tape player, and giving them to her husband to listen to. She doesn't seem to enjoy doing it, and it's implied that she's making the tapes to aid her husband's sexual disfunction. In the weirdest and most disturbing scene, she flirts with and is assaulted by two guys in a pool hall.

Fashion Moment

There's not a great shot of it, but I love Fay's (Almanta Suska) white cashmere scarf and the way it's elegantly draped over her shoulder in the subway scene. Great hair, too.

Five Dolls For an August Moon

Five Dolls For an August Moon

"Only murderers kill."

Wealthy industrialist George Stark (Teodoro Corrá) has invited friends to his remote island estate for a reunion and the group includes Professor Fritz Farrell (William Berger), who has just developed an innovative new formula for an industrial resin. But while the other guests fall over themselves to invest, Fritz isn't taking any offers. When the party becomes stranded on the island and people start turning up dead, it's clear that someone is willing to kill for the money or the formula – or both.  Could it be the Professor's wife, Trudy (Ira Von Fürstenberg) who is having an affair with George's wife, Jill (Edith Meloni)? Or perhaps it's Nick Cheney (Maurice Poli) and his wife Marie (Edwige Fenech), who aren't averse to using their open relationship to get what they want. A killer is on the loose and no one is safe!

Five Dolls For an August Moon (not to be confused with Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll) is based on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. It's a solid formula worthy of repetition but, alas, Mario Bava brings little innovation to his version. It's not particularly sexy or bloody and we seldom see the kills - just people discovering the bodies, which is sadly anticlimactic. None of the characters show any passion in their greed and, to be honest, the storyline with the secret formula is kind of dull. If you're interested in a much better version of the same story, I recommend Nine Guests For a Crime. What Five Dolls does have, though, is style to burn. The clothes and the sets and the swanky modern opulence of the movie are undeniable. I like to think of Five Dolls, with its large cast and complex criss-cross of motives as Bava's warmup for his next film, the much better Bay of Blood.

• This movie was released in Italy on Valentine's Day 1970.
• Rumor has it that the production was so rushed that Bava started shooting three days after agreeing to direct. The whole shoot took 19 days.
• This was Edwige Fenech's first giallo.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

Perhaps the coolest thing in the movie is that the guests decide to store the dead bodies in the kitchen's meat freezer. So we're repeatedly treated to the sight of bloody bodies in plastic bags slowly filling up the crowded little room over the course of the film.

With all the similar-looking faces and a lack of contrasting characterization, it gets a little confusing telling people apart. Adding to the confusion: there's a character called Jack and a different character called Jaques.

Pentathol bullets? Is that a thing? Is that even possible?

Fashion Moment

This is the real reason to watch the movie. Crazy costumes abound, with psychedelic gowns, foppish ascots, gold lamé bell-bottoms, and unbuttoned satin disco shirts billowing in the breeze. One of my favorites is this strange white bikini, modeled by Edwige Fenech.

Also, the beautiful cliff-side house itself, with sleek modern architecture contrasts nicely with its rocky surroundings.

The Pajama Girl Case

The Pajama Girl Case

"You're never going to find out who the killer is until you find out who the girl is."

When the badly burned corpse of an unidentified young woman wearing yellow silk pajamas is discovered on a beach in Sydney, retired Inspector Thompson (Academy Award winner Ray Milland) volunteers to help the police investigate. But Inspector Ramsey (Ramiro Oliveros), who is assigned to the case, doesn't want the old-timer in the way. Instead, he tries some drastic methods, including embalming the naked body and putting it on public display in hopes that someone can identify her.  Meanwhile, Glenda Blythe (Dalila Di Lazzaro) is carrying on relationships with three men: a romantic relationship with Italian waiter Antonio (Michele Placido), a physical relationship with Roy (Howard Ross), and a mentor relationship with Professor Henry Douglas (Mel Ferrer). With her marriage to Antonio on the rocks, Glenda decides to run away... and finds more trouble than she can handle.

The Pajama Girl Case (or, if you prefer, The Pyjama Girl Case) is an unusual giallo in several respects. First, it's based on a true story. In 1939 an unidentified woman in silk pajamas was found dead in a ditch in rural Australia and, with no leads to go on, the police invited citizens to view the body (though she wasn't on public display like in the movie). It's still one of Australia's most famous unsolved cases. The Pajama Girl Case is also unusual in its structure, cutting back and forth between the murder investigation and the soap opera melodrama of Glenda's love life. It's not until the end of the movie that the two stories come together and we get the full picture. Also, the tone of the film is unusually dark and depressed. If you want to see a fun, fast-paced giallo with a gleeful sense of anarchy then this isn't the movie for you.

• Though he directed 14 films, Flavio Mogherini is best known as a production designer. This is his only giallo.
• The color yellow is used judiciously used throughout the film in the props, sets, and costumes, usually to punctuate important scenes or connect people and things with the investigation.
• Ray Milland really brings a puckish sense of joy to his role, playing a man who is thrilled to be back in the game after a long absence. Though he was steadily employed in the early 1970's, I get the impression that Milland himself was excited to be part of this production.
• You may recall Dalila Di Lazzaro as the ice-cold Headmistress in Dario Argento's Phenomena.
• Also, please say hello to all-star supporting player Eugene Walter, camping it up as a material witness. You may have seen him in Black Belly of the Tarantula or non-giallo films like The House With the Laughing Windows and Fellini's 8 1/2.

What The Hell Am I Watching?

There's a scene where Glenda, broke and desperate, turns to prostitution to make a little money. The scene is slow and relentless as tears fill her eyes and a fat, sweaty man rolls on top of her as his teenage nephew watches. It's heartbreaking, disgusting and disturbing in a way I haven't experienced since Requiem For A Dream.

Fashion Moment

There are, in fact, yellow pajamas in the movie. But we really don't get a good look at them except in one wide shot at the very end.