La queue du scorpion

Director Sergio Martino was a regular Itailan Giallo director, who brought us "They're Coming To Get You/ All The Colors Of Darkness/ Day Of The Maniac", "Next!/ The Strange Vice Of Madam Wardh", and "Torso/ The Corpses Show Evidence Of Rape (though I'm not sure why this title is relevent, because I don't remember any moments of rape from the killer?)" and a slew of other nasty little numbers. But I found "The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail" to be his most accomplished work (outside of the silly model Airplane explosion in the beginning!). The rather perplexing story weaves so many red herrings, that when the killer finally does become unmasked, you are a little surprised! Keep in mind that not all that you see, is what you may have really seen. Keeping with Giallo tradition, this film has a little nod to Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blow Up" (Dario Argento's "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage" would be the first of "Blow Up" immitators, which loved to have "I thought I saw something...if only I could recall what it was!" moments in it.) with even a moment where the investigators "blow up" a photo to find a clue in the picture. This film contains (can you believe?) actual tense moments in it. The scene where Anita Strindberg is assaulted even had me biting at my finger nails. There are two parts to this film, the first is centered on Ida Galli (Evelyn Stewart) and then a third of the way switching to Cleo Dupont (Anita Strindberg) in a "Psycho" style switch of heroines.

Both leads (genre female regulars) are interesting to follow (and sensually alluring to look at) and the film moves at an even and fast pace, keeping the viewer inticed. I have to say that after watching this film though, it was really George Hilton who won me over, and made me an instant fan. Though like the female leads, he's a genre regular, I found this to be his best role. Always smarmy and shifty, George Hilton personifies the Giallo male to perfection! I won't describe the story in any great detail, because I think it should be viewed with a virgin state of mind (also I'm too lazy to describe this convoluted story), but it does contain the usual block gloved assassin (always super human in ability) and the gratuitous killing of female characters. I can't honestly say that it's healthy to enjoy such misogynistic dementia or condone objectification of women, but Giallo Cinema is more interesting then the predictable Hollywood road that bulldozes us with the same exact car everytime. My girlfriend would accuse Giallo Cinema of a one make car as well... but for some of us...it's a Jaguar! Highly recommended (for some)!!!!

While she makes love to someone else, Lisa's husband dies in a jet crash. She stands to inherit all of his money, despite them being basically separated. An ex-lover has a confrontation with her, threatening her with blackmail. She pays up — some money now, then some when she gets the letter where she wished that her husband was dead. But a gloved hand finds the letter and kills the ex-lover!

Lisa has to go to Athens to collect the money, but runs into one of her husband's ex-lovers, Lara Florakis (Janine Reynaud, Succubus) and a knife wielding maniac. Peter Lynch (George Hilton from All the Colors of the Dark) saves her and takes her to the hotel. She asks for all of the money in cash, despite warnings to how dangerous that is.

That same maniac tries to kill Peter, then comes back to kill Lisa, sharp jazz wails staccato punctuating each stab of the knife, each rip across her body. Jump cuts and flashes and the room is covered by the police, who question him.

An INTERPOL agent, Inspector Stavros (Luigi Pistilli, The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I Have the Key), offers to help Peter with the case and the moment he goes to talk to Lara, he's attacked by the gloved man.

That brings in Cléo Dupont(Anita Strindberg, Who Saw Her Die?), a journalist who pretty much instantly falls in love with our hero. They go up to his room, but it's been turned over by the police, with even the bed sliced open looking for the million dollars that went missing when Lisa was killed.

Turns out the gloved man wasn't on Lara's side — he or she slits her throat, then runs up a spiral staircase as a guard gives chase. This reveals a room full of one eyed baby dolls and a strange oil painting. Between the woman's face against the glass with blood spraying everywhere and these reveals, this film is really tipping its hat toward Argento.

The bodyguard chases after the killer, but is knocked off the roof. One slash across the fingers and we have another dead body. It's 45 minutes in…and most of the IMDb cast is already dead!

That said — there's a stewardess that gets the gift of scorpion earrings from an unseen lover. So there's that.

Meanwhile, Peter and Cléo make love on an orange shag couch while a peeping tom watches from the window. You know how Bruce Banner always has on purple slacks and you wonder, "Who wears purple slacks?" Peter does.

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After the death of her husband in a plane crash, a woman receives the inheritance left behind and enjoys herself but is soon under attack by a multitude of parties that want the money, and when they succeed a private investigator and journalist decide to figure out what happened only to find themselves the new targets.

This was a solid if somewhat flawed giallo. As with most entries here, this one manages to get a lot to like by weaving together a generally fun and engaging central mystery. The emergence of the monumental life-insurance police and the resulting greed by the various sundry characters wanting to get their hands on it plays a prominent role here in tying together the disparate plotlines as it switches focus. Upon realizing what's happening with the numerous deaths around them and how the clues come together, there's a great storyline here featuring the hunt for the missing money and how everyone fits together in the end. As well, the central murder scenes are impressive and just an overall blast. The initial ambush in the theater and chase through the building is quite thrilling, as is the later chase inside the victims' house while the raging thunderstorm blares outside offering fun, thrilling scenes that have plenty to like while building a fine setup for later. Featuring several fun brawls featuring the killer confronting and attacking various victims in both lethal and non-lethal confrontations have some excitement to them, and with a fun finale revealing some surprise revelations, great chasing and a fun detail to the investigation there's plenty to like with this one. There are some issues to be had with this one. One of the main flaws is how the pacing is quite disjointing, as obvious cut scenes are left in to boost up the running time. The exploits of the hotel managers calling around to find out what's happening, scenes of the investigators running around the city in an attempt to understand clues or general travelogue scenes of the city are completely unnecessary to move this along and could've been taken out without any change to the film. Contrasted with the shorter, straightforward stalking scenes this leaves an indelible and obvious mark against the film. The other problem to this one is a wholly jarring and somewhat scattershot storyline which plays out here. The initial part plays out nicely with the apparent death and struggle to reclaim the policy which is a fine storyline with the potential for quite a few scummy players, but then it shifts to the investigator and then the reporter which is somewhat chaotic. This has no real logical throughput for the rapid shift of characters being thrust into the spotlight since these two just seem dropped into the story halfway through the film with little build-up and seems to be quite confusing as to why they're both involved. It's not a big issue but does lower it somewhat.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Nudity and Language.

Just watched The Case of the Scorpion's Tail for the first time, very impressed. Incredibly stylish, good looking cast, great locations (London and Athens), a terrific musical score by Bruno Nicolai, a few interesting plot twists and some decent murder scenes. The latter reminded me very much of Dario Argento's giallo movies, the blood does look more like red paint to be honest but the kills are pretty brutal (despite the BBFC 15 rating). I liked one scene in which the camera is angled at 90 degrees and swings between 2 people having a conversation. This movie ticks all the right giallo boxes, right down to bottles of J&B whisky everywhere, and the quote I have used for my title is one of the best lines ever! Better than director Segio Martino's later film "Torso", this is essential viewing for fans of the Giallo genre. Superb.

¨The Case of the Scorpion's Tail¨ begins with the mysterious death of a billionaire when a plane explodes and spirals into the killing ; as the newspapers publicize : ¨Air disaster , nor survivors¨ . As his suddenly rich wife (Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli) because he's insured for one million of dollars . Being the unfaithful spouse the beneficiary as the insurance agency arranges to pay . It draws the attention of various sleuths to sniff out suspects . A dogged and top investigator named Peter Lynch (George Hilton) , a Greek police (Luigi Pistilli), a Interpol agent ( Alberto De Mendoza ) and a journalist ( Anita Strindberg) , follow a wake of blood to the bitter final . Meanwhile Peter Lynch becomes companion and protector the widow .

Sergio Martino's great success is compellingly directed with well staged murders plenty of startling visual content , though was submitted to limited censorship in Spain . This is a customary slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . The picture packs atmospheric blending of eerie thrills and creepy chills combined with a twisted finale . It displays lots of guts and blood but it seems pretty mild compared to today's gore feasts . It's a solid movie , a thrilling story plenty of suspense and intrigue in which the victims seem to be continuous . The staged killings are the high points of the movie , they deliver the goods plenty of screams, shocks and tension . The intriguing moments are compactly made and fast moving ; as the film itself takes place from various points of sights . It packs tension, shocks , thrills, chills and lots of blood . There's plenty of moments of gore and a number of scenes that are quite thrilling , resulting to be definitely the spotlight of the film the surprising ending situation . Lousy special effects when the plane explodes , it's in made in ridiculous scale model that lookalike a little toy . Written by the usuals , Ernesto Gastaldi and Eduardo Manzanos Brochero ( also producer with his Production Company called Copercines , as he produced several Gialli and Western as ¨Apocalypse Joe , Danger Pass , Winchester one among thousand , Arrival Sartana , Djanjo the condemned ¨) . Good ambiance design and acceptable production design by Cubero and Galicia , both of whom created lots of sets in several Western filmed in the 60s and 70s . Sergio Martino's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and more inclined toward violence and lots of killings . It's a co-production Italian- Spanish , for that reason appears Spanish actors as Luis Barboo , Alberto De Mendoza , Janine Reynaud and Italian players as Luigi Pistilli and Ida Galli , among others . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Emilio Foriscot who photographed splendidly Londres , Madrid , Rome and Greece where is developed the action . However , the photography is washed-out and for that reason is necessary an urgent remastering . Very good and suspenseful score by Bruno Nicolai , known disciple of Ennio Morricone and his director of orchestra .

The picture is professionally directed by the prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, Giallo , comedy, Western, and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He especially was expert on Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨ and ¨Arizona returns¨ and Giallo as this ¨The case of scorpion's tail ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨the scorpion with two tails¨ and of course ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨. Rating: Acceptable and passable , this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills. This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to hardcore Gialli fans