Das Haus der Angst

I thought I have seen most of giallos (Yes, I am big time giallo fan & watching them for last 5 years) but every once a while, I get a little surprise. This was one of them. Its about a secret cult & how they kidnap & torture pretty young woman. This is not of the class of Suspiria - but its pretty decent. Girls are pretty, atmosphere/setup was good & plot had some suspense. Murders are little tamed in comparison to typical giallos, but not half bad. Overall, a pretty enjoyable movie.

Daniela Giordano plays recently released jailbird Margaret Bradley, whose parole officer Alicia (Rosalba Neri) sends her to the house of Mrs. Grant (Giovanna Galletti). Soon after moving in, Margaret becomes convinced that something strange is afoot, and her suspicions are compounded when she is approached by Jack Whitman (John Scanlon), who is investigating the disappearance of his sister, a previous guest at the house.

The Girl in Room 2A kicks off in fine giallo style, with the bloody murder of a topless woman during the opening credits, the victim impaled, her body thrown over the edge of a cliff; however, giallo fans are bound to be disappointed by director William Rose's lack of style (all of his previous films were pure sexploitation; I'm thinking he should have stuck with what he knew best), the low body count and a plot that strays a long way from the conventions of the genre.

Regular bouts of female nudity and some gratuitous sleaze (girls are tied up and flogged by a maniac in a red hood and cape) help prevent the viewer from dozing off, but remaining invested in the film is a struggle, the pedestrian direction, lack of gore, and dreary pace all taking their toll. The film ends with the revelation that the women are being killed by a sect who seek to 'cleanse' the wicked, and shows the masked killer to be none other than... well, that would be telling, but suffice to say it's suitably silly.

5 out of 10, minus one point for the inexplicable scene that shows a machine pumping blood through the floorboards of Margaret's room - what the hell was that all about?

If you can make it through the slow first hour of Girl in Room 2A, you'll be rewarded with a somewhat insane final act that almost makes it worth the wait. It's still far off the mark in many ways and most of it feels really pedestrian and predictable.

What do you do when you come across somebody tied up in the back of a car with a deadly snake loose inside?

Step 1/ Casually put your hand in the car. Step 2/ Once you grab it, hopefully you're not bitten, simply throw the snake away. Step 3/ Then nonchalantly ask "Hey Man. What's happening"?

This drive-in, occult themed horror (despite its Giallo tag) with an investigative mystery to the plot is just so ludicrously outlandish with its many random moments, jarring visuals, reckless scenarios and unintentional laughs. It's cheaply produced, but there's conviction, a touch of nervy, slow-burn suspense and the locations near or around Rome give it poignant character. The reveal to who's behind the red mask do all I these vicious acts is easy to detect, but a lot fun nonetheless.

Girl in Room 2A (1974) is an Italian giallo picture that I recently watched on Shudder (and is also available on Tubi). The storyline follows an apartment building that has a woman recently released from jail move in. She starts hearing and seeing weird things around the building. Meanwhile, a man arrives at her apartment and says his recently murdered sister lived in the same room as her. The two of them work together to try and uncover what happened to the man's sisters and what's behind the spooky building.

This movie is directed by William Rose (Rent-a-Girl) and stars Daniela Giordano (Violent Rome), Rosalba Neri (The Arena), Brad Harris (Goliath against the Giants), Frank Latimore (All the Presidents Men) and Giovanna Galletti (Last Tango in Paris).

This is one of those movies with a worthwhile storyline, unpredictable circumstances but inconsistent dialogue and acting. There's scenes in this movie that feel stiff. However, the opening stab sequence was entertaining. The background music provides a classic 70s giallo feel and there's some classic Italian hot ladies and the nudity that goes with it in this genre. Mrs. Craig was a smoke show in this. The fireplace scene followed by the car off the cliff was fun, the cult aspects were well delivered and the last 15-30 minutes was really good with some worthwhile kills.

Overall, this is a worthwhile addition to the Italian giallo genre that I would consider a must see for fans of these pictures. I would score this a 6.5/10 and strongly recommend it.