EYEBALL aka GATTI ROSSI IN UN LABIRINTO DI VETRO

Umberto Lenzi, 1975

Starring: Martine Brochard, John Richardson, Ines Pellegrini

A bus full of tourists vacationing in Spain are picked off one at a time by a sadistic killer hiding in their midst. This mysterious assailant gouges out the left eyeball of each victim and a Barcelona inspector, days away from retiring, is determined to find the culprit before it’s too late. The only clues he has to go on is that the killer wears a bright red raincoat and red gloves and focuses on the female members of the tour group. Anyone could be the killer, including a marketing agent and his secretary (she’s also secretly his mistress), a priest, a former soldier, a lesbian couple, and more.

While the Italian title translates to Red Cats in a Glass Labyrinth and it is also known as Wide-Eyed in the Dark, The Devil’s Eye, and The Secret Killer, the aptly re-named Eyeball is one of Lenzi’s goofiest, most absurd thrillers. It’s packed with red herrings and ridiculous characters and while I can’t say I didn’t see the ending coming from early in the film, it’s was silly enough to be surprisingly enjoyable. Be prepared for some truly ludicrous dialogue and characters who mindlessly continue enjoying their vacations while their friends and loved ones are dropping dead – an amusing spoof of the (primarily American) middle class tourists who won’t let anything get in the way of their good time, all the while complaining about local customs.

Eyeball is undeniably a flawed affair, but will appeal to anyone who enjoys the trashier side of Italian cinema. Lenzi included all the standard giallo elements – an unidentifiable killer wearing gloves and a raincoat, red herrings, unlikable characters that are all potentially guilty, female nudity, and violence – but such a sloppy way that he seems to be more concerned with having a good time than making a suspenseful film. Like Lenzi’s Knife of Ice, this is a Spanish co-production that takes advantage of some lovely locations in and around Barcelona, and unfortunately there are several scenes where the setting is more interesting than the proceedings.

Perhaps the film’s main flaw is that it lacks a solid protagonist, or, at the least, a familiar giallo lead. Instead, Martine Brochard (The Violent Professionals, A Man Called Blade) and John Richardson (Black Sunday, She) are wholly unlikable. Richardson’s Mark Burton is cheating on his mentally disturbed wife, who is herself a suspect when she fails to turn up at the mental asylum she was supposed to check in to (!) and sends Mark a telegram that she has arrived in Barcelona. Brochard’s Paulette perhaps could have been an interesting character with a more forgiving script; instead her sole function is to act as the stereotype of a jealous, demanding mistress.

When I really think about it, the repetitive deaths, unlikable characters, and undeniably silly elements reminds me more of ‘80s slasher films than ‘70s giallo. While this has the colorful elements of a giallo, much of it is set outdoors in bright daylight, providing a direct contrast to the work of candy-colored, but still dark, menacing work of Bava and Argento, and even to the similar, Gothic-themed and lushly-colored The Vampires’ Night Orgy (1974), where a different busload of tourists meets a sticky end in the Spanish countryside. The killer’s standout signature – a bright red raincoat and matching gloves – is also a departure from the stylish black and dark brown leather trench coats of the early giallo classics like Blood and Black Lace, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and Deep Red. I can’t help but wonder if it’s borrowed from the far more effective English-Italian coproduction, Don’t Look Now (1973), where a small, red raincoat-clad menace terrorizes a grieving couple in Venice.

Eyeball is not available on DVD in the US (yet), though a German disc exists under the title Labyrinth des Schreckens (Labyrinth of Terror). Lenzi completists, Eurotrash fans, and anyone who loves lower grade slasher films will probably get a kick out of this later-era giallo that has more in common with Lenzi’s Nightmare City than it does with Blood and Black Lace. Keep an ear out for a nice score from Bruno Nicolai – regular composer for Jess Franco, Sergio Martino, Sergio Corbucci, and even Tinto Brass – that rises above the proceedings.

SPASMO

Umberto Lenzi, 1974

Starring: Robert Hoffmann, Suzy Kendall, Ivan Rassimov

Christian finds a woman’s body on the beach, but she turns out to be alive. He sees her again soon after and learns her name is Barbara. They begin a relationship, though it is fraught with troubles. A man breaks in to Barbara’s hotel room and Christian fights him off, accidentally killing him, and then the body disappears. They hide out at Christian’s friends’ artsy beachside home, which happens to already be inhabited by renters: an old man and his younger girlfriend. The couple claim they want to help Christian uncover the truth, but all is not as it seems.

Spasmo is by far one of Lenzi’s strangest thrillers and there’s nothing else quite like it. This is certainly a film rife with plot holes and confusing twists, but if you like utterly bizarre films – or are familiar enough with Eurotrash that you don’t demand a lot of rationality from the plot – it’s well worth hanging on for the ride. There is little gore or violence and things don’t really get going until the third half of the film, but once they do, there is quite a descent into madness and murder… and mannequins. If you hate movies with mannequins, this is not the movie for you.

I think it was only inevitable that pediophobia – the fear of dolls – and automatonophobia – the fear of humanoid figures – have played a fairly significant role in the horror genre over the years. Freud’s concept of the uncanny, the strangely familiar that both repulses and attracts, can be found everywhere from the monster that appears in human guise (Dracula, The Wolf-Man) to the double (The Student of Prague), the dead brought back to life (Frankenstein), recreations of the human form (Der Golem), and many, many more. Mannequins began to trickle into horror through the ‘30s and ‘40s, growing in popularity: for example, House of Wax (1953), The Twilight Zone episode that terrified me as a child, “The After Hours” (1960), Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace (1964), his later Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970), and the totally wacko American film Tourist Trap (1979), to name just a few.

Mannequins are used particularly effectively in Spasmo and rest at the heart of the film’s mystery, because you have no idea what the devil they mean until the last five minutes of the film. There are mannequins on the beach, mannequins hanging from trees, punctured by knives, bloodied, scantily clad, and so much more – plus an array of taxidermied animals. The mannequins are an obvious stand-in for female corpses and it soon becomes clear that this is not a story of Christian running from a missing body, but that a maniacal murderer is loose. Lenzi relies solely on the unpredictable and atmospheric, so it’s difficult to discuss the film without giving away its twist ending.

Characters appear and disappear, seemingly at will, and Christian’s girlfriend Barbara (played by adorable giallo regular Suzy Kendall of Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Torso) can’t corroborate his story. Kendall, whose best performances rely on her wide-eyed beauty, is at a loss here as a character who is supposed to seem ambiguous – at some times innocently in love with Christian and at other times as a potentially dangerous femme fatale – and it’s unclear if the weakness stems from the script or Kendall’s performance. It is Barbara’s introduction to the story – as a body washed up on the beach – that launches Christian into a world of paranoia, madness, and murder. Unfortunately, Kendall’s expressions range from confused to carefree, dampening what could have been an interesting role.

Austrian actor Robert Hoffmann (from Massimo Dallamano’s A Black Veil for Lisa and another cult film set on a beach, The Lonely Violent Beach, one of the few directed by giallo scribe Ernesto Gastaldi) is able to hold his own here, with no help from the script, and makes the best of the “wrong man” scenario he is placed in. Despite some hilarious moments – such as an early scene where he lets Barbara convince him to shave off his beard – he’s able to elicit the necessary sympathy. His brother is played by one of my favorite giallo actors, the sinister-looking Ivan Rassimov (All the Colors of the Dark, A White Dress for Mariale), though he isn’t given nearly enough screen time, but fittingly has the last laugh.

Despite its flaws, Spasmo is an unusual psychological thriller worth checking out, thanks to the nonsensical, go-for-broke plot, mannequins akimbo, stunning shots of the Tuscan coast, and a solid score (as always) from Ennio Morricone. Somewhat like Lenzi’s previous film, Knife of Ice, this has a touch of Gothic style and makes the absolute most of the amazing landscape, shot by Guglielmo Mancori, a veteran of spaghetti westerns, Eurocrime, Lenzi’s earlier So Sweet… So Perverse, and more (including one of my favorites, Wild Beasts). Amazingly, Spasmo has made it to DVD thanks to Shriek Show and it is, at the least, worth a rental. 

KNIFE OF ICE aka IL COLTELLO DI GHIACCIO

Umberto Lenzi, 1972

Starring: Carroll Baker, Ida Galli, George Rigaud

Martha, a young woman who has been mute since witnessing the death of her parents in a train accident years ago, is excited about the arrival of her cousin Jenny, who has been travelling the world as a famous singer. Jenny arrives, via train, to Martha’s home in the Pyrenees with her wealthy uncle. But her visit is cut short one dark night when she goes to investigate a strange sound in the garage and is murdered. The small village is thrown into a panic, as she is the second young blonde woman found murdered that night and local police believe Satanists are responsible when they find an amulet at the scene of the crime.

This Italian-Spanish coproduction is the fourth collaboration between director Umberto Lenzi and American star Carroll Baker, though it is a marked contrast to Orgasmo, So Sweet… So Perverse, and Paranoia, all of which are erotic thrillers centered on a threesome gone wrong. Instead, Knife of Ice offers up very little sexual material and the only remotely erotic element is the skimpy nightgown worn by Italian star and giallo regular Ida Galli (La dolce vita, The Leopard, Hercules in the Haunted World) in her brief role as Jenny. Jenny’s appearance is not dissimilar to Janet Leigh’s lengthier turn in Psycho. This introduction of a major star who is then suddenly killed off, does come as quite a shock and in that sense, Knife of Ice is one of his most successful thrillers. By shedding the predictable formula of his early films (including the three with Carroll Baker and 1971’s Oasis of Fear), Lenzi manages to deliver a fairly gripping film with a number of effective red herrings and a surprising twist. He creates a paranoid world closing in around the mute, helpless Martha, where seemingly every character is a potential killer.

SPOILERS IN THIS ENTIRE PARAGRAPH: Fascinatingly, the actual murderer is revealed, at the absolute last minute, to be Martha herself in a twist that I perhaps should have seen coming, but didn’t. This is an early example of what would become a fairly popular trope in Italian horror, the female murderer. These characters can be found throughout Argento’s films in particular – though notably one of the earliest examples is Fulci’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin. The majority of the characters are inspired to kill because of a traumatic past experience. A deeply embedded psychosis eventually emerges thanks to some trigger, one that seems slight, but brings about a violent change in personality.

Knife of Ice is also part of a handful of films released in 1972 that include an odd plot device. The police – and often the protagonists themselves – are thrown off the track of the killer, because they come to believe that the murders are being committed by a group of Satanists. Martha and Jenny’s Uncle Ralph (George Rigaud of Eyeball, Horror Express, The Case of the Bloody Iris) just happens to be an expert on the field and can help the police when they come across Satanic imagery and a drugged out Satan worshipper with psychotic eyes. Fulci’s Don’t Torture a Duckling and Sergio Martino’s All the Colors of the Dark have similar uses for devil worshippers or practitioners of black magic. This was also the same year for satanic horror films Dracula A.D. 1972, Virgin Witch, Bava’s Baron Blood, and others, following a genre craze that began in the ‘60s and came to a head the following year with The Exorcist.

The appearance of the satanic character (Spanish actor Mario Pardo) gives this film a mildly psychedelic, swinging ‘60s vibe that runs rampant throughout Lenzi’s earlier thrillers, but otherwise, this is a tame, mannered film that could be set almost any time after the ‘40s. Though there are four deaths, violence and gore are non-existent, with one notable and strange exception. Martha has flashbacks of a bull-fighting match she attended with Jenny some undisclosed time in the past. The horrified Martha watches as bull fighters attack and kill the bull (a real scene of animal violence, for the squeamish), while Jenny practically salivates with bloodlust beside her. This disturbing hint of what can only be described as sexual menaced is enhanced by the apparent guilt and/or sinister behavior of nearly all the male characters, including Martha’s doctor (Franco Fantasia), her driver (Eduardo Fajardo), and her uncle. It’s a shame this element wasn’t further developed.

The film’s final attribute worth mentioning are the strangely Gothic visuals, which replace the standard giallo use of vibrant, modern art-inspired set design and over-the-top use of primary colors. Knife of Ice primarily takes place in an old villa right next to a crumbling cemetery. The basement of the house resembles a crypt seen later in the film and the lovely, mountain-side town is beset with waves of fog several times a day, adding a built-in plot device. This restrained performance from Baker is one of her best and her lack of dialogue – combined with conservative, juvenile dresses and repressed mannerisms – make her seem far younger than 41.

This mannered, restrained giallo will not be for everyone, but Knife of Ice should please fans of elaborately plotted murder mysteries and thrillers with a Gothic atmosphere. It’s available on DVD and comes recommended, but don’t be fooled by the title. Though the original Italian, Il coltello di ghiaccio does translate directly to Knife of Ice, it’s connection to the plot is flimsy at best and refers to the Edgar Allen Poe quote that opens the film: “Fear is a knife of ice which penetrates the senses down to the depth of conscience.” This is obviously a reference to the identity of the killer and their motivations, as well as to the film’s Gothic imagery – though it doesn’t seem like this is actually something written by Poe, unless it was re-translated into English from a skewed Italian translation. I’d love to have the chance to ask Lenzi where this came from, as he’s still alive and kicking as I write this.

SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS aka SETTE ORCHIDEE MACCHIATE DI ROSSO

Umberto Lenzi, 1972

Starring: Uschi Glas, Antonio Sabàto, Pier Paolo Capponi, Marisa Mell

A number of women are murdered by a mysterious, black-gloved killer. The only clue left at each crime scene is a piece of jewelry: an ornate, half-moon pendant. The only victim to escape is the third intended victim, Giulia. The police help her fake her death, while her boyfriend, Mario, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery and figure out the identity of the killer before it is too late. They soon trace the half-moon pendant back to a hotel Giulia once worked in; the other dead woman can also be linked back there in some way, and Giulia and Mario make a list of potential future victims. But will they locate the killer in time?

One of Lenzi’s few traditional giallo films, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, also known as Puzzle of the Silver Half Moons, is also one of his most accessible. It’s a great place to start for relative giallo newbies, who are ready to move past Bava and Argento to other directors, as the film has some great murder set pieces and the plot is certainly less ridiculous than some other giallo scripts I can think of. To Lenzi’s credit, and things generally move towards a logical conclusion. The story is credited to both Edgar Wallace and Cornell Woolrich. Wallace was a British writer whose mystery/suspense novels kicked off an entire German genre in the ‘60s known as krimi films (read my introduction to this fun series for more information).

Cornell Woolrich, one of my favorite American writers, penned a series of bleak crime novels known as the Black series, which influenced film noir. They are generally all concerned with revenge killings. Rendezvous in Black, which supposedly influenced Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, follows a man whose fiancée died in an accident the night before their wedding. He tracks down the group of men responsible and, every year on the anniversary of his bride’s death, he murders one of their loved ones. While Seven Blood-Stained Orchids does not follow this frankly absurd plot about a drunken flight and deadly projectile, Lenzi’s killer mimics this pattern. In order to get revenge for a past trauma – equally as coincidental as the death in Rendezvous in Black – this incident has driven the killer mad and he murders every woman associated with the event, because he doesn’t know the identity of the responsible individual.

The themes of past traumas haunting the future, guilt, and evaded responsibility coming home to roost are standard giallo themes, but there is something light-hearted and almost innocent about Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. While so many giallo characters – including protagonists, victims, bystanders, and killers – are often portrayed as immoral, possessing dirty secrets, and capable of dark deeds, Mario and Giulia are surprisingly likable and oddly innocent. This may be something of an unintentional spoiler, but it would be only too easy for either Mario or Giulia to be the killer, but instead, they are refreshingly devoted to one another.

While I enjoy the general irrationality that comes with most giallo films, the killer here even has something of a reason for his/her crimes. There are still a fair amount of red herrings, including a case of identical twins, and some wonderfully suspenseful moments, such as a scene where a future victim finds her dying cats – recently poisoned by the killer – sprawled out on the floor of her home. Despite its title, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids is not dependent on gore. Several death scenes are implied, relying on tension alone, though there are some well-executed scenes of violence. In one such moment, the lovely Marisa Mell (Danger: Diabolik) meets a sticky end at the pointy end of a power drill. The film’s final reveal – no actual spoilers here – is also carefully controlled as Mario and the killer battle in a pool, allowing for a tense scene that takes its time to reveal the killer’s face. Guilia, who was nearly drowned to death, waits helplessly by.

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids is a pleasant, if run-of-the-mill affair that hits all the giallo notes, including a black-clad killer with leather gloves, but doesn’t offer anything particularly noteworthy or unique. Antonio Sabata (Beyond the Law) and German actress Uschi Glas (The College Girl Murders) are not the most compelling of giallo protagonists, and there are some glaring plot holes – namely the fact that I have no clue what the pendants actually have to do with anything. Despite these routine flaws, it’s a solid watch and is available on DVD from Shriek Show, and, as I mentioned, is a good starting place for giallo newcomers. It’s light-heated with plenty of funny moments and has an up-beat, jazzy score from the underrated Riz Ortolani. When you consider that 1972 was one of the giallo genre’s most prolific years, with films like Death Walks at Midnight, Who Saw Her Die?, The Killer is On the Phone, What Have You Done to Solange?, Case of the Bloody Iris, Delirium, and many more, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids is a level-headed, quality entry that proves Lenzi is capable of restraint, a fact belied by his later, gore-drenched works.

NIGHTMARE CITY aka CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD

Umberto Lenzi, 1980

Starring: Hugo Stiglitz, Laura Trotter, Mel Ferrer

Raro Video’s U.S. label has recently released Umberto Lenzi’s zombie extravaganza Nightmare City (1980) on Blu-ray for the first time. Starring Hugo Stiglitz and Mel Ferrer, this over the top, blood and gore soaked B-movie classic looks better than ever and, though it is not strictly a zombie film, will delight fans of Euro-horror and ‘70s undead cinema. 

Incubo Sulla Cittá Contaminata aka Nightmare City aka City of the Walking Dead concerns Dean Miller (Hugo Stiglitz), a TV reporter waiting at the airport for a scientist he is hoping to interview. Instead, he witnesses the arrival of a military plane that makes an emergency landing. Its passengers are a number of zombie-like humans that attack and kill anyone they can get their hands on. They soon swarm a TV station and hospital, killing and infecting anyone they encounter. General Murchison (Mel Ferrer) refuses to let Miller share the news with the general public, though Miller flees to the local hospital to find his wife Anna (Laura Trotter), an employee there. They escape to an abandoned amusement park, hoping to be rescued even though the place is full of the zombie-like creatures.

Lenzi did not intend that Nightmare City should be a straightforward zombie film; his creatures are actually humans suffering from a rabies-like radiation sickness, which is why they are able to use weapons and operate machinery. The weaponry is a bit absurd and includes machine guns, knives, machetes, clubs, and really any potentially lethal blunt object. They creatures do eat human flesh, but only after they have killed their prey with the variety of weapons. The radiation sickness angle is also Lenzi’s attempt at expressing an anti-military message that is further expressed in the character of General Murchison. 

This Italian-Spanish-Mexican co-production was initially intended to star a bigger name Italian actor like Franco Nero (Django) or Fabio Testi (Four of the Apocalypse), but the Mexican and Spanish investors wanted a Mexican star, thus resulting in the casting of Hugo Stiglitz. Stiglitz is primarily known for a series of films with Mexican director René Cardona Jr., namely Night of a Thousand Cats and Tintorera: Killer Shark. As with those films, Nightmare City has many unintentionally hilarious scenes, such as when a horde of zombies break into a television station and attack women dancing through an aerobics program. Stiglitz is a strange mixture of awkwardness and charisma and, as with his performance in Night of a Thousand Cats, it is impossible to take your eyes off of him, even though he often descends int the truly absurd. 

There are some decent supporting performances from a number of Italian film regulars such as Francisco Rabal (The Rebel) and Eduardo Fajardo (Django). Laura Trotter (Frivolous Lola) is memorable as Dean’s wife and prolific American actor Mel Ferrer (War and Peace, Eaten Alive) puts in a dependable appearance as the hard-headed General who wants to keep the zombies a secret for as long as possible. 

Director Umberto Lenzi is known for gory cannibal films like Eaten Alive and Cannibal Ferox, as well as a series of somewhat more obscure giallo films like Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, Eyeball, and Spasmo. Nightmare City has all of his major trademarks: graphic violence, explicit nudity, and a love of the bizarre if not the outright silly. Many throats are slit, there are a number of decapitations, eyeball trauma, a nipple is cut off by a machete-wielding zombie, etc. Though the film isn’t as serious as some of its zombie brethren, the gore is certainly plentiful and Lenzi makes every attempt to be creative with it. 

Nightmare City may be too rough or slipshod for some horror fans and seems to delight in its own badness at times. There is some very poor pacing, moving back and forth between dramatic action and slow, dialogue heavy scenes. If you’ve seen enough B-grade Italian horror, Lenzi films, or movies starring Hugo Stiglitz, this should come as no surprise. The healthy amount of gore more than makes up for some of the questionable plot elements and Lenzi has a number of original set pieces that help Nightmare City to be more than just another Night of the Living Dead or Zombie clone. 

Raro presents a new high-definition transfer of Nightmare City in 1080p with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Taken from the original 35mm negative, the transfer looks great, particularly compared to the VHS I grew up watching. Bold colors, clear details, and an appropriate, though minimal level of grain ensure that the film looks better than it ever has. The dark or nighttime scenes in particular lack any of the previous muddiness. Both LPCM 2.0 Italian and English tracks are included along with optional English subtitles. I believe the film was shot in English, so, for once, that is the superior track. The enjoyable score from Stelvio Cipriani (Bay of Blood), effects, and dialogue are all clear, even though some silly dubbing remains. 

Though there aren’t an overwhelming amount of extras, included is a lengthy, English language interview with Umberto Lenzi from 2000 that covers the production history of Nightmare City. There’s also an English trailer and an Italian trailer, as well as an illustrated booklet with an informative essay about the film from Chris Alexander, editor of Fangoria. I believe the interview was included in the earlier Anchor Bay DVD release of Nightmare City and it’s a shame Raro couldn’t have included a few more extras, possibly with the involvement Hugo Stiglitz. 

If you’ve never seen Nightmare City and you love ‘70s zombies films, especially along the lines of Burial Ground or Zombie, then you owe it to yourself to pick up this new Blu-ray from Raro Video. They’ve been putting out some great stuff lately, though generally with more of an emphasis on Eurocrime films and spaghetti westerns than horror, so this is a welcome addition to their line.