Edgar Wallace: Das Geheimnis der grünen Stecknadel

An innocent teacher is suspected of a really sick series of murders (after this film, the verb "to solange" should have been added to the dictionary) and must clear himself, ala Hitchcock. Supposedly based on one of Edgar Wallace's books (there _is_ a hidden room), they still must have taken an awful lot of creative license. Joe D'Amato uses the 2.35 frame as only a style-uber-content DP can, though Dallamano deserves a lot of credit for making the story so engrossing. Morricone's score is truly haunting (available on CD with his score for Lenzi's "Spasmo"), adding a note of sadness to the gruesome proceedings. As with the best horror, there's nothing explicit in the murder scenes, wisely leaving the details of the truly hideous murders to the viewers' imaginations. ("Giallo in Venice" also featured a murderer solanging a victim but ruined it by showing the whole thing.) This one's definitely worth checking out, though widescreen is a must.