Murderock - Uccide a passo di danza

A violent shocker with high level on vivid imagery and pure cinematic style in which a nasty murderer executing grisly killings by means of a hypodermic needle-wielding psycho-killer . It starts with a series of murders rock a dance academy in New York . As the mysterous and owner directress , Candice (Olga Karlatos) of a prestigious New York ballet school teams up with a suspicious male model (Ray Lovelock) to solve a series of weird murders of a few of the dancers . Along the way , a tough Police Inspector Lt. Borges (Cosimo Cinieri) investigates the bizarre murders . Save the last dance . . . For hell! .Depraved - Demonic - Diabolical - And Beyond! .New York's best dancers are dying for a part in the next Broadway hit.

Eerie and creepy thriller with full of killings , sexual violence , red herrings , grisly murders by means of a razor blade executed by a psychopath on the loose , loathsome and lots of blood and gore . A mysoginist whodunit with plenty of nudism , explicit scenes of violence and Giallo style , no for squeamish . Concerning the classic giallo plot in which a series killer with a hidden agenda carrying out a criminal spree . It has flamboyant imagery , graphic gore and moody atmospherics , while mixing disco music from Keith Emerson and dancing images in Flashdance style along with Gialli characteristics. Starring the beautiful Greek actress Olga Karlatos giving a fine and attractive acting . Karlatos surrounded and well supported by an Italian cast of usual Italian B actors , such as : Ray Lovelock , Cosimo Cinieri , Geretta Geretta , Christian Borromeo and Claudio Cassinelli who passed away a bit later on , whilst filming Sergio Martino's 'Fists of Steel' .

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Lucio Fulci , and being entertaining enough. And financed in tight budget by Augusto Caminito , Fulci's regular producer and occassionally director . Fulci was one of the most controversial filmmakers in terror genre , though frequently derided as sheer sensationalism and commerciality. Here Lucio Fulci directs in his usual style filled with flaws , failures and gaps , but professionally made because being a nice artisan . Critics are divided over both the moral and talents of Fulci (1927-1996), who sometimes directed under the alias Louis Fuller. For some reviewers many of his flicks are extremely cruel and savage , yet their gory surface often concealing social, religious , or provoking commentaries or other thoughful , intelligent issues . Nevertheless , most of them considering his works have undeniably provided a considerable influence on the terror genre , creating decent efforts on low budget flicks . Standing out his ¨Don't Torture a Duckling¨ deemed to be one of his best pictures . And in the adventure genre with two financially successful Jack London 'White Fang' adventure movies in 1973 and 1974 which were ¨Zanna Bianca¨, and ¨Il ritorno di Zanna Bianca¨. Also during the mid and late 1970s, Fulci directed two 'Spaghetti Westerns' : ¨Four of Apocalypse¨ (1975) and ¨Sella d'argento¨ or ¨Silver Saddle¨(1978), and another 'giallo' ; ¨The Psychic¨ (1977), as well as a few sex-comedies which include the political spoof : ¨The Eroticist¨(1972) , and the vampire comedy ¨Young Dracula¨ (1975) , and the violent Mafia crime-drama ¨Luca the smuggler¨ (1979) . In 1979, Fulci's film making career successfully another high point with him, breaking into the international market with ¨Zombi 2¨ (1979), an in-name-only sequel to George A. Romero's Zombi: Night of the Lving Dead (1978), which had been released in Italy as 'Zombi'. And hiis big hit ¨New York Ripper¨ , at the time rated as a video nasty , due to it and why the excessive extra violence was heavily cut or prohibited in a large number of countries . With this film established Fulci as a gore director par excellence . Over the next three years, Fulci plied his trade with finesse and flair-play , rivaling even the popularity of his "opponent" the great Dario Argento, with such sanguine classics as ¨City of the Living Dead¨ (1980) and ¨Beyond¨ (1981). These films, as well as the reviled "New York Ripper" (1982) are actually intelligently crafted, with sound commentaries on everything from American life to religion. And he went on his fall with lousy movies, but eventually Fulci at least found work in television . Rating : 5/10 . Average , only for Lucio Fulci completists .

Nothing very special about this giallo. A bunch of dancers are trying out for parts, and some get murdered by a hatpin stuck into their left breast (where it looks like it would actually pierce a lung and not the heart as intended). Some of the dancing scenes are pretty sexual.

The studio where they do their dancing has a rather odd system at the end of the day whereby a voice comes over an intercom, and the lights flash on and off repeatedly. I guess this is to make for more suspense or to make the killing scenes more exciting? It's more on the annoying side.

One of the women has a dream in which she is pursued by a killer with a pin (it changes sizes throughout the dream, sometimes appearing giant). She later sees the man from her dream on a billboard. She tracks him down, finding him to be a bit of a washed up, alcoholic actor, and starts a relationship with him.

Much more than that I don't remember.

Lucio Fulci wanted to make a giallo. But then Flashdance happened and the producers knew Keith Emerson (yes, the Keith Emerson from Emerson Lake and Palmer) and the result was…Murder Rock! Or Murder-Rock: Dancing Death! Or Slashdance! Or The Demon Is Loose!

We start at the Arts for the Living Center in New York, where Candice (Olga Karlatos, the only actress to be in both Zombi 2 and Purple Rain) watches Margie (Geretta Giancarlo from Demons) choreograph dancers for an upcoming talent agent visit. Only three girls will be selected, so they all need more perfection.

That night, Susan, one of the dancers, is murdered in the locker room. First, she is chloroformed. Then, as if Fulci has simply waited too long for something violent to happen, a giant hatpin is inserted into her breast. I imagine Lucio sitting in his director's chair, saying "Why do I have to show all these pretty girls in leotards when everyone just wants to see me rip out one of their eyeballs?"

Lieutenant Borges (Cosimo Cinieri, The New York Ripper) and Professor Davis (Giuseppe Mannajuolo). show up to investigate, choosing Candice, the head of the academy Dick Gibson (Claudio Cassinelli, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?) and Susan's boyfriend.

We find Candice at her apartment, where Dick shows up to tell her that he isn't sleeping with any of the students. Anyone that tells you this is pretty much telling you that they totally sleeping with the students. The studio DJ also calls her to update her on the murder.

Back at the school and everyone is back to their routine, which upsets Dick, who tells the cops of the rivalries between the dancers. Later that night –after we see on stage by herself, showing off for the crowd — he shows up at her place, wanting to talk. She finds a photo of him with Susan, but when she turns to find him, he is gone. Worse, her bird is dead, stabbed by a hairpin. And soon, so is she, as a hairpin is thrust into her heart.

But what of Candice? Well, she's having nightmares of the killer, who she sees chasing her with the long hairpin. She sees his photo on a billboard and tracks him down. The man is George Webb (Ray Lovelock, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue), who isn't the handsome model in the ads any longer. He's now a mess, so she runs from him, leaving her purse in his room.

What would a giallo — or a Fulci movie — be without a red herring? It comes in the form of Bart, a dancer who confesses to the murders because Susan was crazy and Janice was Hispanic (but in a much more racist way). Borges believes that he isn't the killer, but when George comes to the Academy to return Candice's purse, Dick tells the cop that that's their man.

At lunch, Candice tells George about how her dancing career ended after a hit and run accident with a motorcyclist. Now, she can only be a teacher. And she's not convinced that George is on the up and up, as she learns from a talent agent that George once had an affair with a younger girl who died.

Oh yeah — and Margie attacks Candice just like the killer, but Dick saves her.

The killing doesn't stop, though. Jill is killed while Molly, a girl in a wheelchair, takes photos of her. Molly tries to take photos, but the killer escapes. Dick tries to run away, but he's arrested. But again, the killing doesn't stop. Gloria is murdered in the locker room with the trademark hairpin.

It all leads to Candice going back to George's hotel room, where she finds the murder weapon. She runs away and George tries to find her, but she's at the police station, telling the Lieutenant, who agrees to meet her at the Academy.

Ready for the big reveal? When she gets there, she sees a video of every dancer who has died, leaving her screaming their names. George appears with the murder weapon and asks why she set him up. She responds that she knew he was the hit and run driver who cost her so much and that she killed the girls because of her jealousy of them. They had the life she would never know and had to die…and he has to pay for all he has done to her. She grabs the murder weapon and kills herself with it, pushing the weapon into George's hand. The police arrive, but they already knew she was the killer, thanks to the buttons on the killer's jacket being on the left side and Candice knowing details about the murders that they never made public.

That's the plot, but please imagine that there is a leotard-clad dance-off every ten minutes or so.

Murder Rock was part of a planned trilogy entitled "Trilogia della musica" and would have been followed by Killer Samba and Thrilling Blues, but Fulci became ill for two years and abandoned the project.

This film looks gorgeous! It has some stunning shots of the killer coming at the camera and while there is some blood, it isn't at the expense of the story. I literally expected nothing and was rewarded with some great fun. Your ability to enjoy flashdancing and 80's outfits may impact your enjoyment of this film, however!

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Murder Rock is one of Lucio Fulci's lesser known films. It was released in the wake of a series of exceptionally violent movies directed by the great man. This one is considerably tamer and not one of his better received critically. It may very well be because it's less intense that it isn't amongst his most popular, I think it's only fair to say that is part of the reason. It's possibly the most blatant attempt by Fulci at making a mainstream movie. He decided to combine the popular horror sub-genre of the time – the slasher – with the 80's fad for fitness. This was the era of Flashdance and Fame, and lycra clad people seemed to be everywhere. I guess it was only a matter of time before a slasher variant on this theme emerged. In keeping with trying to appeal to a wider demographic this one is a relatively bloodless affair as well. It's possible that by trying to appeal to too many people, Murder Rock ended up pleasing fewer.

The story is about a series of murders committed around a dance school in New York. It's one of many early 80's efforts that Fulci set in America. In keeping with its Italian giallo roots though, there is a strong emphasis on the whodunit aspect. This ensures that the story retains a bit of interest and the audience is engaged throughout. There are some moments of giallo weirdness too which always helps such as the recurring dream that the female protagonist has about a sinister stranger trying to kill her. While Keith Emerson is on hand too with an appropriately cheesy soundtrack. It isn't exactly of the standard of the score he did for Dario Argento's Inferno but it does the job. Overall, this is an entertaining movie. A little light-weight perhaps but fun all the same.

Loved it. Great suspense, disturbing murder scenes. Not too gory, but the suspense makes up for it. Very tense, the closeups, the pre-murder lighting and screams, the sound of the heart stopping. The victims' desperation is well played. Music is great to set you in the era, but you'll find it cheesy if you don't like 80s stuff. Some of the nudity was perhaps unnecessary but still stylishly done. The movie is weird but well executed. It isn't as gruesome as a gore flick, but I think it was more disturbing as it provides greater immersion. The slow killings are a shocker as you can feel them as real. I found myself trembling several times watching this, both by the murder scenes themselves and the suspense going through all the movie. Great camera shots, great scene composition, awesome lighting. The plot is simple but it works. It's interesting to watch the students accusing each other of the murders. There's an unexpected plot twist that I found rather interesting. Don't watch it if '80s cheesiness puts you off. In my case it was a plus. My first venture into giallo cinema and it satisfied me beyond my expectations. If I can find similar movies will definitely watch them. Last recommendation: do yourselves a favor and don't watch it dubbed, watch it in Italian as it's intended to be watched. Dubs for low budget movies aren't precisely good and will make the movie look fake. Get Italian audio with captions for maximum enjoyment.