The Man With the Glass Eye

 

"The longer the hair, the stupider you get."

A prominent London businessman is found in a hotel room with a knife through his heart and a mysterious glass eyeball nearby and, the next day, showgirl Laila (Heidrun Hankammer), who was with the victim at the time, is found dead backstage. Inspector Perkins (Horst Tappert) is on the case, with the help of the libidinous Sir Arthur (Hubert von Meyerinck) and squeaky-voiced Sergeant Pepper (Stefan Behrens). But the investigation soon uncovers a sinister plot involving organized crime, human trafficking and drug smuggling. Who is the mysterious masked vigilante killing off members of the cartel? What dark secrets is showgirl Yvonne hiding? And will Scotland Yard be able to stop the sinister plot in time?

The Man With the Glass Eye (not to be confused with The Man With Icy Eyes or Eyes of Crystal or Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll) is the 14th and final adaptation in Rialto Films' Edgar Wallace series and viewers will recognize familiar tropes from the other films: organized crime, hidden rooms, backstage theater drama, and devious upper-class criminals. This one is really more krimi than giallo, but the presence of a masked killer blurs the genre lines a bit. It's a fast-paced crime caper with a complex plot, some good action scenes, a bit of humor and a satisfying ending. 

• I've checked "Inept Police" above, despite the fact that the police solve the crime and save the day. This is in regards to Sir Arthur, who recommends the wrong course of action at every turn. The case is solved by going against his instincts.

• Out of everyone in the cast, viewers outside of Germany might recognize Fitz Wepper (Yvonne's boyfriend Bruce) as Fritz Wendel in the 1972 film adaptation of Cabaret. 

• There are actually lots of glass eyes in this movie. There's the crime boss, who has a literal glass eye who hides out in a billiard hall called "The Glass Eye." The killer, is also shown with one white eye and the pass key to get into the smugglers lair is a glass marble, painted to look like an eyeball, which lots of people (including one child) have in their possession. The title might also refer to the cameras that the mobsters have hidden around the billiard hall.

What the Hell am I Watching?

Along with the Las Vegas Girls and Rubiro the knife thrower, one of the acts in the nightclub show is a nosy ventriloquist with a truly disturbing dummy.

Late in the movie, the killer wears the dummy head as a mask while taking out a victim.

Fashion Moment

The Las Vegas Girls official color seems to be teal. we see them wearing it on and off stage.

Here we see Laila wearing the poisoned mask.

And, finally a look at the killer's outfit - a classic giallo look except for the white mask, which seems to be a staple of this Rialto Films series.
 

 

Crime in Via Teulada

 

"It's always shadows for me."

Behind the scenes of a busy television studio, amid the chaos of performers and crew, production assistant Lia (Auretta Gay) discovers a dead body in a storage room - but by the time she calls people over to show them, the body has disappeared! Intern Sandro (Pietro Brambilla), dancer Annie (Barbara d'Urso) and blind phone operator Ely (Margarita Sestito) resolve to help Lia find the truth. But as they investigate, the killer strikes again and again, murdering anyone who gets too close to the truth  and collecting evidence of the crimes. Who could the killer be? Can the team find out before the murderer does them in?

Crime in Via Teulada (not to be confused with Crimes) was originally aired on Italian TV as a serialized segment on the show "Variety" - the same show depicted in the movie. It appeared over 15 episodes, each about five minutes long and was later edited together for a video release. Because of this unusual structure, there's not a lot of time for introducing and establishing characters but, on the upside, it means there's a murder scene, chase or suspenseful moment every few minutes. Though it doesn't stand up to the genre's greats, it's an interesting experiment in the giallo form and worth checking out.

• The killer's motive - to find and hide an incriminating diary - is clearly lifted from Blood and Black Lace. Also, the behind the scenes showbiz setting is similar to Dario Argento's Opera, which would come out a few years later.

• Director Aldo Lado made his name as the director of Short Night of the Glass Dolls, Who Saw Her Die? and, much later, Circle of Fear. 

• Throughout the film, we see crew testing out special effects tricks - getting stabbed, impaled with a sword, and dropping a mannequin from a rooftop. All those same effects are later used at some point by the filmmakers of Crime in Via Teulada to kill off characters. It's rather meta.

• The original title was Giallo a Striscio, which translates as "A Smear of Yellow." 

What the Hell am I Watching?

In order to hide one of the victim's bodies, the killer shrink wraps her onto a board and places her among a group of prop statues. One can't help but make comparisons to Han Solo in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back, which was released the same year as Crime in Via Teulada.

Fashion Moment

Here's a look at the dancers' Vegas-style costumes on the set of "Variety."

Notice that the logo for "Variety" is identical to the masthead for the American entertainment newspaper of the same name.

Also, a shout out to Annie for this cool hooded leather coat.

The Bloodstained Lawn

 

"I hate planning for anything. Studies, love..."

While hunting down smugglers, a UNESCO agent (Nino Castelnuovo) discovers a crate of wine bottles filled with human blood. Elsewhere, Alfiero (Claudio Biava) drives around the countryside rounding up random strangers - a drunk, a prostitute, a Romani girl and a pair of hippy hitchhikers - and brings them back to the estate owned by his sister Nina (Mariana Malfatti) and her scientist husband Antonio (Enzo Tarascio). Max the hippy (George Willing) and his girlfriend (Daniella Carolli) soon get creepy vibes from Antonio's collection of macabre robots, Nina's talk of developing a master race of supermen and the sudden disappearance of the Romani girl (Barbara Marzano). What grisly experiments is Antonio really working on? Is Nina a vampire? And will the UNESCO agent solve the case before more people die?

The Bloodstained Lawn (not to be confused with The Bloodstained Shadow, The Bloodstained Butterfly or Seven Bloodstained Orchids) is a wild ride and, to be honest, I hesitated before adding it to the list. It does technically meet all four of my criteria but, while a lot of gialli find a foundation in gothic horror, this film seems to find its inspiration the world of science fiction. The film abounds with crazy nonsense moments, absurd mis-directs and laughable effects. Very little of it makes sense, but if you enjoyed the insanity of Spasmo, you might really like this one.

• The film begins with a title pop song over the opening credits - highly unusual for a giallo.

• Please note that seven of the deaths listed in the body count listed above occur before the action of the movie starts. These were the bodies discovered in the basement freezer late in the film.

• The title has nothing to do with the plot, but when Max & his girlfriend are hitchhiking, she remarks on a beautiful field of red flowers and he replies that it looks like a bloodstained lawn.

• Even though the cast is very small, only a few of the characters actually get names.

• Despite the film being a hot mess, the cast features some real talent. You may recognize Marina Malfatti from The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Enzo Tarascio from The Designated Victim and both George Willing and Dominique Boschero from Who Saw Her Die?

What the Hell am I watching?

A lot of the craziest moments involve the characters being very comfortable with nudity, so there won't be photos. But I must mention the naked, drunken go go party that takes place in a hall of mirrors and the odd shower scene where wine starts pouring out of the shower head instead of water.

Here's a look at the absurd-looking killer robot that Nina tries to pass as a piece of modern sculpture. It looks like a giant beer keg with a super hero cape.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the retractable arm of the robot looks a lot like the spiked glove in Blood and Black Lace.

Fashion Moment:

Antonio immediately telegraphs his eccentricity (if not lunacy) with his outrageous choice of neckwear. We learn midway through the movie that these are actually straight ties, which he knots into ridiculous floppy bows.

Rich and bored Nina is a fashion standout, especially in this evening gown with a JLo neckline.

Nina apparently outfits all of her guests with new clothes for the aforementioned go go party. They're all looking rather sharp before things get wild.

Violent Bloodbath

 

"Anyway, don't worry about me. I'm learning karate this year."

Stressed out from his job, District Attorney Oscar Bataille (Fernando Ray) takes his younger wife Patricia (Marissa Mell) to a seaside resort to unwind and reconnect. But while there, each of the Batailles is distracted by a looming shadow from their past. Just as Patricia encounters former lover Wilson Vargas (Espartaco Santoni) and secretly resumes her affair, Oscar uncovers a gruesome crime scene nearly identical to the case of Jacques Morell - a killer whom Oscar convicted and had executed three years ago. Did Oscar convict the wrong man? Or is someone trying to trigger his stress further with these murders and push him over the edge? Could the killer be fellow hotel guest and playboy movie star Javier Duran (Máximo Valverde)? Oscar and the Inspector (Julián Navarro) are on the case!

If ever there was a title that over-sells the movie, it's Violent Bloodbath (not to be confused with Bay of Blood). Equal parts of soap opera and murder mystery, this obscure Spanish giallo is light on both violence and blood. The original Spanish title makes a lot more sense - Pena de Muerte translates as "Death Penalty." Overall, it's entertaining and, while it lacks some of the classic tropes, it's worth seeking out.

• The guillotine killing listed above is a flashback to the execution of Jacques Morell, which happened before the action of the movie but is shown in a flashback midway through the film.

• Marissa Mell is, of course, a giallo all-star from Marta and Perversion Story. You may recall Fernando Ray as criminal Alain Charnier in The French Connection, waving to Gene Hackman from the safety of a well-timed subway train.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

There's a party at the resort that includes a lobster-eating contest. A row of young women strip down to bikinis and chow down on lobsters as the MC shouts at them to eat faster. It's one of those great "why?" moments that randomly pop up in giallo movies.

Fashion Moment:

For most of the movie, Patricia keeps a cool exterior in fashionable daywear, often featuring high contrast stripes for a dynamic look.

But occasionally she likes to let loose with a wild floral print.

Also, a quick shout-out to The Inspector, whose wardrobe is giving us the full Larry Dallas.

The Sinister Monk

"I'm not going to cover up for you this time!"

Lord Wilmore has died and left his  whole estate to his grand daughter, Gwendolin (Karin Dor), but the will is stolen and without it, the estate will be divided among Wilmore's adult children. When the thieves send a copy of the will to the Lord Wilmore's son, Richard (Sigfried Lowitz), he uses it to blackmail his siblings John (Sigfried Schürenberg) and Patricia (Ilse Steppat) - give him the majority of the inheritance or lose it all to Gwendolin. In an effort to protect her and win her favor, Patricia invites Gwendolin to stay at the Manor, which is now a girls' boarding school. When Gwendolin arrives, she learns that the house is  haunted by the ghost of a Medieval monk - and soon people start getting murdered by a whip-weilding figure in a black hood. Is the ghost of the monk really behind the killings? Or could the killer be Patricia's smarmy son, Ronnie (Hartmut Reck), who has been implicated in the disappearance of three students? Maybe it's the creepy artist who rents a room in the manor or the mysterious new French teacher? Inspector Bratt ( Harald Leipnitz) has no shortage of suspects in this case!

The Sinister Monk is brought to you by the same team that made Room 13. In fact, Rialto Films did a whole series of popular films in the 60's based on the novels of Edgar Wallace, using the same stock cast and crew. All of the films cross over into the worlds of crime dramas and drawing room mysteries, but this one stands out for its unusual costumed killer and his gruesomely original method of murder. There's a lot going on with a wide array of suspects and subplots about human trafficking and Gewndolin's father's wrongful conviction for murder, but somehow it all manages come to a satisfying conclusion.

• Just like in Room 13, the movie is in black and white but the titles are in color.

• You may recognize Mary, one of the boarding school girls, as Uschi Glas (credited as Ursula Glas). This is one of her first film roles, but she'd go on to star in one of my favorite gialli, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids.

What the Hell am I Watching?

The craziest thing in this movie is how the Monk kills his victims - he whips them from a distance, coiling the lash around the victim's neck and then yanking to break their spine. 

Props to Lola (Uta Levka) who had the ingenuity to fill a squirt gun with sulfuric acid for self defense.

Also, I suspect that the taxidermy in Gwendolin's room might be a subtle homage to Psycho.

Fashion Moment:

Being the matriarch and Head Mistress of the school, Patricia is really the only one who gets to glam it up.

However in one scene, Gwendolin gets a note telling her to go to London to get proof of her wrongfully-convicted father's innocence and not to tell anyone. She complies but, remembering that several girls have been kidnapped during trips to the city, she makes sure Detective Bratt knows she's leaving the Manor wearing this suit with a bold houndstooth pattern, making it easy for the police to trail her.

Trhauma

"If you don't do as I say I'm never going to play with you again."

Lilly (Domitilla Cavazza) and Andrea (Gaetano Russo) are hosting friends for the weekend at their newly-refurbished villa, but Lilly isn't happy - it seems that Andrea is badly in debt and Lilly feels that he only married her for her sizable bank account. The otherwise relaxing weekend is shattered when one of the guests, Olga (Anna Maria Chiatante), goes missing and later turns up dead. Soon, more guests are attacked by a mysterious one-eyed killer. Who is this killer living in the catacombs beneath the house? And who will be the next victim?

Trhauma (not to be confused with Dario Argento's Trauma) comes from an interesting period, when gialli were losing popularity and slowly transitioning into the new genre of slasher films. Released three years after Halloween and the same year as Friday the 13th, Trhauma puts much less focus on the mystery - we see the killer throughout and know his identity - while maintaining the style and a lot of the tropes giallo audiences have come to expect. The result is a much shallower effort than we're used to seeing and an abrupt, unresolved ending doesn't help.

• I don't have any idea where the superfluous "H" in the title comes from. Italian for "trauma" is "trauma." Maybe the intentional misspelling is just a marketing ploy to draw attention?

• The original Italian title translates as "The Mystery of the Cursed House."

• The killer, played by Per Holgher, is credited as "The Being," rather than given a name. This is perhaps an homage to Halloween, in which Michael Meyers is referred to as "The Shape."

• This is Domitilla Cavazza's first screen credit. Her only other one is the comedy Saparati in Casa.

What the Hell am I Watching?

Early in the movie, we visit "The Being" in his dingy underground lair where he has built a giant castle out of Legos.

Fashion Moment:

Lots of boring preppy clothes. 

Only photographer/blackmailer Paul seems to have a flair for fashion, standing out in a very 70's look with his vest, open collar and purple ascot.

Orders Signed in White

"The organization has become a trap."

Luca "The Fisherman" Albanese (Gianni Manera) is the mastermind of a mafia-backed bank robbery in Rome, with associates Michael (Herb Andress), Teresa (Irina Maleeva) and Patrick (Enrico Manera) assigned to back him up. After the robbery, the thieves meet up with their girlfriends and flee to a safe house outside the city. But shortly after they arrive, one of the women turns up dead - strangled, with her face smeared in white paint. The group moves to a new location but the killer seems to follow, killing people off one by one and leaving a trail of painted corpses. Who is behind these killings? What is the motivation for these brutal slayings? And what message is he sending with the white paint? 

Orders Signed in White is a highly ambitious movie that tackles the lofty themes of justice, the meaning of loyalty and the insidious, pervasive nature of corruption. Unfortunately, it's also a poorly-made film that takes itself way too seriously, with a convoluted script that undermines all of its ambitions. Despite a pre-credits disclaimer stating that police and legal experts were consulted on the script for maximum authenticity, one gets the impression that the filmmakers got all their information about the mafia from 1940's gangster flicks. The dramatic and action aspects of the film might fall flat, but strangely, it works as a giallo - we get a classic black-gloved killer with a unique signature and some of the craziest moments the genre has to offer. If that sounds good to you and you have some patience for a lot of extra nonsense, give it a spin.

• Director Gianni Manera plays Luca and his brother, Enrico Manera, plays Patrick. They also co-wrote the screenplay together.

• Before the credits and before the disclaimer, the film begins with a poetic message, describing the mafia as threads, reaching out in all directions, forming a tapestry of corruption and crime. 

• The music for this film was done by the great Carlo Savina, whose work you might remember from The Killer Reserved Nine Seats and Naked Girl Murdered in the Park, among others. He gets a nice shout-out in the movie when Luca is listening to the radio in the car.

• Irina Maleeva, who plays Teresa, went on to a long career and appeared as a day player on American TV shows, such as The Gilmore Girls, Heroes and Angel. She also had a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

I get the strong impression that a major motivation for making this movie was to write off vacations as business expenses. Luca flies from Rome to Paris to meet up with Teresa on the Eiffel Tower, with a lot of B-roll footage of French tourist spots in between. Then, the pair travel by train back to Rome to pull off the heist.

 

Later, Luca has a dream sequence which includes him and his friends skiing at a resort in the Austrian Alps. This obviously has nothing to do with anything in the movie and was almost certainly included in the final edit for tax purposes.

The car crash scene is actually fantastic. They had at least three different cameras going during the stunt and they used all the footage from each one. It includes a very satisfying explosion.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Let's get to it and discuss one of the wildest scenes in the giallo canon, which occurs late in the movie. Our group of gangsters is down to four: Luca, Patrick, Lucia and Teresa, who all take a walk to the top of a high cliff overlooking a village. Acting out a dramatic scene in the movie he wants to make with his cut of the heist money, Patrick lunges at Luca, who casually steps out of the way, causing Patrick to careen down the cliff to his death. As the women are horrified and shocked, Luca shoves both of them over the edge as well. Then he steps back and delivers a tearful monologue, ranting to the heavens about being trapped in his fealty to the mafia. It is absolutely bonkers and comes like a one-two punch out of nowhere. What's even crazier is that with all the characters except Luca now dead, we still have about 10 more minutes of movie left to watch before everything gets tied up.

Fashion Moment:

When I saw the ladies waiting for the robbers in a getaway car, I had high hopes for the costumes in this movie.

But then for the rest of the film everyone dressed like extras on the set of Guys & Dolls.

Special point of interest: After the heist, the robbers abandon their getaway car at the foot of one of Rome's most famous modern buildings - the "Colosseo Quadrato," a noted example of Brutalist architecture from the Mussolini regime and current home to Fendi's corporate offices. It's also the site of the final scene in Fatal Frames which is a film that makes a lot less sense than this one but is way more fun to watch.

 

Night of Violence

 

 

"We communicate with words. That's how we understand."

Carla Pratesi (Héléne Chanel), the oldest daughter of an esteemed ambassador, is working as a high-class call girl in Rome. On her way to pay off a blackmailer who threatens to make her secret public, her car has a blowout and she is chased into the woods and strangled by a mysterious stranger. Inspector Ferretti (Alberto Lupo) quickly takes up the case and discovers a vast ring of drug smugglers and human traffickers. But each night, more women are attacked - and multiple witnesses claim that the killer is Mario Vivaldi, a famous actor. Not content to sit around and watch the press malign her family's name, Carla's sister (Marilú Tolo) decides to pursue the killer herself. Who is the killer and what motivates him to attack women? Can Inspector Ferretti stop him? And will Carla's sister be the next victim?

Night of Violence (not to be confused with Night After Night After Night) comes from the earliest period of giallo, when the genre was still figuring itself out and establishing its tropes. It has a masked killer who strikes a series of beautiful women, but this one plays out more as a police procedural, tracking not only the killer's movements, but the methodical course of the police investigation. It's very straightforward storytelling and, much like Watch Me When I Kill, the killer's identity and motivation stem from the horrors of actual 20th Century history.

• The music in this film is fantastic. The mix of Italian big band and R&B music is very hip for 1965. Composer Aldo Piga also scored A... For Assassin.

• Writer/Director Roberto Mauri would go on to write Clap... You're Dead, which also features a murder investigation on the set of a movie-within-a-movie.

• The original Italian title is Le Notti Della Violenza, so the translation should more accurately be Nights of Violence (plural).

What the Hell Am I Watching?

 

You read correctly - Marilú Tolo's character doesn't get a name in the movie. She's only ever referred to as "Carla's sister."

 

 Also, Carla's sister is the only character smart enough to realize that the killer is wearing masks.

In the finale, the killer forces Carla's sister up a massive spiral staircase (an observation tower? Campanile?). When she slips and dangles off the edge, the police just stand there and look around at each other. No effort is made to help her, catch her or even run to break her fall. Rome's finest. 

Fashion Moment:

Carla starts the movie off with a bang (figuratively).

But her sister is the one who really shines in a chic black dress, lush leopard coat and accent jewelry.

Later at the stakeout, she adds a fashionable newsboy hat to the look.

And finally, here's a good look at the killer's mask. Kind of looks like Michael Meyers with a mustache.