Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro

Umberto Lenzi doubtlessly is one of the greatest and most multi-talented Italian Cult directors, who has contributed gems to pretty much any genre and sub-genre Italian genre-cinema has brought forth, be it rough Poliziotteschi like "Milano Oida... La Polizia Non Può Sparare" ("Almost Human", 1974), "Roma A Mano Armata" ("Rome Armed To The Teeth", 1976) and "Napoli Violenta" ("Violent Naples", 1976), stylish Gialli like "Sette Orchidee Macchiate Di Rosso" ("Seven Blood-Stained Orchids", 1972) or "Spasmo" (1974), Gruesome Cannibal Films Like "Il Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio" ("Deep River Savages", 1972), "Mangiati Vivi" ("Eaten Alive By The Cannibals", 1980) or "Cannibal Ferox" (1981), and even Westerns, Spy Flicks, Sandal Films and Sword and Sorcery - there's hardly been a genre Lenzi was not part of, and he delivered fantastic films in any of them.

While "Gatti Rossi in Un Labirinto Di Vetro" aka. "Eyeball" (1975) isn't Lenzi's best Giallo ("Seven Blood-Stained Orchids" is, without a doubt), it is still a highly entertaining film to watch. On a tour to Spain, a bunch of American tourists, among them several hot women, are targeted by a knife-wielding, red-caped Maniac, who kills his victims by stabbing them in the eye... This murder method alone is capable of making a film worthwhile, and since this one is by Umberto Lenzi, there is, of course, more. This one's plot line may be less complicated and ingenious than the typical 70s Giallo, but Lenzi nonetheless delivers tons of entertainment. The film is sleazy and violent, the murders are gory and the female cast-members all seem to have exhibitionist tendencies. The mystery and suspense level are not particularly high, but Lenzi's skillful directing still does ensure tension. Score and Cinematography are genre-typically cool, but not particularly memorable. Overall, "Eyeball" is doubtlessly one of Lenzi's lesser films, but still a noteworthy and very entertaining little flick that is recommendable to all my fellow fans of this great Italian master.

Acceptable Gialli dealing with a group of American tourists travelling on a coach with a maniac killer . There appears ordinary series killer roaming here and there while committing several murders and various usual suspicious characters . Along the way the murderer in a red cape and hood is killing off the American tourists by slashing their eyeballs . Meanwhile , Inspector Tudela (Andres Mejuto) , fearlessly chasing the mystery despite his career nearing its end due to his imminent retirement, being assisted by commissioner (José Maria Blanco) , both of whom are investigating the killings of pretty young girls but the case results out to be far more difficult than it would first seem . The luxury coach is plenty of tourists , among them is a killer , and every single person acts suspiciously . There are the following ones : a joker tour guide (Raf Baldassarre) , the Alvarado marriage (Silvia Solar , Daniele Vargas) , a father (John Bartha) , travelling with his daughter (Veronica Miriel) , a priest (George Rigaud) who lost his daughter in a strange death , there's a lesbian couple (Ines Pellegrini, Mirta Miller) and an executive called Mark Burton (John Richardson and his secretary Paulette Stone (Martine Brochard) who is having an affair with her chief while deceiving his wife (Marta May) who is on the edge of a breakdown . And the already traumatized Paulette seems likely to be the next victim when take place strange events .

This is an allright Giallo where intrigue, tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking on a tour bus and in every room , corridors and luxurious hotels and exteriors from Barcelona and Sitges , with numerous suspect people , all of them seem to be suspicious travelers . This suspenseful movie is plenty of intrigue , thrills, chills , high body-count and well staged murders . The main premise results to be to guess who's the killer among a lot of suspect people . The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre that was invented by Mario Bava (the first seems to be : The girl who knew too much) along with Riccardo Freda (who made classic terror as Secret of Dr. Hitchcock, The ghost , I Vampiri) , they are the fundamental creators . Later on , it appears Dario Argento (Deep red , Suspira , Inferno) , another essential creator of classic Latin terror films . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color with shining red blood , usual zooms, originally staged crimes with seemingly fascination by razors and knifes , use of images-shock and a lot of plot twists .Umberto Lenzi's direction is well crafted , here he's less cynical and more inclined toward violence , brief nudism and lots of killings . Lenzi first Giallo was ¨Orgasmo¨ (1969) with Carroll Baker and during the 1970s , he filmed a number of Giallos , among them : ¨So Sweet, So Perverse¨, ¨Seven Blood-Stained Orchids¨ and this ¨Eyeball¨ . It's a co-production Italian- Spanish , that's why there shows up Spanish actors , such as : Andrés Mejuto , Mirta Miller , Verónica Miriel , George Rigaud, Silvia Solar , Marta May José María Blanco and Italian ones : Raf Baldassarre , Daniele Vargas , John Bartha , Ines Pellegrini , Laura Trotter ; most of them usually played in Spaghetti/Paella sub-genre. Colorful and adequate cinematography by cameraman Antonio Millán who photographed splendidly Spanish outdoors . The Spanish photographer to get the best sightseeing by adequate filming , using nice cameras to capture the flavor of urban , though shamelessly reducing Spain to stereotypes , Flamenco dancing and bullfighting squares included , providing gorgeous local colour with its monuments , sculptures , noisy streets , among others . In addition , thrilling and suspenseful score by Bruno Nicolai who was usual collaborator to Ennio Morricone .

The picture was well directed by the prolific filmmaker Umberto Lenzi , though it has some flaws and gaps .Talented and versatile writer/director Umbert Lenzi has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, comedy, Western, science fiction and Giallo in a career that spans over 40 years . Umberto Lenzi used the pseudonym Hank Milestone and Humphrey Logan . Umberto made his directorial debut with ¨Queen of the Seas¨ (1961) . Other pirate/sword flicks followed, starting with ¨Pirates of Malaysia¨ (1964) starred by Steeve Reeves, which was part of the height of the career of fictitious tales of historic legendary characters including Robin Hood , Catherine the Great, Zorro , Sandokan and Maciste . He subsequently directed a ¨Fumetti¨ titled The mask of Kriminal (1966) . Lenzi turned to the police thrillers called ¨Polizieschi¨, which rejuvenated his confidence and his popularity . Titles like ¨Almost Human¨ , ¨Free Hand For a Tough Cop¨ and ¨Brothers Till We Die¨ were the most popular and brutal of the thrillers . Lenzi is an expert on wartime genre such as he proved in ¨Desert commandos¨ , ¨Battle of commandos¨ , ¨From hell to victory¨ , ¨Young Lions¨ and ¨Bridge to hell¨. Prior to the Polizieschi, Lenzi directed ¨Man from Deep River¨ , which was the start of the Italian cannibal sub-genre . Later on , he directed two very gory jungle cannibal features , ¨Eaten Alive¨ and ¨Make Them Die Slowly ¨which was banned in 31 countries, made Lenzi distance himself from the cannibal genre . Then Lenzi directed ¨Nightmare City¨ (1980) , a zombie flick , and ¨Iron Master¨(1983) . In the 90s his films were extremely low-budgeted and failed at box-office .

A group of American tourists is visiting Spain. A red-cloaked killer is with them (or following them). The killings are nasty and the victims always have one of their eye balls removed. Right in the beginning of the film there's a very sudden and brutal murder. The fateful knife flashes out, the unlucky victim screams and screams again and the knife goes down and down. From this moment on I was hooked to the film.

Slasher film fans should like "Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro" (Eyeball). The action never lets down and the film is incredibly light and humorous. There are of course pretty girls and the mandatory lesbian couple (with rights to jealousy, fight and reconciliation scenes). The viewer is given a lot of red herrings and this enhances the fun still more. The Spanish locations are delightful (Barcelona and Sitges) and Umberto Lenzi displays his usual cinematic ability with swift and precise camera movements and editing. There are good killing scenes, particularly one in a funhouse.

I guess you won't be able to find out who the killer is. Anyway the story does make sense but is of secondary importance for those who want to enjoy the film.

"Gatti Rossi in un labirinto di vetro" (Eyeball) could be defined as a summer movie for grown-ups. It has it all – it's violent, sexy, funny, colourful and it has a cool soundtrack. So just let your critical brain at the door and enter this giallo funhouse. You may enjoy the ride.

Imagine how good reality TV show Coach Trip would be if instead of voting out the least popular couple, they murdered them instead? I can only imagine the sarcastic remarks host Brendan Sheerin would come away with.

Umerto Lenzi finally gets with the programme and gives us a glimpse of eighties Italian cinema by giving us a film that delivers on gore, trash, nudity, things not making any sense and eyeball removal, while removing the scheming couples and huge villas that have permeated his other gialli up to this point. Why have all the victims stuck in one place when you can have them enjoying Flamenco dancing, swimming and sightseeing in between being stabbed to death and having their eyeballs pulled out?

Yes, someone on the coach full of tourists is a killer, and in true trash form, every single person acts suspiciously. There's John Bartha, travelling with his daughter and seemingly fascinated by a razor while shaving, then there's George Riguad the priest who lost his daughter to death, there's a lesbian couple (well, not really suspicious) and a lady called Pauline who is thinking about having an affair with her boss who has also arrived on the scene, played by John Richardson, and he's looking over his shoulder because his wife is having some sort of breakdown and hasn't gone to the hospital like she was supposed to.

While it's not hard to guess the killer, a lot of fun can be had with this film. One thing that's intact from his earlier films is the cheesy soundtrack, which is similar to the one Lenzi used in The Man From Deep River. He also retains his good eye for composition while introducing a new element of women having their boobs pop out when being attacked, something he would use to great effect in the jaw-dropping Nightmare City.

Apart from everyone going to ridiculous lengths to appear guilty, you also have the killer becoming really crap at attacking people three-quarters of the way through the film, and an almost touching relationship between the old, nearly retired cop in charge of the case and his young apprentice. Nice one Lenzi! Oh, and the killer sports a nice red plastic outfit instead of the standard black glove/hat combo.

A tour bus carrying a handful of archetypal American tourists is making its way around Barcelona, hosted by an eccentric and sleazy tour guide. Mark Burton (John Richardson) has taken his mistress along with him who he is telling everyone is his secretary. Amongst the others in the group, there's a hip lesbian couple, a fun-seeking young daughter, a couple with a bit of an age difference, and a priest. They are all handed red raincoats to protect them from the torrential Spanish rain, when one of them is murdered by being repeatedly stabbed and having their eye removed. Burton suspects his ex-wife, who is apparently in Barcelona. Soon the tour group are being picked off by this mysterious, red-raincoat wearing psychopath.

My experience with Italian giallo director Umberto Lenzi is only limited at current. The only other work I've seen of his is the rather bad Video Nasty, Cannibal Ferox (1981). From what I've read, his work seems to be up and down, as is the case with the majority of the prolific Italian horror directors of his era. Eyeball, surprisingly, is not bad. It is, of course, unoriginal, cheesy, unsurprising, and rips-off horror master Dario Argento something rotten. Lenzi also makes the strange decision to have the murders take place in broad daylight, in public view. But it's also quite fun, and has a premise that is enjoyably ridiculous and a climatic revelation that blows it out of the water.

Giallos often don't make sense. Even some of the best works in the sub- genre, for example Argento's excellent Tenebrae (1982) is so mind- f*****g and far-fetched that it just makes the whole experience that much better. I wouldn't go that far in the case of Eyeball, but Lenzi's sheer audacity come the climax made me chuckle, and gave the film that all-important charm. The murder scenes are filmed rather badly with no effort made for set-piece or tension, but there's plenty of enjoyment to be had here. Lenzi clearly knows this as he even throws a bonus lesbian scene in the middle, seemingly just for the hell of it, and there's plenty of humour that comes from the mismatched band of characters. Nothing to give Argento and Fulci sleepless nights then, but for fans of giallo and Grindhouse, definitely worth a watch.

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