Five Dead on the Crimson Canvas

 

"Looking at this painting is like looking into the eyes of a long-forgotten ghost."

On the night artist Richard Streeb (Simeon Moni Damerski) premieres his new gallery exhibit of death-themed paintings, his wife, Gloria (Liz Haverty) watches helplessly as Richard is stabbed and dragged off by a masked killer. When Inspector Andez (Xavier Domingo) arrives, he declares that with no evidence of a crime - no body, no blood, no signs of struggle - there is no case. But Richard's brother, Bill (Joe Zaso), is determined to find the truth. As the killer strikes again, stealing one of Richard's paintings from each of his victims, Bill digs through his brother's past to find clues. Could the killer be the right-wing art critic from the local paper? Or Gloria's jealous lesbian maid? And could Bob and Gloria be the next victims?

Five Dead on the Crimson Canvas (not to be confused with The Red Queen Kills Seven Times), is a real head-scratcher. It's clearly intended to be an imitation of the classic era of late-70's giallo, but from moment to moment it seesaws between spot-on homage and amateurish dreck. The score is sometimes deeply atmospheric and sometimes obtrusive Casio-synth filler. The cinematography is often poorly composed and lit, but occasionally, we see a glimmer of real artistry. The story borrows from Deep Red and Four Flies of Gray Velvet and shows a real understanding of what works in those movies, but the filmmaking isn't nearly sophisticated enough to be on par with those classics.

But here's a thought: what if this movie isn't as inept as it seems? What if it's paying homage to the full depth of the giallo genre - not only the intense artistry of The Fifth Cord and Blood and Black Lace but also the low-budget, gritty incompetence of Snapshot of a Crime and The Murder Clinic? Could Five Dead on the Crimson Canvas in fact be an extremely nuanced and knowing genre parody? I might be over-thinking it.

• Star Joe Zaso was also a producer on this film, which was made by his company, Cinema Image Productions.

• The character of Inspector Andez - a rumpled, persistent older detective - was clearly based on Peter Falk's Columbo. Except that Columbo never let an amateur detective solve a case before him.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

Among the many superfluous scenes, you'll find a prolonged shower sequence, two stripteases, an S&M scene and a beat poetry slam, the latter of which provides us with the title of the film.

Here's an example of the weirdly mixed cinematography styles. People walk in and out of each others' light or forget to open to camera. Often, we'll get shots like these, where people's heads get cut off for extended periods of time:

 But then, suddenly, things get arty with gorgeous homages to Suspiria and Deep Red:

Fashion Moment:

At least this movie knows enough to give its killer the classic giallo look:

The Killer is Still Among Us

 

"Some things... take a bloody long time."

Criminology student Christina Marelli (Mariangela D'Abbraccio) is writing her thesis on "The Monster," a serial killer who has been terrorizing Florence for the past 12 years, shooting and stabbing couples who park in lovers lanes. Through her investigation, Christina meets the handsome young coroner Alex, with whom she starts a romantic relationship. As the murders continue, Christina dives into Florence's seedy underbelly and even consults a psychic medium. But could her investigation make her the next target? And is the killer, who seems to have precise knowledge of human anatomy, closer than she thinks?

The Killer is Still Among Us (not to be confused with The Killer is On the Phone) is based on the real-life  "Monster of Florence," a serial killer who operated between the late 60's and the late 80's, whose case wasn't solved until the early 2000's. It's an unusual giallo in that it follows many of the tropes of the genre while also breaking some of the the rules (to say more would spoil the unusual ending). Overall, it's an artfully-made, well-acted film with interesting surprises and a bit of gore towards the end. Plus, the screenplay was written by giallo's greatest talent, Ernesto Gastaldi. A nice surprise entry to the genre.

• Each of the victims except one is said to be both shot and stabbed. It's not clear which of those was fatal in each case, so I included both on the list above for each of those murders.

• Be warned that in the theatrical version, the last murder scene includes shots of the killer carving up his female victim, including some gruesome genital mutilation.

• There are actually two giallo films based on the Monster of Florence case, both released in 1986. The other is called The Monster of Florence (Il Mostro di Firenze) and appears to adhere closer to the actual facts of the case. I hope to find a copy to review for a future post. It's a very famous case and was also the basis of an Italian TV mini series and several documentary films.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

After seeing a mime bar in Dario Argento's Sleepless (look it up) I'm not at all surprised when this movie takes us to a voyeur's bar. The patrons of Taverna del Diavolo (The Devil's Pub) are all creeps who meet up to coordinate their efforts to spy on couples necking in the back seats of cars, often using high-tech listening devices.

Christina trails one of the peeping toms to his office where he has a dual practice as a gynecologist and psychiatrist. Imagine those student loan payments.

Fashion Moment:

Christina stands out early in the film when she wears this eyeball-searing read sweater. Later, she wears it with an equally vivid red jacket.

When we first meet Alex, he drops his yellow gloves into the garbage bin. Later at home, Christina finds his bloody gloves in the yellow kitchen pail. All subtle color clues meant to throw suspicion on Alex.

Also, let's take a moment to appreciate some of the lighting choices. When power goes out in Christina's apartment, the room goes dark, lit only be a flashing neon sign, much like in Blood and Black Lace.

Similarly, at the seance, the contrasting colors are reminiscent of Argento's Suspiria.

Crimes

 

"Unfortunately, it's not a movie, it's all real."

Pansexual hedonist Harry Francis (Gianni Dei) has been poisoned at his own drug-fueled orgy but Police Inspector Sanders (Tony Valente) soon discovers that none of the guests is willing to talk. The owner of the house - famous journalist, TV host, giallo author and photographer Bob Rawling (Saverio Vallone) - is eager to start his own parallel investigation. Once it's revealed that an 8mm film taken at the party could reveal the identity of the killer, people connected to the case start getting murdered by a masked assassin. Is Harry's murder connected to mafia drug trafficking? Can Bob reveal the killer's identity before it's too late?

Crimes (not to be confused with Crimes of the Black Cat) is awful on all fronts. Lazy writing and ponderous acting are compounded by uninspired visuals. And to wrap it in a bow, the filmmakers tacked on the most unimaginative title possible. There are times when characters are introduced, but we don't learn their names or relationships to each other until well into the movie. Two characters are introduced in the last five minutes of the film and don't even get the luxury of names. But the biggest flaw is in the editing. There's no sense of sequential storytelling, remarkably few establishing shots to help us orient ourselves and we're even denied a "big reveal" moment when the killer is unmasked - we just jump cut to an ending, with the Inspector explaining everything in a monologue. The incriminating film at the center of Crimes is reminiscent of the diary in Blood and Black Lace, so at least this movie chose its inspiration well.

• I've seen giallo victims killed by poison in a number of ways, but I think this is the first time a killer carries around a live snake and holds it up to the victim's neck.

• This movie was directed by Giovanna Lenzi, but it's unclear if she is any relation to director Umberto Lenzi. You may know Giovanna as an actress from her appearances in A... For Assassin and you may remember her as Susan, the mysterious woman in a white cape in the aforementioned Crimes of the Black Cat. She also plays the first victim's sister, Julie in this film.

• Three of the deaths listed above occurred during the lumber mill shootout.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

SPOILERS AHEAD

This movie takes up time to present not one but THREE prolonged and highly superfluous sex scenes, including Betty's (Michela Miti) elaborate striptease through three rooms of a house.

Also, this movie includes an act break with title cards:

How dare you, movie. Who do you think you are, Lawrence of Arabia?

Finally, Except for his corpse at the opening crime scene, we first meet Harry in a flashback, joking around with his sister, Marita (Laura Troshel). So it's a shock late in the movie when we suddenly cut to Harry in an apartment, dancing to records and chatting on the phone. What's going on? Who's flashback is this?

Turns out, it's not a flashback - Harry faked his death as an elaborate prank. An elaborate prank that led to the brutal deaths of eight other people. Nice job, jerk.

Also, please note that Harry is wearing a yellow shirt on a yellow couch against a yellow wall. This is the one and only time the art department got their act together to do something in service of the story.

By the way, it's never explained how Harry faked his emaciated, poisoned corpse at the beginning of the film. 

Fashion Moment:

As a wealthy heiress, Marita is the most put-together character in the movie.

But can you really call it an 80's movie if there isn't impractical, brightly colored spandex?

Madness

"If they kill someone with an electric drill do they take it out on Black & Decker?"

Lovercraft Publications (sic) is under attack from the media for promoting violence with their giallo comic book series "Doctor Dark," but artist Giovanna (Monica Carpanese), writer Nico (Gabriele Gori) and publisher Marzio (Achille Bregnini) insist that art imitates life and not vice versa. Never the less, someone dressed as Doctor Dark is murdering people just like in the comic books and Giovanna finds that she is the next target! The police quickly apprehend a suspect but is he the real killer? What motivates Doctor Dark to gouge out his victim's eyes? And could someone close to Giovanna be responsible?

Madness (originally titled Eyes Without a Face, but not to be confused with the French thriller of the same name from 1960) is a decent late-period giallo that really leans in hard to the classic tropes. You'll find an interesting pool of possible suspects, some good mis-directs and laughably over-the-top acting that borders on Telenovela-style emoting. The story seems to be lifted from Dario Argento's Tenebre, but with enough minor changes to make it a compelling watch.

• Thirty years into the history of giallo, the writers managed to create a murder weapon I've never seen before on screen - a two-pronged dagger that, when inserted in the victims nose, pops their eyeballs out of their head. Very gruesome. Bravi.

• The threatening answering machine messages Giovanna gets on her phone count as "tape recorder used as a mis-direct" in the checklist above.

• The police apparently figured that their first suspect wasn't the real killer and followed Giovanna and Nico to their vacation retreat, expecting the killer to follow. Basically, they used Giovanna as bait without her knowledge or consent. I think that qualifies them as "inept."

 

• No composer is credited, but some really good cues were selected, including a sultry flute theme that harkens back to giallo's groovy 70's heyday.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

Sometimes when the color yellow pops up in a giallo it has special significance, marking a person, place or object. Madness has quite a few significant pops of yellow, but only a few seem to be intentionally placed.

 

The first few times we see her, Publisher's Assistant Emy (Emy Valentino) uses yellow as a signature color. But after a few scenes, she changes to shades of pink.

Later, Doctor Dark looms over this crime scene in the background, against a yellow background.

Besides the two-pronged dagger, the killer's other weapon of choice is a yellow poison.

Finally, the sailboat that acts as the setting for the whole third act is full of yellow accents, possibly foreshadowing danger for our characters and directing our attention to boat captain Marco (Carlo Granchi).

Fashion Moment:

Madness really is trying to get back to the classic era of giallo and nothing communicates that more than the look of the classic giallo killer: a black trench coat, hat and gloves with an eyeless black mask. This guy could have walked out of The Fifth Cord, The Case of the Bloody Iris or any number of 70's gialli.