Passi di danza su una lama di rasoio

While waiting for the arrival of her boyfriend at an observation point, Kitty (Susan Scott) a keen photographer peers through a tourist telescope and manages to catch sight of the brutal murder of a woman through the window of a nearby house. She is unable to get a good view of the killer's face though and when her boyfriend Alberto Morosini(Robert Hoffman) arrives out of breath and limping, she tells Alberto of her ordeal. Alberto drives her to the police, who tell her they have no news of any killings locally. In the following days even the newspapers have no account of any murder, the police don't seem to have interest until they finally discover the body of the victim and then when some of the witnesses who seen the killer flee, are brutally slain, the police devoid of any leads and led by Inspector Merughi call in the limping Alberto as they believe the killer is a cripple with a cane, Alberto's name is released to the press and soon even Kitty begins to suspect Alberto.

It has to be said that Death Carries a Cane is low on thrills, but it does contain some violent murders and a nice gimmick for the killer, in that he uses his cane to hold down his victim before slashing their throats with a razor blade and in grand Giallo tradition the killer is replete with Black Hat/Gloves/Coat, the killers motive however is not revealed until the finale and we the viewer are not given much of a clue as who his identity and we only ever seen his hand or his frame in silhouette. The film itself lacks any kind of visual style, the colourless film stock is grainy which gives the impression of drabness, the locations for the most part are uninspired. There's also a back story of impotent composer Marco(Simon Andreu)and his ambitious reporter girlfriend and the seeming connection to the murderer of a girls ballet school, but even Giallo regulars Scott, Hoffman and Andreu fail to liven it up and Scott's obligatory nude scene seems like the fulfilment of a contractual obligation and less to do with the plot. Roberto Pregadio's score is generic and fails to liven up even the few moments of suspense, having said that it still held my interest and contained some nice kills but nothing spectacular. For Giallo completists only.

Ketty,a photographer living in Rome,accidentally witnesses the murder of a young woman at the hands of a razor-wielding black-gloved killer.Ketty and her fiance,Alberto,go to the police-only to learn that two other witnesses to the crime have been slashed to death.Ketty fears that she will be the next victim when her ballerina friend Magda is brutally killed by the same elusive culprit.The police are baffled,unable to find a motive.It is Alberto who discovers the connection:all the murdered girls were dancers.Investigating further,Ketty finds a photo identifying the killer.But before she can warn Alberto,Ketty is trapped in a lonely greenhouse,stalked by the vicious madman!"Tormentor" is a pretty stylish Italian giallo that features plenty of graphic violence and nudity.The film is quite suspenseful and there are some bloody razor slashings.So if you're a fan of Italian giallos give it a look.8 out of 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.

One of the better Italian slasher flicks of it's time.

Interesting use of color and editing. The story is rather typical but it moves about quickly enough. If you enjoy the earlier Argento flicks, Bava or even Fulci's "Don't torture a ducking" you should enjoy this.

"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.