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.