Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Bezenby As far as I know this is Enzo Castellari's only venture into the giallo genre, and I'd also heard it wasn't that good. That's not true, and it's barely even a giallo, so maybe I should check my sources or just watch the film. Chocks away!Sporting incredible sideburns, Gianni Garko is a posh solicitor who quite wisely spends his free time with strippers and hookers who on this occasion takes home an Italian lady. When I say home, I mean his rich uncle's home in a rich part of London. You know, the kind that has a butler in it and a driveway. The Italian lady is playing hard to get even though she's a hooker, and the discovery of the dead butler is a bad enough dampner on the proceedings, so sex totally goes out the window when a gun-toting cockney emerges from the gloom. He's a kind of 'Alright Guvnor, knees ap Maaver Bhraaan' cockney type but his motivations are not quite clear. Adding to Gianni's woes is his uncle (Fernando Rey), who is a judge and keeps calling to harass him about case files. Fernando sends a policeman over to the house with some files, and while he's trying to whisper that he's being held hostage, the policeman punches him square in the face. Uh-oh! Looks like there's a doings-a-transpiring!Turns out the copper is the head bad guy which isn't much of a surprise seeing as he's played by Frank Wolff. Frank's motivations aren't quite clear but he does mention quite early on that he's wired Fernando Rey's office to blow up the moment he opens his door, so now the game is on for Gianni to free himself and the hooker, get rid of Frank and his partner, and save Fernando in the nick of time. Either that or he can just have a lot of punch ups while the hooker plays mind games with the two of them. As this is one of those films that could almost be a stage play in terms of limited set and characters, Enzo's usual hyperactivity makes sure that things don't get boring, so he throws in loads of jarring editing techniques, unusual camera angles (like filming Gianni through the bottom of a jug of icy water he's having his head forced into, or through those finger holes you used to get on telephones), loads of twists (even the cockney becomes unsure of Frank's motives), and an overly violent ending just to cap things off. Although Fernando Rey shouts down the phone a lot and doesn't do much else, Frank and Gianni do well in their roles, with Frank constantly mocking Gianni's Eton and 'playing rugger', with Gianni alternating between snivelling wimp and stiff upper lip radge mentalness.I've never seen an Enzo film I didn't like, so you might want to knock the praise in this review down a bit. Ennio Morricone's freeform jazz soundtrack is a winner too.

The_Void Everything I'd read about this film prior to seeing it pointed to it being rubbish, but after reading the plot description; I figured that it might actually be OK. However, I was wrong. The plot sounds like Cold Eyes of Fear could be a gritty cross between the Giallo and the slew of 'house' films (e.g. House on the Edge of the Park, The Last House on the Beach) whereby criminal(s) take innocents hostage inside their home. It sort of is a cross between these genres; but it's so damned boring that any positives that may have come from this are instantly sucked away. The film takes place in London, which is unfortunate as it means that we're 'treated' to a load of phoney British accents. It really annoys me that some people actually think we talk like this! Anyway, the plot focuses on Peter; a young man who picks up an Italian hooker and takes her back to his place. However, they arrive to find a criminal in wait for them. Peter's father, a judge, then sends a copper to sort the situation; but the man who turns up is an impostor, hell-bent on revenge...The film actually gets off to a good start...but that then turns out to be a stage show, and that pretty much sums the entire film up. Other directors have proved many times that the Giallo can be wholly entertaining, despite the often rubbish plots; but Castellari shows here that they can be really boring too! It's a shame really, as the director has proved himself to me with a trio of great crime films (The Big Racket, Street Law and The Heroin Busters), as well as one of the best Jaws rip offs in the form of The Last Shark - but the man obviously can't handle Giallo. It's strange that a man with such a penchant for violent action would make a film so boring, and perhaps one of the reason why it is so boring is that a lot of the main 'action' focuses on talking, and Castellari is obviously better suited to shooting car chases and fist fights. The acting is as crap as you would expect, and this isn't helped at all by the awful dubbing. Not even Morricone's score is up to much. Overall, don't bother with this one - there are FAR better Giallo's out there!

Coventry Dull and truly disappointing early 70's Italian film that can never seem to decide whether it wants to be a typical giallo or an ordinary crime thriller. The opening is very promising, showing a girl assaulted by a man with a knife whose face we do not see, but that quickly turns out to be a totally unrelated theater performance and that REALLY upset me! The actual story of "Cold Eyes of Fear" revolves on the pampered nephew of an eminent judge who is, together with a random prostitute he picked up earlier, held hostage by two criminals in his uncle's giant villa. One of the crooks is out for vengeance against the corrupt judge and the other merely hopes to find money in the house. What follows is a totally uninteresting and overly talkative showdown between the two parties without not even the slightest bit of action or excitement. There's some very stylish and creative giallo-camera-work to admire, but the sub genre's most appealing characteristics (nudity, graphic violence, absurd plot-twists…) are regretfully neglected. Everybody else around here seems to love the jazzy music but I personally found it very annoying and it totally doesn't fit the tone of the film. It's definitely one of Ennio Morricone's worst scores ever. During the pretentious yet hilarious opening sequences, London is portrayed like a swinging city, in the trend of Las Vegas, with colorful billboards, casinos and wild nightclubs. What the hell was that all about? Enzo G. Castellari's directing is rather uninspired and he's no competition for other contemporary Italian filmmakers like Dario Argento, Mario Bava or Sergio Martino. He did return in the 80's with one of my favorite "Jaws" rip-offs, namely "The Last Shark".

Matt Moses By no means the best giallo I've seen, this Enzo Castellari tale of ___ drags horribly and maintains little suspense. Set in Swinging London (but filmed primarily in Rome), the movie finds young lawyer Gianni Garko about to seduce prostitute Giovanna Ralli at his swank house. They stumble upon the butler's dead body, undoubtedly a victim of temperate ruffian Julián Mateos, who then terrorizes the couple with his gun and leather suit. Judge Fernando Rey, who keep a cat on his desk, calls nephew Garko to ask for legal assistance and sends constable Frank Wolff over with a missive. The sleazy couple assumes the cop to be a deus ex machine, but he proves to be in on the racket. After sending Rey a secret plea for help (in Latin no less), our hopeful gets haughty and gives the sneering tough guy a good pounding. While Ralli fails to seduce Mateos with a shower, Rey puzzles out the message and sends some genuine although ineffectual police. Some may wonder what will happen to the unlovable couple besieged by this complicated plot; others may not. Castellari fills Cold Eyes with similarly absurd post-nouvelle vague editing, and I suspect this was a strictly commissioned affair for the veteran writer, producer and actor who can claim over 40 films to his credit. His failure as director really displays itself in the overdone, montage-heavy finale. Despite its lack of flesh and gore, Cold Eyes is shockingly exploitative. Wolff murders a policeman in flashback during a gratuitously cruel story diversion, only to illustrate his already obviously violent side. The violence throughout comes off as unnecessarily brutal, as well as distinctly European in flavor. None of the male characters treat the unimpressive prostitute much like a human, her unsurprised response perhaps suggesting they're correct to do so. Easily the best part of the movie is Ennio Morricone's amazing score, would fit better in a well-paced environment. If you want to see a decent film with Rey, who doesn't actually appear in shot with any of the main cast and probably only showed up for a day's worth of filming, check out the same year's French Connection.