Paranoia

It's about three people, and one of them dies, and then often ridiculous consequences ensue for the two left. That's the plainest way to summarize A Quiet Place to Kill, and though it's not too special, I think it's fairly entertaining for a sleazy and in-your-face movie of its age. It's now old enough that the sleazy stuff feels a little more quaint, so watched today, it's almost restrained, in a way? I wouldn't go as far as to call it classy, but if it had been made a little more recently, I think it could've overstepped certain things.

Anyway, it's still pretty much a soap opera, but it works if you're after something heightened, melodramatic, and pulpy. My mind wasn't on this 100% while it was playing, and I actually think that was the ideal way to engage with it, in all honesty.

I recently watched the Italian thriller A Quiet Place to Kill (1970) on Shudder. The storyline revolves around a wealthy woman fed up with her husband's womanizing and leaching behavior. To be rid of him, she invites his ex-wife to help in her plan, creating a slippery love triangle where the stakes of life and death become uncertain.

This picture is directed by Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox) and stars Carroll Baker (Kindergarten Cop), Jean Sorel (One on Top of the Other), Luis Dávila (Mission Stardust) and Alberto Dalbés (Kiss Me Killer).

This unique Italian picture, predating the giallo boom, incorporates elements from that genre, engaging in cat-and-mouse games and keeping viewers guessing about who is playing whom. The kills are creatively executed, concealing motives until the end. Outstanding acting, particularly from the gorgeous Carroll Baker, adds to the film's appeal. Multiple twists at the end blend triumph and tragedy.

In conclusion, A Quiet Place to Kill is a well-written and executed slow burn, making it enjoyable to watch unfold. I would give it a 6/10 and recommend seeing it at least once.

The third teaming of actress Carroll Baker with director Umberto Lenzi, yet another sex-and-murder soap opera made in Italy after Baker's Hollywood fortunes had dried up (temporarily, anyway). Here, Carroll is a racecar driver who cracks up on the track; she takes refuge with her handsome ex-husband, who has remarried a wealthy older woman with a daughter from a previous marriage. Double and triple crosses--as well as scenes featuring a nude, unblushing Baker--are in abundance, yet the 'shocking' plot taxes one's patience, particularly since the characters are so vapid. Excellent point-of-view cinematography from the driver's seat lends the narrative far more excitement than the guessing game of who is sleeping with who. ** from ****

Titled on my Blu ray as Paranoia, this is also known as A Quite Place to Kill which might be the better option as there is another Lenzi film made the previous year and also known as Paranoia. Thankfully, Umberto Lenzi himself is on hand on the disc to clarify the similarities and differences as well as how this ridiculous situation came about. Anyway the previous year's film, also with Carroll Baker is fine but this is probably even better. More original and more exciting, this is a crazy, colourful and involving gialloesque mystery involving fantastic clothing and furnishings, cars and telephones and lots of Carroll baker. She was nearly 40 when she made this but still strips down to order and looks great. Jean Sorell is as reliable as ever and always seems to give that look and twinkle those eyes as if to indicate love and hate at the same time. Marina Coffa appears around the halfway mark and really stirs things up. Apparently back in the day audiences would stand and applause, so stunned and delighted at the final denouement although she did very little after this for whatever reason. Very much of the period this has the music, fads, colours and morals of the time.

Notable actors: Carroll Baker! Jean Sorel!

I'm required by law to explain that the alternative title for this film is Paranoia, but that is the real title of Lenzi's other Giallo, Orgazmo, and that there's another Umberto Lenzi film called An Ideal Place to Kill too. Also, at least four Umberto Lenzi gialli star Carroll Baker, and additionally they are all generally of the 'bunch of people scheming against each other' plots rather than 'someone carving up Euro-babes' variety. Got that?

*Absolute silence from the rest of the Universe*

Right. This one starts off with Carroll Baker as a racing car driver who has some sort of brain fart while driving and ends up in hospital. Once discharged, she finds that she's been invited to the big fancy house of ex-husband/complete jerk playboy shag machine Jean Sorel, who previously mooched all of her money. Being a character in a film, she doesn't just throw the invite in the bin, but instead immediately packs her bags and drives off there.

Once there, Carroll realises that Jean has remarried an extremely rich lady who owns oil fields. It also turns out that this lady is the one who sent the invite - but for what reason? To play footsie with her under the table while Jean is doing the same thing? This lady, Constance, wants to be Carroll's new special friend, but is it for the usual giallo reasons (i.e slow motion lesbian sex scene)? Much discussion of how men are bastards ensues.

It's hard to write about these films without revealing the entire plot, and the twists are the highlights of the film, so let's be as vague as possible. There may or may not be a murder halfway through the film but a tremendous amount of obstacles suddenly present themselves that the killer (or killers) that they have to surmount to avoid being caught (that's if they murdered anyone, which they might have). Someone with a film camera may or may not have unwittingly filmed the murder which possibly leads to a hypothetical scene where everyone involved has to watch the film, plus there might even be the sudden appearance of someone else later in the film to throw a spanner in the works. Or perhaps not.

What I will reveal is that Umberto Lenzi further cements his position as the top animal killer of Italian cinema by having a scene set at a pigeon shooting club. It isn't enough that the guy would go out of his way to kill animals in his cannibal films, but here's a giallo that racks up a few pigeon deaths for the sake of a film. LEEENNNNZZZIIIII!!!!!

Just like his other late sixties Gialli, Lenzi has the whole film look amazing, keeps the camera angles fresh, but reigns in the psychedelics. He does include the old 'dancing in the club' scene that's a favourite from this particular era, including a band who wouldn't have looked out of place in the early nineties!

Slow to start, but as usual Lenzi proves he can tell the same story, with the same actors, a different way, and have everything and everyone look like an ad for a holiday villa.

And that's it - that's all the Carroll Baker gialli watched too, with the exception of some obscure psuedo-giallo called The Body from 1974. Carroll would later go on to star as the pushy mother of the bad guy in Big Arnie's Kindergarten Cop!