Diario de un maniático sexual

This film begins with police officer "Nicola Levi" (Leonardo Treviglio) discovering that his wife, "Sara Levi" (Barbara Scoppa), has been having an affair. Enraged, they get into a fight when she comes home, nearly leading to her being killed after she stabs him with an ice pick. Fortunately, Levi pulls himself together and leaves the house at the last moment, first going to see a psychologist named "Anna Berardi" (Valeria D'Obici), whom he trusts completely. While he's there, someone enters his wife's house and stabs her to death with the same ice pick she previously used against Nicola. Needless to say, he immediately becomes the prime suspect, even though Anna is convinced that he is entirely innocent. Not only that, but she also believes the killer will strike again soon. However, when he does, rather than clearing Nicola, the police continue to list him as their prime suspect, which makes things even more difficult for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will simply say that this was an okay slasher film that benefited greatly from the mystery surrounding the actual identity of the killer. On the other hand, I thought that some of the scenes were a bit too unrealistic, and other scenes could have used a little more gore or intensity. But that's just my opinion. In any case, although certainly not one of the better horror films during this particular era, it managed to pass the time reasonably well, and I have rated it accordingly.

'You'll Die at Midnight' also known under other titles such as 'Midnight Ripper' & 'Midnight Horror' is a rather cheesy and quite enjoyable Italian made for TV Giallo/slasher flick from the 1980's directed by Lamberto Bava. This movie's plot is fairly routine and oddly structured and given its time period its lacking some much needed stylish visuals and interesting set-pieces that could have elevated things.

The plot begins with a man named Nicola (Leonardo Treviglio) who discovers his wife is cheating on him and after a violent argument she is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect. Soon more young women begin to die at the hands of the maniac, is Nicola the killer or is it someone else?

Trying to find a classic Giallo flick from the late 80's onwards is a hard task, and you'll have to look through a lot of lesser efforts just to find anything decent. But sadly, this movie isn't quite a lost gem waiting to be discovered, instead this is a by the numbers Giallo that has been forgotten for a reason. The lack of suspense and violent or interesting death scenes really hurts this film and given that it was a made for TV production I can't fault the director on that one. Instead we get a mystery that isn't very compelling and a bunch of flatly written characters and wooden performances.

Overall 'You'll Die at Midnight' is certainly not the worst Giallo out there, it's just very average at best.

A police officer, Nicola, violently argues with his rich wife, Sarah, because of her affair with a man, and goes to his female friend, Anne, a psychologist/ professor. But Sarah was murdered in the bathroom of the house, and most parts of the police think Nicola is the primary suspect, except Piero, an inspector of the case, who realises that what the still-unknown-murderer really wants is his daughter, Carol who is one of the students of Anne... If one expect something cinematically new in this film, (s)he will be disappointed strictly because there is almost nothing new. But (s)he is a fun of Giallo films, I think (s)he can love this because whole the film consisted of selective elements of Giallo films, notably of Dario Argento's TENEBRE and FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. For instance, the music composer of this film is Claudio Simonetti of the GOBLIN (and he does an excellent job here), and Lara Wendel of TENEBRE's youngest victim, Maria, plays the short-haired fair heroine, Carol (and her boyish attractiveness adds a fresh atmosphere to the film). But above all, particularly with the regard to the plot, the influence of FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET is much stronger, and one can even say this film is a post-TENEBRE remake of it.

Nicola's beautiful wife is brutally murdered in the shower immediately after he discovers that she has been cheating on him.Naturally the police assume Nicola is responsible, but the possibility of another suspect becomes more and more likely..."You'll Die at Midnight" is one of the better Lamberto Bava's giallo efforts.The film is surprisingly stylish and the killings are quite gory.The film borrows a lot from Dario Argento's brilliant "Tenebre",although I enjoyed it more than earlier Bava's giallo "A Blade in the Dark".The murder of a young woman who has underwear stuffed down her throat is an obvious nod to the first killing scene in "Tenebre".The stalking scene in the abandoned theater is truly creepy.The score by Claudio Simonetti is great and the acting is decent with Valeria D'Obici and Leonardo Treviglio in the leading roles.The story is pretty derivative,but "You'll Die at Midnight" shouldn't disappoint fans of Italian giallos.7 out of 10.

Lamberto Bava's films may not have the cutting edge that many of his father's did, but the good thing about it is that you can always count on a decent thrill ride, and while You'll Die at Midnight doesn't set the genre on fire; it's a more than decent Giallo and I'm pretty certain that regular viewers will get a lot out of it. Being released in 1986, this one comes very late in the Giallo cycle although it recaptures that mysterious feel of the classic Giallo's well and the cinematography is good despite the fact that this obviously wasn't an A-class production. The plot is pure Giallo, and focuses on a murderer. We start by focusing on Nicola; a man who spots his wife buying lingerie and notices she has an affair. After arguing and almost killing her, he visits his colleague Anna, but shortly after he leaves the house; someone breaks in and murders his wife! Naturally, Nicola is the main suspect, but Anna, a psychologist, sees signs that the murder may have been committed by the so-called "Midnight Ripper". The only problem is that The Midnight Ripper has been dead for several years...

The film features lots of scenes reminiscent of classic Giallo's, and many of the murders are memorable. The kitchen scene is probably my favourite, but the murder scene inside a lingerie store has a more nasty edge. There isn't a great deal of variety with the weapons, but at least Lamberto ensures that the imagery is good and the film is always at least interesting. You'll Die at Midnight is pretty short, running at around 85 minutes and this is a good thing as it means that there is little filler and the film doesn't really have time to become boring. You'll Die at Midnight has more of a range of central victim characters than many other Giallo's too, and this makes the film more interesting as the killer appears to be after each one for different reasons. Naturally, it all builds into a final twist; which although somewhat silly (as the climaxes in these films often are), it's interesting enough and somehow (almost) makes sense in the context of the film. Overall, I can't say that this is a classic example of the genre; but like Lamberto's other Giallo attempts; it's certainly worth watching!