Those who watch Sergio Martino's The Suspicious Death of a Minor expecting a giallo might be surprised at what they see, but I don't think they'll be disappointed: it's more poliziotteschi (police procedural crime drama) than giallo, but moves at such a rollicking pace, with a dash of humour and lots of action, that it would be hard not to enjoy.
The film follows tough guy Paolo Germi (Claudio Cassinelli) as he investigates the death of a young prostitute with the help of bag-snatcher Giannino (Adolfo Caruso). As he gets closer to the truth, Germi uncovers an agency trafficking under-age girls, has close encounters with both the police and murderous criminals, breaks his spectacles several times (a running gag), recovers 2 billion lire in ransom money from a recent kidnapping, and reveals a wealthy and influential citizen to be a drug-dealing pedophile. And for the first forty-five minutes or so, we're not even sure what side of the law Germi is on.
Martino delivers several nasty murders, which should keep the giallo fans content, including a throat slashing, a stabbing, and a strangulation (the third victim managing to throw a pan of boiling water in her attacker's face before dying). We also get a lengthy car chase scene that features lots of vehicular excitement (even though one of the cars is a clapped-out 2-CV), but which is primarily played for laughs - one of the sillier scenes involves a man on a bicycle who gets hit by a car and ends up riding a unicycle, while a pedestrian is literally sent spinning (on his head!). There's also a fun shootout on a roller coaster which turns into a chase on foot, and an altercation between Germi and the scalded murderer (Roberto Posse) that leaves our hero dangling precariously off a cinema roof.
7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for the groovy Goblin-esque prog-rock score.
