Cold Eyes of Fear

Moving and bleak Italian/Spanish film with high doses of violence and a lot of dialogue . This spooky picture about some criminals holding the couple hostage at home contains shocks , suspense , grisly killings and numerous creepy scenes . It is a passable home invasion thriller with noticeable flaws . It deals with a solicitor called Peter (Gianni Garco , famous Spaghetti actor as Sartana) , son of a respectable judge (Fernando Rey) , picks up Anna (Giovanna Ralli) , a prostitute from the club in which is shown a nude spectacle (performed by Karin Schubert as Nightclub Actress) and takes her back to his father 's place . The duo soon discover they are not alone , as a mugger called Quill (Julian Mateos), is waiting for them . Subsequently , there appears Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff who ulteriorly committed suicide) , the lead maniac disguised as a bobby , and things get worse . The couple is besieged and terrorized by the psycho-killer attackers and then look for some means to getaway .

Tension , suspense , and unsettling scenes when a couple is harassed by two dangerous criminals . "Cold Eyes of Fear" provides that mindless entertainment in spades, with a few head-scratches along the way. It displays relentless thriller , intrigue , shocks , hard-edged drama , plot twists , creepy images and some violence when crimes and fights takes place . The villains in this movie are a mixed bag , each of the burglars have their own agenda that we find out over the course of the movie through the use of flashbacks . This flawed film written by Leo Anchoriz , an ordinary secondary actor , packs thrilling and hair-raising frames , twists and turns . You can attempt to put all the pieces together at the final but you'll only end up confused and disappointed , it's not worth the effort . This violent story belongs to ¨Home invasion sub-genre¨ similarly to ¨Michael Hanake's Funny Games¨, ¨William Wyler's Desperate hours¨, ¨Michael Cimino's Desperate Hours¨and recently : ¨Miguel Angel Vivas's Kidnapped¨ as well as ¨Joel Schumacher's Trespass¨. The overall result is chilling proof that E. G. Castell can take us back into a luxurious mansion while delivering a completely different scare . While the look is suitable eerie and frightening , the plot spreads to the breaking point and the ending turns out to be a little frustrating . The cast is pretty well , as Frank Wolff's eccentric performance really adds to the gravity of the situation and makes for a gripping protagonist-antagonist dynamic . Gorgeous Giovanna Ralli as an Italian woman of dubious virtue , Ralli played classic films as ¨El General De La Rovere¨ , but also acted in Spaghetti as ¨The mercenary¨ and Giallos . And Julian Mateos , a famed Spanish actor , player in US Western as well as Spaghetti as ¨Hellbenders¨ , ¨Four rode out¨ , ¨Catlow¨ , ¨Shalako¨, ¨Return of seven magnificent¨ . Special mention for Fernando Rey as a prestigious judge , Rey was Luis Buñuel's usual actor and unforgettable in ¨French Connection I and II¨. Atmospheric cinematography by Antonio L. Ballesteros shot at Cinecitta and in London . Jazzy musical score by the great Ennio Morricone , including some rare and atonal sounds.

The picture produced by Jose Frade/Atlantida Films was professionally directed by Enzo Girolami Castellari , though has some flaws and gaps . Enzo is a craftsman whose father was filmmaker Marino Girolami and his brother Ennio Girolami . He had a lot of hit-smashes in the action cinema and Spaghetti . His first film was ¨Seven Winchester for a massacre¨ ; after the movie 's success, the same producers approached Castellari again to direct a Western ¨Jonny Hamlet¨ the next year, which he accepted . Enzo usually makes experimental editing techniques such as unbroken transitions from one scene to another and a cameo appearance in his films . Castellari often works with Guido and Maurizio De Angelis and uses to do slow motion shootouts and choreographic death scenes . Enzo is a good professional working in all kind of genres , but he made Western especially . His first one was ¨Some dollars for Django¨ co-directed by Leon Klimovsky , but actually , for the most part of its filming by the disagreements arising with Klimovsky was realized by Enzo G. Castellari, which this film was his directorial debut in a sub-genre that became one of its greatest representatives ; in fact if you compare the beginning of "7 Winchester for a massacre" which would direct the next year and the end this one seem to be similar direction . After that , he went on directing ¨ Johnny Hamlet¨ , ¨Kill them everybody and came back alone¨, ¨Tedeum¨ , ¨Cipolla colt¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨, and the masterpiece : ¨Keoma¨ and finally its inferior sequel ¨Jonathan of the Bears¨ with Franco Nero . Some of them are serious , others are goofy and plenty of slapstick and slapdash . He also directed successful wartime movies as ¨Inglorious bastards ¨ , ¨Eagles over London¨ , Sci-Fi : ¨1990 : Bronx warriors¨ , "The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland" , "Escape from the Bronx" , Adventures : ¨Tuareg¨, ¨Adventures and loves of Scaramouche¨ , Simbad¨, "The Shark Hunter" and Poliziotteschi : "Day of the Cobra" , ¨Striker¨, ¨Heroin Busters¨. The pic will appeal to Eurocult fans and Italian-Spanish production enthusiasts.

By no means the best giallo I've seen, this Enzo Castellari tale of ___ drags horribly and maintains little suspense. Set in Swinging London (but filmed primarily in Rome), the movie finds young lawyer Gianni Garko about to seduce prostitute Giovanna Ralli at his swank house. They stumble upon the butler's dead body, undoubtedly a victim of temperate ruffian Julián Mateos, who then terrorizes the couple with his gun and leather suit. Judge Fernando Rey, who keep a cat on his desk, calls nephew Garko to ask for legal assistance and sends constable Frank Wolff over with a missive. The sleazy couple assumes the cop to be a deus ex machine, but he proves to be in on the racket. After sending Rey a secret plea for help (in Latin no less), our hopeful gets haughty and gives the sneering tough guy a good pounding. While Ralli fails to seduce Mateos with a shower, Rey puzzles out the message and sends some genuine although ineffectual police. Some may wonder what will happen to the unlovable couple besieged by this complicated plot; others may not. Castellari fills Cold Eyes with similarly absurd post-nouvelle vague editing, and I suspect this was a strictly commissioned affair for the veteran writer, producer and actor who can claim over 40 films to his credit. His failure as director really displays itself in the overdone, montage-heavy finale. Despite its lack of flesh and gore, Cold Eyes is shockingly exploitative. Wolff murders a policeman in flashback during a gratuitously cruel story diversion, only to illustrate his already obviously violent side. The violence throughout comes off as unnecessarily brutal, as well as distinctly European in flavor. None of the male characters treat the unimpressive prostitute much like a human, her unsurprised response perhaps suggesting they're correct to do so. Easily the best part of the movie is Ennio Morricone's amazing score, would fit better in a well-paced environment. If you want to see a decent film with Rey, who doesn't actually appear in shot with any of the main cast and probably only showed up for a day's worth of filming, check out the same year's French Connection.

Looking at the various artworks for this joint Spanish/Italian movie it is easy to assume that it is a traditional looking giallo, but in fact it is more of a tense home invasion thriller. The opening scene is pure giallo and there are certainly elements throughout the movie of that genre, but for the most part it is a suspenseful crime thriller, though towards the end one of the characters starts to get some scary hallucinations. The fact that it takes place at night also helps create some fear. Set in London I loved the street scenes, looked to my like it was probably done without permission as many passers-by can been seen looking at the action. Ennio Morricone provides an excellent soundtrack, very cool, and of all the cast Giovanna Ralli as a prostitute called Anna was my favourite character. However the movie is hardly a classic and the laughable "Cockney" accents of the two criminals, in particular of Quill (Julian Mateos), spoil any menace, I've docked it a couple of points for that. Could they not have employed somebody better to dub these two??

Overall, for fans of Italian crime and giallo movies it is definitely worth a watch, but maybe not a repeat.

This is an average example of the Italian Giallo, the story set in London, switching between a solicitor's office and his stately house, which is occupied by his solicitor nephew and a prostitute.

The plot is fairly good, involving an elaborate revenge on the elder solicitor for a wrongful judgement some years earlier. This film has some good twists but is tense only at times. It seems to drag and much more could have been made of the frightful atmosphere in the house. Instead, we have over-used extreme close-ups and plenty of screaming and shouting.

Not a bad film by any means, but there are plenty better examples of the genre.

'Cold Eyes of Fear' is a 1971 stylish giallo thriller directed by Enzo G. Castellari with a tense claustrophobic atmosphere, decent visual flair and an interesting set up with a few twists and turns thrown into the mix. But despite these elements the movie is a rather tepid affair with a sluggish pace and lacking in thrills. To put it mildly it's boring.

The plot begins with Peter Bedell (Gianni Garko) who picks up Anna (Giovanna Ralli) from a club and takes her back to his uncle's house. They soon discover they are not alone when Ex-Convict Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff) and his henchman Quill (Julian Mateos) are there waiting for them and takes them hostage to extract revenge on Peter's uncle Judge Bedell (Fernando Rey) for wrongfully sending one of them to jail.

What could have been a cool home invasion thriller soon becomes rather tedious with too much talking and exposition, and not enough excitement. Even when the action ramps up towards the end, with the plot twists and action, it's merely too little to late and despite some strong performances from the cast and stylish production, the movie falls flat with the director feeling confined by the limitations of the material as the concept wasn't half bad, it just could have done with better writing.

Overall 'Cold Eyes of Fear' is a rather lacklustre giallo and there's far better examples of the genre out there to enjoy. Skip this one.