Mozart è un assassino

A concert performance given by five students from a prestigious music academy ends on a wrong note, which inextricably leads to a series of psychopathic murders personalised with a distinctive cross being cut into the stomachs of the victims.

Mozart is a Murderer is most interesting as a latter day giallo from one of the undisputed masters of the sub-genre, Sergio Martino. This was a man responsible for five bona fide classics of the genre between 1971-73. It wouldn't be unfair to say that this movie pales noticeably in comparison to those. But in all honesty, I did not expect anything else, as most post-80's giallo entries I have seen have tended to be quite bland. This one suffers from this a bit with a definite lack of style and an almost made-for-TV movie feel about it, with a lack of much in the way of blood or eroticism. However, I have to also say that it holds its own when compared to other equivalent gialli from its era and is certainly better than some others I could mention. It benefits from taking the effort to have an actual mystery narrative to keep the story interesting and it resolves this mystery with an explanation which was gloriously nuts in true giallo tradition! It is a film which could have benefited from a little more salacious content and a bit more style but it is essentially a product of its time and the lower budgets Italian genre cinema was working under and when you take this into account it is not too bad of an effort at all. There is a glaring plot development (contrivance) that did give the game away to me who the killer was half-way through but, well, I guess that's really my fault for watching too many of these types of flicks. On the whole, this one made for an enjoyable watch; giallo enthusiasts should certainly give it a whirl I reckon.

The wrong note at a recital given by Professor Baraldi's most gifted music majors sets the stage for serial murder...

Director Sergio Martino returns to form with a good old fashioned giallo that benefits from a clever premise, good acting, a generous budget, and the sure hand of an old pro. All the trope are there: a black-gloved killer, a bizarre motive, a busy stiletto, taunting telephone calls, POV stalking, a troubled detective, unsavory suspects, red herrings, a decent body count, an intriguing title that figures into the plot, and a major cliché near the half-way point that'll telegraph the killer to any slasher film aficionado. The set piece slaying isn't as ostentatious as the ones in Golden Age gialli and more gore would have been a definite asset but the director's distinctive flair is still there and the movie delivers its genre's goods in an entertaining manner. Recommended.

Ah, the Italian Giallo... My personal favorite horror subgenre in history, but simultaneously also a genre that was very typical for, and irreversibly linked to, the 1970s (and maybe the early-to-mid-80s). Although they tried, even the absolute greatest Italian horror directors somehow couldn't make great gialli anymore after the year 1990. There's a time and place for everything, I guess, and the time and place for gialli was in Italy during the seventies. Still, it's allowed to get nostalgic.

And I bet that's how Sergio Martino often feels himself as well; - nostalgic. After all, he was one of the principal contributors of the gialli-heydays, and made no less than five bona-fide classics in a period of barely two years: "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh", "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail", "All the Colors of the Dark", "Your Vice is a Locked Room and only I have the Key", and "Torso". For the remainder of the 70s, and throughout the 80s and 90s, Martino moved on to other genres with mixed success, but he always stayed most known and loved for his gialli.

Martino was probably very pleased with the assignment of directing the made-for-TV flick "Mozart is a Murderer", because nobody really expected a giallo-masterpiece after all these years. What he made, however, is a more than adequate and admirable thriller, and I'm fairly convinced all fans of 70s and 80s Italian horror will appreciate the effort. The plot, the character of the killer and the absurd twists during the third act are sheer homages to the vintage gialli of two-and-a-half decades before. The story takes place in and around a music conservatorium, where someone is killing off a group of students/friends after they gave a not-so-successful Mozart recital. The police commissioner is charge, Maccari, struggles with the case, because his own wife was murdered by a serial killer and his new girlfriend is a shrink treating one of the main suspects.

Maybe it's because my expectations were set low, but I really enjoyed "Mozart is a Murderer". Bear in mind this is a TV-movie, so do not hope for bloody and sadistic massacres or gratuitous nudity (even though those were regular giallo trademarks in the 70s and 80s). The final twists and the revelation of the killer are totally absurd, but hey, also that is part of the giallo culture.

A limp shadow of what Sergio used to make.

The lighting and cinematography is awful. It looks like a soap opera. The writing is also quite bad. I did not believe the therapist was actually a therapist. The acting was below average.

Don't bother with this one.

Not a vintage giallo by any means but a very decent late effort from Sergio Martino who brought us such gems as, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colours of the Dark. Has something of the feel of TV movie perhaps in the seeming lack of budget and more particularly in this rather bloodless and sexless tale. Gripping tale it nevertheless is, however, and there are so many conservatoire students and teachers to keep us guessing whilst a very large number fall victim to the mysterious killer who leaves a mark upon the stomach. Enzo De Caro is excellent in the lead investigator role. I didn't recognise him but it seems he is a fairly big name in Italian film and TV. A minor giallo but still worth a watch and particularly interesting to note the facets of the genre that remain acceptable (disturbed childhood causing violent trauma and pedophile teachers) and those that don't (sex and gore). I also missed that late 60s interior decoration and the bottle of J&B!