Day-Killer

When Giorgio Pisani returns home he finds his wife (that was expecting a baby) dead, but their child is alive. But then he discovers something that unsettles him.... and strangely enough someone starts to kill all pregnant women around. The police step in to investigate the murders.

This is a strange giallo – In 1974, Stelvio Massi made 3 films – "Macrò", "Squadra volante" and "5 donne per l'assassino". This may explain why the film has such an air of improvisation - the story is chaotically told and the film is uneven. Massi wanted to make a sophisticated, atmospheric giallo and sometimes he succeeds in creating good moments, thanks mainly to a good camera work. Active hand-held cameras following the action, a fast editing and zooms in and out skillfully used, give the film an almost frantic feel . There's also an inspired and flamboyant soundtrack (ranging from free jazz to romantic themes) that sometimes seems somewhat unrelated to the images. Limitations of time and budget gave the murder scenes (some of them good) an incomplete look – the final touch that crowns them is kind of amateurish. The main attraction of "5 donne per l'assassino" is the female cast – delicious eurobabes that are not shy of nudity, be it while they're making love, be it while they're being killed.

In short, the story in "5 donne per l'assassino" is simple and not very original, but the film is frenetic and extravagant. "5 donne per l'assassino" has its moments, but it's not a "good" film (too irregular for that!), still, real giallo buffs may discover something under its rough/stylish surface.

Director Stelvio Massi only contributed this film to the giallo genre, although he was the cinematographer for rather splendid The Case of the Bloody Iris. This movie perhaps indicates that he wasn't a natural with this type of material, as there is a somewhat plodding aspect to it on the whole. Nevertheless, as is mostly the way with serial-killer-on-the-loose gialli, it still remains very watchable and effective at times. The story in this one has a writer's wife dying while giving birth, immediately afterwards a series of murders begin with the victims all being pregnant women.

It wouldn't be too unfair to say that this one is one of the gialli which is lower on style, higher on sleaze. The story centres on some especially nasty murders, which were a bit much if you ask me! Those coupled with the nudity factor being very high generally puts this one squarely in the more exploitative end of the genre. The thriller element is often a bit under-played, although there are a few fairly suspenseful sequences here and there. I would additionally have to say that there is maybe a little too much police-procedure and chat overall too for the film's overall effectiveness. So, this fairly obscure example of the genre couldn't really be described as a lost classic or anything like that but it definitely benefits from still incorporating the main ingredients of this sub-genre - the mix might be a bit under-cooked in a number of ways but the final dish is still one which giallo enthusiasts will find some value in.

A writer comes home to discover his wife has just died during childbirth. The baby is not well and is held at a hospital while he continues to write a newspaper column.

Pregnant women are cut up with a fertility symbol carved into their bodies and the writer has the misfortune of being linked to these various women.

Abrupt editing and jarring music make the film tough to sit through. The director seems to be attempting to mimic the style of Alfred Hitchcock without Alfred's proven technical genius.

The murder victims do shed their clothing before being murdered but the overall storyline becomes apparent before it ends with only a slight twist.

Personally I don't really like it, nor do I think it's a very bright idea, when the body count of the horror movie you're about to watch already gets spoiled in the title… Seriously, five women for the killer? Well, okay, that pretty much suggests there will be five female casualties, but don't get your hopes up too much for witnessing much more carnage that this. It's a shame, really, because one of the many reasons why I seek out Italian gialli movies is the often unpredictable and unrestricted amount of gruesome murdering going on! I still definitely wanted to watch "Five Women for the Killer", of course, and mainly because it was writer/director Stelvio Massi's only genuine excursion into the giallo-domain. The underrated Massi made nearly two dozens of awesome Poliziotteschi thrillers, and most of them – like "Emergency Squad" or "Convoy Busters" to name just two – were so damn brutish and sadist that I really wondered what a giallo of his would look like. This one-man jury's verdict states that "Five Women for the Killer" is an adequate and more than watchable giallo, but it certainly isn't one of the genre's prime examples or highlights. The plot is reasonably tense and compelling, albeit also sluggish from time to time. The murders and particularly the killer's motives and choice of victims are vile and just a tad bit disturbing. Like in most Italian gialli, the psychopath targets pretty young women, but here the victims all recently found out that they were pregnant and our crazed killer viciously cuts open their stomach and intimate parts. The murders begin shortly after journalist Giorgio Pisani loses his wife whilst giving birth to their premature son. No wait, the murders only begin when Giorgio learns from his doctor and friend that he is – in fact – infertile and couldn't have been the child's father. Can't Giorgio accept that his wife was unfaithful and does he extract his vengeance on the pregnant women in his surrounding? Or is this just what the real killer wants everybody – and the police in particular - to think? "Five Women for the Killer" doesn't feature any great names in the cast, but the performances are solid and convincing. All the girls in the cast are ravishing and provide glorious full-frontal nudity (unshaved was still the standard), but of course they get savagely slaughtered shortly after so it's not a very sexy climax. Recommended for giallo-fanatics and fellow sick puppies all over the world!

In FIVE WOMEN FOR THE KILLER, a man (Francis Matthews) returns home from a trip to find his wife dead. Soon, other women begin meeting the same fate, all sharing one thing in common.

This is a rather languid, by-the-numbers giallo, although the setup is novel. There is the expectedly-gloved killer, as well as a bevy of beautiful, female victims and a school of red herrings. There's just not a lot of action and the pacing is quite sluggish. This sort of film needs to be more suspenseful or at least have a good chase or two. As it is, there's not enough going on to make it all that interesting.

Recommended only for the die-hard giallo completist...