Death Laid an Egg

(1968) Death Laid An Egg/ La morte ha fatto l'uovo (In Italian with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER/ CRIME

Co-written and directed by Giulio Questi that opens with a man murdering a prostitute with an eyewitness peering in through the window, he also likes to record his victims screams as well as he is killing them. And at this point I kept wondering if that same person who saw him was going to either blackmail or perhaps do some other. We then find out this demented killer is actually an executive, Marco (Jean Louis Trintignant) and that is his wife, Anna (Gina Lollobrigida)who owns the chicken factory/ farm and whatever machinery that came along with it. Marco is perhaps an underling who is more infatuated with Anna's young cousin, Gabrielle (Ewa Aulin) who is also her secretary/ intern/ confidant. We then meet ad exec, Mondaini (Jean Sobieski) who appear to be smitten with Gabrielle making Marco to become jealous. And while this was happening, there's also a scientist conducting experiments on the chickens as well as the eggs built inside the chicken farm, like a Frankenstein chicken.

This is another one of those movies where not what viewers saw at the opening, is not exactly what it's actually happening, for the murdering of prostitutes is a part of Marco's weird fetish for the movie does not explain why he is like that- he is just is. We also do not even get the answer about the sympathy for the family dog for it leaves with more questions than the movie is willing to answer.

An avant-garde kind of giallo (more like a meta-reflection on the genre, really) that it's all over the place. Like a strange mix of Buñuel and Antonioni cinema with a documentary on acid of the poor conditions of a poultry factory, the plot was a little too convoluted to really keep my attention and I think the film tries too hard to be something different, without really achieving much. It's still an important title in this subgenre, but not for everyone.

I like how experimental some of these early gialli are. This is another movie about kind of spoiled rich people playing games with each other and getting into sordid trouble. Murder is involved, but not in the way you'd think after seeing the first half of the film, and I think that's one of the clever things about it. The story is more engaging than some, and, for once, actually more involving than set pieces, of which they are few (no prolonged stalking/murder sequences or anything like that).

Also, the movie is really funny at times, and I think it's absolutely intentional. The scene with the PR guy and all his "chicken poses" is priceless and like something you might find in a Monty Python sketch. I think there's some nice satire here of the rich industrial class, and a political subtext about automation and workers' rights. You see this sort of thing in vintage Italian genre films sometimes, and it's nice to see that sometimes, a thriller isn't just a thriller, if you know what I mean.

Finally, this is a slightly experimental film, with lots of fast edits and artistic scene transitions that often tell you things that aren't explicit in dialogue or scene itself. Also, the music -- I think it's great, in all its clanging and banging around and discordance, but it definitely won't be to everyon'e staste. A tip from my partner: "if you imagine a chicken playing the music, it becomes a thousand times better".

Terms like "bizarre", "eccentric" and "convoluted" are often used too lightly in reviews for Italian gialli, but in case of "Death Laid an Egg" they are severe understatements! I'm not even sure this one qualifies as a giallo, because although the film got released before the genre properly started booming (in 1968), it's already experimenting with different plots and thinking out-of-the-box in terms of style and plot twists. Generally speaking, a giallo either handles about a masked psycho-killer with black gloves savagely butchering people - preferably pretty young models - with sharp objects, or it handles about a convoluted murder conspiracy complete with sexual intrigues, betrayal and triangular relationships. "Death Laid an Egg" primarily fits into the second category, but also somewhat in the first one, and then still even a lot more! The most intriguing aspect about the triangular relationship (between a man, his wife and her secretary) is that it takes place at the woman's family business; - a chicken far where insanely unethical experiments take place (headless/boneless poultry monstrosities will haunt your nightmares!). Furthermore, the man has a fetish for slicing up prostitutes, and the mistress may or may not have a secret agenda with a hunky marketing agent. One thing's for sure, though, all the loose ends form a compelling wholesome that keeps you gazing at the screen and - unlike many other similar films - everything nicely comes together in the end, and "Death Laid an Egg" does deliver in every department (mystery, suspense, flamboyance, ...)

Writer/director Giulio Questi was a very strange individual, to say the least. He seemingly doesn't care about traditional cinematic patterns or logical narrative structure, and many sequences/plot twists appear to be improvised on the spot. The opening credits, the soundtrack, and many camera perspectives are utterly weird! Questi also made the western-outcast "Se sei vivo spara", which is possibly the strangest Spaghetti Western ever, and the reputedly bonkers psychological horror/thriller "Arcana" (which I haven't seen yet).

Sort of an absurdist giallo, DEATH LAID AN EGG is about wealthy chicken farm owners, Anna (Gina Lollobrigida), her husband Marco (Jean Louis Trintignant), and their secretary, Gabrielle (Ewa Aulin). Life on the farm is blissful, in spite of Marco and Gabrielle's affair. Of course, neither of the women know that Marco is a serial killer.

Indeed, this is a strange, trippy film, bordering on the psychedelic. The "experimental" music soundtrack -which sounds a lot like someone slamming their face into a piano, while torturing a hyena with a violin- is reminiscent of that heard in A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY.

A perfect example of EGG's lunatic charm comes during a party, where the participants pile all of the furniture into the middle of the living room, and take turns entering another room in order to be "totally honest". This, having something to do with human / chicken behavior (!).

Anyone expecting a straightforward, logical story line might find this to be an excruciating experience. Aside from all of the 60's flash, it suffers from extreme tedium.

However, poultry lovers will rejoice aloud, as our feathered friends are featured quite prominently throughout! Beware of the hideous, pulsating, wingless, headless, mutant, monster chickens! Their gushy deaths will haunt you forever!...