L'assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora

A tense and thrilling Giallo co-produced by Italy/Spain/France including ordinary grisly killings with a lot of twists and turns. This ' Gialli' getting certain success , being compellingly shot, including well staged crimes with full of enjoyable visual content , twists and turns . This is the usual Gialli where intrigue , tension , suspense , stabbing and chases show up lurking and threatening through apartment, seaside house, cars and grim interiors. The film combines atmospheric blending of thrills , chills , nudism and suspenseful final. Giorgio (George Hilton) is an ambitious adulterer who makes a deal with a serial killer to dispose of his wealthy wife, Nora (Tere Velazquez) . Unfortunately, a thrill-seeking young couple (Beatriz Galbó, Alessio Orano) become involved into a twisted criminal plot when they rob the killer's (Antoine Saint-John) car with Nora's corpse in the trunk , ending up at a run-down seaside house. Slowly some people are found dead and while an obstinate police inspector (Eduardo Fajardo) investigates the strange missing wife with numerous suspects

The film packs suspense, terror, effective aesthetic, plot twists , intrigue and being a very exciting terror-thriller. The rather perplexing tale weavers so many red herrings when ultimately the murderer is caught . The movie is made up of a series of Giallo horror set pieces that are shot in eye-poping style and ordinarily getting hints to solve the crimes until a surprising final twist. Director builds intrigue, suspense and tension beautifully with rich atmosphere and driving attractive musical score. Stars George Hilton who gives an acceptable acting as the greedy husband . Hilton starred a lot of Spaghetti/Chorizo Westerns, such as: ¨I Due Figli Di Ringo¨, ¨Un poker Di Pistole¨, ¨The gold professionals¨, ¨Sartana¨ , "Professionals for a Massacre" and many others ; though also performed a great number of Giallos as ¨All the Colors of dark¨ , ¨The perverse Mrs Ward¨ and ¨Scorpion tale¨. While Tere Velazquez performs his beautiful wife, being accompanied by a fine support cast. But is Antoine Saint-John or Michel Antoine who steals the show as the creepy and heinous serial killer. Here stands out the affectionate appearances from charming Eurotrash goddesses , such as : Femi Benussi , Cristina Galbó, Carla Mancini and brief acting by Sydne Rome as first victim. And being a Italian/Spanish/French coproduction , appearing here and there Italian actors : Femi Benussi, Alessio Orano and Spanish : Beatriz Galbó, Eduardo Fajardo, Tere Velázquez ; and French : Antoine Saint-John.

Nice ambiance and evocative settings, enhanced by the well photographed in Icet de Paolis, Milano, Lombardo, Italy , carried out by a good cameraman, Riccardo Pallottini. As well as intriguing and suspenseful musical score by Nando De Luca. The motion picture was decently directed by Luigi Cozzi or Lewis Coates providing startling visual content and tension enough. This Italian filmmaker is a craftsman who has directed some flicks with penchant for Sci-Fi, Horror , Giallo , adventure and fantasy, such as : ¨Hercules¨,¨The adventures of Hercules II¨ , ¨Escape from Galaxy 3¨, ¨Sinbad of the Seven Seas¨, ¨Nosferatu in Venice¨, ¨Paganini Horror¨, ¨Tunnel under the World¨, ¨The killer must strike again¨. His biggest hit was Star Crash¨ and he was attached to direct ¨Lifeforce¨ at one stage . Rating : 6/10 .

Most giallos are scarlet whodunits's, but Luigi Cozzi reveals his killer (Antoine Saint-John) two minutes in and directs our attention to a business relationship struck between the killer and a sleazy ladies' man (George Hilton).

Despite breaking a golden rule of the genre, "The Killer Must Kill Again" is a fresh, kinetic thriller with uneven performances (the women), terrific cinematography and striking set pieces.

Antoine Saint-John is positively electric as the arrogant psychopath and rivets our attention to the screen.

For a change, the storyline is relatively linear and free of the usual clutter. The violence is bloody and smoothly directed, and Cozzi demonstrates a real flair for atmosphere.

Certainly not as operatic as an Argento or as sleazy as a Polselli, it is, nevertheless, compelling celluloid and a million miles away from inept Cozzi trash such as "Star Crash" and "Contamination".

Though it is considered a giallo, I think of "The Killer Must Kill Again" as being more like an exploitation version of "Les Diaboliques". There's no masked and black gloved killer stalking high society types, and nor is there any mystery as to the killer's identity: we know him as soon as we see him.

The movie does, however, feature bloodless rich people, or in this case, a bloodless rich person. Giorgio is an adulterer who has a fight with his wife and goes out for a drive, where he witnesses a serial killer dispose of a body. He blackmails the killer into taking out his wife as well, but then the killer's car is stolen by a thrill seeking young couple who don't realise there's a corpse in the trunk.

Along the way, the young man is seduced by a bubble-brained sex kitten played by the scrumptious Femi Benussi, who has her hair dyed blonde in this role, I suppose to hammer home her idiocy.

The film actually has some quite suspenseful moments involving whether or not the body will be found, and whether or not the killer, indeed, "must kill again" - and when he will end up doing so. The killer's likeness is unforgettable. There must have been no doubt in the filmmakers' minds that they had found the man for the job as soon as they laid eyes on him, with his tall, gaunt figure, bony reptilian face, and deep set eyes.

Unfortunately, the movie does stall a bit towards the end, and it seems the Femi Benussi role may have been added just to up the sex and violence factor. Aside from that, the movie is more in line with French thrillers, leading me to conclude it is less giallo than jaune.

Not only does George Hilton live in the most yellow house ever witnessed within the 'yellow' genre, he's also playing one of the most heartless and snidey characters ever to appear in a giallo. You see, George is married to one of them dames who has a very rich father, and she's ruining George's life by not giving him enough pocket money and complaining about George spending all his cash on mistresses. What's a (kind of) young playboy to do?

Well, it's lucky for George that he spots a cadaver-like serial killer (played by Antoine St John of The Beyond and Fistful of Dynamite) dumping a car containing a woman's corpse into a river. George makes his presence known, takes the killer's monogrammed lighter, and tells him he's got a proposition to make. They both head off to watch some figure skating while they talk business: George wants the killer to bump off his wife and in return, not only will George forget what he's seen, he'll also throw in some cash to sweeten the deal too...

George sets up his alibi while the killer gets down to business, but what neither of them predict is that shortly after the killer throws George's wife's body in the boot of the car, two kids come along and steal the car while he's clearing the house up. Unwisely stealing a car and alerting all the neighbours to his presence, the killer takes up the pursuit while George returns home to find police everywhere. The kids of course have no idea they have a body in the trunk while they drive across the country...

You'll see from the description that Luigi Cozzi's approaching things from a different angle here, which is refreshing. You've got a kind of three way story going as George sweats it out in the presence of the cops, not having a clue what's going on, while the killer tracks the corpse car and tries to clean up the mess the kids leave in their wake, plus Cozzi keeps things interesting with the two youngsters by making Cristina Galbo a frigid virgin who makes her boyfriend jump through hoops to get her pants off, including stealing the car in the first place. For the record Galbo in 1975 was twenty-five years old, but never seems to look any older than eighteen.

There's not a lot of violence in this one mind you, so gore hounds will be let down by lack of splatter and the absence of a high body count, but the whole novel approach of the plot kept me interested, as did Cozzi's visual flair.

I loved this movie. First and foremost, in my opinion, this is NOT a giallo. I'd classify it more as a crime/thriller...or even a drama or a black comedy.

You know who the killer is from the beginning, so there isn't much mystery to it...but unlike many other 'similar movies' there is a double dose of tension and suspense which genuinely gets under your skin.

Masterfully directed by Luigi Cozzi ("Contamination"). I was impressed with the guy who plays the killer, I thought he was superb and creepy, and even though we get up close and personal with him, he remains creepy until the end.

Necessary viewing for lovers of Italian horror.

8 out of 10, kids.