La garra sangrienta

Following such marvelous gialli as 1970's "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" and 1971's "Death Walks on High Heels," director Luciano Ercoli, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, and actors Susan Scott and Simon Andreu reunited one more time, and the result, 1972's "Death Walks at Midnight," although perhaps the least of the three films, is another winning entertainment, nevertheless. In this one, Scott plays a gorgeous redheaded model, Valentina, who becomes the willing test subject of a new hallucinogen, H.D.S. During her trip, she sees a spike-gloved killer mutilate a young girl across the way...a murder that, as it turns out, actually transpired six months earlier! Holy flashback! And from this bizarre setup, things get progressively stranger, as said killer starts to stalk Valentina all over the streets of Milan. Anyway, perhaps I'm a little slow on the ol' rebop, but I had to watch this picture almost three full times before it began to make a bit of sense to me. The plot is a bit convoluted, to say the least, and whereas in most gialli I make an attempt (usually a fruitless one) to spot the killer, here, I was hard pressed just to barely keep up. Still, brain twisting as the film is, it did, ultimately, kinda sorta make sense to me (just don't ask me to explain it out loud!). And the picture does have a lot going for it: stylish direction, beautiful photography of the city of Milan and its countryside, yet another supersexy performance from Susan Scott, a catchy score by Gianni Ferrio, several (not overly) gory homicides, and a furious rooftop dukeout to cap off the film. Drug dealers, a mental institution, a pot party, groovy discos, a couple of cute little Japanese kids, a murder attempt in a cemetery, and a bloody cat all, ultimately, get thrown into the mix. Yes, this IS one heady giallo. And the great-looking DVD from No Shame that I just watched does it justice indeed.

The third of Luciano Ercoli's trilogy of early 70's gialli is the oddest of the three. It tells the story of a fashion model who takes a hallucinogenic drug for a photo shoot. While tripping she witnesses a murder in the apartment across the street. She then finds herself stalked by the killer and drawn into a complex web of shady goings on, including drug trafficking and murder.

This movie is quite disappointing when compared to its predecessor, the effective Death Walks on High Heels. However, it starts extremely well. The trip murder sequence is well handled. Its both visceral and dreamlike, with a memorably creepy looking killer. Unfortunately, this excellent opening is the highlight of the movie. There are a number of other effective set-pieces but the movie gets bogged down a bit with excessively convoluted plot lines. There is a large cast of characters and it becomes difficult keeping track of who did what where. Everything is wrapped up when most of the remaining cast members get involved in a ridiculous, but fun, fight on a rooftop.

This is not a great giallo, however, it is certainly likable. Susan Scott is, as ever, great value in the lead role. She carries the film through the less interesting phases, ensuring that things never really get boring. Simón Andreu also is reliable. Ercoli shoots the film well and the decor is impressive. Overall, this is a beautiful looking, well acted but somewhat silly giallo. Its not one of the best from the genre but it is fun in a camp sort of way.

"Death Walks at Midnight" stars Nieves Navarro as fashion model Valentina,who experiments with a new hallucinogenic drug to help newspaper writer Gio with a story.Immediately,Valentina is overcome by a vision of a generously coiffed killer in dark glasses plunging a spiked metal glove into the face of a woman in the vacant apartment across the street.After coming to her senses,she demands to know if whole thing was simply imagined,or if the drug somehow set a repressed memory free.When Gio publishes his story,Valentina finds out that the murder did occur,and she must solve the killer's identity herself."Death Walks at Midnight" is fairly conventional giallo co-written by Sergio Corbucci of "Django" fame.It's not as sleazy as some of its contemporaries,but there are some stylish and sadistic flashback murder scenes.Give this tense thriller a look.7 out of 10.

During an experiment with a hallucinogenic drug, model Valentina (Nieves Navarro aka Susan Scott) sees a woman being brutally murdered by a man wearing a spiked iron glove. But when no body is found, she can't seem to get anyone to believe her story. She begins to see the killer everywhere she goes. She's sure her life is in danger and is unable to convince her friends or the police that she's being stalked by a vicious murderer.

I had high hopes for Death Walks at Midnight having just seen and enjoyed Death Walks on High Heels. The two movies have so much in common that it seemed like a sure thing. While not being a sequel, the two movies share a director, a number of actors, and a convoluted plot. But while I found the twists and turns in Death Walks on High Heels a joy to watch unfold, Death Walks at Midnight is a little too convoluted for its own good. Story lines are introduced and almost dropped immediately with no resolution. These story tangents have nothing to do with the plot other than muddying the waters. Characters are introduced with no background information and almost immediately forgotten about. Too many of the characters never seem "real" or fleshed-out and are not effective red herrings. And, I almost get the feeling that much of the movie is weird for the sake of being weird. There's no real purpose for many of the unusual events, people, places, etc. in Death Walks at Midnight other than adding some bizarreness to the proceedings. For example, why even have the asylum scene? It adds nothing to the film. The problems with the plot are really disappointing because not only did I enjoy the first movie, but Death Walks at Midnight's screenplay was written by Sergio Corbucci. Corbucci directed some of my favorite Spaghetti Westerns. But here, he's written what I'll describe as a spastic script that tries too hard to be different.

That's not to say the movie was a total waste of time. There are a number of things I really enjoyed about Death Walks at Midnight. First would have to be Nieves Navarro. As I said when writing about Death Walk on High Heels, Navarro is excellent in this kind of film. She's a natural playing the "Woman in Distress". Navarro has a real, undeniable screen presence. Second would have to be the spiked glove. It's as nasty a murder weapon as you'll see. Finally, I like the overall look of the film. Ercoli had a real eye for some interesting visuals.

In the end, I can't wholeheartedly recommend Death Walks at Midnight to anyone other than a die hard Giallo fan. There are far better, more entertaining examples of the genre that might appeal more to the casual fan.

This rare Giallo was Luciano Ercoli's follow-up to the rather tame but nonetheless enjoyable "Le Foto Proibite di una Signora Perbene" (Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion in English; Frauen bis zum Wahnsinn gequält in German, which means "Women tortured to insanity"!!!).

There are some similarities in the storyline, but overall, "La Morte Accarezza a Mezzanotte" is obviously superior. After a powerful start, when Susan Scott as Valentina has a murder vision during a drug trip she suffers for her journalist colleague (who makes a photo session out of the "experiment" to publish it in the junk paper he's working for - that she initially does NOT know!), the film becomes a little bit slow moving as Valentina is suddenly stalked by numerous strange persons. But the second half of the film delivers more than many other thrillers together - suddenly, the bodies are piling up and there's also enough time for action and fist fights that could easily find place in Your average police drama of its decade.

The uncovering of the fiend is really surprising, more so if one considers that one thinks to know the face of the real killer after seeing the above mentioned drug trip sequence (to make things more clear here would give away too much).

Last but not least, there is also an exceptional musical score by Gianni Ferrio, a typical yet unique Giallo score including, of course, a lush main theme song.

To wrap it all up: This film is one of the many fine Italian thrillers of the 1970s that deserve to be rediscovered by an interested audience.