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Thanks Tall Guy, much obliged. This thread reminded me that I’ve
still got plenty of these yet to see, most of the ones I have are just
the basic Argento/Bava standbys.
So, coming today from Amazon is the Red Queen Kills Seven Times,
which I only know by having a listen to some of Nicolai’s score
(reminds me, will they ever reissue the Digitmovies cds which are
from who knows when and go for exorbitant prices now? Maybe the
recent redo of Conte Dracula is a good sign-the only one I could
ever get was The Scorpion’s Tail, by the grace of God and a kind
member here Purplemonkeydishwasher)
Anyway I’m going to find a 20+pointer I hope-right now the champ
is Torso at 18…
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The Weekend Murders(1970)
This one is a little different on two counts. Firstly it takes place mostly in daylight and secondly it has moments of comedy in it.
Bingo score 10 at a stretch.
In competent cop- Lance Percival balanced out by not so incompetent Gaston Mochin. Funky music , more so if you count pastiche Tchaikovsky .Not a single bottle of J&B. I didn't notice anyone drinking and not much smoking.
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ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER (Una sull'altra 1969) a.k.a. Perversion Story
Funky music - If only.
Twist ending - Yes.
Witness of murder - No.
Striptease - Yes.
Killer’s POV - No.
Man slaps woman - No.
Overloud or inappropriate music - Crazybad loud main title music; sounds like a mid-1950s Hollywood attempt to go jazzy with fingersnaps, plucked bass rhythms, and overbearing sax. The whole score is the kind of music that could kill Dick Van Patten if he were locked in a car.
Outrageous title - Uh...yeah. None of them make much specific sense. I prefer the title someone on Moviechat came up with: "The Fretful Frisco Frame-Up."
J&B bottle - I didn't spot one. I don't think we'll ever top Franco Nero swigging from a bottle of it while driving in The Fifth Cord.
Naked woman - Yes. Lots.
Death by stabbing - No.
Red herring - Yes.
Black gloved killer - No. One of the two villains is wearing a pair toward the end, but not in the giallo sense.
Goofy police inspector - No. He's John Ireland. Very stalwart.
Important picture - Yes, a photo of a woman model turns out to be a clue.
Woman takes bath or shower - No.
Blackmail - No.
Gay/lesbian character - A homoerotic scene between the two female leads. But it's not really what it seems.
Important memory - Yes, related to the above important picture.
Random scene in Italian - No.
Ooh ooh music - No.
Death by razor - No.
Childhood trauma - No.
Killer’s footsteps - No.
A solid 8, maybe 9 for the lesbian-ish scene.
With the San Francisco location work and lead actor Jean Sorel's resemblance in looks, hair, and style to Robert Wagner's Dan Bigelow character in The Towering Inferno, I sometimes felt like I was watching a "prequel" to Bigelow's story. It got uncanny at times.
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Posted: |
Oct 23, 2022 - 12:31 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Well as there have been no howls about spoilers…
Eye in the Labyrinth (Mario Caiano, 1972)
Nice-looking giallo with the lovely Rosemary Dexter, the legendary Adolfo Celi and the scary Alisa Valli, filmed on Elba Island in Tuscany. Pakistan-born Rosemary played Mortimer’s sister in For a Few Dollars More, thought she looked familiar.
Funky music - yes, kinda, some aleatoric-sounding jazz from the Roberto Nicolosi score
Twist ending - yes, but not going there
Witness of murder - yes, upon which hinges the plot
Striptease - no
Killer’s POV - no
Man slaps woman - yes, before you’ve even made yourself comfortable
Overloud or inappropriate music - yes, on several occasions, it really sets the tone
Outrageous title - a marginal yes
J&B bottle - hell yea, more than once
Naked woman - yes, from a distance. Much toplessness, though.
Death by stabbing - yes, more than somewhat
Red herring - mmm I’m going to say no on this one
Black gloved killer - nay lad
Goofy police inspector - conspicuous by absence
Important picture - yes, but for once not an incriminating photo
Woman takes bath or shower - no, smelly lot
Blackmail - yes, pivotal
Gay/lesbian character - borderline but no
Important memory - not really
Random scene in Italian - not on the Amazon Prime version at least
Ooh ooh music - no, no, no
Death by razor - not for Mr Caiano this particular trope
Childhood trauma - yes
Killer’s footsteps - not as such
So a solid 12 for this entertaining and picturesque giallo. Always good to see “Emilio Largo” and indeed this film enjoyed almost as many continuity errors as Thunderball.
Worth a watch.
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The Black Belly of the Tarantula-
Funky music= briefly
Twist ending= yes more or less
Witness of murder= no
Striptease= no
Killer’s POV= yes, I think
Man slaps woman= yes and woman slaps woman
Overloud or inappropriate music= ?
Outrageous title= I'd say yes
J&B bottle= a least two nicely placed bottles
Naked woman= yes and one straight after the main titles
Death by stabbing= several
Red herring= there was to me
Black gloved killer= almost, here the gloves were brown rubber, well they matched his shoes
Goofy police inspector= no
Important picture= 2 candidates, with reference to the plot
Woman takes bath or shower= no but victim found after haveing one
Blackmail= yes
Gay/lesbian character= yes
Important memory= no
Random scene in Italian= no
Ooh ooh music= yes , main titles for a start
Death by razor=no
Childhood trauma= no
Killer’s footsteps= possible
So about 14 on the bingo scale plus a couple of possible.
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THE DESIGNATED VICTIM (1971, La vittima designata, directed by Maurizio Lucidi)
Funky music - No.
Twist ending - Yes. Not a super-surprise twist, but the ending sequence is nevertheless a well-edited nailbiter.
Witness of murder - No.
Striptease - Hmm. The protagonist is honey-trapped by a woman who strips down to her lingerie, but I don't think that counts.
Killer’s POV - No.
Man slaps woman - No.
Overloud or inappropriate music - I was going to mention the annoying hippie folk music, but I guess that's appropriate for 1971. Bacalov's baroque score is perhaps too loud, but at least it's cool and awesome.
Outrageous title - No.
J&B bottle - There's a bottle of vodka which is used to clean chest wounds, but no J&B.
Naked woman - Right during the opening titles.
Death by stabbing - No.
Red herring - Usually there are in these thrillers, but I'm going to say no here. Sort of one with a character spoken about, but not strong enough for it to be a real tricky red herring.
Black gloved killer - No.
Goofy police inspector - No. I'm starting to doubt there is such a thing as a goofy police inspector in giallos.
Important picture - No.
Woman takes bath or shower - No.
Blackmail - Yes, in the "I did for you, now you're obligated to do for me" manner.
Gay/lesbian character - Pierre Clementi is quite fey, but never "designated" as gay.
Important memory - No.
Random scene in Italian - No.
Ooh ooh music - No.
Death by razor - No.
Childhood trauma - No, not stated. But you have to wonder about the childhood of the antagonist.
Killer’s footsteps - No.
Essentially a variation on Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.
There have been so many scenes of hip fashion photography in the giallos I've been watching, it makes me wonder how much 1966's Blow Up influenced this genre.
This is more of a psychological suspense thriller than a bloodthirsty giallo. Score = 4.
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By the way, does anyone know if the giallo The Bloodstained Lawn (original title: Il prato macchiato di rosso) (1973) is available anywhere? It sounds fantastic - An Italian winery, wandering hippies, vampire robots!
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I'm not familiar with it either.
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I'm not familiar with it either.
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Posted: |
Oct 29, 2022 - 8:32 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Cold Eyes of Fear (Enzo Castellari, 1971)
The giallo du jour was this fairly tame effort set in London with Frank Wolff as a crim looking to avenge his jail sentence. Fernando Rey picked up his easiest ever paycheque as the judge who put him away. Ennio provides both funk and ooh ooh in one of his arguably lesser (and lesser-known) scores for the genre.
Funky music - yes
Twist ending - not really
Witness of murder - nope
Striptease - nein
Killer’s POV - no mystery about the killer so no need
Man slaps woman - yes, a right clout
Overloud or inappropriate music - get out of here
Outrageous title - I wouldn’t say so
J&B bottle - yes, both prominent and weaponised
Naked woman - yes, but I wouldn’t make a big thing out of it 
Death by stabbing - oh yes
Red herring - not that sort of film
Black gloved killer - ditto
Goofy police inspector - not on this occasion
Important picture - niet
Woman takes bath or shower - yes, more plot-driven than usual
Blackmail - no
Gay/lesbian character - I thought it needed one, really
Important memory - no sign of one
Random scene in Italian - sadly not
Ooh ooh music - yes, in one track/scene
Death by razor - no, it’s not Argento or Martino
Childhood trauma - non!
Killer’s footsteps - not in the usual sense
A slightly lacking seven for this one, therefore. Tempted to count J&B bottle twice, though…
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My Dear Killer
Funky music= no, quite restrained really
Twist ending= sort of
Witness of murder= no
Striptease= no
Killer’s POV= yes
Man slaps woman = no
Overloud or inappropriate music= no
Outrageous title= not by usual standards
J&B bottle= no! And not much booze or ciggies in use
Naked woman= several, one uncomfortably dubious
Death by stabbing= no. Preferred methods: JCB, angle grinderscarf
Red herring= no
Black gloved killer= yes
Goofy police inspector= no, quite competent
Important picture=yes
Woman takes bath or shower= no
Blackmail=mentioned but only briefly
Gay/lesbian character= possible. Well he was carrying an umbrella with no sign of rain about.
Important memory=no
Random scene in Italian= no
Ooh ooh music= no
Death by razor= attempted but interupted
Childhood trauma= if you count the kidnapping in the flash back
Killer’s footsteps= briefly
So ten at a push
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A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (1971) Directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Florinda Bolkan and Stanley Baker, Morricone score, now we're talking!
Funky music - Yes, at the next-door neighbor's "football matches."
Twist ending - Yes.
Witness of murder - A couple of hippies. Maybe. There's a bit was-it-reality-was-it-a-dream stuff.
Striptease - Yes.
Killer’s POV - No.
Man slaps woman - No.
Overloud or inappropriate music - This is the second time I'm citing scary loud organ music - this time our heroine leans against a button which turns one on - and said music is thus used throughout the rest of the chase sequence!
Outrageous title - Yes.
J&B bottle - A fair amount of brown liquor in glasses, but I didn't spot any J&B.
Naked woman - Yes.
Death by stabbing - Yes. In a "dream" - and then happens in reality!
Red herring - Yes.
Black gloved killer - No.
Goofy police inspector - Stanley Baker. He has a habit of whistling a lot, but is that goofy or quirky? The coroner is kind of goofy, though.
Important picture - No.
Woman takes bath or shower - No.
Blackmail - Yes.
Gay/lesbian character - Yes.
Important memory - Yes, or rather an important non-memory.
Random scene in Italian - Yes! I finally came across one! This movie has an English dub, but, out of nowhere, three of the characters spoke briefly in Italian with no subtitles.
Ooh ooh music - A wordless female vocalist scats a "doo doo dah dah dun" bit. Is that "ooh ooh music?"
Death by razor - One of the killings looks like a razor across the throat.
Childhood trauma - No.
Killer’s footsteps - Bolkan runs away from scary footsteps in one scene, but it's a red herring.
I count 14, maybe 15 if the wordless female vocal is considered true "ooh ooh music."
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Happy Gialloween!
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
(1972, dir. Emilio Miraglia)
At the corner of Gothic and Giallo..macabre ancestral curse
spawns the caped, cackling “Red Queen”, a stab-happy spectre
(sure) who brings her seven-corpse agenda to the bad girls of
the local fashion house/models studio…
Attractive, lively entry recommended for fans, special shout-out
to Bruno Nicolai on this one.
Funky music-bumping rhythm section during “scary” parts says
yes. Overloud/inappropriate, ooh ooh not applicable.
Twist ending- no.
Witness to murder-Unimportant but yes.
Striptease-no.
Killer POV-not really.
Man slaps woman-once, yes.
Outrageous title-flamboyant enough I think,yes.
J&B-at everyone’s house,yes.
Naked woman-yes.
Death by stabbing-yep.
Red herring-plenty,yes.
Black gloves-more elegant than usual,yes.
Goofy inspector-catches a lot of awkward dialogue,but no.
Important pictures-Gothic portrait, police sketch, jewelry in
photo,yes.
Important memory-plot red herring,yes.
Bath or shower-no.
Blackmail-extortion over above memory,yes.
Gay character-model swinging from both sides of the plate, yes?
Scene in Italian-no.
Death by razor-no.
Childhood trauma-grandfather relates tale of family curse to two little
girls (about how one may murder the other someday) while one of
them decapitates her sister’s doll, I’m gonna say yes.
Killer’s footsteps-yes.
Liberally, 15 points.
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) 
