A... come assassino

A rich diamond mine owner, improbably called John Prescott, is murdered and all his relatives gather for the reading of the will; they are instructed to live at his villa for a month and the last three participants left standing will receive all the loot! Needless to say, everyone hates each other and a string of murders immediately kicks off.

This old Italian whodunit is one of the earliest in the giallo cycle. Its restrained by the genres subsequent standards, as most 60's gialli are but it does contain some demented plot developments and characterisations, meaning it should still appeal to fans of the genre, as well as those more interested in the Agatha Christie style whodunit mechanics of the plot. It was in fact written by regular giallo screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi but he would go on to do better work. However, with its story about a group of scheming stereotypes pontificating around a villa and all seemingly up to no good, it does offer up some entertainment. Its not going to blow you mind but its certainly worth a watch. The cast includes Blood and Black Lace actress Mary Arden and muscle actor Alan Steel, as two of the primary schemers.

Someone has just killed Labour MP John Prescott! His family head off to his villa in Italy I mean Yorkshire in order to hear the reading of the will. During a particularly harsh dressing down of everyone present, a recording of John states that all y'all gots to stay in the villa for a month, and only three of the seven present can attend the notary for a dishing out of the dollars, yo.

His family include sister Marta (dour), Nephew Julian (has a learning disability, but is constantly referred to as an idiot), Niece Angela (bitch), her lover Armando (douchebag), Nephew George (cuckold), his wife Adriana (slut), her lover Giacomo (kind of stretching himself sinister plot wise).

There's also a policeman who kind of thinks it would be wise to hang around this villa seeing as how all the suspects aren't allowed to leave, but he's really sarcastic and kind of thinks things will kind of work themselves out, which I guess they do in the end.

Everybody is scheming against everyone else here and it soon becomes clear that its not too important who killed John 'Two Jags' Prescott but who is going to be left standing by the time the film ends. It's not too bad that way (the film drags a bit when folks are giving their version of what happened at a certain time, but picks up when folks start murdering each other).

It's also funny when people say 'John Prescott' as in "We are all evil, it is the legacy of John Prescott" but this make no sense to someone not from the UK ten years ago.

M...like Murderer - Early Giallo pearl with Sergio Ciani and Mary Arden

This black and white film by Angelo Dorigo is a small discovery. This giallo from the early days of the genre is about the murder of a very wealthy family tyrant named John Prescott, who made his money from dubious diamond deals. It's a good thing that all of the depraved relatives were staying in the property anyway. Of course, this makes everyone suspicious, but you can also have the will read out straight away. This is done by the strapping Giacomo (Sergio Ciani, 1935-2015), loyal secretary (and perhaps also a willing lover!?!) of the late tyrant. And the will has it all. In order to inherit anything at all, all family members have to stay in the scary villa for a month. And in the end, no more than three of the mixed poke may have survived. That's an announcement! And then the punching and stabbing begins! They have always hated each other. There is the sharp-tongued Angela (Mary Arden, 1933-2014): blonde as an angel, but so spoiled! The weak George (Ivano Staccioli, 1927-1995) with his provocative wife Adriana (Nana Aslanoglu, 1936-2014), who desperately wants to complete her rise from striptease dancer to lady of the castle. There is the opaque Armando (Ivano Davoli, 1931-2010), who has difficulty resisting the charms of beautiful women. And finally Aunt Marta (Giovanna Galletti), who devotedly looks after the weak-minded Julian (really good: Charlie Charun), but perhaps also had a bone to pick with her murdered brother. They are all entangled with each other, all watching each other. While the clever Inspector Matt (Gilberto Mazzi) is still investigating the murder of old Prescott, the first further deaths occur. Who will ultimately be left to inherit the enormous inheritance?

This film impresses with its eerie atmosphere and the polished dialogues, which are surprisingly spiteful. The actors are also convincing in their roles. A big surprise is the Italian Hercules Sergio Ciani (Hercules - Rächer von Rome), who also cuts an excellent figure as a schemer in a suit. He turns out to be a good actor, who was later used, not without good reason, in Giorgio Strehler's Teatro Piccolo. Mary Arden is known from the Giallo classic "Blutige Seide" (1964) by Mario Bava. Ivano Davoli was also seen alongside Uschi Glas and Antonio Sabato in "Das Rätsel des silbernen Halbmonds / The Mystery of the Silver Crescent" (1972) by Umberto Lenzi. And Ivano Staccioli appeared as John Heston in the Brad Harris sandal film "Goliath: Kampf der Maccabeer". The great thing about the film is that all the actions arise from the characters themselves. This much can be revealed: There is not - as is often the case in Giallo - one slasher who is responsible for everything. This absolutely messed up family structure is ruined above all by itself. Watching this is a truly diabolical pleasure!

The only drawback: the interrogation scenes by the inspector in the middle of the film are told a bit too long. But that doesn't diminish the amazing quality of this gem, which never made it beyond the Italian cinema screens.

Don't let that put you off! Just enjoy this eerily beautiful family constellation of the most screwed up kind!

Gathered in the great family villa for listening to the last will of a very rich owner of diamond mines that has just been killed, his relatives – that hate each other heartily – find that they have to spend a whole month in the vast estate, so that the pretenders to the legacy cut down from seven to three. While the various characters get busy scheming complex plans that bring the others one to eliminate reciprocally, an old Scotland Yard detective do his best to identify the perpetrator of the first crime that has set in motion the complex massacre game he's now witnessing. At the end truth will out; and the only inheritor will be the most unexpected. Interesting for its potential – and it's no accident that the story comes from the expert Ernesto Gastaldi ("Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh", 1971 by Sergio Martino) – it's a "giallo" that reveals its modesty in its continuous rolling up itself, leaving perplexed an audience who's probably waiting for the usual murder series that, in truth, never materializes. The death are, in fact, occasional and too much predictable to surprise even the ingenuous – still for few time – audiences of the premiere. Dorigo ("Assassino Senza Volto", 1968) isn't really a relevant figure in the Italian cinema history, but a modest artisan that worked in all the genres in fashion, without finding a real summit in his meager filmography; and also with this title he shows clumsy in creating the tension and few prone to action, building a sequence of scenes with dialogs – also because of the much theatrical implant of the screenplay by Sergio Bazzini ("Il Seme Dell'Uomo", 1970 by Marco Ferreri) and Roberto Natale ("Operazione Paura", 1966 by Mario Bava). The fair job by Aldo Tonti and Tonti ("Il Castello Dei Morti Vivi", 1965 by Lorenzo Sabatini, Michael Reeves and Luciano Ricci) some good characterizations – notably the ones by Mary Arden ("Kriminal", 1966 by Umberto Lenzi), Giovanna Galletti ("Gli Amori Di Ercole", 1960 by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia), Franco Pesce ("Orgasmo", 1969 by Umberto Lenzi), Gilberto Mazzi ("Macario Contro Zagomar", 1944 by Giorgio Ferroni)and Sergio Ciani ("Maciste Contro Gli Uomini Della Luna", 1964 by Giacomo Gentilomo) – confer the minimum of availability to make pleasant the screening, always if you have no great expectations. Produced by Walter Brandi, who's got famous for some historical horror movies of Cinecittà, like "L'Ultima Preda Del Vampiro", 1960 by Piero Regnoli.

"Oh my God, dad, that looks so old... You're not going to watch that, are you?" Quote my 14-year-old son when I cozily sat down to see "A ...Come Assassino". And I can't really blame him because the film truly does looks ancient. With its release year being 1966, the movie is old - of course - even for a Giallo since the genre had its heydays between 1971 and 1975. But the film also looks and feels older than it is. Mario Bava's pioneer Gialli-titles ("The Girl Who Knew Too Much" and "Blood and Black Lace") are older, with their respective release years being 1963 and 1964, but they are more modern and fresher looking than "A ... Come Assassino" which feels like a film from the 1930s or early 1940s.

That said, however, I'm glad to have seen this prototype-giallo oldie! It's fascinating to witness how veteran writer Ernesto Gastaldi explores and ventures into new territories. "A ...Come Assassino" feels like a transition. The setting and premise still feel like gothic horror, what with the gloomy castle setting and a greedy family gathering for the reading of the will of a malignant patriarch. But the era isn't Victorian, there aren't any secret vaults or squeakily opening tombs, no old knights in armor suits that move on their own, or people who are spied on from behind paintings. Instead, we have Giallo trademarks carefully making their entrance, like black gloved killers using knives, adultery, treason, and murder conspiracies. Police inspectors patiently waiting for the murders to solve themselves, unexpected story twists, and beautiful lewd women dying sadistically. Style and photography wise, director Angelo Dorigo can't hold a candle to contemporary prodigies like Mario Bava or Riccardo Freda, but it's a modest little landmark anyway.