(1971)
Overall: MEH
Sergio Martino's first of many giallo offerings was The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, (Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh, Blade of the Ripper, Next!, The Next Victim). Lead actress Edwige Fenech would end up being in a whole lot of this Italian sub-genre, (more helmed by Martino as well), and she would be naked in even more movies than that, making her rather the textbook, preeminent giallo scream queen. Several screenwriters were on hand here and it rather shows since the film ultimately cannot make up its mind as to what its twist is going to be. So many players could potentially be behind such murderous plotting so why not make all of them behind it, (kind of)? You are more likely to chuckle to yourself than scratch your head by the last ten or so minutes, particularly where two characters decide to swerve all over the road whilst cackling over their fiendish scheme going off without a hitch. It was a goofy moment proceeded by lots of naked ones with the occasional "oh, now this woman is obviously going to die" throat-slashing scene thrown in. This would usually happen while said woman was still naked of course. It is easy to dismiss these films as male libido driven excursions into sexism even when those same males in the film generally get their comeuppance, but though this one is delivered with a wildly convoluted plot and plenty of eye candy, it is still basically giallo by numbers.
(1972)
Overall: MEH
Well this one certainly wins the "most ridiculous title for a giallo movie" award. Confusing matters, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, (Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave, Gently Before She Dies, Eye of the Black Cat, Excite Me!), is actually taken from a letter that a killer left in The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, (so many vices). In that film it made sense more or less but in its context here, it is rather headscratching. The film follows the pattern of having lots of horny people who ultimately have no redeeming qualities to them. The blade-wielding psychopath is more of an afterthought here, but on top of numerous women getting their necks slashed so we can see blood splattered across their chests, other women get routinely smacked around, upping the male chauvinism tenfold. As mentioned, it becomes more of a miserable experience in that the three main protagonists are all awful people so you on the one hand want them all to get what is coming to them, but also do not want anyone coming out on top. Since nearly all of these stories follow the same series of blueprints, it really comes down to cinematic styling as far as how successful they are. Martino knowingly references Edgar Alan Poe's The Black Cat throughout which gives it just a hint of a supernatural quality and he expertly frames all of the mysterious goings on to keep us in the dark. Yet the despicable aspects are too cumbersome to make the movie properly enjoyable.
(1975)
Overall: GOOD
Sergio Martino trades in any and all elements of macabre or even dreamlike stylistic touches with The Suspicious Death of a Minor, (Morte sospetta di una minorenne, Too Young to Die), one of his lesser appreciated giallos. Instead, he pretty much makes the Italian version of Dirty Harry. The script, (credited to Martino and Ernesto Gastaldi who worked with nearly every B-movie Italian genre director throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s), is rather competent with layers of corruption, prostitution, and drug trafficking mixed with chase scenes, people shooting guns, and bad guys murdering women. As the main protagonist, (and clear Clint Eastwood stand-in), Cladio Cassinelli is effective at gaining our sympathies even when it is unclear for quite a ways into the film that he is actually the "good guy". Which is a pleasant structural twist in and of itself. Things get a little bumbly along the way with slap-stick comedy and goofy music overtaking the score at several instances, many of which come off as kind of sidetracking any genuine tension that could have been communicated. These are minor, (huh huh, get it?), complaints though as the film becomes increasingly more interesting as it goes on. Martino stages most of the plot curves admirably, even the ones that may have been more predictable than others. Perhaps slasher fans may find the movie lacking in more brutal, gory, and elaborately staged murdering sequences, but as a capable, Euro-flavored action film, it gets the job done.
No comments:
Post a Comment