5 donne per l'assassino

Personally I don't really like it, nor do I think it's a very bright idea, when the body count of the horror movie you're about to watch already gets spoiled in the title… Seriously, five women for the killer? Well, okay, that pretty much suggests there will be five female casualties, but don't get your hopes up too much for witnessing much more carnage that this. It's a shame, really, because one of the many reasons why I seek out Italian gialli movies is the often unpredictable and unrestricted amount of gruesome murdering going on! I still definitely wanted to watch "Five Women for the Killer", of course, and mainly because it was writer/director Stelvio Massi's only genuine excursion into the giallo-domain. The underrated Massi made nearly two dozens of awesome Poliziotteschi thrillers, and most of them – like "Emergency Squad" or "Convoy Busters" to name just two – were so damn brutish and sadist that I really wondered what a giallo of his would look like. This one-man jury's verdict states that "Five Women for the Killer" is an adequate and more than watchable giallo, but it certainly isn't one of the genre's prime examples or highlights. The plot is reasonably tense and compelling, albeit also sluggish from time to time. The murders and particularly the killer's motives and choice of victims are vile and just a tad bit disturbing. Like in most Italian gialli, the psychopath targets pretty young women, but here the victims all recently found out that they were pregnant and our crazed killer viciously cuts open their stomach and intimate parts. The murders begin shortly after journalist Giorgio Pisani loses his wife whilst giving birth to their premature son. No wait, the murders only begin when Giorgio learns from his doctor and friend that he is – in fact – infertile and couldn't have been the child's father. Can't Giorgio accept that his wife was unfaithful and does he extract his vengeance on the pregnant women in his surrounding? Or is this just what the real killer wants everybody – and the police in particular - to think? "Five Women for the Killer" doesn't feature any great names in the cast, but the performances are solid and convincing. All the girls in the cast are ravishing and provide glorious full-frontal nudity (unshaved was still the standard), but of course they get savagely slaughtered shortly after so it's not a very sexy climax. Recommended for giallo-fanatics and fellow sick puppies all over the world!

Although implausible, the screenplay had enough sudden new developments to satisfy the giallo buff ; unfortunately , it's Stelvio Massi 's wish ,but it's Dario Argento's and Mario Bava's reality ; his directing is poor,editing absurd ,and the actors are left to their own devices .Gore , (soft) sex and female nudity galore replace Bava's skillful lighting effects and Argento's sense of mystery and of disturbing places .

Even the action is monotonous and repetitive :every time woman gets pregnant (or claims she is) ,one knows something awful will happen to her....which does not sustain suspense .

Routine giallo Five Women for the Killer lacks the visual style and atmosphere present in the genre's best and better known examples, but makes up somewhat with plenty of sex and female nudity (the film's titular women are very attractive and happy to strip) and some mean-spirited and gory murders, the victims - all pregnant - graphically cut 'from clitoris to sternum'. Director Stelvio Massi's handling of the plot is a little sloppy, meaning that it's easy to lose track of who is who, and the sheer number of suspects only add to the confusion.

Prime suspect would appear to be writer Giorgio Pisani (Francis Matthews), whose wife Erika dies giving birth to their son, after which Georgio discovers that he is sterile. Has finding out that the baby isn't his child fractured his mind and turned him into a killer of fertile women? That would be too obvious, and this being a convoluted giallo, the real murderer is far less likely: other candidates for crazed killer include adulterous Professor Aldo Betti (Giorgio Albertazzi), Betti's crazy wife, deceitful Dr. Lidia Franzi (Pascale Rivault), Erika's seemingly sinister illegitimate brother, and ex-pimp turned clinic porter Pellegrino.

5.5/10, rounded down to 5 for the anticlimactic resolution and the horribly discordant soundtrack (which features jazz flute).

In Stelvio Massi's rare giallo "Five Women for the Killer" the mysterious and psychologically disturbed slasher kills women by cutting them from clitoris to stomach.All the victims are slashed naked and one murder is pretty strong and leaves nothing to the imagination.Very unusual and complex giallo with plenty of nudity and rather unmemorable music composed by Giorgio Gaslini Quartet.The plot moves swiftly,but there is not much suspense.The cast includes Howard Ross as Commissioner of Police and 80's porno queen Ilona Staller."Five Women for the Killer" is a valid film only for giallo completists.6 out of 10.

A writer comes home to discover his wife has just died during childbirth. The baby is not well and is held at a hospital while he continues to write a newspaper column.

Pregnant women are cut up with a fertility symbol carved into their bodies and the writer has the misfortune of being linked to these various women.

Abrupt editing and jarring music make the film tough to sit through. The director seems to be attempting to mimic the style of Alfred Hitchcock without Alfred's proven technical genius.

The murder victims do shed their clothing before being murdered but the overall storyline becomes apparent before it ends with only a slight twist.