Eyes of Crystal

 

Eyes of Crystal

"Resin, nylon string, live bait, bullets... What for?"

Brooding young detective Giacomo Amaldi (Luigi Lo Cascio) and his veteran partner Frese (José Ángel Egido) are on the trail of a nine-fingered taxidermist-turned-serial killer who steals the limbs of his victims and replaces them with doll parts. Meanwhile, Amaldi is also helping college student Giuditta (Lucía Jiménez) track down her stalker. As the detectives get closer to the killer, the murders grow more and more gruesome. Could dying police detective Ajaccio (Simón Andreu) hold answers to the case? And what does the killer plan to do with all the body parts he's stealing?

Eyes of Crystal (Not to be confused with The Cat With Jade Eyes) is a decent modern take on the giallo genre, full of stylish camera work, gruesome murders and a well-paced mystery. The movie was obviously influenced by Argento, Bava and Fulci (especially Fulci) but also takes cues from David Fincher and American police procedural shows like CSI. While classic gialli had a more operatic, stylish use of blood, modern audiences have a taste for a more, shall we say, accurate and literal depiction of murder. 

• The film instantly gains giallo cred with the casting of superstar Simón Andreu, whom you will remember from classics like Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight.
• There are lots of taxidermy animals in the film, but for purposes of the checklist above, only two are killed during the movie: the chipmunk at the beginning and the heron by the shipyard.
• I also didn't count Amaldi's girlfriend in the body count, because she died before the movie starts in an unrelated incident.
• The title refers to the taxidermy killer's use of glass eyes in his work.
• The climactic slow-motion fall from a high tower is filmed as an obvious homage to Don't Torture a Duckling, which ends with the same dramatic stunt.

What the Hell am I Watching?

The movie clearly takes place in an industrial Italian city (Turin maybe or Milan?) but the city library's Occult section only has books written in English.

Imagine how long it would take to decapitate someone using only a surgical scalpel. There's no way the killer could get in, kill someone, remove a head or a pair of limbs with a tiny (albeit sharp) blade, dress the corpse up with doll parts and get out in a hurry.

But the real craziness comes at the film's climax when the killer's gruesome puzzle of human parts appears to rise up from its bed on its own. There's a moment (but just a moment) where you question what kind of movie this even is.

Fashion Moment

This movie has a lot of plot to keep track of, so it's a good thing the clothes are dull and not distracting. Here's the sort of thing we're dealing with:

With his dark, shaggy hair, black trench coat and dark, solid-colored clothes, Amaldi is clearly the Goth Prince of the police precinct. He's not only in mourning for his girlfriend, but is so focused on work that he can't be bothered to consider his clothes.  Even in a relaxed setting in his free time, he's still dark and brooding.

The only relief from the drab blues and grays in this movie comes from Giuditta, who uses red as a signature color.

 

 

This not only makes her stand out visually, but communicates that unlike any of the other characters, she has a relatively bright, positive outlook on life. The only other significant use of red in the movie is blood, so this also foreshadows Giuditta as a potential target.

Evil Eye

Evil Eye

  

"Do you think it's possible for a nightmare to continue when one's awake?"

  

Playboy expatriate Peter Crane (Jorge Rivero), who is haunted by dreams of satanic rituals and anguished souls, is shocked to meet a woman, Yvonne Chevrel (Lone Flemming) who shares the same visions. Peter is inexplicably compelled to murder Yvonne but then immediately wakes up from a dream - but was it a dream? And are the objects that seem to move on their own part of his hallucinations? To add to the confusion, Peter starts receiving threatening calls and letters from a blackmailer, who threatens to expose him as a murderer.  Even though Peter seeks help from psychiatrist Dr. Stone (Richard Conte) and beautiful Dr. Turner (Pilar Velásquez), he keeps envisioning murders before they happen. Is Peter insane? Or is he merely the puppet of a satanic cult? Skeptical Inspector Rameri (Anthony Steffen) tries to find answers and may become a believer in the process.

  

Evil Eye (not to be confused with The Girl Who Knew Too Much, which is sometimes also called The Evil Eye) is an interesting blend of Spasmo's psychadelic weirdness and L'Aldila's sense of supernatural dread, seasoned with elements and images from Dario Argento's early work.  It all amounts to a confusing mishmash of plot threads where motivations and logic get hazy, culminating in an anticlimactic ending that was certainly meant to be a heady twist.

• Evil Eye was co-written by Julio Buchs, who was responsible for Murder By Music. 
• Please to enjoy an appearance by legendary giallo actor Luciano Piggozi (credited here as Alan Collins).
• The Argento influences include shots of a creepy doll, dark trees blowing in the wind, glass breaking in slow motion and a ghostly face appearing in a high window.
• The title makes sense because it refers to the charm pennant that Inspector Ramieri carries (at his wife's insistence) to ward off evil spirits.
• The original Italian title, "Eroticofollia" translates as "Erotic Madness."

What the Hell am I Watching?

Even with all the voodoo stuff, naked ghosts, moving objects and unexplained ideas in this movie, the weirdest scene is the one where Peter and his girlfriend Tanya (Pia Giancaro) shower, brush their teeth and make out all at the same time.

Peter meets an old woman who, it turns out, is a ghost - but her timeline doesn't add up at all. His friend's wife, Elizabeth (Daniella Giordano) says that the old woman died three days before, implying that she was buried or at the morgue. But later, the police find the old woman's body in the yard. If Elizabeth knew the old woman was dead, why did she leave the corpse in her yard for three days? And are we to presume that Peter killed the woman three days ago, forgot about it, and then came back to see Elizabeth? 

Fashion Moment

 Early on, Peter wakes up in this stylish yellow (yes, "giallo") kimono.

Peter sees the doctors about his confusing dreams - but what he really needs is a cure for Saturday Night Fever.

 

And when he stops by Derek and Elizabeth's house, he's decked out in head-to-toe acid washed denim (shirtless, of course).

  

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.

Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why?

  
Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why?
  

This is not a cheap film. It's art. The art of crime.
  

During a photo shoot, photographer Carlo (Lou Castel) and his girlfriend Olga (Beba Loncar) secretly witness two men removing a dead body from their car and staging an accident to cover up their crime - mafia enforcers disposing of the body of a state prosecuting attorney. Carlo gets the whole event on film and goes to his boss, noted pornographer Ivan "Uncle Fifi" Smirkov (Massimo Serato) for advice. Instead of taking the photos to the police, they try to sell the photos to crime boss Don Salvatore (Fortunato Arena) but when he refuses to pay, they sell the evidence to the local newspaper.  Unfortunately, a gloved assassin shows up after the sale to kill the reporter and steal the photos and he isn't done yet - everyone involved with the photos is on his list. Who could the killer be and who does he work for? Inspector Vezzi (Adolfo Celi) has three ideas, but can he stop the killings in time?

Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why? (not to be confused with Who Saw Her Die?) is a fantastic and rare giallo with a well-crafted mystery plot, lots of gratuitous nudity, stylish camera work, a variety of kills, and some well-crafted suspense scenes. It has just about everything that defines the genre in its heyday, grabbing the viewer from the beginning and engaging with an easy-to-follow investigation. If you can find it, check this one out.

• It's weird to see Adolfo Celi playing a cop - he's usually cast as the suave villain.
• The haunting musical theme that plays throughout the film is reminiscent of the They Might Be Giants song "Where Your Eyes Don't Go."
• Two million Lira (the asking price for Carlos's photos) was a little over $11,000 USD.
• Inspector Vezzi is a stamp collector, just like Commissioner Enci in The Case of the Bloody Iris. Two stamp-collecting police inspectors in movies released less than three months apart. Could it be a coincidence?

What the Hell am I Watching?

I suppose the craziest thing that happens in this movie is the Roman orgy-themed photo shoot at Uncle Fifi's studio. It's mostly chaste, but still superfluous, incongruous fun as the models grope each other while Uncle Fifi barks orders from his wheelchair.

Fashion Moment

Olga makes a bold first impression during the opening credits of the movie, wearing a poncho, boots and nothing else.

Those are the actual camera angles in the film, by the way. The other notable fashion moment is mafia boss Don Salvatore, who spends most of his screen time in this richly patterned pink and gold silk robe.

 

This is a man confident in the knowledge that no one will  mock his fashion choices.

Tropic of Cancer

  
Tropic of Cancer

 

When the spirit chooses a woman and enters her body,

that woman will know the secret of life and happiness.

 

While Fred Wright (Gabriele Tinti) and his wife, Grace (Anita Strindberg) are vacationing in Haiti, they find an old friend, Dr. Williams (Anthony Steffen), who has developed a new miracle drug. But someone wants the formula so badly they're willing to kill for it! Which of  the rival cartels and drug companies is knocking off the competition? Secret alliances and double-crosses abound and the Wrights find themselves caught in the crossfire. Can they survive the web of treachery? And what secrets is Fred keeping from his wife?

Tropic of Cancer (not to be confused with the Henry Miller novel or its 1970 film adaptation) is an action-packed giallo that uses its Haitian setting to full effect. The miracle drug MacGuffin isn't well-explained during the exposition, but the general idea is conveyed - danger is out there and anyone could be the killer or the next victim. The kill scenes are spread out at regular intervals and offer some real creativity For example, one victim is scalded with steam, loaded onto a conveyor belt, falls into a large industrial vat, is jabbed with a pole until he lets go of the rim, and is sealed inside. Another victim's death is attributed simply to a voodoo curse. The whole film is a sweaty, bloody, sexy hodgepodge - all that's missing is a coherent plot.

• Dr. Williams takes the Wrights to a voodoo ceremony and it's clear that the filmmakers wanted to inject the film with a touch of Mondo Cane -  naked dancers circle a bull and writhe on the ground before the animal is killed and its scrotum is removed, all set to delirious drumming. It's presented with minimal cultural context simply for cheap shock value.
• Be warned that there are two scenes where animals are killed - actual animals actually being killed, not puppets. First is the bull being sacrificed at the voodoo ceremony and later, Grace and Dr. Williams visit a beef processing facility and see cows slaughtered. 
• It's never clear exactly what kind of doctor Williams is. He develops the drug for humans but is sometimes described as a veterinarian. He knows a lot about both plants and spiders, creating an anti-venom on the spot when Gardner (Stelio Candelli) is bit. And he also acts as a meat processing inspector.
• The Tropic of Cancer does not run through Haiti.

 
What the Hell am I Watching?

Aside from the voodoo sacrifice and cow slaughter? There's a scene depicting what is supposed to be a Haitian wedding rite: the couple lie naked, face down next to each other as they're splashed with water and surrounded by a singing, drumming crowd.

Grace is poisoned by a local flower, whose scent sends her into a trippy dream sequence.  She finds herself in a black robe, running down a red hallway lined with naked men, who reach out to her. Her hair billows in slow motion as she lies on the floor, watching as one man approaches her and kisses her.  It looks like the music video Madonna was never allowed to make.

Fashion Moment

Grace knows the secret to looking good in the tropics - keep it light and casual.

 

... Even when you're having a drug-induced psychadelic freak-out, layers are not your friend.

 

Philip (Umberto Raho) illustrates another important point: a crisp white suit seems like a good idea, but that only lasts for about twenty minutes before things get sticky.

 

 

Double Face

  
Double Face

 

She's just like her mother... rich, moody, wicked.

 

Shortly after marrying his wife, Helen (Margaret Lee), John Alexander (Klaus Kinski) discovers that she is having an affair with her friend Liz (Annabella Incontrera), but divorce would mean financial ruin. Despite this, John is distraught after Helen is killed in a car crash and when he finds a strange but flirtatious woman, Christine (Christiane Krüger) in his home, he is in no mood for games. But when Christine shows John a sexy movie featuring herself with a mysterious veiled woman, John becomes obsessed - the other woman is wearing Helen's ring and has the same scar on her neck as John's late wife! If the film was made just a week before, does that mean that Helen faked her death? Or has John's grief made him lose his grip on reality? Either way, his search for answers will lead him on a dangerous path!

  

Double Face (not to be confused with The Double) treads the same ground as some other, more widely-known gialli and I'd say that while it's more coherent than Spasmo, it's not nearly as well-made as Perversion Story. Even though the body count is low, the mystery is baffling and the nudity is abundant, making this an eminently watchable bad movie. 

• The script, based on the novel "A Face In the Night" by Edgar Wallace, was co-written by Lucio Fulci (which may explain some resemblance to Perversion Story).
• Luciano Spadoni, who plays Inspector Gordon, was also the set and costume designer in this production.
• Two years after this production, Klaus Kinski, Annabella Incontrera and Margaret Lee would reunite on screen in Slaughter Hotel.
• None of the titles really make sense. "Double Face" would make more sense if there was a Vertigo-esque identity switch and the lesbian affair is a minor sub plot, making "Liz & Helen" just as out of place. The title "Puzzle of Horrors" belongs on a film with more gore and far more murders.

 
What the Hell Am I Watching?

What Double Face lacks in good writing it makes up for in crazy moments. For example, the wild hippie warehouse party where two motorcyclists have an indoor jousting tournament, ripping off an article of clothing from a dancing girl with each pass.

Then there are the hilariously inept special effect sequences, which cut from footage of real cars and trains to HO-scale models crashing into each other.

Something that confused me from the start: John is trapped in his unhappy marriage with Helen because of financial necessity, but what advantage does Helen gain in staying married to John? Why does she insist that they stay together?

Finally, who handcuffs a suspect without frisking him for weapons first?

Fashion Moment

In the scene preceding Helen's car crash, we see that she's ready to shuffle off this mortal coil in high style, wearing a chic white dress, gold chain belt, go-go boots and a rich oiled leather coat draped over her shoulders.

    

Later, Liz vamps it up with some Elizabeth Taylor realness in this sexy off-the-shoulder low-cut fringe number.  Perhaps her shredded white dress is worn in memory of her dead lover?

 

  

The Perfect Crime

  
The Perfect Crime
  

It's so beautiful being rich. Money is everything.
  

After business tycoon Sir Ronald Selmer's plane explodes in mid-air, three Vice Presidents, Paul De Revere (Leonard Mann), Sir Arthur Dundee (Joseph Cotten) and Sir Harold Boyd (Adolfo Celi) stand to inherit his position of power. Each man's ambitions lead them to conspire against each other and it seems that nothing is off-limits - including murder. But each killing is so cleverly made to look like an accident that Inspector Hawks (Anthony Steel) finds it difficult to connect the dots. Who will be the last man standing?

  

The Perfect Crime (not to be confused with literally dozens of other movies with the same title) is a fun late-period giallo where the audience is always allowed to stay one step ahead of the police. Groovy music, fast cars and opulent settings add to the style factor and the fast-moving plot makes it a fun watch right up to the end, buttoned with a winking reveal.  The cast is a spectacular array of stars including Joseph Cotten (from nearly every major Orson Wells production), Adolfo Celi (a James Bond alum, featured in Who Saw Her Die?), Susperia's Alida Valli, Blood & Black Lace's Franco Ressel and Fulci alum Janet Agren. There's even a cameo by the great Maria Tedeschi, who seems to have made a living off her cameos in giallo movies.

• The original Italian title translates as Investigation of a Perfect Crime.
• I'm going to say that the title does make sense because, while the audience finds out the identity of the killer - spoiler alert - he doesn't get caught in the end. Also, I didn't check "Inept Police" above, because they do everything in their power to catch the killer but were simply outsmarted.
• Check out the background of Paul's office - it looks like he has a painting by Margaret Keane, as seen in Tim Burton's film Big Eyes.

 What the Hell Am I Watching?

Let's talk about the scene where Sir Harold's wife, Gloria (Janet Agren) sneaks off after a fox hunt to have some grownup time with two guys at the same time.

...Or the time Sir Arthur sends his girlfriend to seduce and murder Sir Harold.

This movie features one of the most ingenious kill scenes in recent memory. The killer slips into Sir Arthur's bedroom at night and zaps him with an electromagnet gun. When the police arrive the next morning, it looks like he had a heart attack caused by a malfunctioning pacemaker.

Fashion Moment

The clothes in The Perfect Murder are well-chosen for a cast of rich English socialites in the 1970's. Which is to say, they're expensive-looking, conservative and boring. Nothing says old money like fox hunting gear.

Except maybe a double-breasted suit.

Further proof of my theory that no one looks good in double breasted suits.

Polly (Gloria Guida) did get to glam it up (tastefully) in one scene, though, but she was hidden by the table.

 

The Hand of the Assassin

The Hand of the Assassin

Don't pay attention. The drugs make me say more than I want.

Just as Margarita (Katia Loritz) and Romano (José Caffarel) are closing their hotel for the season, the place fills up, as a group of travelers are stranded by a storm, which has cut the power and phone lines. That night at dinner, while Margarita is singing a song in the darkness to entertain her guests, one of the visitors, Oscar, is murdered and his suitcase filled with cash is stolen. Who could have done it? Oscar's heroin-addicted wife, Elena (Perla Cristal)? Shifty salesman Suarez (Fernando Sancho)? Or maybe the high-strung old grandmother (Julia Delgado Caro) isn't as feeble as she looks. As the mystery unfolds, more guests turn up dead. With no help from the police, the other guests must find the killer before it's too late.

The Hand of the Assassin (not to be confused with A... For Assassin) is a rare but well-made early Spanish giallo that borrows both gothic conventions and a Bava-esque visual language.  The cinematography by Victor Monreal is really remarkable, combining some beautiful compositions and unexpected camera movement with a painterly sense of shadows, light and color. The basic locked-room murder mystery plot is augmented by interesting characters, some great twists and a coda featuring an exciting chase scene around a series of bridges and waterfalls. Check this one out.

• The direct translation of the Spanish title is The Face of the Assassin.
• The Italian title is L'Assassino é Tra Noi Sette, or The Killer is Among Us Seven, which makes zero sense because there are at least a dozen suspects.  Six years later, the similarly titled The Killer is One of Thirteen would be released.
• This movie features one of my all-time favorite giallo actors - George Rigoud as the Colonel. You may remember him from The Case of the Bloody Iris, Death Walks on High Heels and A Lizard in Woman's Skin. 
• Please note that the José Ferrer in this cast is not the Academy Award-winning José Ferrer from Laurence of Arabia and Cyrano de Bergerac.
•  Much like Bava's 1971 classic Twitch of the Death Nerve (a.k.a. Bay of Blood), this film features a professor who collects insect specimens.
• The title "sort of" makes sense because it's so generic. Yes, the killer used their hands to murder people (as opposed to a gun), but hands aren't a clue or a plot point in any way. Maybe it would make more sense if they left a unique ring mark on their victims' necks after strangling them.

What the Hell am I Watching?

 Early in the movie butler Paolo goes down to the "mineral cellar," which is a large, creepy room filled with bubbling cauldrons of dry ice. Throughout the movie this is treated as a normal thing that hotels have in their cellars.

Fashion Moment

There's not a lot to report here, but former actress Margerita seems to enjoy standing out from the crowd. When we first meet her, she's lazing around the empty hotel in this frilly nightgown, not giving any f's.

But she spends most of the rest of the movie in a leopard print top - a flashy contrast to her guests' more conservative solid-colored attire.

The Killer is One of Thirteen

The Killer is One of Thirteen

"Perhaps the game has gone too far."

Two years after Carlos Mandel died in a plane accident over the English Channel, his widow, Lisa (Patty Shepard) gathers twelve friends, relatives and acquaintances for a weekend at her remote estate. But at dinner on the first night, she reveals her true intentions - she believes that her husband was, in fact, murdered and that one of her guests is the killer. Accusations and whispers fill the next few days as the guests speculate. Was Carlos killed over money or revenge or jealousy? Could the killer be flirtatious playboy Harry Stephen (Simón Andreau), Arlen, the art forger ( Jack Taylor) or even Lisa's own aunt, Bertha (Trini Alonso)? As secrets are revealed and the killer becomes cornered, the guests start turning up dead. Can the survivors unmask the killer and escape before they're all killed off?

The Killer is One of Thirteen (not to be confused with The Killer Reserved Nine Seats) is another giallo based on the Agatha Christie model, much like The Weekend Murders, Nine Guests For a Crime and Death on the Fourposter. As far as gialli go, this one isn't a great entry - no nudity, very little blood, it's set in a large but frumpy mansion, and the murders don't start until nearly an hour in. But it does feature some favorite giallo actors including Simón Andreu and Paul Naschy.

• One of the eight murders listed above - Carlos's plane crash - occurs before the action of the movie starts.
• A better translation of the Spanish title might be "The Killer is Among the Thirteen."
• The title "sort of" makes sense because while the suspects include Lisa and her twelve guests, suspicion also falls on Lisa's butler, chauffeur, maid and gardener, bringing the list of suspects to seventeen.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

I am now more sure than ever that Paul Naschy refused to appear in a movie unless he got to be in a fight scene.

 After the first two guests are murdered it's revealed that the culprit also cut the phone lines and sabotaged all the guests' cars, so there could be no escape. Everyone is worried, but they agree to lock themselves in their rooms until the police show up. But how would the police know to come if the phone lines are down?

Fashion Moment

First, I want to point out this miniature study in fashion contrasts: boorish businessman Jorge seated next to free-thinking artist Arlen.

Next, I want to point out Mrs. Martin's wacky floral daywear.

 

But the real fashion star of the movie is Cecilia Paroli (Doris Coll). While most of the other women are decked out in bold, garish prints, she always keeps it classy with an understated yet elegant wardrobe. 

 

 

 

   

Plot of Fear

Plot of Fear
 

"Just love each other and be happy."
 

On the same night that a wealthy businessman is strangled in his home, a woman trapped on a bus is bludgeoned to death with a wrench - two seemingly unrelated murders linked by a killer's calling card: pages torn from a Medieval German children's book. Inspector Lomenzo (Michael Placido) is on the case and he soon links the victims to a "fauna lover's club," which is actually a kinky sex society. Lomenzo starts a relationship with one of the club's members, Jeanne (Corinne Cléry) who witnessed the accidental death of a prostitute at one of the gatherings. Soon, more members of the club are killed off in grisly fashion. Is someone taking revenge for the girl's death? Is her pimp to blame or is there more than meets the eye? Inspector Lomenzo must untangle a twisted web of blackmail, lies and coverups to find the real killer.
 

Plot of Fear (not to be confused with Circle of Fear or Rings of Fear) is a devious little murder mystery with a conclusion that keeps twisting in on itself into a neat spiral, until the real killer is finally revealed. Though it's not very bloody, this movie features a wide variety of interesting murders, an engaging mystery plot, a few sexy scenes, a bit of sleaze and touches of humor. Director Paolo Carara is best known for his exploitation "shockumentary" Mondo Cane and the classic  Black Belly of the Tarantula, and, with the help of Deep Red co-writer Bernadino Zapparoni, crafted a fine late-period giallo.

• You may remember Corinne Cléry from the James Bond film Moonraker.
• The cast also features the great Eli Wallach and - in a surprise appearance as the Chief Inspector - American actor Tom Skerritt, who would go on to a career playing authority figures in projects like Alien and Top Gun. It's clear that Skerritt delivered his lines in English and was dubbed later.
  
• In another surprise casting move, Maria Tedeschi plays the ailing mother of one of the victims. You may remember her as Mrs. Moss in The Case of the Bloody Iris and for memorable cameos in Seven Blood Stained Orchids and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.
• The original title, É Tanta Paura, actually translates as "She is So Affraid," alluding to the prostitute, who was allegedly scared to death.
• The one animal death listed above is the lion, which died before the main action of the movie started.
• The prostitute's name is Rosa Catena, which translates to "red chain" - ironic, since her death initiates a bloody sequence of retaliatory murders.

What the Hell am I Watching?

In an extended flashback to the sexy "fauna lover's" party, guests grope each other while watching an animated sci-fi-themed S&M porn movie. One of the guests has a chimpanzee.

At the beginning of the movie, Lamenzo is living with Ruth (Mary Ruth League), a beautiful African-American model. He is, unfortunately, not sensitive enough not to be a racist jerk to her. No wonder she leaves him for an English photographer.

 There are a couple of good chase scenes in Plot of Fear but nothing beats the scene where Lomenzo fistfights a suspect while they're handcuffed together.

Spoiler Alert: 
Normally in a giallo, we look for a single murder suspect who has the opportunity, means and a motive. But in Plot of Fear, it turns out that each murder was committed by a different person, each of whom was being controlled by a single puppet master, who was acting on the motives of yet another character. It's a fascinating twist on the formula: nine killers with opportunity, one with the means and one with the ultimate motive. Instead of narrowing down the suspects, the detectives needed to broaden their view and then follow the thread back to the one person responsible for the killings.

Fashion Moment

Ruth is the fashion standout of the movie. She looks great in white and the breezy flowing styles speak a lot to her character.

But let's take a moment to admire Jeanne's outfit in this scene, with her bulky fur, tight leggings and wide belt.

She looks like she's on her way to star as the Rum Tum Tugger in a Rule 63 production of Cats.

Finally, in the opening shots of the movie, we're treated to a view of the first victim's apartment in all of its technicolor glory.

The Crimes of Petiot

The Crimes of Petiot
 

In this climate of intrigue, everyone seems suspicious.
 

A shadowy, black-coated killer is on the loose in Berlin's West Park neighborhood and he has a very specific pattern. Each time, he targets couples with a dark-haired woman and a blond haired man, shoots the man in the head with a Luger, leaves behind a Nazi emblem, and takes the woman to the abandoned tunnels beneath the city. There, he makes her listen to a bizarre tape recorded rant about vengeance against a woman named Madeline before shooting her.  Reporter Vera (Patricia Loran) and her colleagues decide to catch the killer on their own, against the objections of Vera's boyfriend Boris (Paul Naschy) and Police Commissioner Rotwang (Anastasio Campoy). But when the reporters' trap goes horribly wrong, the killer sends a message that they will be his next targets.  Could the killer actually be one of the reporters? And why does the killer strike in such a specific way? The police seem to be no help, so Vera and Boris must find the killer before he strikes again!

The Crimes of Petiot (not to be confused with The Crimes of the Black Cat) has a brilliant and engaging premise and would be a top-tier giallo if the tight storytelling springs didn't wind down in the second half. Once again, star and co-screenwriter Paul Naschy has crafted a high-body count vehicle for himself which, like Antonio Bido's Watch Me When I Kill, touches on the horrors of the Second World War for some somber gravity. If only more thought was put into the story logic and the killer's ultimate motive, this would have been a far better movie.

• The Crimes of Petiot is director José Luis Madrid's follow-up to Seven Murders for Scotland Yard and he took the opportunity to re-assemble many of the same cast and crew.
• Calculating the final body count of this movie is a little tricky. We're shown nine murders, most of which are by gunshot. But we soon discover that before the movie starts, there were at least six other victims. The film that the killer leaves behind appears to show the same killing as the opening of the movie, so that wouldn't count as a new murder. Also, two additional women are knocked unconscious and dragged away never to be seen again and, given the killer's modus operandi, we can presume that they were eventually killed. Adding all these up, I came to the final number of 17 - the highest body count of any giallo I've seen yet.
• Special effects artist Antonio Molina would go on to work with famed director Pedro Almadovar on several films, often credited only as "Molina."

What the Hell Am I Watching?

There are plenty of opportunities for nudity here - gratuitous shower scenes, intimate moments - but the movie seems to actively avoid showing any actual nudity.

As a means of second-act exposition, the police show the reporters and Boris film of one of the victims getting shot - essentially a snuff film. Did civilians (and civilians who just received a serious death threat) really need to see that? It seems unnecessary at best and horribly irresponsible at worst.

Things get a little confusing at the end of the movie when Paul Naschy plays a completely different character during a flashback.

Fashion Moment

Dude loves his leather jackets. Here, Boris sports a chic brown leather overcoat:

And this black leather blazer is just for lounging around the house.