L'assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora

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".

Luigi Cozzi was assistant director on Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet, so he had a bit of experience working on a thriller. The Killer Must Kill Again is the first time he got a chance to direct one for himself.

The story begins with a man witnessing a mysterious killer disposing of a body by a river. Instead of reporting him to the police, he blackmails him into murdering his wife so that he can cash in the insurance. All goes to plan until a couple of joy riders steal the car where the wife's body is stashed. The killer then pursues these unfortunate delinquents who know nothing of the hidden body.

This one benefits from a good cast. Giallo regular George Hilton plays the husband and he is once again convincing as a very shady character. Alessio Orano (Lisa and the Devil) impresses as one of the joy riders. But best of all is Antoine Saint-John as 'the killer'. He is very intense and is impressively creepy in this role. The very fact that, unlike regular gialli, the killer's identity is known from the start is an active advantage here as Saint-John's sinister look could not have been exploited if the murderer was a mystery presence. In fairness, the very fact that there is no mystery in this film at all makes me question if it truly is a giallo in the first place. My feeling is that it isn't, although it shares many of the conventions of the genre such as a cast of unsympathetic characters, brutal violence - including a somewhat unpleasant rape scene - and a stylish look - check out Hilton's yellow pad.

Because of the lack of a mystery this one has to depend on other things to keep it interesting. It isn't always successful though and the story does lack a bit of excitement at times. There is a decent set up developed at the beginning and there is some effective tension towards the end but it does meander a bit in the middle. Still, it's well made and acted and is certainly a solid film overall.

Mr. Mainardi (Euro fave, George Hilton) accidentally witnesses a man (Michel Antoine) dumping a body. Rather than report the crime to the police, Mainardi blackmails him into murdering his wealthy wife, Norma. Things go smoothly, but before the killer can dispose of Norma's body, a delinquent couple steals the car which has the corpse stashed in the trunk. The maniac begins tracking them down as the two are completely oblivious to what they've gotten themselves into.

Before I bought and watched "The Killer Must Kill Again", Luigi Cozzi wasn't a director I had been particularly fond of. Being the sucker for gialli that I am, I decided to take a chance on this one when the DVD hit. While this isn't in the upper tier of Italian horror, it did prove to me that Cozzi is quite capable of doing something above substandard sleaze and cheese.

This is actually a quality film, though I fail to see how it has found itself classified as a giallo. We know who the killer if from the get-go, though he is never named. There is no mystery here unless you wonder what led to his initial murder which Mainardi stumbles upon. I have to say that it reminded me of Hitchcock's classic suspense pictures more than it did any giallo. "Dial M for Murder" definitely came to mind at first, but then it went off in it's own direction. On the other hand, as is usually the case in the giallo sub-genre, virtually none of the characters are totally innocent. The protagonists steal a car and $150, plus they lie constantly. I also thought it was amusing how Luca is romancing this girl, only to help another girl on the side of a road and then do her in the stolen car. Sometimes you just have to get any wherever you can! My main issue with the film is that after the car is stolen, it gets bogged down and doesn't really pick up again until the killer finds the couple. This portion could have been spiced up a bit.

The killer himself is actually a pretty intimidating fellow, what with Michel Antoine's reptilian facial features and large build, but he definitely has a lot of hell in this movie. Things just never seem to go right for him. As the greedy blackmailer, George Hilton is convincingly suave, even with the weird sideburns. These two make for a fine pair of villains.

Cozzi's direction is solid, and there are only a few small doses of the cheese that would dominate many of his later films. He employs some nifty camera tricks that he surely picked up from Argento. I also liked how he had the two very different sex scenes playing out seamlessly at the same time. In fact, that mean-spirited rape is the only real bit of nastiness on display here. Again, not the norm for a giallo, but the lack of it certainly doesn't hurt the film any.

Overall, this is a fine piece of work from a man who I originally had pegged as another Bruno Mattei. Any fan of the gialli sub-genre should be pleased, even if it isn't a giallo in the truest sense of the word. While the pacing goes off the rails at one point and the climax feels a tad anti-climatic, it's not enough to ruin things.

Giorgio Mainardi is a man at odds with his wife. When his wife threatens to cut him off from her back account he searches for a way to get back. While sitting in his car contemplating things Giorgio sees a man pull his red VW up to the river and push it in (along with the body of a woman). Mainardi hatches a scheme while in cahoots with the killer to rip himself of his wife and grab all her cash. All, as you may guess goes horribly wrong.

The overall storyline is quite compelling. There were several instances where I thought to myself that I had not seen that particular wrinkle before. But sadly there was not enough action for my taste. The cinematography and acting were very good but the "road" scenes just weighed the movement down. "Killer" is an average giallo who scores for some interesting "wrinkles".

The Killer must Kill again sounds like a title suited for your typical giallo.And it does start out as one. Soon it becomes clear that even cold blooded killers can have bad days. There are numerous moments that play out like you would see in comedies.The straight faced kind, which makes it even hilarious at times.I personally was not expecting this and found it refreshing.But the director made sure not to sympathize with the culprit too much since he continually shows evil when he feels when it is needed. This provides an unique way in building suspense since you never really know when the killer shows that nasty side and when he remains professional.Antoine Saint-John (as the killer) looks like Death personified.Easily the best character in the movie next to Alessio Orano's character named Luca who has to be the most laid back and patient of guys in movie history. He is trying to have sex with his girl and she keeps putting him off and delaying it to the point that she convinces him to fetch food.Luca doesn't mind and goes on his way. How laid back the guy is we get to witness in the scenes after with a sexy blonde in some sleazy scenes (full frontal nudity).The contrast between those scenes and the ones with Laura (Luca's girl) which I won't describe was quite disturbing and shocking even. It's this mix of moments that keeps you glued to the screen. Very different from most giallo's but in a good way.