"Oh my God, dad, that looks so old... You're not going to watch that, are you?" Quote my 14-year-old son when I cozily sat down to see "A ...Come Assassino". And I can't really blame him because the film truly does looks ancient. With its release year being 1966, the movie is old - of course - even for a Giallo since the genre had its heydays between 1971 and 1975. But the film also looks and feels older than it is. Mario Bava's pioneer Gialli-titles ("The Girl Who Knew Too Much" and "Blood and Black Lace") are older, with their respective release years being 1963 and 1964, but they are more modern and fresher looking than "A ... Come Assassino" which feels like a film from the 1930s or early 1940s.
That said, however, I'm glad to have seen this prototype-giallo oldie! It's fascinating to witness how veteran writer Ernesto Gastaldi explores and ventures into new territories. "A ...Come Assassino" feels like a transition. The setting and premise still feel like gothic horror, what with the gloomy castle setting and a greedy family gathering for the reading of the will of a malignant patriarch. But the era isn't Victorian, there aren't any secret vaults or squeakily opening tombs, no old knights in armor suits that move on their own, or people who are spied on from behind paintings. Instead, we have Giallo trademarks carefully making their entrance, like black gloved killers using knives, adultery, treason, and murder conspiracies. Police inspectors patiently waiting for the murders to solve themselves, unexpected story twists, and beautiful lewd women dying sadistically. Style and photography wise, director Angelo Dorigo can't hold a candle to contemporary prodigies like Mario Bava or Riccardo Freda, but it's a modest little landmark anyway.
