My Dear Killer

An insurance investigator, Police Inspector Peretti (George Hilton)helped by a Brigadier (Manuel Zarzo) are assigned by his chief ((Saldo Randone) the investigation of a killing via mechanical digger . As there happens several murders with bloody and gruesome executions. Some drawings seem to implicate about anybody are dieing . Meanwhile the series killer goes on a real massacre on various unfortunate victims as a man supposedly commits suicide, a women is strangled, another attacked in her apartment. Slowly more people are found dead and the inspector investigates the strange killings with numerous suspects (Monica Randall, Alfredo Mayo , William Berger).

Tonino Valeri 's great success is compelling directed with startling visual content.This frightening movie is plenty of thrills, chills, body-count and glimmer color in lurid pastel with phenomenal results. This is a classic slasher where the intrigue,tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room, corridors and luxurious interior and exterior.This genuinely mysterious story is well photographed by Manuel Rojas with magenta shades of ochre ,translucently pale turquoises and deep orange-red .

The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre that was invented by Mario Bava along with Riccardo Freda(Secret of Dr. Hitchcock) , they are the fundamental creators . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color with shining red blood, usual zooms, and utilization of images-shock . Later appears Dario Argento(Deep red, Suspira,Inferno), another essential creator of classic Latin terror films. Tonino Valeri's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and humorous and more inclined toward violence and lots of killings . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Manuel Rojas . Very good musical score by the classic Ennio Morricone. The picture is well directed by Tonio Valeri , an expert on Western as proved in ¨The hired gun ¨ , ¨My name is nobody ¨ with Fonda and Terence Hill , ¨The price of power ¨ with Giuliano Gemma and Van Heflin , ¨The day of anger ¨with Lee van Cleef and ¨ Taste of Killing¨ with Craig Hill and George Martin . Rating: Good, this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills.

Director Tonino Valerii is best known in the USA for the spaghetti western "My Name is Nobody," but "My Dear Killer" is no less an excellent example of the giallo genre than "Nobody" was to its own. The plot revolves around a series of murders committed by an unknown assailant intent on keeping the deaths of a small child and her father unsolved. As is the case with most gialli, there's a detective one step behind the murderer, a lush and creepy music score (this time by Morricone), a houseful of suspects, creative and illogical murders, and a downbeat and melancholy plot. What elevates this one above all the others made in that banner year for the genre (1971), though, is the detail given to the script and production. The characters are all fully formed and functional to the story, which itself is well thought-out and clever. The resolution is well-handled, and even if the killer's identity is impossible to guess beforehand, the means in which he (or she) is finally discovered will make you smile. Add to this one of the saddest musical-score main themes in movie history, featuring a woman's voice singing a haunting child's melody, and you have a giallo that fans of the genre should definitely not miss.

Anyone who ever saw "My Dear Killer" is most likely to agree when I claim that it's nearly impossible to find another horror film with a more convoluted plot! I never thought I'd say this, but this movie almost exaggerates with the constant adding of new twists and complexity! "My Dear Killer", which is a giallo in the purest definition of the term, features nearly a dozen murder victims and an equal amount of suspects. Paying close attention to the development of the plot is difficult enough already, so guessing along for the killer's identity is pretty much out of the question. And yet, it's another wondrous example of Italy's finest horror sub genre, with brutal slaughters, controversial themes and great music! Giallo-regular George Hilton ("All the Colors of the Dark", "Case of the Bloody Iris") plays Peretti, a police detective charged with investigating the eerie murder of an insurance inspector. He was obviously getting too close to someone's dark secrets and, in order to solve the case; Peretti has carry on with the decapitated victim's research. All traces lead to the unsolved kidnapping and eventual murder of a young girl in the area. The killer clearly doesn't know how he is to getting caught, as he precautionary starts to eliminate everyone close to the case. Be advised that the above is a very vague description of the plot, as a more detailed summary would cover several pages. Apart from a few minor holes in the plot and a handful of illogicalness, "My Dear Killer" is a hugely compelling and intense murder-mystery. Especially the violence will appeal to hardcore horror fans, as the killer even uses circular saws and construction machinery! Tonino Valerii is not a very eminent Italian horror filmmaker (or at least not as eminent as, say, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci or Sergio Martino), but his directing is truly stylish and he obviously read the "big book of giallo-guidelines" carefully before he started making this movie. Highly recommended!

Insurance adjuster Paradisi is murdered when he fails to notice a very loud mechanical crane is being lowered close to his head. It decapitates him. The suspect in his murder is discovered shortly thereafter at an abandoned warehouse hanged in way to suggest suicide by the clumsy killer. Seemingly the entire cast is filled with creeps anyone of whom could be a homicidal maniac.

Dapper police inspector Perretti (Hilton) investigates diving in head-first with his typical work ethic and sound deductive reasoning uncovering a complicated child abduction caper tied in with the murders. But his credibility begins to appear questionable as more corpses pile up and all he has for a lead is a child's book of drawings.

Giallos were a genre shaped by the Hitchcockian tradition, and the Agatha Christie type whodunit but also the film noir genre. They co-opted aspects of each. In Giallos you quite frequently saw a convoluted criminal scheme plot point - a staple of film noir. The whodunit aspects seen here are readily apparent within the collection of stock characters. As for the Hitchcockian side you have the stark visual imagery, jarring plot-twists and deeply psychological motives of the characters.

Another staple of these Giallo's was the subjective camera/point of view shot of the killer just before a grisly murder. Logic could get discarded in scenes like this and the one here offers us the interior of a victim's home where she just happens to have left power tools laying around. The bloody kill which leaves some particularly artistic blood spatters of course leaves no explanation how the power tool was still operational are its cord became out of reach of its outlet.

Unlike many other gialli, "Mio Caro Assassino" is not merely a succession of nasty murder scenes; it is bloody yet classy. It boasts an intricate, puzzlelike plot, some very good POV camerawork, a few stunning women (Patty Shepard, Mónica Randall, Helga Line, Marilu Tolo, etc.), a dependable lead in George Hilton (who has cited this film as one of the most noteworthy of his long career), another chilling la-la-la-la-la theme by Ennio Morricone, and a nifty Poirot-like climax, where Hilton gathers all the suspects in the same room and summarizes the case. A superior example of the genre. *** out of 4.