Red killer

This thrilling film deals with Paolo Scaporelli (Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina who plays in Dirty Harry style with cigar included) is a police inspector assigned by his chief (Mariano Vidal Molina) to investigate the case of the ¨dragonfly¨ , killing series have been committed by an ominous murderer at city of Milan . The psycho-killer murders his victims cruelly by means of slashing , beheading and axing . The inspector is helped by his gorgeous girlfriend (Erika Blanc) . The series-killer puts a dragonfly on the corpses of the victims as pimps , prostitutes drug addicts and underground people . There are several suspicious , who's the killer ? .

This is a Spanish Gialli though filmed in Italy . It contains suspense , tension , whodunit and lots of blood and guts with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a Naif style. The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato . B-entertainment with a fairly suspenseful and horrifying story in which a killer series undergoes a criminal spree by means of slitting , necrophilia , decapitation and other brutal executions . This tale about a Detective and people who is attacked by a malevolent murderous begins well and grows more and more until the exciting finale in which we figure out the nasty guilty on a building , including some strong fight scenes . There is another double version that packs nudism in charge of Erika Blanc and other women . Lots of blood and gore in several images that impacted the viewers for that time . The film follows the Dario Argento wake formed by his animal trilogy as ¨Four flies on grey velvet , The cat with nine tails and The bird with the crystal plumage ¨ . Nice cinematography in correct remastering by Miguel Mila and shot on location in Milan city . Ample support cast , usual of Eurotrah as Angel Aranda , Vidal Molina and Maria Kosti ,Eduardo Calvo , both of whom habitual of Jacinto Molina films . The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre. ¨ A dragonfly for each corpse¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among them . He directed 13 films as ¨The Cantabros¨, ¨Return of Wolfman¨, ¨The Beast and the magic sword¨ and many others.

This slasher motion picture is professionally directed by Leon Klimovsky , a slick craftsman who directed all kind of genres, as Terror for Paul Naschy (Marshall of hell,Rebellion of dead one,Orgy of vampires, Werewolf shadow,Dr Jekill vs. the werewolf), Warlike(June 44 attack force Normandy, A bullet for Rommel, Bridge over Elba) and Western (Badland drifter,Some dollars for Django,Death knows no time, Two thousand dollars for Coyote) . Rating . 5 , acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and Giallo buffs .

During the 60's and 70's there were any number of Italian productions filmed in Spain. Well, this is a Spanish production filmed in Italy. It is basically Paul Naschy and his collaborator's (the Argentinean Leon Klimovsky this time)third attempt to ape the then-popular Italian gialli, and like the previous two attempts--"Seven Murders for Scotland Yard" and "Blue Eyes of a Broken Doll"--it is only semi-successful. The story is a little plodding, the cinematography a little leaden, and it comes off rather dark and gritty compared to the garish and colorful Italian gialli (although it is, if anything, even more violent). It's also pretty derivative, borrowing the famous coffin scene from Luis Bunuel's "Belle de Jour" and the dead-body-in-the-funhouse scene from the not-exactly-seminal giallo "Naked Girl Killed in Park."

It was clearly also influenced by American "Dirty Harry" movies and perhaps the cynical Italian police thrillers that were emerging at the time. Naschy, this time,plays a hard-boiled cop who slaps around elderly exhibitionists and makes a wounded biker with a broken leg crawl to the hospital. He is up against "the Dragonfly Killer", a vigilante who is offing pimps, prostitutes, and junkies--"cleaning up the city" much like the villains in the Dirty Harry sequel "Magnum Force" (although his motive for doing so would have made Harry Callahan crap his pants in utter disbelief). Erica Blanc plays Naschy's fashion designer wife who, after one of her gay friends is killed, decides to try to solve the case herself using her "woman's intuition". This leads to comical scenes of her sitting naked in bed pouring over grisly crime photos with a magnifying glass, or acting hysterically (albeit much more believably)when the killer sends the severed head of a Turkish pimp to their house.Of course, she stumbles across the identity of the killer before her husband does, leaving Naschy to rush to her rescue.

Obviously, if you have a low tolerance for graphic violence, completely gratuitous nudity, and Spanish-flavored, 70's-style sexism, you should probably avoid this movie. But if you can get past all this, it's a whole lot of fun.

A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1975)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Inspector Scaporella (Paul Naschy) begins to investigate some strange murders where the victims have dragonflies attached to them. Before long it becomes clear that the victims are all morally questionable people and it appears that the killer is taken them out because he (or she) considers them bad.

A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE is a somewhat entertaining Spanish giallo that tries to mix some stylish murders with a detective story. When most people think of a giallo they think about the films from Italy but there were several other places that tried to cash in on the genre and that includes Spain. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking about this movie but if you're a fan of Naschy and the genre then you'll want to check it out.

When viewing the film today, the one thing that really stands out is the fact that films like SEVEN and SAW somewhat had familiar stories so you have to give this film credit for taking the idea of having someone kill off "bad" people. The first couple death scenes are quite creative and bloody but those expecting non-stop gore will be disappointed because after the first two they become rather tame. I'm not sure why the film started off so violent and then took a few steps back. The rest of the death scenes happen off screen or at least with less violence.

I thought the performance by Naschy was quite good and it's always fun watching Erika Blanc. The screenplay isn't the greatest thing out there as there are times towards the end where the viewer really quits caring about who the killer is. A tad bit more style or some more energy would have helped things as the 87-minute running time begins to drag in the final quarter.

With that said, A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE isn't a masterpiece or even a good picture but there are enough good moments to make it worth watching.

Paul Naschy once again knows what the people want by writing and starring in this over the top giallo full of murder, twists, sleaze, and transvestite roller coast shoot outs.

Paul is a burly cigar chewing cop who likes to slap perps about, and is given a new case: that of tracking down a killer who is wasting the city's undesirables types, including junkies and hookers. Every time a corpse is discovered, a glass dragonfly is also found at the scene. I thought it was cool that Paul was allowed to keep these on the wall of his living room for some reason, but then his wife Erika Blanc ended up doing most of the work anyway, so maybe it was best she kept an eye on the stuff.

Of course, polite society gets involved and it turns out they have just as many vices as those unclean types. Paul's friends turn out to be just as bad, what with the professor who is a necrophile who likes to have strippers lie in coffins, then there's the confusing love dodecahedron involving everyone else Paul knows, except the gay guy, because being gay is enough to have you killed in a film like this. Needless to say someone Paul knows is the killer, but as the body's pile up, can he unveil the killer before the killings get closer to home?

The killer is dressed in the usual gialli uniform - black gloves, comfortable shoes, comfy socks, and has quite the collection of weapons at his (or her!) disposal. People are attacked with axes, umbrellas with spring loaded blades, knives and such like, but the blood is kept subtle. Nudity isn't however, which will keep you awake between the murder scenes.

My absolute favourite bit was when Paul somehow uncovered a drug ring and the gang leader, fresh from doing a transvestite show, realises the cops are arriving on the scene, takes the time to dress back up in drag again before getting on a roller coaster and firing a gun blindly while on the ride. Simply delightful. This is also a film that isn't too concerned about how life like the dummies are, which makes things funnier.

If a bad Paul Naschy film exists, I haven't seen it yet. Another daft winner!

A masked killer is murdering the pimps, prostitutes and drug addicts of Milan, and leaving a dragonfly ornament on each corpse. Paul Naschy is the police inspector trying to stop him.

As far as giallos go, this is unremarkable stuff. The murders are unconvincing at best, and laughable at worst. There are far too many scenes of chases which showcase very lame gunfire. The plot constantly throws distractions at you like a coat button, a tattoo, golf clubs, extra marital affairs, and two deadly fairground rides, but they don't add up to an engaging story. Paul Naschy does a decent job as the detective, although I couldn't stop staring at his ridiculous comb-over (actually all the male characters in the cast have terrible hair),but most of the rest of the acting is wooden. Even Erica Blanc, who has made striking appearances in other movies, does not impress. To cap it off, the climax is very weak.

Currently quite hard to see on DVD and Bluray, this movie has not aged well. Groovy theme music and early 1970's fashions aside, it does not have a lot to recommend seeking it out.