La casa della paura

Girls who stay in room 2A at a mysterious boarding house are being abducted, tortured and killed by masked assailants. The latest female tenant and the brother of the last victim begin investigating the mystery.

Perhaps the most defining thing about this giallo is the fact that it was directed by an American. When I saw the name William Rose in the opening credits, I automatically assumed that this must be an Americanised Italian name for a director wishing to sell his product in the States. But no, it was in fact an American B-movie director working in Italy. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that The Girl in Room 2A is not exactly the most stylish giallo out there. Visually it is pretty pedestrian when set alongside other similar Italian productions, although, in fairness, this may be due to the quite limited settings. Quite a lot of the movie takes place within the confines of the boarding house and this may also account for the lack of good lighting. It's certainly a relatively restrained effort in terms of violence, except for the pre-credit sequence of course, which is very salacious. In fairness, the beginning promises more than the movie ultimately delivers. I wouldn't say it ever gets dull but it just doesn't necessarily live up to its potential.

There are a few strange details such as the mysterious villain who looks very similar to the Crimson Executioner from Bloody Pit of Horror (1965). This one doesn't possess the sheer delirium of that crazy film though, this one is much more down-beat, while still being far from realistic. The casting is notable for a couple of the actresses. The lead girl is Daniela Giordano who made a very memorable and sexy turn in Mario Bava's comedy Four Times That Night. She isn't quite as well utilised in this feature, as Bava's playful movie was better suited to her. The other actress of note is Rosalba Neri who starred in many Italian genre pictures in the 70's, such as the excellent Amuck! Sadly she is very under-utilised in this film which is somewhat careless of the film-makers.

This isn't a prime example of the genre. It isn't quite stylish enough, nor is the mystery interesting enough. Nevertheless, it does have enough strangeness to be worth a watch if you are a fan of Italian thrillers.

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?

This one drags until thankfully the stupidity of it all overwhelms the drudgery. A young girl, just paroled from prison, is sent to a boarding house by parole officer Rosalba Neri. Now we all know that something is wrong with this house, as we've just witnessed a girl being ceremoniously killed by a sadistic cult led by someone who is a big fan of the 1965 Italian film Bloody Pit of Horror. Our girl Margaret isn't too slow on the uptake either, spotting quickly a huge bloodstain on the floor of her room that keeps reappearing, sussing rapidly that the landlady is a bit of a loon, and reckoning that the landlady's son Frank is a nutter. An encounter with a man investigating the apparent suicide of his sister, a previous tenant of Room 2A, further confirms her suspicions. This leads to a long investigation/romance that goes on and on.

However, it's also about this time that the film's daftness begins to rise, what with the terrible acting of the nurse in a loony bin, choppy editing, and a flashback sequence where women are whipped in a Jess Franco fashion. The director also thinks it's a great idea to include upbeat jazz music at the most inappropriate of moments, like when the hero is thrown into the back of a car with a snake in a suitcase (a really crap way to kill someone, seeing how they just murdered everyone else without leaving anything to chance).

The gore increases around this point too, as does the introduction of two muscle men who take on the cult. You also get an explanation as to how that bloodstain keeps appearing on the floor of room 2A, and I use 'how' on purpose because you'll be asking 'why' even after you find out what's happening. There's also the mystery of who is in the red mask if you still care about that by the end of the film.

Not much Rosalba in this one either. This is a hugely stupid film but sometimes we need a bit of that in our lives too.

A young girl named Edie is mysteriously kidnapped and taken to a country house where she is tied up,stripped and hung from the ceiling by her wrists.She is then tortured and finally killed by a long spear that penetrates her soft flesh Meanwhile the beautiful Margaret just released from a women's prison takes a room at Mrs. Grant's remote country mansion.Soon the strange things begin to happen...This sleazy and rather perverse giallo from Ramiro Oliveros is quite similar to Massimo Pupillo's "The Bloody Pit of Horror".The action is slow and the mystery elements aren't well-handled,but there is enough nudity and misogynistic violence to keep fans of Euroexploitation happy.Give this one a chance.7 out of 10.