mikeburdick

It's a shame, 'L'occhio dietro la parete' has a promising cast, including the great Fernando Rey, who starred in some of Buñuel's best films, including 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie', as well as some good Italian genre films, like 'I Due Volti della Paura'. Unfortunately, despite the 'Rear Window'-inspired plot, there's not much suspense and it's pretty far-fetched stuff.

Rey stars as a wheelchair-bound man who uses some sort of contraption that looks like a periscope to spy on his neighbour (John Phillip Law from 'Danger: Diabolik') with his partner played by Olga Bisera. Then there's the butler, played by José Quaglio, who is obsessed with Olga in a creepy way and chases schoolgirls, which seems to have little to do with the story.

There is a giallo-esque twist at the end, but the rest of the film is pretty slow, with no real suspense, no violence, just a whole lot of sleaze like full-frontal male nudity, male on male action, pubic hair collections, but none of it is very sexy.

Normally, I'll find some redeeming quality in a giallo with mediocre reviews, but this one was a snorefest.

Having seen over 100 gialli at this point, it's pretty hard to impress me. I've seen most of the good ones, and the ones farther down the list tend to be interesting for the cast or photography or a neat plot twist, but lacking in some way. 'Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile' aka 'So Sweet, So Dead' aka 'The Slasher is...the Sex Maniac!' is actually a top tier giallo.

First off, the cast is full of giallo regulars, like Silvano Tranquilli, Nieves Navarro, Annabella Incontrera and the always creepy Luciano Rossi. American actor Farley Granger delivers a superb performance as the cop tasked with tracking down a serial killer. I've seen him in several gialli, and have never been convinced by his characters, perhaps because he always plays a bad guy, like 'Amuck!' and 'Something Creeping in the Dark'. This time around, he's believable, truly a complex, conflicted and sympathetic character.

The craft is all around solid. Camerawork that tells the story effortlessly without getting too tricky. A memorable soundtrack and theme, fitting for the film. Some suspenseful scenes. Acting spot on.

While some may complain that it sticks too tightly to the genre formula (masked killer wearing gloves kills women, but who could it be?), I found there were ample red herrings to keep me intrigued and the payoff was totally unexpected.

The premise of 'A Doppia Faccia' ('Double Face') is very good, actually. A wealthy woman dies in a car accident and the husband inherits a fortune, but soon after, clues lead him to believe she's still alive. What's going on?

It's an old-school, late-sixties giallo, not a lot of sex and violence, more of a psychological thriller in the Hitchcock vein. While there are some interesting twists and turns, and the direction and acting are pretty good, it just misses the mark due to several issues.

First and foremost, Kinski just isn't right as 'the good guy'. He's a very good actor, but he's well-known for playing creepy characters, especially in the Edgar Wallace krimi films, the predecessors to the gialli. This character needed us to find him likeable and to care, but Kinski's strength isn't his charm and empathy, it's his intensity and anger.

In terms of craft, the photography is quite good, except that silly scene in the snow, which really should have been cut. Sometimes effects don't work. The acting and directing were competent.

The script is another weak point. They should have spent more time making us believe the relationship was authentic and they loved each other, so we'd believe his obsession with finding out if she was still alive. There are quite a few nothing conversations that could have added to the character development. The police investigation and red herrings could have been more fleshed out.

Really, they did a pretty good job overall, considering how quickly and cheaply they pumped these films out. But a bit more time on the script and a different casting choice would have made this one really sing.