The Killer with a Thousand Eyes

The Killer with a Thousand Eyes

"I've never dropped a case yet and I won't stop now."

When English Interpol agent Alistair McAndrew is murdered by a kabuki-masked assassin, his colleague, Michael Laurence (Anthony Steffen) is sent to Lisbon to identify and retrieve the body. But while in Portugal, Michael gets pulled into Alistair's case and, with help from an international team of agents, starts his own undercover investigation into the city's drug smuggling operations. As he gets closer to his friend's killer, informants and fellow agents are getting taken out by the mysterious gloved killer. Could it be the work of crime boss Costa (Eduardo Fajardo) or is someone else pulling the strings? Michael must hurry to find out before more people are murdered!

The Killer with a Thousand Eyes (not to be confused with The Man with Icy Eyes) is one of those fun gialli-poliziotteschi hybrids, combining the mysterious black-gloved killer and mystery aspects of a giallo with all the action and idiomatic themes of an Italian police procedural. And boy is this one action-packed. There's intrigue, explosions, six kung-fu fight scenes, a shootout in a dark warehouse and a couple of car chases - the last of which ends with the bad guys driving over the side of a giant suspension bridge. And it all winds up with a satisfying twist ending.

• 1974 was director Juan Bosch's giallo year. He's best known for his Westerns, but he released this movie and The Killer Wore Gloves within a few months of each other.
• Marcello Giombini's score mixes a 1970's crime movie aesthetic with a strange electronic bebop style of synthesized bleeps.
• This movie has a really high body count, but in includes six anonymous thugs, who are gunned down in the warehouse shootout in the course of four minutes.

What the Hell am I Watching?

 When French agent DuVallier (Raf Baldassarre) lets Michael crash at his apartment, he makes a point of showing off an exercise device he keeps in the kitchen. I thought for sure that this would pay off later on - maybe Michael could choke an intruder with it - but it never does.

Crime boss Costa's girlfriend, Sarah is a real psycho, as evidenced by her boisterous bloodlust during a cockfight at a dinner party.

Crime movie cliché #104: the detective and the crime boss square off over a quiet but intense game of chess. Because the chess game is a metaphor for their contentious relationship.

DuVallier's murder scene takes place in the woods and as the tension builds, the birds get louder and louder - but instead of sampling actual bird sounds, they used electronic chirps and whistles, building to a weird robotic cacophony.

Fashion Moment

When we first see Michael, he's getting his hands dirty, busting up a small-time London drug ring in this cool black jacket and turtleneck.

In Lisbon he gets decked out in his Carnaby Street finest. Love this chic jacket-waistcoat-ascott combo.

But for the rest of this investigation, he wears these less flashy outfits: sport coat, chinos, and a wide tie, all in solid colors. He does have a magnificent gold belt buckle, though.

But the real fashion iconoclast of the movie turns out to be Michael's commanding officer, Albert (Antonio Pico) who climbs out of a pool in one scene wearing a tiny white banana hammock.

A Dragonfly for Each Corpse

  
A Dragonfly for Each Corpse

"High fashion. Craftsmanship. Only a high-class garment would have this button."

A mysterious and fashionable vigilante in a hooded coat and red pants has been eliminating the prostitutes and junkies of Milan and leaving a small dragonfly sculpture - a symbol of vice - on each body as a trademark.  It's up to Inspector Paolo Scaporalla (Paul Naschy) to stop her, with the help of his girlfriend Silvana (Erika Blanc), whose connections to the fashion world provide valuable insights. The investigation will lead them to a prostitution ring, an amusement park, and an enigmatic drawing one of the victims left as a clue. Could the killer be Professor Campitelli (Eduardo Calvo), who hides a dark obsession, or Claudia Volpini (Susana Mayo), covering for her husband's infidelities. With pressure from the chief and the body count rising, Paolo and Silvana must race to find the killer.

A Dragonfly for Each Corpse is a really fantastic giallo with one of the highest body counts in the genre. It is, unfortunately, pretty obscure and could benefit with a remastering and a DVD release because it's a good addition to the genre. The twisty plot and large pool of suspects (most of whom are introduced in a party scene near the beginning of the movie) keeps suspicions shifting and the murderer's wide array of creative murder weapons keeps things interesting.

• The story was conceived by star Paul Naschy and it plays right to his strengths.
• The title "sort of" makes sense because only 12 of the killings can be attributed to the murderer. A more accurate title would be A Dragonfly For Most of the Corpses.
• It's an interesting idea to have the killer be a vigilante, targeting the city's criminals, Seven-style. In fact, at the start of the investigation, the police debate weather it's a good idea to find the culprit or let her keep up the spree.
• The investigation takes us to the hounted house ride at Luna Park - the same location as the opening murder in Naked Girl Murdered In a Park.

What the Hell am I Watching?

Paolo's investigation leads him to an ambush in an alley, where he takes on a group of thugs in Nazi uniforms. Because it's not a Paul Naschy movie without a three-on-one brawl.

Please to enjoy an appearance by the least-convincing drag queen ever. The hairy chest is a major giveaway.

If you're running from the cops, why would you go on a roller coaster? You know where it's going to end up and that they're all waiting for you at the station. The "roller coaster shootout" concept was done a few years later and 100 times better in Sergio Martino's The Suspicious Death of a Minor.

If you're laying there dying and you have time to sketch a picture of your killer's distinctive birthmark, maybe that time would be better spent just WRITING DOWN HIS NAME instead.

Later, Silvana is intently focused, poring over photographic evidence with a magnifying glass... while in bed, completely naked. What's that about? I mean besides being totally gratuitous.

Fashion Moment

Let's have a look at the killer's outfit: A black hooded pea coat, red straight-leg pants, and black platforms with a chunky heel. Tres chic.

Also, have a look at architect Volpini in his swanky white tux and peach bow tie.

Let this be a lesson to the gents: if you wear a light-colored shirt always always ALWAYS wear a white undershirt underneath. Always.