The Killer Is Still Among Us

Based on a spate of unsolved, real-life murders in Florence, The Killer Is Still Among Us is a mid-80s giallo that lacks the intricate plot, stylish direction and stunning cinematography that is typical of the genre, but which compensates somewhat with a nastier, more misogynistic tone than usual and a final scene of sickening sexual violence designed to ensure the film a certain level of notoriety.

Exploitative elements aside, the film is a rather unremarkable effort that offers very little in the way of suspense and far too much boring exposition. For the first hour or so, the sex and violence is kept to a minimum, the thrust of the film being criminologist student Christiana Marelli's dull investigation of the murders and her growing suspicion of boyfriend Doctor Alex—all of which is very uninteresting.

During the course of her enquiries, Christiana crosses paths with a group of voyeurs, which widens the pool of suspects somewhat, but none of this is of much consequence: the film's raison d'être is clearly the 'money shot'—the graphic mutilation of a female victim (a nauseating nipple slice and some bloody knife damage to the nether regions)—after which The Killer Is Still Among Us closes without resolution, the open ending claiming that the film was 'made as a warning to young people and with the hope that it will be of use to law enforcement'.

Yeah, right!

Complete with "warnings for young people" and gory scenes of partial dismemberment, L'assassino e ancora tra noi is a passable but underwhelming installment into the late period of giallo films, and seems more like an American slasher with some minor differences. The music is absolutely terrible, but the main character is an intelligent woman who takes on the role of detective as a graduate student working on a dissertation for criminology. I like that most of the film is seen through her eyes and that she's never compromised or truly objectified at any point.

I can see real-world influences from the cases of the Zodiac and Ted Bundy in The Killer is Still Among Us. However, I also see a little of Friday the 13th but hardly any classic Italian elements beyond some nice scenery here and there. The cinematography and costumes are nothing to write home about, and the killer wears surgical gloves made of latex or nitrile instead of the predictable black ones. Maybe some people consider this film a great sign of evolution in the sub-genre, but I feel that it's nothing special.

"L'assassino è ancora tra noi" (The killer is still among us) is a suspenseful but not conventional giallo. It is based on the true story of a killer that terrorized Florence for some decades – the victims were couples in cars, tents etc… that used the nearby Florentine hills for their rendezvous. He was known as "the Monster of Florence".

The main character is Cristiana (Mariangela D'Abbraccio), a student of criminology that is writing a thesis for her degree – she chose the "Monster of Florence" as the subject of her thesis. It seems to her that it will be an easy task – she knows an important criminologist and also the detective inspector in charge of the case, so it isn't difficult for her to investigate on her own. But some people near her try to convince her to change the subject of her thesis and Cristiana herself is not prepared for the nastiness of the crimes. She starts receiving threatening telephone calls. She decides to investigate more – her investigation leads her to the voyeurs (well-organized and informed), they like to meet in the Devil's Tavern… but as she gets to know more, Cristiana becomes afraid and mistrusts even those that are nearer her. Suddenly fear. Will the killer attack her? Who is he or she?

The film is atmospheric and there are good moments of suspense. No one has a clue who the killer might be, uncertainty prevails. "The killer is still among us" is not like the usual blockbusters where the bad is easy to recognize and the good will prevail. It could be defined as a thriller with psychological undertones, and in spite of being inspired by true events, the film is of course fantasy (there's even a bizarre element thrown into the story that left me wondering), and the story follows the honored giallo tradition - lots of red herrings or puzzling evidences (and if you let yourself be led astray by them your mind will boggle), and bits of nastiness and sex.

If you like films in which the story is told in a non-conventional way (far away from the Hollywood blockbusters), then this film is for you. I would also like to recommend a similar-themed film called the "The Monster of Florence" (Il mostro di Firenze) – it was made about the same time – the 80s -, but it's a different film – a giallo about a writer and a puzzle (the monster of Florence), and as he goes on shadows and sun mix themselves and run and run. Where?

Camillo Teti's L'Assassino é ancora tra noi aka The Killer is Still Among Us (Italy, 1985) is a giallo murder mystery that is based (unfortunately) on true story about the killer in Florence. As far as I know the killer is still free and not caught which makes the gruesome film even more unsettling although the film is far from the really atmospheric and thus effective films of the genre. I didn't see the subtitled version, I only saw the Italian language print so unfrotunately the plentiful and long scenes of dialogue went beyond me.

A criminal stundet female starts to investigate a brutal series of murders commited by unknown person who kills young couples making love and kissing in their cars on the outskirts of the city. He/she shoots his/her victims with a pistol and the mutilates the (mostly female) bodies in such horrific detail it is not possible (nor necessary) to go into details here. Soon the murderer becomes interested in the protagonist lady, too, and she starts to suspect even her own boyfriend at one paranoid point as there really are no clues about who the real killer would be. The film opens with a murder, has some truly great scenes at the middle part and beginning, has a lot of talking and going from places to others and ends in a sadistically explicit aftermath mutilation and a little epilogue surprise.

The mentioned effective scenes really stand out and frightened me even though I watched the film daytime (still in darkness) and from television. First incredibly imaginative and devilish detail comes at the very beginning when the killer's point-of-view shot shows a dead female lying on the ground while the killer hand's SHADOW covers her dead body and kind of "flies" and flutters all over it, making it look like a bat straight from Hell trying to seduce the soul of the girl. This is exactly what effective horror imagery is about, and it is wonderful to find such elements in otherwise pretty exploitive films like this.

The second stand out scene is even more effective and comes at the middle part when the protagonist is alone in her apartment and hears something from the hallway. She goes to the door and sees something that makes Argento proud for sure. The "eye thing" is among the most nerve shreddingly shocking horror scenes I've seen for some time and again shows the power of such extreme close ups. If these two scenes were accompanied with a great music score and soundtrack a'la Goblins (for example), they would be just perfect. Now they are extremely effective and (almost) on the same level with the greatest examples of the genre like the masterpieces by Argento, Fulci and other legendary names.

The acting is quite good and restrained and the lady who plays the protagonist is not annoying at all in her difficult role as she is frightened and shocked most of the time. Roles like these require a lot from the actor as they involve plenty of eye and face movements and reactions which can really be horrible to look at if the actor is not talented and cannot use his/her face in the acting restrainedly and naturally. Sadly the soundtrack manages to impress only rarely and it is definitely among the film's biggest needs especially when we're in giallo and horror genre.

The murders are graphic and merciless but even more repellent are the things the murderer does to his victims after their death. The notorious scene among those few who've managed to track this rare film down comes at the very end when the film makers show in graphic close ups and detail how the killer slices the most private parts of the female he has just shot dead. The scenes are very strong and effects convincing and at the same level with the sickest bits in the various cannibal flicks like Lenzi's Eaten Alive! (1980) and Cannibal Ferox (1981), Fulci's New York Ripper (1982), Landi's Giallo a Venezia (1979) and some of the Orient nasties like Otto Chan's Diary of a Serial Killer (Hong Kong, 1995) and Danny Lee's & Billy Tang's creepy and great looking Dr. Lamb (Hong Kong, 1992, being far stronger in its uncut form i.e. not the HK CAT III form) plus some other films including sexual violence and unspeakable acts commited to living or dead bodies. The imagery is so excessive that the film becomes obviously a pretty exploitative one which naturally tones its serious potential down and makes it difficult to take as a noteworthy piece of work on any other level than exploitation.

The ending is pretty unusual and has a certain irony this kind of a subject matter wouldn't necessarily need. But it can also be seen as a straight statement and depiction of the murders/producers/public circle usually involving plenty of greedy thoughts and interest on other people's suffering and wickedness in our world and so it distantly reminds me of the theme's in Deodato's classic Cannibal Holocaust (1979) but VERY distantly as Deodato's film is so thoroughly loyal to its themes and despite the film being very violent it never becomes exploitive and gratuitous but naturally this statement requires a certain understanding towards films with extremely hard-to-take imagery like in Holocaust. But that is usually what powerful cinema is about.

If I had seen the subtitled version of Teti's film, I would know more about the relations and thoughts of the characters and maybe they'd shed some light on the film and its obvious exploitive status and make it perhaps a little more noteworthy. I will definitely check the subtitled version one day if I manage to meet it. Now L'Assassino gets 3/10 and is still freshly in my mind due to the two stand out giallo scenes mentioned and of course due to the over-the-top imagery rarely (if ever) surpassed in other films from anywhere.

Along with "Giallo a Venezia"(1979,Mario Landi)and "The New York Ripper"(1982,Lucio Fulci)this is possibly the nastiest Italian giallo ever made.It is based on the still unsolved series of murders in Florence and that lack of closure makes its over-the-top sexual violence all the more unsettling.A criminology student named Christina Marelli decides to write her thesis about a mysterious serial killer terrorizing couples in lover's lane.As she starts searching around she gets obscene phone calls.Is the killer her boyfriend Alex or maybe someone else?This forgotten Italian giallo is truly shocking.The scenes of sexual violence and mutilations are extremely well-done(brilliant special effects by Roberto Pace)and disturbing.A young couple is murdered in a tent.The boy has his throat cut open,while the girl is shot several times.The killer then slowly slices off her right nipple and cuts apart her vagina in close-up.This sequence is so graphic and sick that I almost threw up during it.The film is also suspenseful and bizarre in some scenes(check out the Devil's Bar moments)."The Killer Is Still Among Us" is certainly not for everybody,but if you like extreme cinema give this one a look.Highly recommended.