Concerto per pistola solista

Weekend Murders is one of the more hard to find Giallo films, and I find that rather surprising as the English countryside setting as well as the mystery plot that spoofs Agatha Christie stories means that it's actually one of the more accessible films of the genre. Despite the fact that Weekend Murders is an Italian production, director Michele Lupo has done a great job of creating a distinctly British atmosphere, and this could easily have been a British film were it not for the poor dubbing. Michele Lupo has a great sense of humour and he succeeds several times in lampooning the tradition that the film is spoofing, and Weekend Murders is a very funny film throughout. We open on a golf course where a leisurely game is interrupted by the discovery of a hand sticking out of a sandpit. It soon becomes obvious that the butler didn't do it because, contrary to the norm, he is the first to go! We soon move on to the first real plot building scene, which takes form in a will reading to the members of a wealthy estate. Aside from getting a few laughs, we are also given the knowledge that the owner of the estate's favourite daughter is to inherit everything, much to the dismay of the rest of the house.

Most of the humour in the film comes from the seemingly inept local policeman played by Gastone Moschin. His character soon hooks up with the self proclaimed ace Scotland Yard Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival), and their double act forms the backbone of the movie. The two pair up well actually, and their exchanges work because the two characters are so different. Unfortunately, the rest of the support cast isn't so memorable; and while none of them put in particularly bad performances - there isn't a real standout either. The film also has a few plot problems, as the focus isn't always on the mystery and the exchanges between the members of the house are often redundant and not relevant to the central theme. The mystery itself is rather bare, and although clever at the conclusion - the plot is not the labyrinth that I have come to expect from Giallo's. After spoofing just about every mystery cliché in existence, it is fitting that the common revealing scene at the end is also lampooned by Lupo, and while the identity of the murderer is actually rather obvious; at least the reasons behind it make some sort of sense. Worth tracking down!

A group of relatives gather at the family estate for the reading of the will of the late Sir Henry. When the entire fortune is left to niece Barbara (Anna Moffo), one of the occupants of the house turns to murder. It is up to local bobby Aloisius Thorpe (Gastone Moschin) and Scotland Yard Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival) to crack the case.

Italian murder mystery The Weekend Murders is often classed as a giallo, but I don't think it really qualifies as such: its English setting and typical Agatha Christie style 'whodunnit' plot make it far too British in tone for it to be a part of the giallo genre. Admittedly, director Michele Lupo throws in a few typically Italian flourishes - most notably, rapid zooms and jump cuts (to the strains of Tchaikovsky and the sound of gun shots!)- but there is little else to link it to the ultra violent, style-over-substance world of shadowy leather-gloved maniacs stalking sexy female victims.

The films 'Ten Little Indians'-style structure holds very few surprises, but the excellent cast make this fun to watch despite the predictability, with the amusing dynamic between the pompous detective Grey and the actually-cleverer-than-he-seems Thorpe making for a whole lot of fun. Chris Chittell, as emotionally disturbed Georgie, is also worth a mention, his deranged character a prime suspect, while the ravishing Orchidea de Santis, as Evelyn, the maid, is worth keeping an eye on for very different reasons.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

"Weekend Murders" perfectly summarizes all the reasons why Italian gialli-movies made between 1970 and 1980 are my absolute favorite type of horror flicks! Surely this little flick steals ideas of several other classics, surely it's incredibly absurd and far- fetched, and surely it isn't that well-made… But, come on, you just have to discover how much fun and exhilaration this crazy little whodunit thriller provides! "Weekend Murders" is basically a spoof of an Agatha Christie story, particularly "Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None", and thus definitely not your standard type of giallo, however the highly imaginative murder methods and bizarrely eccentric characters are maintained. And then there's something else that usually never features in gialli, namely lots and lots of humor! Director Michele Lupo – mostly known for his numerous Terence Hill & Bud Spencer action/comedy vehicles – marvelously succeeds in narrating the tale of jealousy, family hatred and murder in a very light-headed fashion, with special thanks to a handful of delightfully funny dialogs and a cast full of respectable names with (hidden) comedy talents. Gastone Moschin, for example, whom I only knew from the raw and violent crime thriller "Milano Calibro .9", here demonstrates his comedy skills together with the textbook British Lance Percival. Speaking of textbook British, "Weekend Murders" is probably the only Italian film that successfully manages to look authentically British (aside from the dubbing) with gloomy land houses, stereotypically well-mannered characters and oppressed humor. The film creatively opens somewhere halfway in the plot, in fact. When a lifeless body is discovered in the sandpit of a golf course, local police sergeant Aloisius Thorpe reminds his Scotland Yard colleague that this is already the third vicious murder in three days. So we go back in time and get acquainted with the remaining members of the Carter family and their partners. They have gathered in the old family home for the reading of the will of their deceased patriarch. Like often the case with inheritances and greedy relatives, most of them aren't too happy with the outcome. Soon after the first murder takes place and this indirectly leads to what I personally find the most hilarious part of the movie. For you see, the first victim is Peter butler, so one of the characters makes the incredibly dry and witty remark: "Well, at least this time nobody can say that the butler did it". Anyways, more murders follow, but Sergeant Thorpe certainly isn't as dim-witted as he looks and impressively gets closer and closer to capturing the killer. For my liking, the body count easily could (and should) have been a bit higher, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ingenious unfolding of the mystery and by the revelation of the killer's identity + modus operandi. If all this isn't persuasive enough just yet, "Weekend Murders" also has an awesome score, with a fantastic reworking of the catchy classical music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and stars a few couple of really ravishing actresses (Ida Gallo, Anna Mofo, Beryl Cunningham, Orchidea de Santis). It exists on DVD, what are you waiting for?

THE WEEKEND MURDERS gets underway as a body is discovered buried in a sand trap at a posh, private golf club. The police reveal that it is the latest in a series of murders.

A flashback introduces us to the Carter family, gathered at the vast Carter estate for the reading of their dearly departed relative, Sir Henry Carter's will. Of course, the inheritance isn't distributed in a manner that pleases everyone. Well, okay, it pleases no one, except for an inept, flower-loving policeman, Sergeant Aloisius Thorpe (Gastone Moschin), and Sir Henry's Niece, Barbara Worth (Anna Moffo). The rest of the family is bitter to say the least, and it's not long before the bodies start popping up all over the grounds!

With greed, jealousy, and treachery in the air, a mansion full of suspects, and a pair of bungling coppers on the case, this movie is enjoyable on several levels. Part "old dark house" mystery, part giallo, and all comedy, this movie manages to parody its subject matter while still respecting it.

Co-stars Ida Galli as Isabelle Carter, and Giacomo Rossi Stuart as Ted Collins.

On a personal note: I didn't figure it all out until the very end. I like that in a movie!...

A film with annoying characters, the most annoying being the Scotland Yard inspector who comes to solve the mystery of the murders. Then, annoying is the young man who stages murders before the actual murders. Then, annoying is the mother of the young man who stages murders. Then, the rest of the characters. Seeing the names of Michele Lupo and Gastone Moschin, who worked together to make the excellent "Seven Times Seven" Original title: Sette volte sette (1969), I hoped that I would see a comedy at least as successful. I was sorely mistaken, this production is a total cretinous nonsense. The glaring mistake: after the Scotland Yard inspector together with the policeman played by Gastone Moschin completely demolish the door behind which one of the victims had just "committed suicide", the door is intact. With the exception of Gastone Moschin, an excellent actor in many other films, here having a stupid, ridiculous role, Michele Lupo used 14th-rate actors. It's not a comedy, it's a poorly written drama around an inheritance. Another mistake, at the beginning of the film, the policeman played by Gastone Moschin, an Italian actor, says "Good Morning Padre" to the priest, instead of "Good Morning Father", the action is somewhere in England, with English characters (padre means priest in Italian, it also means father), but the director and almost all the other actors are Italian... The only one who has written another real, honest, sincere review is "wmschoell". Zero stars from me, exactly as it deserves.