Opiniones de usuarios

I am required by law to mention that this film is similar to Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now, made a year later. So that's that out of the way.

Who Saw Her Die begins in the French mountains with a red-haired girl being murdered by what looks like an old woman wearing a black veil. We then kick in with Ennio Morricone's outstanding soundtrack made up of a child's choir and harpsichord – a far cry from twangy guitars and harmonicas! I should note here that this soundtrack woke my daughter up and freaked her out from two rooms away!

In Venice, skinny sculptor George Lazenby is happy that his daughter Roberta has come from London to visit him, although it's clear by her absence that things aren't going too well with his wife Anita Strinberg as she's stayed behind. Worse still, an old woman in a black veil stalking the kid and seems determined to murder her, which happens while George is banging his mistress.

George is distraught and blames himself for his daughter's death, leading him on an obsessive quest to find the killer, which will lead him down sleazy avenues involving the rich and powerful in Venice. This being a giallo, the killer gets wind of this and tries to eliminate some of the witnesses…

Even though it's not a top tier giallo, this film is still worth a watch due to the misty Venice location shooting, Morricone's creepy soundtrack, and the acting talents of Adolfo Celi, who here, like in the film Eye of the Labyrinth, can seemingly change his mood and personality with subtle facial expressions and posture. The mystery isn't that hard to solve if you've watched a few of these films, but that's not going to put anyone off, is it?

Why are Lazenby and Strinberg so thin though?

For those of you wondering whether George Lazenby ever made another picture, after incarnating the most under-appreciated Bond ever in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"...well, here he is, three years later, in the Italian giallo "Who Saw Her Die?" In this one, he plays a sculptor named Franco who is living in Venice. When his cute little red-haired daughter is murdered and found floating in a canal, Franco naturally embarks on a quest to find the demented child killer. Lazenby, it must be said here, is almost unrecognizable from three years before. He sports a sleazy handlebar moustache in this film and looks decidedly thinner, almost gaunt, as if he'd been afflicted with a wasting disease in the interim. And the film itself? Well, it's something of a mixed bag. Yes, it does feature stylish direction by Aldo Lado, as well as a pretty freaky score by master composer Ennio Morricone, consisting largely of echoey chanting. We are also given plentiful scenery of Venice, which looks both beautiful and seedy here, an intriguing story to set our mental teeth into, AND Adolfo Celi, always a welcome presence (and another Bond alumnus, from "Thunderball"), here playing a mysterious art dealer. On the down side, I must confess that I was at a loss to understand what the hell was going on throughout most of the picture; what explanations do come toward the end are either half heard from distant rooms or grunted out during fisticuffs. Dubbing doesn't help matters (subtitles would have been a nice option), and the film is never particularly scary or suspenseful. I'll probably need to sit through this one again to get a better handle. Still, "Who Saw Her Die?" remains an interesting, nice-to-look-at giallo, nicely captured here in widescreen on yet another fine DVD from Anchor Bay.

I don't know if it says more about Ennio Morricone or the movie itself that the most readily grabbing part of the production is the composer's score. The emphatic use of a children's choir in the soundtrack, particularly in that discordant theme that accompanies the killers movements, is altogether chilling, not least given the subject matter. 'Who saw her die?' occupies the thriller side of giallo more than the horror, but Morricone's music lends a tension to the proceedings that rather helps to tilt the needle. Put this aside and one may well remark on some recognizable names and faces in the cast, but even at that, this movie doesn't necessarily stand out otherwise. Make no mistake, all the stylings of the Italian genre are here in abundance - the very specific camerawork, the method of building and escalating the mystery, the weirdly particular type of fake blood. Even if it's not an essential must-see, however, 'Who saw her die?' is nonetheless capably engaging, and worth checking out.

Lent a hand with terrific selection of film locations, filmmaker Aldo Lado demonstrates a keen eye for arranging shots and scenes; the basic visual presentation is itself fair reason to watch. This includes fetching hair and makeup work, costume design, and art direction, and more so instances of violence, and those few stunts that we see. The ensemble give swell performances of controlled range and personality, with George Lazenby unexpectedly making at least as much of an impression as co-stars like Anita Strindberg. And especially with all this in mind, in those scenes of most immediate peril for one character or another, the feature ably builds strong tension that keeps one's attention.

As great as each individual element may be, however, the whole feels lesser than the sum of its parts. The main issue I see is that there's no real sense of dynamics in the picture. From expositions to killings, from investigation to climax and ending, 'Who saw her die?' carries the same tone all the way, with only the music offering major variation. If the classic model of narrative progression is a triangle with rising action on one side, peaking at the climax, and resolving with falling action, this movie mostly feels like a single flat line. As if to emphasize - I was shocked to glance at the digital timer at one point and learn that more than two-thirds the runtime had elapsed; for whatever had transpired in the story, it doesn't meaningfully feel like it goes anywhere. And for that matter, if we accept at face value the threads connecting bits and pieces of the plot where the killer is concerned, still the progression of the protagonist's investigation seems haphazard and flimsy, not least of all given little to no sense of rise and fall in the plot development.

One way or the other, I guess what it ultimately comes down to is that wherever it lands on the spectrum of quality, this falls in neatly among its giallo brethren. On some baseline level our expectations of the genre will be met, and it's just a question of how well. I think 'Who saw her die?' is better than not, and a decent way to spend 90 minutes, with the caveat that it has distinct faults that prevent it from meeting its full potential. So long as you're looking for passing entertainment over an actively compelling viewing experience, this is worth a look, and recommendable most of all for fans of the cast or of Morricone.

_Chi L'ha Vista Morire?_ is, visually, a very beautiful film. From the first shots emphasising the starkness of the alpine landscape which segue into similarly stark black and white photos and drawings from a police file to the closing scenes, the cinematography is beautiful. In particular, one shot in which a flock of pigeons taking flight in a town square provides a metaphor for the rising panic of the father, played by George Lazenby, struck me as particularly beautiful - both aesthetically pleasing in its own right and a very tasteful way to lay the ground for the scene that follows. A unifying visual motif is the veil worn by the killer, which makes for some interesting point-of-view shots, although the impact must have been blunted somewhat by viewing on video.

Unfortunately, there's some flaws that detracted from the experience for me. Lazenby does not speak Italian, so his lines are dubbed. At times, the sound level appears to be much too high, making the dubbing glaring. Similarly, the soundtrack is at times overbearing, particularly during appearances by the killer, whose discordant "theme music" became incredibly annoying, particularly when the rest of the film was marked by such a light touch. Mercifully, this problem is rectified at the climax and the music is cut short.

On the visual side, watch for some very fake looking blood. Many scenes (particularly interior scenes) are very dark, which caused me some problems in determining what was going on, but again this may have been compounding by watching on videotape rather than the big screen.

Overall, a satisfying mystery film, if a little slow-paced.

WHO SAW HER DIE? (1972) *** George Lazenby, Anita Strindberg, Peter Chatel, Adolfo Celi. In this engaging giallo directed by Aldo Lado, George Lazenby plays Franco Serpieri, a well-known Venetian sculptor. After Serpieri's young daughter is murdered, he grows impatient with the efforts of the police and tries to find the killer himself, with some help from his estranged wife (Strindberg). The film sticks to a familiar formula: the likely suspects are killed off one by one, and the last man (or woman) standing is revealed as the murderer. But the process feels clumsier than it ought to here, and since the killer turns out to be one of the film's least developed characters, the ending is less than satisfying. Fortunately, though, painterly cinematography and an intriguing score by the brilliant Ennio Morricone help compensate for the weaknesses of the script. Recommended.

In 1972, writer-director Aldo Lado made two outstanding giallos, THE SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS (a.k.a. PARALYZED) and this film, which predates Nicholas Roeg's similar but far more well-known DON'T LOOK NOW (1973).

Young Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi) arrives in Venice from London to visit her father, celebrated sculptor Franco (George Lazenby). Franco's estranged wife, Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg), stays in England. After a few days, as Franco is making love to a girlfriend, Roberta is kidnapped. Soon after, her corpse is found floating in a canal.

Racked with guilt, Franco investigates the crime on his own. His chief suspects include a prominent but ruthless businessman, Serafian (Adolfo Celi), and an attorney with a history of pedophilia (Peter Chantel). He suspects both men know more about Roberta's death than they let on. Meanwhile, though, the killer is always one step ahead of Franco, knocking off everyone who might be inclined to help him.

Lado and co-scenarists Massimo D'Avak and Francesco Barilli add many subtle touches to the rather crude story line. For example, Venice itself becomes a character and conspirator, and is photographed as a nearly colorless and malevolent place. Early in the movie, Franco shows his disrespect for the city, offhandedly remarking that "Venice is a dead city," and wishing it would simply sink into the water. Later, we see that the businessman and attorney, representing the old money and establishment values that run and keep Venice "afloat," conspire to protect the killer and, indirectly, to "punish" Franco.

Not only is Venice viewed as a deeply evil, it twists -- even in small ways -- the people who live there. In the early minutes of WHO SAW HER DIE?, most of the male characters are shown touching or petting Roberta rather inappropriately. In addition, the local constabulary is extremely lame and inactive. When the bodies start to pile up in the wake of Franco's investigation, a detective tells him to let the police handle the dangerous work. Of course, they continue to do nothing but in the end take full credit for catching the killer. This conspiracy of silence extends even to the father of a child who was killed in a manner consistent with the way Roberta was killed. When Franco tries to enlist his help, the father acts suspiciously and refuses to get involved.

The movie's conspiracy subtext extends to two secondary characters, Phillip and Ginevra, who wish to escape Serafian's grip but cannot. In the Venetian universe created by Lado and Co., Ginevra is willing to both help Franco find the killer and expose Serafian as indirectly responsible for Roberta's death. For her trouble, Ginevra is murdered but nonetheless helps Franco get closer to revealing the killer's identity.

In and around these rich contextual elements, the giallo aspects of WHO SAW HER DIE seem rather perfunctory. To be fair, however, there are a couple of well done thrill-for-thrill's-sake stalking sequences, and one creepy moment when Elizabeth, alone in Franco's apartment, is terrified by bumps in the night that are nothing more than a housekeeper doing some chores. And Ennio Morricone's excellent score features a purely musical insight into the killer's tormented mind, a kind of "murderer's refrain" that is punctuated with calls and cries by a chorus of young female voices.

Very well-crafted giallo is an obvious precursor to Nicolas Roeg's ingenious and similarly Venetian-set "Don't Look Now". Suspenseful, engrossing and with some skillful visual flourishes--such as the black-veiled killer framed against a snowy landscape--makes it clearly stand from its sleazier counterparts in the genre. Ennio Morricone's delirious score is one of my favorites and nearly impossible to shake from your mind!

I must confess my impression of George Lazenby improved after watching "Who Saw Her Die", he was far more restrained than I expected, dare I say even improved the overall film which was otherwise a meandering tale that failed to find purpose.

The general plot is disturbing enough (concerning a child killer) and unfolds well, but the subsequent self-investigation by Lazenby (as the grieving father) and track-down of the killer seemed too randomised and illogical.

There's a few gripping moments after the initial horrors (Strindberg startled in the apartment was tense) but mostly the shocks are too well telegraphed to properly land more than just a glancing blow (e.g. the aviary scene). Too many extraneous characters brought into ephemeral focus appear to paper over a thin, largely arbitrary plot that runs out of road all too quickly. Adolfo Celi's supporting role seems largely frivolous and the statuesque Swedish beauty Strindberg is left to spin her wheels with little opportunity to become embroiled in the mystery.

So Lazenby has been given the keys and does deliver the film to at least a decent standard, whilst the sets and exteriors are highly stylised and visual, typical for Italian thrillers of that era. Too many loose strands that just doesn't manage to knit all the threads together in one cohesive and compelling whodunit. Not bad, but just middle of the road in my opinion.

A child murderer is running loose in Venice. Distraught father Lazenby investigates after his daughter is killed.

A superb giallo from Aldo Lado. From the very first scene Lado builds up a tense atmosphere that holds it's grip on the viewer until the very end. In keeping up with some of the giallo's best trademarks, this film has excellent photography, making good use of Venice's enchanting scenery. Ennio Morricone's haunting musical score is another huge plus.

The film is well written and has a good story, albeit a bit complicated. It took me two viewings to get everything, but maybe I'm just a little dense at times. Maybe it doesn't bear too much scrutiny, but I didn't find any huge plot holes. The revelation of the killer is, as in most giallo's, quite a surprise. I'm guessing you won't guess it.

George Lazenby (in my opinion a very underrated Bond) is a very likable leading man, gives a credible performance as the grieving father and amateur sleuth and Anita Strindberg looks smashing.

I advice you the check this one out if you're a fan of this genre.

"Who Saw Her Die" was a great little surprise. I had been searching for it for a little while, and when I had found it, I was happy to find that it was a much better film for actor George Lazenby ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), then the other films he had been making at that time ("Universal Soldier", "Stoner" etc.). It is a tad annoying to see that he was completely dubbed (a standard Italian practice I've heard), but I didn't find this too distracting from the film. It does however contain a great eerie soundtrack supplied by Ennio Morricone, which seems to jump in everytime we are viewing the killer's point of view through a veil. It's also a lot more mature than the typical Italian Giallo of that time, It's never too grautuidice in it's gore or nudity. It does contain great cinematography, especially great if viewed in widescreen. George Lazenby's daughter in the film is played by a little girl that seemed to play in every Giallo/ Horror flick that ever got produced in Italy ("Bay Of Blood", "Deep Red", and "Andy Warhol's Frankenstein"), which is due no doubt to her very unusual looks. Also, the fact that they have a cameo from Adolfo Celli ("Thunderball") makes me think that director had a James Bond fascination. The only problems I really have of the film, is that the ending is a little unclimactic and predictable (you guess who it is, before they show you). A slight influence from Nick Roeg's "Don't Look Now" is evident. Other than this, quite a little gem of a film. And actually hold's up to some of Dario Argento's earlier work, if not better.

This above-average giallo starts out rather shockingly with a little girl at a ski resort sledding down a hill--at the bottom of which a female figure in black unceremoniously bludgeons her to death, seemingly at complete random. Then George Lazenby plays a man vacationing in Venice with his own little redheaded daughter; the wife and mother (Anita Strindberg) is elsewhere. We immediately perceive that the same sinister individual is stalking this girl, too, and that ends badly. So the majority of the film is Lazenby's attempt to avenge his daughter and find the killer, Strindberg soon joining him. There's the usual array of suspicious characters who turn up en route, including Adolfo Celi and Fassbinder regular Peter Chatel.

This doesn't utilize the Venice setting as richly as some later films ("Don't Look Now" seems to have really alerted filmmakers to its potential), and there isn't much in the way of explicit violence, let alone nudity. Still, the movie has real atmosphere and tension, along with solid performances. It feels less purely exploitative than many films in the genre, as somehow it has a little more emotional heft--maybe because it's rooted in acute parental grief, and the horror of a child's death. Though needless to say, the death toll soon encompasses other age groups. It's a very well-crafted movie with a particularly eerie Ennio Morricone score.

I've seen this movie on the first days of the private tv in Italy. I am from Venezia and everybody in my house stands in front of tv watching this thriller only to find places we know. In fact this movie capture as not other else some fascinating places of my town, a town very hard to use as a location (the risk is to make a movie like a postcard). You can also see an ex cinema named "Progresso"(the place where Dominique Boschero is strangled). Now is a supermarket... About the movie: is very professional, with a good photography, but is a clone of Argento with less originality. Lazenby is bad as in all his works and the surprise is not very surprising... There are some moments good (like the meeting with Adolfo Celi into the Stucky's mulino) but the plot is too much confused and without any real substance. You can find movies of the same period more ugly than this, but "Chi l'ha vista morire" (also know as "Malastrana") is only 5/10

Aldo Lado's "Who Saw Her Die?" tells the story of a grieving father, Franco Serpieri (one time James Bond portrayer George Lazenby), who loses daughter Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi) to a murderer. This murderer has struck before, in France, but at least this time the parent stops at nothing to solve the mystery. He has many encounters with possible suspects while working his way through the labyrinthine plot. This film is quite heavy on story; it may indeed take more than one viewing to truly appreciate the many twists and turns. Lado infuses his film with heavy, brooding atmosphere, and gives us characters that are interesting and compelling. Lazenby in particular is engaging as the amateur sleuth. Female co-stars Anita Strindberg, as Franco's wife Elizabeth, and Dominique Boschero, as Ginevra, are very easy on the eyes, and Strindberg and Lazenby figure in a tastefully done sex scene. Young Elmi is adorable as the murder victim, and Adolfo Celi, villain in the Bond adventure "Thunderball", has fun in the role of Serafian. The violence is strong although the film never does get very gory. Two elements that are extremely creepy are the killer themselves (things are sometimes shown through the veil that they wear) and the music score by Ennio Morricone, one of his most unsettling ever. This score utilizes the singing of children to great effect and in fact this singing sometimes works as a harbinger of doom. Excellent widescreen photography, by Franco Di Giacomo, and slick direction by Lado help to make things very enjoyable. Overall, this is good stuff worth watching for the Giallo fan. It gets off to an intriguing start, with the opening set piece taking place in a snowy wilderness, and viewers may not anticipate the identity of the killer once it is revealed. Even if they do, it shouldn't detract too much from the entertainment value. Seven out of 10.

The movie starts out with the murder of a young girl, which straight away I found rather unsettling and then fast forward a few years later and we meet George Lazenby who lives in Venice and also has a young daughter and what becomes even more unsettling his daughter becomes the next victim, which becomes heartbreaking as firstly we get to know the little girl and sees her bonding with her father and then the rest of the movie focus's on the father trying to solve the mystery as the police are absolutely clueless.

Okay the storyline isn't to everyone's taste, and if you keep watching as the movie goes on it is rather good, and of course we get array of quirky characters and suspects in the usual giallo style and watch as the numbers dwindle down and this movie does a good job of keeping you guessing all the way through to the end, with twists and turns at almost every corner.

The Venice setting is a nice touch and rather beautiful and yet at the same time rather sinister and the wonderfully staged murder set pieces. Plus the performances are decent as well, George Lazenby gives a decent performance and a character to root for and Anita Strindberg as his wife was also strong and Nicoletta Elmi is a real highlight as the doomed daughter.

All in all a decent movie but does have a few small flaws like the countless red herrings, but with it's moody atomoshere, Who Saw Her Die is still a decent addition to the giallo genre.

WHO SAW HER DIE (1971)is a classic and very underrated giallo. I think it is excellent packing an emotional punch due to Ado Lado's skilful direction and the haunting Ennio Moriconne score. It is very stylish and due to the striking appearance of the killer who wears a veil over the face there are some truly striking images. Also the acting is better than in you usual giallo. IMO ,ex-James Bond, George Lazenby is particularly convincing as the mourning father obsessed with finding the murderer of his young daughter. The most impressive aspect of this film however is the way the location, Venice, is manipulated by the excellent cinematography. It is transformed into a sombre, claustrophobic maze consisting of Renaissance-esque buildings peering through the mist and surrounded by calm, soothing waters. IMO there is a very apparent influence on the famous art-house thriller DON'T LOOK NOW (1973). Apart from the obvious plot and location (Venice) similarities, there is a sex scene featuring Lazenby's character and his wife which is intercut with the two lying in bed next to each other weeping and reflecting on their childs death. In DON'T LOOK NOW there is a similar scene with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie in the role of Lazenby's character and his characters wife. The only difference being the sex scene is intercut with the two getting dressed afterwards. The way the scenes are shot is also very similar, both using jagged editing. A classic movie that is hard to find and challenging to watch.

In Venice Franco (George Lazenby!) is visited by his young daughter. She disappears and is found brutally murdered. His estranged wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg) comes to comfort him and help find the murderer. But Franco finds out things are complicated and soon the murderer is after him and his friends.

There's a LOT of problems with this. For starters Lazenby looks terrible. He's far too thin (the scenes of him with his shirt off are actually pretty horrifying) and he has long hair and an ugly moustache. The dubbing is lousy--even Lazenby is dubbed! The story ceases to make sense more than once. There are far too many characters to keep track of and the final resolution really doesn't make sense. Also the POV shots of the killer stalking people are cool at first...but then they're happening nonstop and quickly get tiresome. Still this has some things going for it.

Before the plot goes barreling out of control it's actually kind of interesting. All the characters and situations keep your attention. The location shooting in Venice is just great--their are some incredibly beautiful visuals here. It has its share of spooky sequences (one with Elizabeth alone in Franco's apartment actually got to me) and some cool bloody murders. Also Ennio Morricone's score is incredible--kept reminding me of "Deep Red" and "Suspiria".

So, it's not a good film but has its moments. Director Aldo Lsdo did much better with "Short Night of the Glass Dolls". Giallo fans might want to take a look.

To my shame, I've yet to see Nicholas Roeg's celebrated 1973 classic Don't Look Now, which by all accounts was heavily influenced, both thematically and stylistically, by this lesser giallo by Aldo Lado (The Night Train Murders, Short Night of the Glass Dolls). I can only hope that Roeg's film doesn't prove equally as disappointing...

Boasting decent cinematography, a brutal veiled killer who thinks nothing of killing kids, and a haunting Ennio Morricone score, Lado's film possesses an undeniably unsettling atmosphere, but still manages to be a frustratingly weak affair overall, a dreary, unmemorable murder mystery so baffling that it really isn't worth the effort trying to follow.

After several relatively tame murders that slowly whittle down the list of suspects, and scene upon scene of hippy-haired, mustachioed artist Franco (George Lazenby) running around Venice following a trail of clues, we finally find out who the killer is and what their silly motive is. Be prepared to be seriously under-whelmed and quite possibly still very confused.

Aldo Lado is surely one of the most under-rated Italian directors of the 70's. He seems to be relatively forgotten, while several lesser contemporaries get a lot more attention. But whatever the case, Lado was responsible for three excellent horror/thrillers in the mid-70's. There was the nasty revenge thriller Night Train Murders and a couple of gialli - the Prague-set Short Night of the Glass Dolls and the Venice-set Who Saw Her Die? All films were very distinct from one and other and all had considerable style to burn.

Who Saw Her Die? is the one which follows the classic style formula of the giallo most closely. In it a serial killer is on the prowl in Venice. Like Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now, this one used the crumbling streets of that famous ancient city to great creepy effect. It begins, however, in the French Alps with a nicely atmospheric prologue in which a young child is killed by a black-veiled killer in the snowy expanses. This villain is a very good one and is presented throughout the movie in a very sinister manner indeed, with close-up shots of their shoes as they menacingly advance toward their victims and shots of their obscured veiled face. Additionally this character is accompanied by an absolutely rivetingly creepy Ennio Morricone theme which is a controlled cacophony of a children's choir over a steady beat. It's one of his most memorable individual bits of music and that's saying a lot considering the sheer volume and quality of Il Maestro's output. The cast is solid with George Lazenby appearing in his first starring role following his solitary turn as James Bond in the under-valued On Her Majesty's Secret Service; while he is ably supported by genre regular's such as Anita Strindberg (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail) and Adolfo Celi (Danger: Diabolik).

As far as I am concerned, this is an excellent giallo by one of the most reliable Italian directors from the period. It works well as a pretty intriguing mystery, while it delivers the requisite vicarious thrills too. And most importantly it presents these things with a healthy slice of style and verve. Well worth seeing…!

Great atmosphere, acting, and cinematography. Venice looks fantastic!

However, the plot and the killer were meh.

When added together, it comes out feeling like an average thriller.

Worth seeing only if you're already a fan of giallo.