SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS(1972)
Overall: MEH
The giallo formula is strategically adhered to in Umberto Lenzi's Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, (Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso); a sufficient entry into the genre that plays it by-the-books. As opposed to being wildly stylistic or overtly sleazy, (though a few of the female victims are without clothes on and a heroine addict is featured), the movie is
more akin to German krimi films and not just in the fact that it is a
West German co-production with lead actor Uschi Glas also hailing from
there. A police procedural mystery first and foremost, it keeps the
more ridiculous giallo trademarks at bay while still liberally featuring
the other textbook ones. A minimal number of musical pieces are used ad nauseum, the murderer is not revealed until the last five minutes, said killer wears black gloves and leaves a calling card behind, the plot line exclusively deals with the both the police and one guy who is personally involved following up leads, the kills are largely against women, Lenzi's abuse of camera zooms is excessive, etc. Though there is a sufficient amount of information divulged in Lenzi and Roberto Gianviti's script, it follows a linear path that is easy enough to grasp without getting too unnecessarily bloated.
SPASMO(1974)
Overall: MEH
Falling into the giallo genre even though many of its narrative components are left of center, Umberto Lenzi's
Spasmo
is still a convoluted mess. The film was allegedly going to be a product for
Lucio Fulci who was replaced by producers with Lenzi coming in and
heavily rewriting the script that ultimate had half a dozen names
attached to it. This is hardly surprising when viewing the result,
which has various, forced attributes along with typical aspects of
Italian thrillers such as unintentionally funny dialog, rape, the same
piece of music played throughout most scenes, and a character with a
disturbed childhood that influences bouts of psychotic madness.
While it is refreshing to replace the usual black gloved killer and red
herrings, what is left is something that is often meandering and
difficult to follow. The mystery is of a different variety as to who
seems to be fucking with Robert Hoffmann's troubled protagonist, but the
answer to that question comes only about an hour in which leads to a
whimpering finale that is both lackluster and silly. Speaking of silly,
one of Lenzi's daft contributions was the addition of several
mannequins in lingerie who are randomly given screen time at irregular
intervals; something which does get a pay off in the aforementioned finale that is
likely to cause either eye-rolls or bouts of laughter.
EYEBALL(1975)
Overall: MEH
A
completely uninspired giallo from filmmaker Umberto Lenzi who already
had a number of such movies under his belt at this point,
Eyeball, (
Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro,
Red Cats in a Glass Maze),
is endlessly chatty, has an incompetent-at-best killer, and is lacking
in the overt strangeness, style, and sleaze that is commonly found with
the more outrageous entries in the sub-genre. This is surprising coming
from a film whose gimmick is a murderer that removes their victim's
eyes, but this quirky gimmick is rarely touched upon and only becomes
outlandish within the last five minutes. Before that, it is a
monotonous bore as a soon-to-be-retired police inspector keeps a group
of tourists held up for questioning after questioning, all while a
couple more people get picked off in an unexciting manner where just as
many of the killer's attempts end up embarrassingly futile. Some of the
cast members are recognizable, but none of them are allowed to bring
their melodramatic A-game with such lackluster material that is handled in a
merely competent manner by Lenzi from behind the lens. Distinguishing
factors are limited enough to make this almost entirely forgettable,
even by giallo's often textbook standards.
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