DEATH WALKS TWICE: new package of little-known (in the USA) Italian giallo movies by Luciano Ercoli -- from Arrow Video/MVDvisual

"Death Walks Twice" is the name of the new package of two Italian giallo films - DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS (La morte cammina con i tacchi alti) from 1971, and DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT (La morte accarezza a mezzanotte) from 1972 -- by a filmmaker completely new to me, Luciano Ercoli. Made during the height of the giallo craze (you can read another of my giallo posts by clicking here), the earlier film received no theatrical release in the USA, though the second one did (the films' release information comes according to the IMDB).

Now, via a British distributor to which cult and niche film buffs ought to be paying a lot of attention--Arrow Video--the two films come to us in a spanking new Blu-ray package, with a transfer that is simply stunning: so crisp, clear and luminously colorful that you'll feel immediately transported back to those 1970 halcyon days. In fact, it's difficult to imagine the movies looking any better, even in their big-screen Italian theatrical debut. I suspect that Signore Ercoli, at right, who died only last year, would be quite proud of this release. (He and his star in both films, Nieves Navarro, who was usually billed as Susan Scott, are featured in a Q&A interview on one of the discs in the package.)

Ercoli directed only eight movies because, according to the IMDB, he came into a rather large inheritance and subsequently quit moviemaking, Most of the films, I am guessing, are largely giallo-influenced. These two certainly are, having the requisite women in danger, various slasher killings, copious blood and gore, and a mystery (maybe several) along for the ride.

But the two films are also very different from other giallo I've seen. As many men are killed as women, making the movies seem less sexist; and while the blood and

gore are certainly there, they seem noticeably less the point of it all than do the more heavily plotted mysteries that make up the movies. Most important, Ercoli's films are surprisingly buoyant for giallo: They're full of light and air and lovely scenery -- like taking a vacation with some murder and mayhem attached.

These two films seem nowhere near as dark, forbidding and psychologically creepy as do, say, a number of the films of Dario Argento. (See his Deep Red, for one of the greatest of the giallos.) I suppose you could call them giallo-lite, and I don't mean that as a pejorative. Much of this lightness is due, I think, to the very interesting performances of Ms Navarro/Scott.

The actress, shown above and below, possesses a special skill at seeming improvisational and off-the-cuff. She has an insouciance that is at once sexy and endearing. Ercoli uses not just her in both films, but a number of the same major supporting actors and actresses, as well -- Simón Andreu (shown in a precarious position, two photos below), Claudie Lange and Carlo Gentili among them -- so that you feel you're watching a kind of giallo repertory company.

There is often a silliness at the base of giallo, and that is certainly true here. The plots are devious to the point of nearing the ridiculous, but they are fun, as well. The mysteries at the heart of both films won't put you in mind of the best of Agatha Christie, yet they unfurl with a certain gonzo unpredictability, and they're also packed with surprise.

How Ercoli uses characters you imagine to be the heros or heroines is also a bit different from the usual fare. Don't get too attached. But this, too, is part of the fun.

A special bonus for us seniors is how delightful it is to be back in the 1970s -- with all the home decor, fashions, cars and the rest of it on display.

Italy, remember, was in the forefront of fashion during this period, so everything from the set design to the clothing is often eye-poppingly gorgeous. Or silly. Or simultaneously both.

And, yes, there is the requisite violence quotient (above) and semi-memorable villains (below). Yet just as the heroes don't always quite compute, neither do those bad guys -- who can just as easily end up dead as do some of the good guys.

All  told, this Death Walks Twice duo proves worth its weight in fun, nostalgia, mystery and more. (Shown below is Signore Ercoli, shortly before his death, along with his still-very-much-alive star, Ms Navarro.)

Click here for complete information regarding what this new package contains -- distributed here in the USA via MVD Entertainment Group -- as well as the info on how to purchase the set. 

You're yellow, AFA--yellow! Anthology Film Archives goes Giallo with a ten-day festival

GIALLO FEVER! is the title Anthology Film Archives (AFA) has given to its upcoming series of Italian slasher films from the 1960s and 70s that begins this Thursday, September 20, and continues through Sunday, September 30. "Giallo" literally means "yellow" in Italian, and the genre draws its name from the type of paperback Italian crime novels that bore bright yellow covers (which, in this case, you certainly can tell a book by) and that grew immensely popular during this period. So of course Italian movies co-opted the idea. TrustMovies has always been fond of this genre, unfortunately more for what it promised -- cheap thrills, chills and damsels in distress (often, unfortunately, rubbed out in very bloody fashion) -- than for what it actually delivered, for he was nearly always disappointed in the resulting movie.

The giallo depends on blood, gore and creative ways to kill, along with some terrific atmospherics and special effects ranging from those involving blood and dismemberment to others having to do with things like psychedelics. What giallos (the official plural is gialli) don't have much of are characterization, plot coherence, or credibility on any level. Talk about guilty pleasures: Gialli are among the guiltiest of 'em all.

AFA claims this series as New York's first showcase dedicated to this notorious Italian genre: a ten-film, ten-day "extravaganza of killers in black gloves, naked coeds, red herrings, bloody knives, deranged motives -- and a killer of a time! Apart from the signature blend of style and kitsch aesthetics, the genre also features some of the most innovative scores ever created, by the likes of Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, and Goblin."

Well, OK. And while the genre, according to AFA, began in the 60s and grew hugely popular in the 70s, then pretty much disappeared in the 80s, it managed nonetheless to leave "a legacy of films often overlooked but widely influential on filmmakers such as Brian De Palma and Quentin Tarantino...." I'll say! Remember Dressed to Kill? Now, that's giallo done right. You get all the good stuff -- atmospherics, scares and blood, coupled to crackerjack acting, writing and directing. And a simply wonderful story, jam-packed with shock, surprise, scares and delight. (Yes, that's John Saxton, above, right, in the one black-and-white film in the series, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, aka The Evil Eye.)

While many of the films to be shown here were first released theatrically in the U.S. and are or have been available on VHS and/or DVD, Pupi Avati's THE HOUSE OF THE LAUGHING WINDOWS (above) and Lucio Fulci's DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING (second photo from top) were never theatrically released in the U.S. Fulci's film, in fact, is said to have had only a limited release, even in Europe at the time, due to its its criticism of the Roman Catholic Church. Avati's film, too, is heavy on the imagery of the sadomasochistic rituals of the Catholic Church. And both, as the AFA press materials point out, are set in provincial towns rather than the urban settings of most giallo films.

That's Vanessa Redgrave, above left, and Franco Nero -- who appear in the one real bomb in this series, A Quiet Place in the Country (see below). Following is the program schedule, according to the AFA, along with its own remarks about the films in question. After the listed screening times, if TrustMovies has seen this particular film, he'll offer his comments, too, which will appear after the words TM's view....

THE COMPLETE GIALLO FEVER! PROGRAM

Dario Argento
THE BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMAGE / L’UCCELLO DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO 1970, 98 minutes, 35mm. Print courtesy of Cineteca Nazionale.

Sam, an American writer living in Rome, witnesses a murder attempt. Trapped by a glass wall, he fails to intervene but manages to scare off the killer. The victim survives, and Sam finds himself increasingly drawn to the story, putting himself and his girlfriend in danger. Argento’s assured debut practically reinvented the genre overnight. He infuses the Hitchcockian psychosexual narrative with a whole new visual style, lensed by Vittorio Storaro and scored by Ennio Morricone. See first-hand why Hitchcock himself is said to have declared that, “that Italian fellow is starting to make me nervous,” upon seeing this film.
–Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 and Monday, September 24 at 9:15. Special note; The star of this film, Tony Musante, will make a personal appearance at the Sept. 20, 7pm screening.
TM's view: I don't know why Hitch got nervous.  The master had depth of content and theme to go along with his amazing style. Argento simply had the style. If you've never seen this one, it's apt to disappoint. If you have, maybe there's more to find on a third or fourth viewing. (I found little, other than some fun visuals, on my second viewing, a couple of decades after the film was released.)

Mario Bava
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE / SEI DONNE PER L’ASSASSINO 1964, 88 minutes, 35mm.

A masked killer is on the loose at a fashion house where all the models end up dead in various gruesome ways. At the center of this is a diary left by one of the victims, which contains incriminating details about the killer. Bava uses light, shadow, and color to stunning effect in this visual spectacle. And as always, his violent set-pieces will dazzle any fan of the genre.
–Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00,
and Sunday, September 30 at 8:45.
TM's view: This is maybe the grand-daddy of all giallos, and it delivers the expected (both the good stuff and the bad) in spades. It also delivers that fine actor Cameron Mitchell in what might have been his swan-song, but simply became an odd mid-career move into something different, before the fellow went on to three more decades of film and TV (236 roles in all!).

Pupi Avati
THE HOUSE OF THE LAUGHING WINDOWS / LA CASA DALLE FINESTRE CHE RIDONO 1976, 110 minutes, 35mm.

Stefano arrives in a rural Italian village to restore the local church’s decaying fresco of the suffering of St. Sebastian. The artist was a madman who created art from real life, painting portraits of subjects near death from torture (a possible allusion to snuff films). As Stefano digs deeper into the dark secrets surrounding the artist, a chain of murders begins, and he finds himself at the center of the ensuing nightmare. This masterpiece from Avati will haunt you with its atmosphere of dread and its diabolical twist ending. 
–Friday, September 21 at 7:00, Monday, September 24 at 6:45, and Saturday, September 29 at 4:45.
TM's view: For me, so far at least, this has been the surprise of the series. I'd always imagined Pupi Avati as a director of so-so rom-coms, so to see his work here came as a shock. Beginning with the mutilation and murder of a hunky young man (this alone is a big change from the usual girls-get-offed giallo routine), with someone -- the victim? the murderer? -- going on at length about colors and paint, the movie brings a young art restorer to a small Italian town (where the population behaves very weirdly; of course this is standard for most giallo) to work on a church fresco of Saint (who else?!) Sebastian. Avati gets his smoke and shadows, his lighting and camera angles on target, the pacing is pretty good, and the locales are aces. And the movie wins the award -- and then some -- for the best use of a visible breast.

Lucio Fulci
DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING / NON SI SEVIZIA UN PAPERINO 1972, 102 minutes, 35mm.

A reporter pairs up with a promiscuous young woman to expose the string of child killings in a remote village in Southern Italy rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders. As the usual suspects are proven innocent or end up dead, he must look in increasingly unlikely places to find the killer. This is Fulci’s personal favorite and a must-see!
 –Friday, September 21 at 9:30 and Thursday, Septem-ber 27 at 7:00.
TM's view: This giallo is indeed unusual, and unusually dark, with a cast that includes Florinda Bolkan and Irene Papas. The human behavior is, as usual, a little too off-the-wall, and the whole thing doesn't quite jell properly. But it's still one of the better examples of this genre included in the series.

Sergio Martino
THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH aka THE NEXT VICTIM / LO STRANO VIZIO DELLA SIGNORA WARDH 1971, 98 minutes, 35mm.

Mrs. Wardh, played by the queen of Giallo, Edwige Fenech, harbors a secret vice that she keeps hidden from her older, diplomat husband. When a string of murders by a black-glovedkiller terrorizes the city, her sadistic former lover Jean reappears, intending to blackmail her. To make matters worse, she takes up with a new lover who convinces her to go off to Spain with him for her safety. But is she out of the woods yet? Of course not. The mysterious killer seems to have followed her there….
–Saturday, September 22 at 4:15
and Friday, September 28 at 9:30.
TM's view: This particularly loony movie has a ridiculous plot and even more ridiculous character behavior from its leading lady that appears, in retrospect, utterly baffling. Of course, those are two of the seemingly necessary delights of this genre. As to that "strange vice" of Mrs. Wardh (with an "h" yet? Well, that's classy!), whatever the movie might imagine this vice to be, it turns out that this poor woman has absolutely the worst -- and I do mean rock bottom -- taste in men.

Dario Argento
DEEP RED / PROFONDO ROSSO 1975, 98 minutes, 35mm.

A renowned psychic channels the thoughts of a killer and is soon after brutally murdered. David Hemmings (BLOW-UP) plays a British pianist who witnesses this killing from afar and launches a solo investigation, putting his own life in peril. The music by Goblin completes this stylish masterpiece by Dario Argento.
–Saturday, September 22 at 6:30 and Friday, September 28 at 7:00.

TM's view: This is my favorite of all of Dario Argento's work because it succeeds on so many more levels than the usual giallo -- particularly that of Argento's own oeuvre. The cast is better than average (Mr. Hemmings and Clara Calamai, for starters), the mystery is much more interesting and more intelligently resolved, and the set pieces are simply terrific -- plus there are all the usual atmosphere, gore and bizarre music we expect from this practitioner of the yellow.

Massimo Dallamano
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? aka THE SCHOOL THAT COULDN'T SCREAM / COSA AVETE FATTO A SOLANGE? 1972, 103 minutes, 35mm.
A teacher and a student having an affair are on a clandestine outing on a boat when they witness the stabbing of another coed. Other gruesome murders follow, and the teacher becomes the main suspect. Dallamano’s complex plot and the shocking climax make this one of the smartest Gialli ever made.
–Saturday, September 22 at 9:30 and Tuesday, September 25 at 9:00.
TM's view: This is one I have not yet seen but have heard very good things about. I'll report back as soon as I have viewed it. OK: Just rented it from Netflix, and its reputation is quite deserved. This is, hands-down, one of the most consistently interesting gialli I've seen. It offers everything the genre is noted for, including a particularly nasty means of death (but one that makes unnerving sense once we know the reason for it). What makes the movie so interesting is how the plot opens up and changes (and our reactions to the characters do, too), as the film progresses. The London locations are fun for a change, and lead actor Fabio Testi was one of the sexiest and most handsome males on the Italian film scene for awhile, so seeing him again -- and at his peak -- is quite a treat, as well. (This one plays one more time at AFA, but there is alwasy Netflix, if you miss it.)

Elio Petri
A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY / UN TRANQUILLO POSTO DI CAMPAGNA 1968, 106 minutes, 35mm.

Although rarely considered a Giallo, but rather more of a ghost story, Petri’s penetrating study of psychological decay is nonetheless full of the mystery and stylistics found in the genre’s best. Elio Petri does not usually come to mind in relationship to Giallo, but this film has many of the elements found in the best of the genre. The real life couple Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero are paired in this film. “This Italian-made color film, if you stay with it on its own terms, will absolutely nail you to the seat. … The picture visually hurtles and roars to a climax of complete logic and conviction, blending real and unreal images that will curl your hair. The total effect is devastating.” –Howard Thompson, NEW YORK TIMES
–Sunday, September 23 at 4:30, Thursday, September 27 at 9:15, and Sunday, September 30 at 6:30.
TM's view: Mr. Thompson of the Times to the contrary, as noted in my introduction above, this film is the turkey of the series. It's not even properly giallo, as the AFA admits. Instead it's three artists -- Redgrave, Nero and Petri (well, 2-1/2, as Nero is not up to the level of the others) -- gone slumming on a project better left to their lessers. Never much of an actor, Nero embarrasses badly, with little to offer except his pretty looks and a dumb, dense stare meant to represent fear, shock, incomprehension, desire or what have you. The budget is big and the sets are nice, but the story's from hunger. While the film makes use of a lot of the then-current visual pyrotechnics of the time (the late 60s), this one doesn't come near giallo's requisite atmospherics and "creepery."

Mario Bava
THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH aka THE EVIL EYE / LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO 1963, 86 minutes, 35mm, b&w.

Nora Davis’s holiday in Rome takes a sudden turn for the macabre when she witnesses the murder of a woman on the Spanish Steps. The next morning there is no trace of the crime, but Nora soon learns that there had been another murder ten years ago at the same location by the so-called ‘Alphabet Killer’. Her morbid curiosity takes her deeper into the story, and before long she discovers that the next victim’s last name starts with D! And who is that man following her? Widely regarded as the first Giallo, Bava’s stylish homage to Hitchcock’s ‘Americans Abroad’ thrillers is a natural entry-point into the genre.
–Thursday, September 20 at 9:30, Sunday, September 23 at 6:45 and Saturday, September 29 at 7:15.
TM's view: Here's another film I have not yet seen, but hope to (and report on) before the festival is finished.

Lucio Fulci
PERVERSION STORY aka ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER / UNA SULL’ALTRA 1969, 97 minutes, 16mm.

A doctor is caught between his mistress and his asthmatic wife. When the wife is murdered, all eyes turn to him, as he holds the insurance claim on her life. Fulci’s first Giallo shares unmistakable similarities with Hitchcock’s VERTIGO, capturing the mood of late-60s San Francisco. Sexual obsession, depravity, and deception converge in its surprising climax.
–Sunday, September 23 at 8:45 and Saturday, September 29 at 9:15.
TM's view: Just as the "daring 60s" turned into the "silly 70s," this giallo's sense of perversion comes a little too close to borderline camp. The actors -- Maria Mell, Elsa Martinelli, and the Frenchman who was prettier than both his co-stars, Jean Sorel -- give the movie some beauty but the story is generally tiresome, though the San Francisco locations are fun, as are the clothes, cars and hairstyles of the time.

To learn more about AFA, click here. To learn more about the Giallo Fever series, click here. And to learn how to reach AFA by subway, bus and auto, click here.

Note: If you cannot get to this series or live too far away from NYC, take a look at Netflix's streaming choices (some of the films are included there), or elsewhere in the realm of digital/streaming/downloading.  

Giallo time again--with the Blu-ray release of Duccio Tessari/THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERLY

Giallo lovers can, if not rejoice, get at least a little excited by the new Blu-ray release of a would-be giallo with the alliterative, if crass title, THE BLOOD-STAINED BUTTERFLY (Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate). The movie is much more a plain old mystery thriller -- and not a particularly good one, at that -- than it is a giallo, a genre that usually revels in blood and gore and beautiful women getting killed in grisly set pieces. All this would be commendable, were the movie very good on any level. Instead, it's merely passable entertainment for the nostalgia set.

What it does have is a very young and handsome Helmut Berger (above, of various Visconti movies and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis) in the kind of silly role that would presage much of his remaining career. The actor is still at it, actually, having now made some 64 film and TV appearances, the latest of which has recently completed production. (In the extras on the Blu-ray disc is a present-day interview with the actor, the viewing of which will make you marvel anew at what the ravages of time can do to even the most handsome of men.)

The filmmaker here, one Duccio Tessari (shown at right), is pretty much unknown to American audiences (including giallo aficionados), and if this film is a good indication of his output, that status would seem perfectly appropriate. This writer/director proves certainly adequate in turning out a genre movie, But despite the rather glowing comments offered up about Tessari and this film by giallo author Troy Howarth, yours truly feels less inclined to perceive this filmmaker as anything special.

By the end of this meandering film, which lacks much suspense, pacing or even plot, you may feel as did TrustMovies that your time might have been better spent. Having said that, I must admit I initially found the film engaging, due to a few unusual things this director and co-writer (with Gianfranco Clerici) does.

At the film's beginning, we're introduced to many of its character by name (and sometimes by occupation) via identifying titles (which I initially mistook for the names of further cast members -- until the words, "a lawyer" appeared on screen). We also get a soupçon of humor via a police inspector who proves very fussy about the quality of his morning coffee.

Along the way we get to view some gorgeous Italian architecture, as well (the film was shot in Bergamo, Lombardy), and the director does seem to have an occasional eye, as above, for spatial relationships and people placement.  There is also some interesting courtroom pyrotechnics to keep us occupied -- even if, finally, much of what happens seems over-manufactured and -manipulated.

The acting is problematic throughout, with Berger becoming so very dramatic and bizarre at odd times that you expect the character playing opposite him to beat a speedy exit for fear for her life. Other actors do better, and on the disc's extras you'll get to see and hear some of them (like Ida Galli/aka Evelyn Stewart, below) talk about what happened way back when.

Mostly the movie is given to introducing its murder suspects -- three or four of them -- and then letting the mystery unravel... very slowly. That titular bloodstained butterfly finally appears close to the movie's end and seems about as germane to the proceedings as would, say, a shit-stained salamander.

There is also a scene with kids in yellow (giallo, get it?) raincoats running around, which leads to the discovery of the first victim, and later to another victim, who proves a bit more closely related to those children. The finale, however, while somewhat surprising, remains more ludicrous than anything else. And the over-the-top manner in which Tessari filmed it simply adds to the ridiculousness on hand.

The movie does take in its special time -- 1971 (a year in which, according to Mr. Howarth, some 25 giallo movies were released in Italy!) -- with a nod to the fashions, as well as to politics and philosophy (during the film one character mentions that there's no longer any art for art's sake, and a protester carries a banner reading Art Beyond Status).

From Arrow Video, distributed here by MVD Entertainment Group, and running 99 minutes, the movie -- a "must," I would guess, for giallo completists -- makes its Blu-ray and DVD debuts this coming Tuesday, August 23 -- for sale and/or rental. As is usual with most of these Arrow titles, the Blu-ray transfer is a very good one. And the "extras" are every bit as informative, entertaining and interesting (more so, actually) than the movie itself.

Giallo time again with the Blu-ray release of Sergio Martino's 1971 (and just so-so) THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL from 1971

I've finally figured out why I keep watching so many of these only so-so examples of Italian giallo movies: It's the time period (the 1970s) more than any other single feature that keeps pulling me in. These films -- many of them having made their Blu-ray debut from Arrow Home Video -- have been so well-remastered and then transferred to video that viewing them is akin to having the 70s, Italian style, unfurling in front of you all over again. It's nostalgic fun, while the colors, costumes, sets and often the camerawork, too, are eye-popping.

All of the above is true again with the latest example of giallo to hit home video: THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL, directed by journeyman filmmaker Sergio Martino (at right) and written by Eduardo Manzanos, Ernesto Gastaldi & Sauro Scavolini.

The plotting, dialog and direction are mostly rudimentary, although Signore Martino does do some fun things to quicken the pace (a key goes into a lock but when it comes out and the door opens, we've entered a different location).

So rudimentary, in fact, seems the story-line that we imagine there must be some real surprise ahead. Indeed there is, so please hold on. That "hold," however, will take you through some awfully ridiculous behavior from characters who, though their lives are clearly threatened, act as though they had nine of them.

Several of those lives are lost -- this being giallo, they belong to women who are sliced rather nastily, though one young fellow meets his maker, as well -- before the movie reaches the finish line.

The plot has to do with an unfaithful wife (the beauteous Ida Galli, above, here working under the name of Evelyn Stewart), her hubby who dies in a plane crash (featuring a rather obvious model plane, below), and a million-dollar insurance policy.

In the leading man role, Martinez uses, to my taste, one of the most boring and bland actors ever to appear in Italian films, George Hilton (shown below, and four photos up), and his mediocre performance keeps dragging the movie downward.

Fortunately, in the heroine role (the film takes its time revealing just who this will be), we have the beautiful and talented-enough-to-carry-the-film-along Anita Strindberg, who plays a feisty journalist investigating the series of murders and who just might be the latest victim.

Filmed in Greece, and elsewhere around Europe (one of the Bonus Features on the disc is entitled Jet Set Giallo), the location photography is first-rate/vacation-level. Still connoisseurs come to giallo not for the locations, but for the sex, semi-nudity and splatter -- all of which can be found here.

The disc's Bonus Features also includes good recent interviews with lead actor Hilton, director Martino, an analysis of Martino's films by author Mikel J. Koven, a new video essay on giallo by Troy Howarth, plus lots more -- not to mention the excellent Blu-ray transfer in a brand new 4K restoration.

From Arrow Home Video and distributed here in the USA by MVD Entertainment, in both an English dubbed version and the original Italian with English subtitles and running 95 minutes (the Bonus Features last at least another hour or two), The Case of the Scorpion's Tail hit the street last month -- for purchase and maybe (I would hope but I don't know just where) rental.