The Dead Are Alive

Even though this film is entitled under its German title, 'L'Etrusco Uccide Ancora' - how it is called in Italian - is overall a typical Italian thriller of the Seventies. Directed with style by Armando Crispino, who also directed the breathtaking 'Macchie Solari' (aka Autopsy, The Victim), the film suggests supernatural forces involved in the plot. That makes the whole thing even more atmospheric and will keep you on the edge of your seats. The German video versions are heavily cut concerning the plot (one version is also cut concerning the violent killings), while only the Danish video version appears to be complete (according to the excellent English book 'Blood and Black Lace'). Nevertheless, if you are able to get this gem on video, get it: This giallo truly delivers!

This is a good but poorly paced Italian thriller from the 1970's. The plot concerns a series or murders occurring to people connected to a recently discovered Etruscan burial sight. One of the repeated shots is the face of the Etruscan demon god that was found on the wall of the tomb. As the police investigate the lives of everyone involved are revealed and wee see that not everyone is as innocent they would like us to believe.

A good, but not great mystery with supernatural overtones this movie is graced with good performances across the board. Better is the fact that the characters are very complex with no real clichés in the bunch. The film also keeps you off balance with some interesting camera work and music. The only thing that I'm not a fan of is the fact that the pacing is a bit to slack. There are several times when I would have liked them to move things on and not take a quiet contemplative moment. I'm probably over reacting but the desire to speed things up knocked down the rating a couple of points on this good thriller.

In Italy, a series of murders occur at a newly discovered Etruscan burial ground and when a tomb is opened, wall murals of sacrificial killings depict the current deaths ...but how could that possibly be? An American on the site, Professor Jason Porter (Alex Cord) -a violent alcoholic who also suffers blackouts- finds himself not only in the midst of a mystery, but a suspect as well. Was an ancient demon god unleashed when the burial grounds were disturbed -or are the murders the work of a mere (maniacal) mortal?

Armando Crispino's clever and classy entry from the Golden Age of the Giallo (1968-75) has nearly all the conventions one expects from the genre: an innocent (?) American abroad somehow connected to a string of violent crimes, ineffectual police detectives, quirky suspects, nubile victims, red herrings, brutal bludgeonings, suicides, and an insane killer that may come as a surprise. There's also a shoe fetish, a homosexual, a bottle of J&B Whiskey, a wild car chase, and Riz Ortolani's score to hold viewer interest. One of my favorite gialli plot devices is used here to good effect: the protagonist had a clue to the killer's identity all along if only he had interpreted a certain event correctly. All that's missing are the ever-present black gloves -but you won't miss them. This colorful, well-made thriller, based on a short story by Bryan Edgar Wallace, was released in the U.S. as THE DEAD ARE ALIVE. Rounding out the cast are Samantha Eggar, John "Death Dream" Marley, and guest-star Nadja Tiller.

The reason this being one of the more obscure Giallos (or as purist would say: Gialli), can be blamed on "clever" promoters, who had hoped to cover more bases than were available. In the US they tried to market this off as a Living Dead flick. Needless to say that those expecting zombies were none too happy when no walking corpses appeared in the film. In Germany on the other hand, the film was marketed under the Titel "Das Geheimnis des Gelben Grabes" ("Secret of the Yellow Grave") as a Edgar Wallace movie. True, this novel was written by AN Edgar Wallace but not THE Edgar Wallace, and similarly, the fans of "Kraut Krimis" were disappointed, even though the film counts as final Edgar Wallace flick that was produced by veteran Artur Brauner.

So we better stick with the alternative English-title, "Etruscan lives again", and yes, the film has all the hallmarks of a Giallo: a mix of Psycho-Thriller, Who-dunnit, mix with gratuitous nudity, sex and violence.

The story itself is rather simple: An archaeologist Jason Porter discovers an ancient Etruscan grave in Tuscany. The grave features frightening wall-painting to Tuchulcha, an Etruscan demon of death and destruction. The excavation-sight happens to be under the property of the despotic musical-director Samarakis. This creates a great deal of tension, since Samarakis is married to Porters Ex-wife Myra. But jealousy and sexual tension takes a back-step, when a mysterious killer stalks the area, killing couples whom he catches in the process of love-making and disposes his victims with an Etruscan mallet. Soon everybody finds himself on the list of suspects and everyone seems to have their own skeletons in the closet: Jason, who still battles with the demons of alcoholism and having been confined to a mental-ward, the shady Samarakis, the gay Theatre-director Stephen and many other, all who seem to share some seedy background.

Like with most Gialli, "seedy" is one of the keywords. The Gialli was always considered the dirty cousin of the squeaky clean Kraut-Krimi, laden with lurid psycho-sexual images and sadistic violence, that's constantly pending between art and Slasher. "Etruscan lives again" makes no exception. The cast is well picked, all do a fine job and, as suitable, the viewer is never quiet sure if and which figure deserves any sympathy at all. That includes protagonist Alex Cord, whom the American audience will likely best remember for his role as one-eyed Michael in "Airwolf". Horst Frank, although only having a relatively minor role, steals the show as we had often done in this type of movie. Despite his character being a homosexual, Frank with his burning glare comes across as menacing and threatening as ever. Wonderful soundtrack, as is to be expected from veteran Riz Ortolani (though his sometimes schmaltzy sound isn't everybody's cup of Chianti) and Crispino does an admirable job, despite not counting among the big Giallo-directors like Bava or Argento. Crispino utilizes the wonderful landscape of Tuscany almost like a second actor, making the best of the locations (again, another trademark of any good Giallo).

Within the confines of it's genre, I'd give it a well-meaning 7/10, as a pure Psycho-Thriller perhaps a little less, since not everybody is comfortable with the Giallo-style, lurid storytelling and choppy structure. Again, I'd like to point out to whoever added the line "The first zombie movie to be filmed in anamorphic wide screen" in the trivia-section, I assure you: there are no Undead to be seen and those who get killed in "Etruscan lives again", stay as dead as a corpse can be.

I saw this for the first time recently and i didn't enjoy this.

I saw this only aft reading Coventry's glowing review.

The lead moustachioed actor Alex Cord looks like a poor man's Anthony Quinn.

The body count is low n the film very lengthy.

After a while i felt so irritated that i stopped caring who's killing who n why.

The only good part is the sun soaked settings n the dressing sense of the characters.

There is a sadistic character who burns spiders n grasshoppers n i expected the guy to at least pay for his karma.

The English title is very misleading as there ain't any dead coming alive and the movie has absolutely nothing to do with zombies. Its a boring murder mystery.