Whilst young women are being strangled in Rome, four female students head off to an isolated retreat, unaware that the killer is following them.
Whether you regard it as giallo, slasher film, or both, this 1973 Sergio Martino (director of the infamous ‘Slave of the Cannibal God’) cult favourite was a film I wanted to see for a long time. The reason? Sapphic love scenes- so sue me, OK? And even though there wasn’t very much of that (sadly, but there is some, at any rate), it’s still chock full of stunning 70s babes to keep horndogs like me happy enough. The cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando is positively stunning, especially one seriously creepy scene involving a fog-laced swamp.
But actually, the most impressive thing about this film is what it is trying to say; This film wallows so much in misogyny and exploitation, mostly seen from the POV of the killer, that it would appear that the audience is being asked to join in on the voyeurism (nearly every scene has someone watching someone else, often it’s us doing the watching). It makes for a slightly unsettling (yet visually pleasing) experience- there’s even nudity in the opening scene!
Which is a jolly good thing since the plot is old hat, the performances underdone (though Suzy Kendall comes to the party acting-wise at the finale, with believable terror and fright), and the characters barely drawn at all (as is typical for a giallo, the male characters are total dullards). The music score by Guido and Maurizo de Angelis is also very Goblin-esque and too familiar.
It’s not in the upper echelon of giallo, but it’s certainly better than many slasher films (including every one of the ‘Friday’ films. If only those films dispatched their insipid characters as quickly as this film does- you’ll see what I mean when you watch it). Worth seeking out (and better than many dense critics suggest), if you’re into either category of horror mentioned above (I reckon, along with ‘Black Christmas’- which it occasionally resembles- this film helped give birth to the slasher film) or like lots of naked breasts. If you do watch the film, answer me this; Were the first twenty minutes or so really relevant?
OVERALL SUMMARY
Overall, it’s a near miss, with the finale an absolute corker, but a long-time coming. Watchable, at any rate, particularly for giallo or slasher fans.
