La casa della paura

If you can make it through the slow first hour of Girl in Room 2A, you'll be rewarded with a somewhat insane final act that almost makes it worth the wait. It's still far off the mark in many ways and most of it feels really pedestrian and predictable.

Daniela Giordano plays recently released jailbird Margaret Bradley, whose parole officer Alicia (Rosalba Neri) sends her to the house of Mrs. Grant (Giovanna Galletti). Soon after moving in, Margaret becomes convinced that something strange is afoot, and her suspicions are compounded when she is approached by Jack Whitman (John Scanlon), who is investigating the disappearance of his sister, a previous guest at the house.

The Girl in Room 2A kicks off in fine giallo style, with the bloody murder of a topless woman during the opening credits, the victim impaled, her body thrown over the edge of a cliff; however, giallo fans are bound to be disappointed by director William Rose's lack of style (all of his previous films were pure sexploitation; I'm thinking he should have stuck with what he knew best), the low body count and a plot that strays a long way from the conventions of the genre.

Regular bouts of female nudity and some gratuitous sleaze (girls are tied up and flogged by a maniac in a red hood and cape) help prevent the viewer from dozing off, but remaining invested in the film is a struggle, the pedestrian direction, lack of gore, and dreary pace all taking their toll. The film ends with the revelation that the women are being killed by a sect who seek to 'cleanse' the wicked, and shows the masked killer to be none other than... well, that would be telling, but suffice to say it's suitably silly.

5 out of 10, minus one point for the inexplicable scene that shows a machine pumping blood through the floorboards of Margaret's room - what the hell was that all about?

What do you do when you come across somebody tied up in the back of a car with a deadly snake loose inside?

Step 1/ Casually put your hand in the car. Step 2/ Once you grab it, hopefully you're not bitten, simply throw the snake away. Step 3/ Then nonchalantly ask "Hey Man. What's happening"?

This drive-in, occult themed horror (despite its Giallo tag) with an investigative mystery to the plot is just so ludicrously outlandish with its many random moments, jarring visuals, reckless scenarios and unintentional laughs. It's cheaply produced, but there's conviction, a touch of nervy, slow-burn suspense and the locations near or around Rome give it poignant character. The reveal to who's behind the red mask do all I these vicious acts is easy to detect, but a lot fun nonetheless.

Margaret Bradley (Daniela Giordano) is released from a two week stay in jail, moves into the titular apartment, and discovers a very disturbing stain on the carpet. She also experiences strange goings-on and nightmares about a group of cultists in red masks.

Margaret seeks help in getting out of her new apartment from her friend Alicia (Rosalba Neri), but winds up caught in a murder mystery with supernatural overtones.

THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A is a macabre occult thriller. The plot tends to meander in a disjointed way that somehow works. It's suspenseful, and the creepy characters and paranoiac atmosphere add a lot. Of course, the gratuitous nudity doesn't hurt.

For giallo fans looking for something different...

The Girl in Room 2a doesn't really fit in with a lot of the Giallo films released around their heyday back in the early seventies. The plot, as is the case with many of these films, focuses on murder; but there's very little mystery to it, the cinematography is entirely mundane and the plot just seems to settle as soon as the credits have rolled, which a direct contrast to the sprawling and over complicated story lines that most Giallo's feature. After the opening credits, you'd be forgiven for thinking that you've hit the Giallo jackpot, as we get to watch a screaming young woman skewered with a huge metal spike. From there we watch as her corpse is thrown off a cliff in order to make people believe that she in fact committed suicide. Soon thereafter, a young ex-inmate named Margaret moves into room 2a in a boarding house owned by Mrs Grant, who lives with her weird son Frank. Margaret soon meets a man named Jack, the brother of the girl killed at the start of the film and the two begin investigating the suicide, which he believes has something to do with Mrs Grant's boarding house.

Despite being slow, the film is at least interesting for the most part, and American director William L. Rose seems to have some sense of direction where the story is concerned, as it eventually comes to a point that mostly makes sense. The lack of mystery is a major negative point, however, and while I'm not entirely sure whether you are meant to have guessed the identity of the murderers, it's so blindingly obvious that I find it hard to believe you weren't already supposed to know. The cast features just one name, and that belongs to sexy seductress Rosalba Neri...who is unfortunately wasted with a role that is far too small for illustrious persona. The locations didn't impress me much, as the film doesn't feature a lot of variety in this department, and the cinematography isn't exactly awe-inspiring. There are a couple of grisly murders - one of which is the one that happens before the opening credits. The lack of murders wouldn't have been a big problem for me, however, if the film was more exciting. Overall, Girl in Room 2a isn't the worst Giallo you're ever likely to see; but it certainly isn't the best, and I don't recommend going out of your way to find a copy.