Le Manoir aux filles

An elderly gentleman with a life insurance for a million dollars is found shot dead in the amusement park - on the same day he signed the document. The insurance company doesn't think this is a coincidence and puts their best man, Chris Bayer, on the case, competing with the police inspector as to who'll solve the case first. The smart insurance agent seduces both (!) daughters of the deceased, but despite his, um, "efforts", soon there are more deaths in the family...

Suspenseful, even if unnecessarily confused thriller by frequent filmmaker Alfonso Brescia, who had an excellent cast at his disposal, including Bond villain Adolfo Celi, Robert Hoffmann, Irena Demick ("The Sicilian Clan"), character actor Philippe Leroy and the stunning Pilar Velasquez. The versatile Leroy is rather wasted here, though.

There is a bunch of Gialli that tell a story about an inheritance. Most of them tend to be rather crime movies than Gialli in the classic sense.

This film by Alfonso Brescia also tells a story about an inheritance that spreads murder, and in the first half of the film, only one killing happens (in the opening scene), and then the film goes on rather as a family drama than a Giallo. But in the middle of the film, the title happens (a member of the family is indeed found nude and killed in a park), and from now on, it's a typical Giallo. The bodies are piling up (the murder scenes are not very graphic, but there are some stylish moments), and towards the climax, there is the usual surprise as the identity of the killer is revealed. The revelation is as implausible as often with Gialli, but it works better than in other similarly mediocre ones.

Brescia's direction is nothing special, the lead actors are only average, but there is some fine supporting cast lead by Adolfo Celi as the investigating Police inspector. So, the first half is a bit dreary, but the second half is surely capable of satisfying Giallo afficionados.

Well, my relationship with Giallo thus far has been so good that I wouldn't hesitate to name this sort of film as my favourite - but I was bound to come up against a completely redundant one before long, and that's exactly what we have here. Naked Girl Killed in the Park is as uninspiring as its title, which is unfortunate as the plot itself is ripe for springing a good Giallo from. We follow the murder of a rich man whose body was found on an amusement park ride. The most intriguing thing about this murder is that the man has just completed a one million dollar life insurance deal! Naturally, the insurance company isn't too keen on paying out after such a short period of time, so they send out their best agent; who starts his investigation by infiltrating the family and seducing the youngest daughter. Director Alfonso Brescia continually fails to generate any suspense and/or intrigue - and this means that the resulting film is really rather boring. The music rarely fits what's on screen - and the film also seems bathed in the score, rather than having the two exist in harmony.

The murders are far too tame, and while some blood wouldn't have saved the movie; it would have garnered it slightly more praise at least. The acting is mostly terrible, with Robert Hoffman (A Black Veil for Lisa, Spasmo) not doing brilliantly in leading a cast of unknowns with his under-wrought performance. The title of the film does come true as a naked dead girl does turn up in a park; but it's over half way through before that happens, and since the murder that kicks the plot off involves a rich man and a carnival, it makes you wonder why this title was chosen - probably to drag in more viewers. The plot is not very well handled at all, and I spent most of the film wondering what exactly was going on. It's not long before the movie starts to get boring, and it's that reason that is responsible for not even the rather good ending making any sort of impression on this Giallo fan. Overall, Naked Girl Killed in the Park is the worst Giallo I've seen so far - and while I don't doubt that there are worse films lurking in the wilderness of the Italian thriller, this one certainly isn't worth tracking down.

This rarely watched Giallo turns out to be an acceptable thriller in which occurs a mysterious death at an attraction park , resulting in unpredictable consequences with thrilling events , deliciously twisted happenings and brief touches of erotism . Mystery/thriller with baroque giallo overtones and surprising intrigue, being well proceeded here and there , along with an unbearably tension in charge of the adequate protagonists . Insurance company sends its top man, an insurance investigator named Chris Buyer (Robert Hoffman) , he's assigned by the chiefs (Tomas Blanco, Philippe Leroy) of his company to investigate the death a wealthy industrialist named Johann Wallenberger who was found dead only hours after taking out a million dollar insurance policy . He decides to go undercover by dating the dead man's daughter , Catherine (Pilar Velazquez), who suffers astonishing nightmares and is taunted by menacing phone calls leaving her on edge of sanity , but before long , he's in her family home , in Madrid outskirts , there he meets her mother Magda (Irina Demick) who goes crazy and her sister Barbara Wallenberger (Patrizia Adiutori) who starts seducing him . Along the way , a stubborn commissioner called Huber (Adolfo Celi) begins investigating the grisly killings that are happening around the peculiar family .

A decent mystery/thriller with a lot of mysterious murders and combining the elements of intrigue with drama and plot twists . This is pretty entertaining stuff about a wealthy financier who has showed up dead outside a haunted house ride, while a young playboy investigator seeks answers from a luxurious countryside house . Suspenseful and interesting screenplay by expert Antonio Fos , Lorenzo Gicca Palli and Al Bradley himself , though quite tiring at times. There is a surprising murder in a House of Horrors of Madrid amusement park where was also filmed : ¨Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City¨ (1980) and there is plenty of nakedness and even adding Nazi war criminals . This intriguing/chilling Italian/Spanish exploitation displays colorful images , disturbing frames , eerie scenes , nudism , mysterious events and a pretty unexpected, unpredictable conclusion . Atmospheric and oddball Giallo with chilling frames , a lot of naked people , twisted scenes , taking place cruel killings , and confusion around Wallemberg family . Some illogical parts in the story are more than compensated for the excitement provided by some bizarre images , though are sometimes poorly shot and tedious at times . The movie is running out of ideas a lot ; however , being still good enough to be fun . Stars the handsome Robert Hossein as an investigator from insurance company , Pilar Velazquez as the beautiful young who's stalked by a stranger , Irina Demick as the often drinking mother usually losing her mind and Patrizia Adiutori as her sexually active elder sister Barbara . Being a Spain/Italy co-production here shows up a number of familiar faces as Spanish actors , such as : Tomás Blanco , Lorenzo Robledo , Teresa Gimpera , Maria Vico and Italians as Philippe Leroy , Adolfo Celi , Franco Ressel , Howard Ross .

It displays an adequate and atmospheric cinematography by Alfonso Nieva , utterly filmed in Madrid , though interiors shot in Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy . Likewise , it contains a mysterious and evocative musical score by Carlo Savina , a Morricone's disciple. This average giallo was regularly directed by really prolific Italian director Alfonso Brescia with flaws , gaps , shortcomings and a little bit cheesy . Alfonso Brescia often nicknamed Al Bradley was a below average director who in the 60s , 70s , and 80s made a lot of films . Bradley was a craftsman who directed all kind of genres . Alfonso Brescia or Al Bradley was born in Rome , 1930, and died in 2001 . He was a director and writer , known for directing Spaghetti Westerns : Days of Violence ,Killer Caliber and The Colt Is My Law . Alfonso began directing muscle-men epics as The Conqueror of Atlantis , The magnificent gladiator , La Rivolta dei Pretoriani . He also directed Sci-Fi and Sword and witchery genre as Iron Warrior , Sette Uomini D'Oro Nello Spazio , The war of the robots . Adventures : Zanna Bianca Il Cacciatore Solitario, White Fang and the Hunter , Amazons against Supermen , Adventures of Don Juan . And Wartime films such as Objetivo Rommel , Misiones Ardientes and Hell in Normandy . Rating 5.5 out of 10.

I won't argue that it's a lot more appealing to mention a naked dead girl in the title of a horror movie but, in all honesty, a far more accurate description would be: "Fully Dressed Guy Killed in an Amusement Park Ride"… The plot of this ultra-obscure Italian giallo merely revolves on this rich bloke who's found murdered on a theme ride, only moments after he completed a million dollar life-insurance deal! Instead of paying the amount right away, the company puts one of their best investigators on the case and he infiltrates in the victim's family by seducing the youngest daughter. There naturally is a naked girl found killed in the park, only that comes after a whole lot of family-intrigues and character introductions. The discovery of the naked girl in the park (anyone notice how I LOVE repeat the title all the time?) does herald the beginning of a series of inventive murders, insane plot twists and effective red herrings, so it isn't such a misleading title after all. The story of this film is more or less textbook giallo-material, but it's rather slow-paced and the visual style isn't all that impressive. The murders sequences are pretty tame (no original modus operandi here) and the movie doesn't feature any truly memorable suspense sequences. All this probably clarifies why "Naked Girl Killed in the Park" is still very unknown and incredibly hard to find out there in DVD-land. Also, the cast doesn't contain any famous names and director Alfonso Brescia isn't such a prominent giallo-deity as, say, Sergio Martino or Dario Argento. Still, there's plenty of stuff to recommend to well-trained giallo fans, like a fair amount of sleaze, good music and quite a demented climax…. And a downright fantastic title, of course.