Chassés-croisés sur une lame de rasoir

"Death Carries a Cane" does a pretty good job in misleading and misdirecting you. So you never know who the killer is until the ending. But the motive given for the killer doesn't make any sense. With much more effort that could have made this movie into a classic. Also some scenes did not make sense at all. Like there were scenes cut out that have to give a logical explanation for what they are doing in the scene. This giallo might be a tad sleazy for some but in a healthy way. Because the women in this move are pretty attractive. Especially Nieves Navarro (or Susan Scott). There is something about this woman that screams sophistication. All the more hilarious later on when she is being made fun of towards the end. Overall not the most impressive giallo still a good one for a rainy Sunday.

A photographer named Kitty (Nieves Navarro) observes a brutal murder through a telescope. When she goes to the police, they're dismissive of her claim. Soon, a black-gloved maniac begins stalking and slashing those who may have witnessed his grisly deed.

TORMENTOR (aka: DEATH CARRIES A CANE) is a fairly typical giallo with the expected madman, murders, red herrings, and copious nudity. However, it's quite enjoyable, and they did attempt to add a novel aspect to the killer's persona, as evidenced by the title...

Susan Scott of "Death walks at midnight" and "Orgasmo Nero" fame stars in this fairly unremarkable entry into the giallo genre directed by Maurizio Pradeaux. She witnesses a murder of a girl through a telescope, but fails to see the killer's face (who's dressed in typical giallo fashion). With the help of her boyfriend (Robert Hoffman from Umberto Lenzi's "Spasmo") she starts her investigation, while the killer proceeds to cut the witnesses' throats with a straight razor. There's nothing special about 'Death Walks With a Cane', it's a routine giallo with little originality about it. You've got all the usual stuff here: violent murders, weird characters,crazy plot twists, but there's still something missing. Firstly - suspense, the movie is pretty damn low on thrills. Secondly - sense of style. What kind of giallo is this without stylish locations? The story is supposed to be taking place in Rome, but the action mainly revolves in some un-photogeic back streets. No gorgeous architecture,just old shacks. The most upsetting thing about the film is the camera-work: flat and uninspired, with lots of pointless zooms and occasionally out of focus. Only during the murder scenes do the proceedings look a little more lively with some nice camera angles. The murders are gory and quite well executed. The score for the film composed by Roberto Pregadio isn't progressive or groovy or pounding or anything at all. Merely generic. There's a good deal of nudity in 'Death Walks With a Cane'. Robert Hoffman (who was just excellent in "Spasmo") and Scott do what they can with the material they're given, battling through some hysterically funny dialogue. The supporting cast includes Simon Andreu and Luciano Rossi who's always played demented creeps in westerns and police films. Sadly, this time Luciano Rossi is wasted as just one more red herring. The film isn't great, still worth a look for giallo fans but had a potential to be a lot better. If you want to see the same cast in a decent film, watch "Death walks at midnight".

"Passi Di Danza Su Una Lama Di Rasoio" (aka. "Death Carries a Cane") of 1973 certainly isn't one of the many essential Italian Gialli from the time. However, Maurizio Pradeaux' film is still a creepy and stylish little film that my fellow Giallo/Italian Horror fans should enjoy. The Italian Giallo has brought forth many masterpieces; and while this film isn't one of them, it is nonetheless very enjoyable. This is not least due to the ravishing and wonderfully charismatic genre-beauty Nieves Navarro, who blessed quite a bunch of notable Gialli with her presence.

Overall, "Passi Di Danza...", which shares some features with Luciano Ercoli's "La Morte Accarezza a Mezzanotte" ("Death Walks at Midnight", 1972) is rather routine stuff. The when beautiful Kitty (Nieves Navarro) is looking through coin operated binoculars at a tourist observation point, she becomes witness to the brutal knifing murder of a girl. At first, the cops laugh her report off; when they actually discover the murder victim, they suspect Kitty's boyfriend Alberto (Robert Hoffmann). Bodies pile up as whoever could give hints for solving the crime ends up murdered...

As mentioned above, "Passi Di Danza..." is rather routine stuff, which, in case of a Giallo, isn't a bad thing. The murders are stylish and brutal (though not too spectacular by brutal Giallo-standards), the music is eerie and hypnotic (though nothing special by the high Giallo-standards), and the camera work and settings are stylish and elegant (though, again, nothing spectacular by Giallo-standards). Nieves Navarro (who is credited as Susan Scott) is, once again, great. The ravishing Miss Navarro is once again given several opportunities to take her clothes off, and makes a protagonist that is both very sexy and likable. The blonde Anuska Borova, who seems never to have appeared in any other films, is almost equally sexy in her double role. Robert Hoffmann is good enough in the male lead. The rest of the cast includes regular leading man Simòn Andreu, who appeared alongside Nieves Navarro on several other occasions including Luciano Ercoli's three Gialli ("Forbidden Fotos of a Lady Above Suspicion", "Death Walks With High Heels" and "Death Walks at Midnight") and regular creepy-man Luciano Rossi, who appeared as a super-creep in all sub-genres of Italian Cult-cinema.

Overall, "Passi Di Danza..." may not be offering anything new or particularly overwhelming, but it's a formula Giallo that offers style, suspense, sleaze and brutality, and that my fellow fans of the genre should enjoy.I recommend tracking down the Italian version, since the English dubbing is abysmal. My rating: 6.5/10

This is a rather mediocre giallo, yet another one co-starring Susan Scott and Simon Andreu; though not a Luciano Ercoli film, it would place somewhere between his two DEATH WALKS titles.

The backdrop for the mystery this time around is a dance academy - hence the original title, which translates to DANCE STEPS ON A RAZOR'S BLADE; the English one, then, refers to the fact that the killer is ostensibly lame. Among its roster of artistically-oriented(!) characters is a photographer (Scott), her special-effects technician boyfriend Robert Hoffman, a musician/producer played by Andreu and Anuska Borova as a scoop-seeking female reporter (who has a twin sister, a former dancer whose colleagues are being brutally murdered!). George Martin(!), who plays the Police Inspector, also co-wrote the script with the director; his face seemed oddly familiar to me but, looking at his filmography on the IMDb, I only recognized the fine Spaghetti Western THE RETURN OF RINGO (1965) - which, incidentally, also featured Scott (under her original Spanish name of Nieves Navarro)!

The film provides plenty of red herrings throughout, but the final revelation is so abruptly presented as to be practically unintelligible! As was the case with THE FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (1970), Scott is decked out in some horrendous 70s fashions (worst of all an over-sized cap like the one Jack Nicholson - in The Joker's guise - would wear in BATMAN [1989]!). Besides, the film's overall visual style is pretty uninspired (apart from the stalkings, done from the killer's POV), with its eye squarely on the narrative's exploitable elements - witness the numerous wholly gratuitous sex scenes, and even featuring a dance pirouette that culminates in a striptease! The dubbing, too, is among the worst I've had to sit through for this type of film. Roberto Pregadio's score is pretty nice, though - whose main theme, in keeping with the musical elements of the plot, is turned into a recurring motif.