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Also It was supposed to be un cut. However I got the impression that that claim was a bit of a porkie. Even the average usually have something going for them whether it's music, style, shocks or something novel.
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The Scorpion’s Tail (1971,dir. Sergio Martino)
Same-year follow up to Strange Vice of Mrs.Wardh,with G.Hilton in
basically same role, Edwige replaced by stunning tag team of Anita
Strindberg and “Evelyn Stewart” plus Pistilli as no-bullshit “Inspector
Stavros”-similar storyline of the intrigues of the continental Rich and
Beautiful disrupted by scary murders well-presented by the
talented Martino.
Notable for showing what happens when one of those ubiquitous J&B
bottles falls into the wrong hands.
First giallo for Nicolai as composer, leaning heavily on the Argento-
Morricone template, still enjoyable.
Funky music-Morriconesque “urban menace” qualifies, No overloud/
inappropriate or ooh ooh points. I found the music pretty loud and aggressive with its "urban menace."
Twist ending-no. I'd say yes, although I was still hoping for a twist after the twist
Witness of murder- no. Not quite, although the "scuba-killer" attacks someone who is saved in time - so she is able to describe what his disguise looked like.
Striptease-no.
Killer POV-yes.
Man slaps woman-yes, quickly shown.
Outrageous title-not really. I saw this under its "The Curse of the Scorpion's Tail" title, so that makes it a tad more outrageous.
J&B-wow, all over the place, used as weapon in an eye-
opening sequence. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will never be the same again!
Naked woman-yes.
Death by stabbing-Quite.
Red herring-Of every stripe, yes.
Black gloves-yes.
Goofy inspector-quite the opposite.
Important picture-photo blown up again for clue, yes.
Woman in bath/shower-damn it, no.
Blackmail-short lived but yes.
Gay character-no.
Important memory-no.
Scene in Italian- no.
Death by razor-surprisingly no.
Childhood trauma-no.
Killer’s footsteps-don’t think so. Not in the true giallo sense.
A meager 10 points, but recommended.
Additions to On the Rooftops' excellent review in bold.
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THE PSYCHIC MURDER TO THE TUNE OF THE SEVEN BLACK NOTES (aka Sette note in nero, Seven Notes in Black, The Psychic, et al, but we're not going to top that actual title I saw on one print.) (Fulci 1977)
Funky music - The usual giallo keyboards and weird percussion. But a couple of funky cues, I guess. It sure ain't no Stevie Wonder funk we're talking about though.
Twist ending - Yes.
Witness of murder - Psychically.
Striptease - No.
Killer’s POV - No.
Man slaps woman - No. Man hits woman with fireplace poker, but not a slap!
Overloud or inappropriate music - Loud sleazy saxophones for a scene of a man simply showing a woman a house. And much, much more in the loud & overbearing stakes.
Outrageous title - Yes. Absolutely yes. (I like the added unnecessary "the" between "of" and "seven.")
J&B bottle - None spotted.
Naked woman - No.
Death by stabbing - I couldn't quite tell. Lots of blood though.
Red herring - Yes. I particularly liked a misdirection involving a magazine cover.
Black gloved killer - Yes. Or, wait, is it the actual killer?
Goofy police inspector - No.
Important picture - Yes, especially during a section in the middle of the movie in which our main characters need to track down the origin of a photo of a murdered young woman.
Woman takes bath or shower - No.
Blackmail - No.
Gay/lesbian character - No.
Important memory - Yes. I think this qualifies.
Random scene in Italian - Unsubtitled Italian sentences here and there.
Ooh ooh music - No vocalizing in the score.
Death by razor - No.
Childhood trauma - It's how the film kicks off.
Killer’s footsteps - Yes.
I wanted to see this one because it's been compared to my beloved Eyes of Laura Mars. They both have the psychic visions (but of the future or the past?), close-ups of our respective heroine's eyes, and Jennifer O'Neill's chic (psy-"chic"?) wardrobe would not be out of place on Faye Dunaway's Laura, and vice versa. Otherwise, no real commonalities in plot. I watched an English dub, of course, so we get such clunky lines like "Maybe you shouldn't have married a clairvoyant" said earnestly by O'Neill to her husband, accused of killing the girl whose skeleton O'Neill discovers thanks to her visions.
I especially liked Jenny Tamburi (born Luciana) as the cute, bubble-headed secretary to one of O'Neill's friends. Hasn't she been in other gialli?
At least 11 points.
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Posted: |
Oct 19, 2024 - 11:31 PM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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The Doll of Satan (Ferruccio Casapinta, 1969)
If you look up the definition of “a film that’s so bad it’s good” you may well find the poster for La Bambola di Satana.
Ostensibly set in England (ignoring the left-hand drive cars driving on the wrong side of the road, the black berets worn by a couple of minor characters, everyone drinking wine during the day) a young lady and her fiancé take a couple of friends to the reading of her uncle’s will. Her late uncle’s staff and business associate remain in his castle having dinners and waiting for things to happen.
The castle holds a secret worth killing for, drawing several characters to it, while the innocent heiress has no clue what she’s getting herself caught up in. Ominously, there’s a fully-realised torture chamber in the basement.
Although Casapinta wrote the film, this is his only credit and it seems that he had no clue how to direct a film. According to the commentary track the AD helmed most of it. The lack of available talent is betrayed by mirrors not being reflective in order to avoid showing the crew.
The lead actress is like an Aldi Monica Vitti, and her fiancé bears a passing resemblance to Adam West. It’s hard to know if this film was intended as a satire or if the makers were genuinely attempting something original, but so many cliches are thrown in from many genres that it becomes entertaining to tick them off.
One of the characters even commits the delayed information cliche - “I’ve got some important documents to show you.” “Well, let’s look at them later.” Of course, later is too late.
There’s a lot to like about this film, as bad as it is - Franco Potenza provides a good jazzy score, Erna Schürer is as appealing as she is unskilled (or seems so on this showing) and the bluray has an astonishingly high picture quality. The cars that appear briefly are great, especially a Renault Caravelle (although the C has fallen off) that the male lead drives - notwithstanding it being a totally different car to the one he arrives at the castle with! - and the Austin or Morris 1100 that the wealthy neighbour incongruously drives. To add to the fun, the fight scenes are hilarious.
Funky music - yes, from a jukebox box, accompanied by the most awkward dancing I can remember seeing in a film.
Twist ending - yes, a classic Scooby Doo
Witness of murder - enough for a yes
Striptease - no
Killer’s POV - yes
Man slaps woman - no, just a bit of imaginary whipping
Overloud or inappropriate music - no
Outrageous title - yes, outrageously inappropriate in that there’s zero satanic involvement
J&B bottle - nowhere to be seen
Naked woman - yes, but carefully posed to reveal very little
Death by stabbing - someone dies by sword impalement, so yes
Red herring - yes
Black-gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - none around
Important picture - no
Woman takes bath or shower - no
Blackmail - no
Gay/lesbian character - no
Important memory - no
Random scene in Italian - all in Italian
Ooh ooh music - the main title satisfies this criterion
Death by razor - no
Childhood trauma - no
Killer’s footsteps - no
9 bingo points, reflective that this film pre-dates the Argento revolution. If it had been written after the animal trilogy, I have no doubt that many more would have been shoehorned into it.
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Posted: |
Oct 29, 2024 - 11:52 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Mystère (Carlo Vanzina, 1983)
AKA Dagger Eyes, a film written and directed by Italy’s answer to the Coen brothers, Carlo and Enrico Vanzina.
The excellent commentary track (which admittedly includes many erms and ahhs) points out the cinephile nature of the film, deliberately shoehorning many references to Hitchcock and Bond films as well as other gialli, bearing in mind this was made some ten years after the genre’s peak.
The star is Carole Bouquet, and there’s a repeat of the stunning fourth wall close up from FYEO. Other Bondian references include a DAF ending.
In a nice twist, the car chase along the bank of the Tiber in SPECTRE echoes the chase in Mystère.
There is no nudity to speak of and minimal amounts of claret. This is a somewhat inconsequential film in giallo history, but is great fun.
Funky music - “Upbeat pop music” according to the subtitles, but sounds pretty funky to me.
Twist ending - yes, in a slightly tedious way
Witness of murder - yes (the basis of the plot)
Striptease - yes
Killer’s POV - no
Man slaps woman - yes, what a prick
Overloud or inappropriate music - no
Outrageous title -no, nor even the alternative of “Dagger Eyes”
J&B bottle - inconclusive, so no, although there’s indirect reference to it
Naked woman - yes, but very modestly shot
Death by stabbing - yes
Red herring - yes, practised on the bad guys and audience
Black gloved killer - a killer wears black gloves, so yes
Goofy police inspector - not goofy, just a bit of a git
Important picture - yes, a roll of negatives is the macguffin
Woman takes bath or shower - yes, but OH so discreetly
Blackmail - yes, kinda
Gay/lesbian character - no
Important memory - no
Random scene in Italian - no
Ooh ooh music - no
Death by razor - no
Childhood trauma - no
Killer’s footsteps - no
Twelve giallo bingo points, perhaps reflecting the referential aspects of the screenplay. This was the first film from the newly released Forgotten Gialli volume seven. Two more to come in early course!
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Don't know that one. Found it on youbtube but no English so far.
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Posted: |
Nov 1, 2024 - 5:55 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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A Taste for Fear (Piccio Raffanini, 1987)
Set in a future that predicted a music video culture (not surprising given the backgrounds of the director and composer) but not smoking bans, cordless phones or flatscreen television, a group of not especially pleasant characters in and around a fashion photography studio grapple with a murderer in their midst.
Part of the futuristic image comes from the main character’s mode of transport - the Italdesign Machimoto prototype. Part car, part dune buggy, motorbike, it never got into production, probably because it looks BLOODY DANGEROUS.
This appears to be the director’s only feature but he fits a career’s worth of colours into it. He’s no Mario Bava, however.
The best thing in the film is Gioia Scola as Valerie, the only sympathetic character and most natural beauty in the cast.
Funky music - the main title is funky with a hint of foreboding
Twist ending - can’t allow this. There are really only two suspects so when one of them is offed, admittedly near the end, the surprise is lost
Witness of murder - yes, on dvd
Striptease - yes, briefly to seduce
Killer’s POV - no
Man slaps woman - no
Overloud or inappropriate music - no, lots of splashy songs of the day such as Grace Jones, all appropriate to the film
Outrageous title - not really. Often shown as “Obsession: A Taste of Fear”
J&B bottle - yes
Naked woman - yes
Death by stabbing - yes, slicing counts it it’s done with a knife and death ensues
Red herring - definitely
Black gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - I’m torn on this, but inclining towards no. Bland beefcake, yes, but not goofy. Cool ray gun, though… (yes, really)
Important picture - no. Lots of pictures being taken, none of them in the slightest bit important.
Woman takes bath or shower - yes, with bonus wet shirt on Ms Scola
Blackmail - no
Gay/lesbian character - gay, bi and probably pan wall to wall
Important memory - no
Random scene in Italian - none detected
Ooh ooh music - no, but interesting choice of songs in the soundtrack.
Death by razor - no
Childhood trauma - no
Killer’s footsteps - no
It’s a film that qualifies as a giallo but is really a long VH1 programme with added sharp implements.
Ten GBPs.
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'nother I've never heard of!
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Fascinating genre.
Agreed. But I'm all gialloed out. I've still got Macchi Solari to watch on YouTube.
Regarding the forgotten sets - are they all mix of some in Italian and some with English?
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I usually watch in English - especially when watching with the parents, it's easier.
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Posted: |
Nov 3, 2024 - 1:34 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Sweets From a Stranger (Franco Ferrini, 1987)
Striking imagery and a quite different take on the lives of Rome’s prostitutes make this an interesting giallo from a one-time director. However, Ferrini is also known as a major collaborator on Argento’s films and has played a significant role in Italian cinema from the 70s onward, working with Sergio Leone (about which more later) and Bava junior.
In Sweets From a Stranger, someone is killing off prostitutes with an open razor and a bolt gun. The girls decide to band together for mutual protection instead of the usual rivalry, and a clue is discovered that will later lead to the unmasking of the killer.
The most famous name in the cast is Laura Betti (the appalling Regina from 1900, the maid from Theorem and actress in many significant 60s and 70s films) in a self-contained cameo as an aging sex worker who comes to a sticky end. Apparently many of the rest of the cast are well known in Italian television.
There are some great set pieces in the film, including a screamingly funny scene where the girls appeal to voyeurs to keep an eye out for them.
Funky music - didn’t notice any
Twist ending - yep, it’s a big surprise
Witness of murder - not as such
Striptease - yes, partial ones throughout
Killer’s POV - no
Man slaps woman - no
Overloud or inappropriate music - when the prostitutes begin banding together for protection a military tune with 98% of the DNA of The Great Escape pipes up. Hideously out of place, even if it made me laugh
Outrageous title - no, quite clever really
J&B bottle - yes, fleeting but incontrovertible
Naked woman - yes, but quite modestly
Death by stabbing - nothing so mundane
Red herring - very much so
Black gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - YES! It’s been a while…
Important picture - yes, a photo fit of someone with a clue
Woman takes bath or shower - no
Blackmail - no
Gay/lesbian character - yes, heavily implied
Important memory - no
Random scene in Italian - it’s only presented in Italian
Ooh ooh music - no
Death by razor - yes
Childhood trauma - yes
Killer’s footsteps - no
With this film completing Forgotten Giallo volume 7 I’ve run out of gialli again for the moment unless I loosen my interpretation of a giallo - which could easily happen. For instance, in an extra on the bluray Ferrini talks about his work with Leone, including a treatment for Once Upon a Time in America. He opines that the mystery of who brings Noodles back into the picture makes OUATIA a giallo…. I’m going to have to test this theory 
Sweets From a Stranger: Douze points!
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