SunnyHello
Nice effects though.
Yash Wade
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Bezenby
For those of you sitting with their trousers round their ankles and a Kleenex nearby waiting for Edwige - she don't turn up until half an hour into the film.Sergio Martino once again proves he actually might be the master of the giallo by presenting us a film that mixes in the gloved killer of babes standard plot with the late sixties plot of rich folk fighting over money with a bit of Gothic Horror mixed with a whole lot of domestic abuse for good measure. Plus: Edwige Fenech! Anita Strinberg is the bitter, abused wife of drunken novelist Luigi Pistilli and often suffers from his violence and humiliation, mostly in front of a bunch of hippy jerks from a nearby commune. Luigi has recently lost his mum and is a bit messed up about it, even though local folklore has her as a whore who loved to receive expensive jewellery from her lovers. Luigi also likes to get it on with his black maid and a young chick from the local bookstore.Further troubles to add to Anita's miserable life is the black cat that Luigi owns called Satan, who constantly follows Anita around and attacks her, plus the sickle wielding murderer who is now slashing his way through the female cast. Worst still, Luigi's niece Edwige Fenech turns up as a randy hippy! Look out Luigi! And Anita! And the local delivery guy! I forgot to mention Ivan Rassimov, who is hanging around staring at things and has white hair, which is never explained.This is a very well handled film that balances Luigi Pistilli's madness and violent abuse of Anita with a giallo plot (which is solved well before the end!) plus other elements of the old 'inheritance' plot. It's not overly violent but Edwige Fenech adds to the sleaze with her everything goes character, and I'm sure Luigi never regretted 'mashing her paps' as it were.There's much more going on here than I'm letting on. Martino seems to grasp what folks want from a giallo and duly provides, but it's his next film that almost reaches perfection, which is the film Torso.
Sam Panico
Martino wastes no time at all getting into the crazy in this one — Oliviero Rouvigny (Luigi Pistilli from Bay of Blood, Iguana with the Tongue of Fire, Death Rides a Horse) is a dark, sinister man, a failed writer and alcoholic who lives in a mansion that's falling apart (If this all feels like a modernized version of a Poe story like The Fall of the House of Usher, it's no accident. There's even an acknowledgment that the film is inspired by The Black Cat in the opening credits.). His wife, Irina (Anita Strindberg from Lizard in a Woman's Skin and Who Saw Her Die?), suffers his abuses, but never more so than when he gathers hippies together for confrontational parties. He makes everyone pour all of their wine into a bowl and forces her to drink it, then humiliates their black servant Brenda until one of the party goers starts singing and everyone joins in, then gets naked. This scene is beyond strange and must be experienced. Luckily, I found the link for you, but trust me — it's NSFW.The only person that Oliviero seems to love is Satan, the cat that belonged to his dead mother. A black cat that talks throughout every scene he's in, his constant meows led to my cats communicating with the TV. God only knows what a 1970's giallo cat said, but it seems like his words spoke directly to their hearts.One of Oliviero's mistresses is found dead near the house, but he hides her body. The police suspect him, as does his wife. Adding to the tension is the fact that Irina hates Satan, who only seems to care about messing with her beloved birds.Remember that servant? Well, she's dead now, but not before she walks around half naked in Oliviero's mother's dress while he watches from the other room. She barely makes it to Irina's room before she collapses, covered in blood. Blood that Satan the cat has no problem walking through! He refuses to call the police, as he doesn't want any more suspicion. He asks his wife to help him get rid of the body.Oliviero's niece Floriana (Edwige Fenech, pretty much the queen of the giallo) is in town for a visit, learning how Oliviero hasn't been able to write one sentence over and over again for three years, stuck in writer's block (and predating The Shining by 5 years in book form and 8 years away from Kubrick's film). Unlike everyone else who tolerates Oliviero's behavior or ignores it, Floriana sees right through the bullshit. The writer is used to seducing every woman he meets and she initially rebuffs him, even asking if it's true that Oliviero used to sleep with his mother. He angrily asks if it's true that she's a two-bit whore. "Those would be two bits worth spending," is her caustic reply.Irina confides all of her pain to Floriana as the two become lovers. And another girl gets murdered — perhaps by Oliviero. Then, a dirt bike racer comes to drop off milk and hit on Floriana. Whew — I was wondering when this film would get hard to follow and start piling on the red herrings!Read more at http://bit.ly/2xSTF3d
GL84
Content to wallow in his misery, a failed writer prone to violent blackouts when he's drunk grows increasingly alarmed at the rash of murders in a nearby village and sets out to prove he's not the culprit which draws everyone around him into danger when the killer strikes back.This was quite the fun and highly engaging Giallo. One of the strongest and most engaging qualities about this effort is the fact that there's great work done here in getting the psychological aspects of the story alongside its traditional gialli tropes. Considering that he is both prone to blacking out and in quite a steep alcohol-fueled stupor allows him to worry that the concurrent crime spree that's taking place in the nearby village is his own handiwork when it appears that there's quite a large connection between him and the victims, this helps to move the first half along quite nicely as well as setting up the rather fun and engaging connections in the storyline about the classic tale. By working in plenty of elements from that story, not only the inclusion of the beloved black cat that belonged to his mother but his jealousy protecting it while she utterly hates the creature, there's some great work to be had here with these elements in the first half as her attempts to catch and kill it provide some rather tense and gruesome sequences. Once it moves on into the later half, this one manages to come together with other great homages of his work with the stellar use of the wailing cat-cries inside the house driving her even further to the brink while also managing to utilize the concept of the walled- up bodies leading to their guilty conscience coming into play here to help bring up the fine attention that these parts of the story bring as there's a lot to like here as this builds its mystery. Likewise, the few kills here aren't bad as they're brutality makes for quite a shocking series of scenes out in the village and the stalking themselves aren't all that bad as there are some nice times to be had with the opening stalking in the town square or the attack inside the house where the multiple victims are targeted. The finale works in some solid Gothic work along the way in the basement where the true fate gets unveiled and the setting helps to add a greater atmosphere to the proceedings. Alongside the fine nudity from the performers, this has a lot to like here over the minor flaw. Since this one tends to focus more on the psychological aspects of the storyline more than the actual stalking and slashing, there's not a lot of typical set-pieces normally found in the genre beyond a few key scenes to move the story along. It still fits nicely in the genre here with the series of twists in the finale but those looking for a traditional body-count style of effort won't be really enamored with this one as it goes for the slow-burn approach more than some might like. It's not a huge detriment but it does crop up here and really prevents this from being in the upper echelon of the genre.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, racist language and several sex scenes.
MARIO GAUCI
This is the third giallo from director Martino that I've watched, after THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (1970) and TORSO (1973); I still need to catch up with THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL (1971) and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (1972), which I hope to be able to do soon.Very loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's oft-filmed "The Black Cat" (though rarely, if ever, faithfully), the film includes a lot of the typical elements associated with the genre – convoluted plot, damsels-in-distress, serial killer (actually killers, since one is thrown in as a red herring), dogged police inspector, as well as healthy doses of sex and violence, naturally. However, there's also an unusual emphasis on characterization here and a general amorality which make it stand out (that said, this digression from the norm resulted in lesser box-office receipts than usual and, consequently, the film was virtually neglected for 30 years!). The plot twists come thick and fast (particularly at the climax) – the ironic ending may be overly familiar by now but, then, it's one of the few things that remain of the source material! Production values, modest though they may be, help considerably in creating a generally disquieting mood – odd angles, a gloomy central location, good score (by the ever-reliable Bruno Nicolai), disorienting editing (notably repeated quick cuts to the peering eyes of the black cat, even more effective after it has been blinded in one of them!).The cast includes several genre stalwarts: Ivan Rassimov (in an unflattering silver wig) isn't in any way stretched by his all-too-brief appearance as a mystery man; sexy Edwige Fenech – sluttish and conniving – is belatedly introduced into the proceedings but gets a meatier role than usual here. However, the acting honors go to the two nominal leads – Luigi Pistilli as the washed-up author with a mother complex who's also given to alcoholism, decadence (in the form of wild parties as well as extra-marital affairs with much younger girls, including niece Fenech!) and contempt for wife Anita Strindberg; he's matched by the latter, though (whereas she's usually merely a decorous presence in such films), with her insecurity (being easily swayed into a lesbian relationship with Edwige who, together, plot the death of Pistilli a' la LES DIABOLIQUES [1954]) and pathological fear of her husband's pet feline (leading to her viciously attacking it with a pair of scissors, an instinctive reaction which eventually seals her own fate).This film has been given a variety of lurid titles (alternates include GENTLY BEFORE SHE DIES and EXCITE ME); unsurprisingly, its makers opted to exploit the giallo angle rather than the Poe name (adaptations of his work are pretty rare in Italy though, at least, three more versions of "The Black Cat" followed Martino's – all made by equally noted directors – and, in fact, one of them came hard on the heels of this viewing!). The extras on the No Shame DVD complement the main feature nicely: there are trailers for four other titles in their "Sergio Martino Collection" (though, curiously, not one for this particular entry!), a photo gallery, and a booklet containing an essay on the film as well as bios for Martino, Fenech and Strindberg. Above all, however, is an exemplary 23-minute featurette compiling separate interviews with Martino, Fenech (who says that Quentin Tarantino reminded her recently that the film offered the actress her first 'bad girl' role – this isn't the case, actually…but, then, she'd probably rather forget her notorious encounter with a goat in TOP SENSATION aka THE SEDUCERS [1969], a sexploitationer-cum-thriller co-starring another venerated starlet of the period – Rosalba Neri!!) and co-scriptwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (surely one of the most important figures of the so-called "Euro-Cult" style, having probably dabbled in every possible genre that could fall under this broad tag).
