Ferdinando Merighi, 1972
Starring: Anita Ekberg, Rosalba Neri, Evelyne
Kraft, Howard Vernon
Antoine,
a thief on the run, takes refuge in a local brothel and demands the attentions
of his favorite whore, who is later found dead. Though swearing he is innocent,
Antoine’s lack of alibi and notoriously violent temper lead to his arrested and
he is convicted of murder. But when he dies during an escape attempt, the murders
continue and the bodies begin to pile up, leaving plenty of work for the
frustrated Inspector Pontaine, who has quite a lineup of suspects, including
the brothel’s madam and a young scientist.
This
Italian-West German production was originally titled Casa d’appuntamento (House of
Appointment), but is also known as The
Bogeyman and the French Murders and Paris
Sex Murders. It’s honestly one of my favorites among the lesser known
giallo and benefits from a great cast, including Anita Ekberg (La dolce vita) just before her
performance in Killer Nun, giallo and
Eurocult regular Rosalba Neri (Lady
Frankenstein), Evelyne Kraft (Lady
Dracula) in her first role, and Bond girl and giallo regular Barbara
Bouchet (Don’t Torture a Duckling) in
an all-too-brief scene. Howard Vernon (The
Awful Dr. Orloff) – Jess Franco’s greatest male star – steals the film as a
demented scientist determined to protect his daughter’s assets. And last, but
certainly not least, is Robert Sacchi (The
Man with Bogart’s Face), a Humphrey Bogart lookalike who plays the stoic
inspector. The campiness of his early films is always a treat, though he
surprisingly gets more screen time than the film’s bevy of scantily clad
ladies.
The French Sex Murders is completely off the
wall in every way possible and will disappoint anyone looking for a more
serious, suspenseful, or straight forward giallo. The film blends in many
Eurocult tropes – most of which can be found in Jess Franco movies – including a
nightclub scene where Rosalba Neri gives an alluring performance singing to a
raucous crowd. Howard Vernon’s scientist is responsible for some of the gross
out moments, such as one where he is using a sheep’s eye for an experiment and
mashes it up with a scalpel. The violence – from effects master Carlo Rimbaldi –
is relatively over the top, with a body thrown off the Eiffel Tower, lots of
stabbings, throat-slitting, decapitation, and an absurd scene where Antoine viciously
beats a prostitute (Barbara Bouchet!).
While
most giallo films represent the police as comical or ineffectual, this has a
detective protagonist. And like My Dear
Killer, from the same year, the loose plot outline is the same: the
inspector follows a trail towards prospective murderers and continues on as
each one of them is killed in turn. As I mentioned, there are numerous suspects
connected to the case, though the scientist’s assistant – who is also having a
secret affair with his beautiful daughter – is positioned to be the likely
killer for almost the entire second half of the film. Of course this is an obvious
red herring. Though I won’t give away the identity of the killer, it’s not too
hard to figure out by the second half of the film. In a twist not all that common
to giallo films, the murderer’s motivation is an obsessive incestuous passion –
the height of trash cinema plot developments, in my opinion.
French Sex Murders isn’t going to please a
lot of people, but for sheer entertainment value, it comes recommended. Thanks
to the folks at Mondo Macabro, it’s available
on DVD. This release is the longest and most complete available print –
apparently versions of the film differ by country of release, with some actors
getting more running time depending on where the film was released. There’s no
true definitive version, but this disorienting, though very fun mess is the
best you’re going to get. At the bare minimum, there are enjoyable effects from
Carlo Rambaldi, a score from Bruno Nicolai, and a Eurocult Hall of Fame cast –
for instance, where else are you going to find naked Eurobabes running around a
brothel, a Humphrey Bogart wannabe, squished eyeballs, and one of Europe’s
finest cult actors, Howard Vernon , together?
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