Os Assassinos Só Matam aos Sábados

"Death Occurred Last Night" is a film that requires patience, an open mindset, and then even more patience. But, eventually, you will be rewarded, as this is one of the most integer and slow-brooding Italian drama/thriller films of the early 70s. And, once it has sunk in entirely, I guarantee you'll appreciate it even more! Duccio Tessari's film, with a phenomenal cast, is often misperceived by people because it has a title that makes it seem like a giallo, and a premise that makes it sound like a poliziotesschi, but it's actually neither. Well, it is a poliziotesschi, but not like the ones with Maurizio Merli and tons of car chases and violent executions. This film merely thrives on a solid script, a tense atmosphere, sense of realism and real human emotions.

Raf Vallone gives a stellar performance as a desperate father who literally begs the local Milanese police commissioner Lamberti (an equally stellar Frank Wolff) to search for his daughter Donatella, who's missing since a month. The case is extra disturbing because Donatella is mentally disabled. She has the mind of a 3-year-old, but with her curvaceous 25-year-old body and her willingness to go along with every random stranger, she's the ideal victim for all the rancid prostitution networks in the city. The first half of the film covers the extended search for the girl, during which commissioner Lamberti and his partner, with the help of a former pimp, turn all the prostitution houses in the city inside out. Then, the inevitable happens, Donatella is found brutally murdered, and the search turns into a relentless hunt for the killer (or killers). Not just the police are searching, but the devastated father is out for justice as well.

"Death Occurred Last Night" is admittedly rather slow-paced, and low in the action department, but the script is indescribably compelling, and also very fascinating, since it gives a lot of insights in police modus operandi. The last 10-15 minutes, when the truth about Donatella's disappearance slowly unravels, are truly haunting and they are likely to cause that you'll never be able to trust anyone in your close surroundings ever again.

A very interesting director and especially this film being a part giallo part cop procedural and we have a sexy 25 year old woman with the mind of a three year old. This being as tasteful as possible and she disappears, the police straight away think of prostitution but there is also some humour but the ending is amazing. The very next year is really a giallo, The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971) and later on Puzzle (1974) both great and earlier Duccio Tessari had two, just as splendid spaghetti westerns, A Pistol for Ringo (1965) and The Return of Ringo (1965). In this film it gets a bit confusing now and again but then a giallo usually does but it is all so well done and with Raf Vallone so really good as the father, it could easily have been a bit silly. Frank Wolff as the inspector and has a great time with Eva Renzi as his wife around the flat, in bed and even strumming his guitar.

Widower (Vallone) searches for his missing daughter with the aid of committed inspector (Wolff) leading to a complex web of exploitation and deceit.

Probably more a polizioteschi than strictly giallo fare, the pacing sometimes suffers and the plot twists more than it needs to, but despite some issues with momentum, the overall result is still satisfying.

Aside from the two leads who are both excellent, German leading lady Eva Renzi lends support as Wolff's highly invested wife, Beryl Cunningham has a sizeable supporting role as a reluctant informer of sorts, whilst Gabriele Tinti shows his disdain for criminals as Wolff's highly-strung detective partner.

It's a rather bleak tale which Director Tessari handles with care and compassion, another interesting contrast to the usual giallo in which victims are typically discarded with a casual contempt. Better than average, but don't expect razor blades, black gloves and blood-splatter - this is a complex mystery which takes its time to strike.

Part giallo and part drama, this movie's been overlooked by both the "mainstream" critics and the Italian-horror fans alike, and that's a shame, because it's one of Italy's more serious genre efforts of the 70's. The distraught father's race to find his kidnapped daughter before the police do, is both tense and poignant. It's free of the exploitative elements most genre films have, and along with Tessari's other thriller (Bloodstained Butterfly), one of the most mature Italian thillers of the decade. The ending is painful without being gratuitous, and well above something Hollywood could handle: compare the father's obsession to find the girl in this to Cage's in 8MM and be amazed at how crassly the latter is constructed. See this one!

25 year old Donatella Berzaghi (Gillian Bray) is a total babe and a nymphomaniac to boot, but also has the mind of a three year old. Of course, there are some people who see her disability as a bonus and are willing to pay to do bad things to her, which is why she is abducted and put to work in a brothel.

When distraught widower Amanzio Berzaghi (Raf Vallone) realises that his precious daughter is missing, he goes to the police, who begin a city-wide search for the young woman. After the girl turns up dead, having been burnt alive, Amanzio begins his own investigation, determined to make those responsible pay for what they have done.

Although labelled as a giallo by some, probably because of its typically giallo-esque title, Death Occurred Last Night is more of a poliziotteschi, with the focus on the detective work carried out by cops Duca Lamberti (Frank Wolff) and Mascaranti (Gabriele Tinti). There's a lot of dialogue and little in the way of action, meaning that the film does tend to drag a lot of the time. Director Duccio Tessari sees fit to include some gratuitous female nudity to spice things up a little, and the climax is satisfyingly brutal, but on the whole this is a fairly mundane feature, with not a leather-gloved maniac brandishing an open razor to be found.

4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the hilariously bad likeness of a suspect drawn by an interviewee at the police station, which the police sketch artist uses to create a portrait that is almost as bad.