Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso

Before Cannibal Ferox and Eaten Alive!, Umberto Lenzi had his Giallo films. They are different from the American murder-mysteries in that we actually see the crime taking place, not just CSI showing up to process the scene, and we usually get lots of blood and tits with the deed.

OMG! A scene from The Driller Killer. The "Half-Moon Maniac" uses what is convenient to get the job done.

The last "victim" sets herself up for the kill to catch the maniac.

It doesn't work, and Mario (Antonio Sabato) keeps looking. Can he get home and save his wife, Giulia (Uschi Glas) before the killer strikes?

Great film, even though it was dubbed.

A serial-killer is attacking women in Italy, leaving a silver moon near their corpses. While traveling to Paris by train with her fiancé, the famous designer Mario Gerosa (Antonio Sabàto), Giulia Torresi (Uschi Glass) is assaulted by the serial-killer in her cabin. Police Inspector Vismara (Pier Paolo Capponi) decides to hide that Giulia has survived to protect her. Mario decides to investigate the victims and finds that six women had been in the hotel Giulia owned in the past. They travel expecting to save the women that have not been attacked before the killer finds them.

"Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso", a.k.a. "Seven Blood-Stained Orchids", is a thriller that could have been better. The plot is not engaging but there are violent murders. Indicated only for fans of giallo. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Sete Orquídeas Manchadas de Sangue" ("Seven Blood-Stained Orchids")

Seven Blood Stained Orchids (Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso, 1971) is extremely pleasant and atmospheric Italian mystery, giallo from the beginning of the 70's. Lenzi himself likes this film too, but doesn's think it is his masterpiece. I have not seen too much of his work (I have seen at least Cannibal Ferox, Mangiati Vivi! and Il Paese del sesso selvaggio) but when I saw this 70's classic I knew that Lenzi is at his best in this genre.

Murders take place and soon the main character starts to notice some connections and relations between the murdered ones. Couple of years ago something evil happened and now it seems to be payback time.

This is almost as masterful as Argento's Profondo Rosso in the suspense department. Argento's work is more stylish and artistic but Lenzi is definitely not less interesting or less skilled. Couple of scenes are very scary and shocking especially if the film is viewed alone in the dark..Music by Riz Ortolani is great, but not as great as in Cannibal Holocaust or La Casa sperduta nel parco by Ruggero Deodato.

In these giallos, there is always pretty confusing and non-believable plot but it doesn's matter because these films don't have to be realistic; they can be supernatural as well and it doesn't diminish their impact. Plot in this film isn't too confusing but many twists and turns take place during the film.

Seven Blood Stained Orchids is highly recommended for Italo fanatics and horror fans alike. Lenzi directed his most notorious cannibal films only because of money, so these mystery films are far more personal and artistic too. And the lead lady character played by Uschi Glas is unbelievably charming and sexy, and she is very nice to watch.

8 out of 10 and recommended!

Umberto Lenzi delivers a giallo that has all the trademark elements fully in place, but somehow fails to achieve the right level of madness to produce a true classic. I'm not quite sure why, though. Let's blame Antonio Sabato!

No – let's get to the story instead. Someone wearing the standard issue giallo killer uniform (black gloves, floppy hat, raincoat) is murdering women in and around Rome, at rather a rapid rate, too! This guy knows how to create a giallo atmosphere – not only does he shake things up on the variety side, he also leaves a weird silver crescent next to the bodies.

His third victim (I think) is the bride of Antonio Sabato, and she gets cut up on a train while her husband out buying McEwan's Export from the train bar. He attends her funeral while the cops take everybody's pictures covertly, but it's all a ruse! She's still alive though I'm sure her relatives are going to be chuffed when they find that out.

Antonio then gets on the job of finding out who the killer is, with the aid of the police to a certain extent. He discovers that all the woman being offed all stayed at a certain hotel at a certain time, but why are they being killed? And who is this American people keep referring to? And did Bruno Corazarri just say he gave the American a chewie?

So we've got the stupid clues, the Euro-babes, the set piece kills, what have you, but I couldn't help but feel that Antonio Sabato wasn't pushing himself as the hero (and I felt the same way about him in The Man with Icy Eyes), so his lack of animation made the film at bit dull. Or maybe that was due to the film following the giallo formula a bit too strictly (although the 'death by drill' was an eye opener). It could because I've watched about a hundred of these films in about six months. YOU DECIDE!

Despite some unfavorable reviews (notably Adrian Smith's), this is a classic giallo that really works. The puzzle of the half moon lockets is classic Edgar Wallace and is the tenuous thread that connects the set-piece murders and keeps the story moving. Sabato and Glass race around to solve the mystery and clear Sabato's name but, as per usual, the killer is one step ahead of them. It all ends in a hand to hand fight in a swimming pool that's a cut above the usual giallo climax, and everything is nicely resolved. In 1972 plot still mattered to the giallo genre (1973's Torso would change that) and the films were a lot better for it. This one goes high on the list of gialli and was a peak for Umberto Lenzi.