Le couteau de glace

What's with the bullfighting footage, Umberto? Even when not making cannibal films, he throws in some real animal violence. What did he have against animals?

This giallo has a few different twists on the formula, and although it's okay, it doesn't quite have enough insanity in it either. It involves Ida Galli returning to the family home to meet her family, including a mute Carroll Baker (nice turn from her in this film). Everyone's happy to see her, but this also seems to trigger a series of killings which may or may not have something to do with a local Satanic cult.

Knife of Ice looks great and sounds great, but it's also kind of tame and treading the same ground at the same time. It's almost as if Umberto is kind of stuck in the late sixties way of making gialli.

The great Umberto Lenzi is undeniably one of the most versatile and multi-talented Italian genre directors, having contributed to almost all (sub-)genres of Italian cult-cinema. While he is probably best-known for his notoriously brutal Cannibal movies MANGIATI VIVI (EATEN ALIVE BY THE CANNIBALS, 1980) and CANNIBAL FEROX (MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, 1981), his greatest films (in my opinion) are those from the 70s. For my money, Lenzi's greatest films are his Poliziotteschi, above all the gritty and brutal masterpiece MILANO ODIA - LA POLIZIA NON PUÒ SPARARE (ALMOST HUMAN, 1974), followed by his Gialli, most notably the great and incredibly elegant SETTE ORCHIDEE MACCHIATE DI ROSSO (SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS, 1972). While Lenzi's films have the just reputation of being among the grittiest and most uncompromisingly violent ones in Italian cult-cinema, this is not necessarily true for his Gialli. The great Giallo-genre is generally a violent, sleazy and often sexist one, and while Lenzi's genre-contributions do employ sleaze and violence, they are comparatively tame withing the Giallo genre. Especially this IL COLTELLO DI GIACCHIO aka. KNIFE OF ICE (1972) is a convoluted and plot-based Giallo which is practically sleaze-less and rather low on brutality.

Caroll Baker, the star of Lenzi's early Gialli ORGASMO (1969) and PARANOIA (1970) plays Martha, a woman who was traumatized and left mute after witnessing the death of her parents at age thirteen. She lives with her uncle in a mansion in the Spanish countryside when her cousin is stabbed to death by a maniacal killer. What first appears to be the deed of a sex-maniac turns out to become a series of attacks with everybody involved being a possible suspect/victim...

1972 was probably THE golden year for the Giallo-genre with several of the greatest genre-masterpieces being released (e.g. Sergio Martino's IL TUO VIZIO È UNA STANZA CHIUSA E SOLO IO NÈ HO LA CHIAVE, Lucio Fulci's NON SI SEVIZIA UN PAPERINO, Massimo Dallamano's COSA AVETE FATTO A SOLANGE?, Emilio Miraglia's LA DAMA ROSSA UCCIDE SETTE VOLTE, etc). While KNIFE OF ICE is not one of the absolute highlights of this great year of the Giallo, it is a good and very suspenseful one. As usual for the genre, the film is elegantly filmed and supported by a good (though not exceptional) score. The film has a gloomy atmosphere, and many the protagonists are likable, which makes the easy to root for. The fact that most of the murders are off-screen is one of the major letdown, especially for fans of the Giallo-typical elegantly gory murders. This is one of several Gialli that touch the subject of Satanism, even though it isn't as important as in some others (such as Sergio Martino's TUTTI I COLORI DEL BUIO). Caroll Baker is good in her role, as are most of the other actors. Overall, this isn't one of my favorite films from Lenzi, but it is a more than decent Giallo that my fellow fans of the Genre shouldn't miss.

Fourth joint Giallo by Carroll Baker and genre master Umberto Lenzi

After three Gialli together, the two had had enough of each other before they decided to try it out again two years after "Paranoia" (1970). The budget of this film, originally called "Il coltello di ghiaccio", was considerably smaller. So this time you had to at least leave the sophisticated world of the super-rich from the three previous films behind you, which was good for the production. This time it was shot with a Spanish co-producer, so the locations were near Madrid and in the Pyrenees. The film was released in Italian cinemas on August 24, 1972.

It all starts in a bullring. Martha (Carroll Baker), who has been mute and severely traumatized since a tragic train accident, receives a very welcome visit from her cousin Jenny (Ida Galli), who is now a successful singer. Together they visit their uncle Ralph (George Rigaud), who lives in the country with his housekeeper (Silvia Monelli) and chauffeur (Eduardo Fajardo). At night, charming Jenny hears a strange noise in the garage. When she looks, she is "butchered" out of nowhere in the most beautiful slasher style. Now there is of course great horror, especially since a similar act has already taken place nearby. Martha's uncle and Inspector Duran (Franco Fantasia) fear that the mute Martha could also fall victim to the insane assassin because she is as beautiful as the previous victims. Various people come under suspicion, including Dr. Laurent (Alan Scott), who devotedly looks after Martha. A Satanist is also targeted by the police. But things get much worse. More murders happen...

The year 1972 was the golden year of the Giallo genre, which can also be seen in the motif of Satanism that plays a role in many successful Gialli of that year. In "The Colors of the Night" with Edwige Fenech and in "Don't Torture A Duckling" by Lucio Fulci, dark Satan disciples end up in the circle of suspects. Ever since "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) by Roman Polanski, the topic has simply been in the air. And William Friedkin was still busy filming "The Exorcist" (1973).

By the way, a knife made of ice doesn't appear in the film at all. The title of the film refers to the quote: "Fear is a knife of ice which penetrates the senses down to the depth of conscience", which should sound a lot like the classic horror master Edgar Allan Poe, but was probably invented by Umberto Lenzi himself .

Genre master Umberto Lenzi (1931-2017) is best known in German-speaking countries for his horror films "Eaten Alive" and "Großangriff der Zombies / Major Attack of the Zombies" from 1980. He has been at home in every genre of ItaloCinema for decades. Historical films like "Catherine of Russia" (1963) with the great Hildegard Knef or Hildegarde Neff, as she was known internationally, peplum films like "Sandokan" (1963) with alpha muscle man Steve Reeves, Edgar Wallace-Gialli mixtures like "Das Rätsel des silbernen Halbmonds" (1972) with Uschi Glas and GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Antonio Sabato and of course his police masterpiece "Der Berserker / The Berserker" (1974) with Tomas Milian.

All four Gialli, which Umberto Lenzi shot with Carroll Baker, indulge in cruelly beautiful images and are absolutely worth seeing. Do not miss!

The third Lenzi giallo I've watched after having attended screenings of ORGASMO (1969; incidentally another of his collaborations with star Carroll Baker) and SPASMO (1974) during the Italian B-movie retrospective at the 2004 Venice Film Festival; they're not the best examples of the genre by far, but neither are they among the worst.

I recall ORGASMO being pretty complex, while SPASMO was weird without being especially compelling (though I did watch it as part of an all-night marathon that ended at 8:00 and where the screening of Lenzi's film was interrupted a couple of times because of trouble with the print!). As for the film in question, it's basically a retread of Robert Siodmak's noir-ish masterpiece THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946) - which Lenzi himself had singled out as his favorite film during one of the many Press Conferences he gave (along with colleagues Sergio Martino and Enzo G. Castellari) during the Festival: Baker plays a mute, the main setting is an upper-class household in a small rural town, the climax occurs during a thunderstorm and, of course, there's a serial killer on the loose! The narrative also takes in drug addiction and devil worship, but these emerge as mere red herrings.

Still, for a giallo, it's pretty bloodless and, to be honest, its attempt at psychology - demonstrated by frequent abrupt cutting in which Baker has flashes from her past, as well as the various victims at their moment of death, and the possible perpetrator - is not only unconvincing but becomes a repetitive device with little purpose (given the final revelation)! As a matter of fact, this particular twist was re-used in SPASMO; still, the obligatory explanation offered here is a little weak but, then, this form of coda seldom worked within the confines of the giallo subgenre! Besides, the score is undistinguished and the casting merely okay: Georges Rigaud (as Baker's ageing uncle, who has a heart condition which he ultimately uses to his own advantage!), Eduardo Fajardo (as a sinister-looking chauffeur), Evelyn Stewart, etc.

This early 70's giallo by Umberto Lenzi is certainly among the best in his filmography and also in the whole genre. Personally I think Lenzi's best films are the funny cartoon-turned-film Kriminal, the stylish giallo Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, the explosive Napoli violenta and this. In the eighties he did plenty of film trash in form of Eaten Alive, Hitcher in the Dark or Black Demons, all of which are ripping something off and/or very dull and slow moving. Knife of Ice came when the giallo boom was at its hottest and the result is convincing.

Technically the film is superb, containing great cinematography in the beginning when we learn about the main character's trauma towards trains. From this point on, Lenzi shows us his ability to benefit the widescreen and, for example, the bicycle ride near the forest is genuinely beautiful! This scene also shows Lenzi's ability to build suspense, very slowly but meaningfully. After all, there aren't so many murders in the whole film, only the suspense circulating around the murderer's identity.

One suspect is a devil worshipper which brings new aspects to the mystery. Since the final scene takes place in a church, one can wonder if Lenzi wanted to comment on something, maybe the hypocritical morale of church and superstition. The main character (Carrol Baker) is mute which demands a lot from her face and eyes. The actress works very well, giving us a believable performance circulating around the emotions of fear and mental pain. The other actors are good, too. The finally, however, may not give too positive a sight about female sex since they all are expressed rather negatively in the film, one way or another. Still this is easily among the most noteworthy in the genre, not as bloody as the Argento films, for example, but equally suspenseful and visually also interesting.