Morte sospetta di una minorenne

As other reviewers have said this is a strange movie. It is kind of an "unofficial" sixth entry to the series of excellent gialli directed by Sergio Martino in the early 1970's (although, as such, it is definitely step down from his previous film "Torso"). It has a very familiar "giallo-esqe" starting point where the investigation of a murdered underage prostitute leads to a lot of equally nasty killings. It also functions as a "poliziani" with lots of action and chase sequences and a cynical plot involving high-level political intrigue. Claudio Cassinelli plays a cop who makes Dirty Harry look restrained and by-the-book. He sleeps with prostitutes, consorts with minor criminals, feels up underage girls, shoots at civilians, and even leads the regular police on a wreckless high-speed chase for no real reason. The people he is after though are even worse, involved in everything from kidnapping to drugs and teenage prostitution to money laundering.

But if all this isn't a little too much, the movie also tries to be a comedy. Cassanelli has a comical side-kick, and there is a running gag where he keeps breaking his glasses. Sometimes the comedy works, but other times it tends to sabotage the drama, like when he incorporates slapstick pratfalls into what is already a very over-long car chase (a bane of these type of movies ever since "The French Connection" was released in Italy). Fortunately, Cassinelli has charisma to spare in his first of many roles for director Martino (he didn't have the impressive breasts of Martino's other frequent collaborator Edwige Fenech, but he was no doubt a better actor). Jenny Tamburi, on the other hand, was pretty much wasted (both as an actress and pair of impressive breasts). But Mel Ferrer and most of the other obscure more actors acquit themselves pretty well. Not as good as Martino's earlier movies, but better than his later ones, and it has just been released in widescreen with English subtitles on (import) DVD. So check it out for yourself.

Technically, The Suspicious Death of a Minor is a giallo. It has a mystery, and all of the exploitation elements of prostitution, crime, and violence. Too bad this film wanted to be trashy American tv.

As an American watching Italian films, part of what I appreciate about giallos is that they are very Italian (though some are also Spanish) and differ from American mysteries and horror from the 1970s in significant ways - with the exception of Alfred Sole's Alice Sweet Alice and the British film Don't Look Now. These last two films are excellent English-language tributes to the giallo. But The Suspicious Death of a Minor is decidedly NOT an excellent tribute to American cinema.

Essentially, it's a buddy comedy featuring an adult man in his 30s befriending a younger petty thief of about 20, who showers his mother and siblings with gifts he steals by snatching purses from street walkers and other tacky ventures. They team up to solve a murder, and from there it's all downhill.

This mediocre giallo is filled to the brim with fist fights, numerous car accidents, and slapstick comedy better suited to an episode of The Dukes of Hazard and features mystery elements reminiscent of the cop soap Hart to Hart rather than of giallo-inspiration Agatha Christie. I mean, I can see why some people would like this sort of thing, but I just don't. There was some physical comedy which appeared to be an intentional homage to 1920s silent film which I appreciated, but it just wasn't enough to carry the flick. I cannot believe Sergio Martino was even involved with this.

An authentic Italian 70's Crime/Giallo movie with loads of comedy elements and even slapstick? What's next …a Disney's Pixar movie featuring graphic sex and gory massacres? Say what you want about director Sergio Martino, but you certainly can't claim he hasn't experimented with all the different genres imaginable. He directed several brilliant and prototype Gialli ("Torso", "Case of the Scorpion's Tail"), but also Spaghetti Westerns ("A Man Called Blade"), relentless cop thrillers ("The Violent Professionals"), sleazy comedies ("Sex with a Smile"), Apocalyptic Sci-Fi ("After the Fall of New York"), Cyborg action-flicks ("Fists of Steel"), cheesy monster movies ("Big Alligator River") and cannibal adventures ("Mountain of the Cannibal God"). Yet, of his entire versatile repertoire, "Suspected Death of a Minor" is perhaps his most awkward accomplishment. Judging from the title, the basic plot synopsis and the picture images on the back of the DVD box, the film looks like a standard Giallo, but the story further unfolds itself more as a bitter crime thriller interlarded with large bits of comedy. And the absolute strangest thing is that this unusual hodgepodge of styles and genre also actually works, or at least up to a certain degree. It's hard to picture yourself a Giallo plot, covering crude topics such as teen prostitution networks and vile murders, and simultaneously witness comical car chases and clichéd running gags. It's rather difficult to write a brief summary of the plot without giving away surprise details or essential twists. Most reviews – even the one on the DVD box – already reveal a nice detail regarding the main character's identity even though the script keeps it a secret up until 45 minutes into the film! I think it's best to know nothing about the story and simply watch it unfold. I'll simple reveal that all the required ingredients of a supreme Giallo dish are present, including a vicious reflecting sunglasses-wearing killer, rooftop & roller coaster showdowns and perverted men with money & power. Claudio Cassinelli depicts one of the most likable characters I've ever seen in an Italian film. He's eloquent and witty, but ultimately arrogant and provocative towards everyone who crosses his path. There are a couple of brutal murders on display but the amount of female nudity is sorely disappointing, presumably because Martino didn't engage his heavenly luscious muse Edwige Fenech this time. Luciano Michellini's musical score is reminiscent to Goblin's work for Dario Argento and the photography is very nice. "Suspected Death of a Minor" is a good film and recommended to fans of the director and the genre. However, make sure it's not your first acquaintance with the Giallo, otherwise you might get a misconception of what this wondrous sub genre is all about.

I had never heard of this before its Sazuma "Special Edition" DVD came along (though I actually acquired it recently from ulterior sources); consequently, I took the film to be a very minor Martino effort – so that I went into it without much expectations. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it all turned out to be – more so, in fact, than some of the director's more popular titles…though I can see how anyone hoping for a typical giallo will be confused and disappointed by its overriding poliziottesco elements, and even more so the sometimes daft comedy touches (on which I'll elaborate later on). Thematically, SUSPECTED DEATH OF A MINOR is an unofficial companion to the Massimo Dallamano trilogy of gialli revolving around teenage prostitution rackets – WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (1972), WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? (1974) and RINGS OF FEAR (1978; completed by Alberto Negrin after the film-maker's tragic demise in a road accident); in that regard, it's hardly original, but Martino (whose last genre outing this proved to be) lends it his customary flair – aided a great deal by a splendid Goblinesque score courtesy of the obscure Luciano Michelini. Casting is another asset, led by Claudio Cassinelli – who would himself suffer an untimely death 10 years later in a helicopter crash while filming another Martino film! – as the unconventional hero (forever breaking his spectacles, he starts off as mystery-man and rogue but is eventually revealed to be a special undercover cop), Mel Ferrer as his long-suffering superior, and Massimo Girotti as the obligatory would-be respectable but all-powerful businessman pulling the strings. While there are obviously a number of female figures here (though, uncharacteristically, little nudity), none really emerges to take center-stage – including late starlet Jenny Tamburi who, despite a severely underwritten role, is still given an unwarranted cruel fate! The film comes to life principally in a handful of well-staged set-pieces, which take the form of chases rather than murders – an assassination attempt aboard a roller-coaster ride, a cliff-hanging sequence involving the opening roof of a cinema (which, according to an online review, is showing Martino's own YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY [1972]!), and the climactic across-the-water showdown between Cassinelli and Girotti. However, the most memorable (because it is so unexpected) certainly emerges the comical one in which the hero and his petty-thief pal take the Police on a wild ride – driving a rickety machine whose doors are constantly getting dislodged, Cassinelli asks his companion to throw them at their pursuers…but there's also a bit where a man riding a bike is left with a mere tricycle following a brush with the speeding vehicles and another which, hilariously, has a hit-and-run victim literally land and roll (repeatedly) on his head!

As many of my fellow Italian Horror fans probably do, I consider Sergio Martino one of my favorite directors. The man has delivered great films in a variety of genres, but he is doubtlessly (and rightly) most famous for his Gialli. Before seeing this film, I had already seen his five other contributions to the Giallo-genre, "The Strange Vice Of Mrs Wardh" (1971), "The Scorpion's Tail" (1971), "Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key" (1972), "All Colors Of The Dark" (1972), and "Torso" (1973), all of which are nothing short of brilliance. I've seen all these films multiple times, and while they all had the typical great Martino-style, each one of these films has something very particular. Especially the ingenious Poe-inspired "Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key" is a personal favorite of mine that easily ranks among the greatest Gialli ever brought to screen. This "La Morte Sospetta Di Una Minorenne" (aka. "Suspected Death Of A Minor") of 1975 is doubtlessly also a very memorable film, and while I did not quite like it as much as Martino's other five Gialli, one cannot deny that it has its very particular qualities. This is doubtlessly Martino's oddest Giallo, as it is not a typical specimen of the genre, but a weird and highly unconventional mixture of Giallo, Crime flick, and, in many parts, Comedy that even includes Slapstick-elements.

I do not want to give away too much of the plot, since it is, in many ways, unpredictable, and bears many unexpected twists. The mid 70s were already the end of the most successful heyday of the Italian Giallo, whilst the heyday of Italian Crime flicks was beginning around the time. Several Gialli from the time, therefore used elements that are mainly attributed to the Poliziottesco, such as drugs, underage prostitution, corruption etc. The most famous example for that may be Massimo Dallamano's "La Polizia Chiede Ajuto" (aka. "What Have They Done To Your Daughters?" of 1974, and it is also the case with this film. The overload of slapstick elements here is quite unique, though, which is not necessarily a good thing. True, even the most famous Giallo of all-time (and also one of the greatest), Dario Argento's masterpiece "Profondo Rosso" from the same year, has several comical moments. Not to the same extent, though, as these moments are just occasionally in "Profondo Rosso", where they actually greatly create more closeness to the characters. In "Suspected Death Of A Minor" these elements are not quite as funny, but therefore including more slapstick, omnipresent and used to a sometimes annoying extent. Even so, the idea of a Giallo with slapstick-elements is original, to say at least, and the film does not loose its compelling Mystery/Thriller parts. Leading man Claudio Casellini starred in a variety of Italian Exploitation and Horror productions, including "Flavia The Heretic", "Murder At The Etruscan Cemetery" and director Martino's very own "Mountain Of The Cannibal God". The role which Casellini is probably best known for is that of the investigating detective in "What Have They Done To Your Daughters", a film that bears many resemblances to this one (even though "What Have They Done To Your Daughters" is more serious, and a lot better). The film is superbly shot, and the score by Luciano Michelini is brilliant and contributes a lot to the atmosphere and suspense. Overall. "Suspected Death Of A Minor" is a highly recommendable film for all my fellow Giallo-enthusiasts and Sergio Martino fans. I would nonetheless recommend to see Martino's brilliant other Gialli first. Especially "Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key" (which, by the way, is funnily referenced to in this film) comes with my highest possible recommendations, and films like "Torso" and "The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh" are also essential for genre-fans. My opinion on "Suspected Death Of A Minor": 7/10