Death Walks at Midnight

"Death Walks at Midnight" stars Nieves Navarro as fashion model Valentina,who experiments with a new hallucinogenic drug to help newspaper writer Gio with a story.Immediately,Valentina is overcome by a vision of a generously coiffed killer in dark glasses plunging a spiked metal glove into the face of a woman in the vacant apartment across the street.After coming to her senses,she demands to know if whole thing was simply imagined,or if the drug somehow set a repressed memory free.When Gio publishes his story,Valentina finds out that the murder did occur,and she must solve the killer's identity herself."Death Walks at Midnight" is fairly conventional giallo co-written by Sergio Corbucci of "Django" fame.It's not as sleazy as some of its contemporaries,but there are some stylish and sadistic flashback murder scenes.Give this tense thriller a look.7 out of 10.

This rare Giallo was Luciano Ercoli's follow-up to the rather tame but nonetheless enjoyable "Le Foto Proibite di una Signora Perbene" (Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion in English; Frauen bis zum Wahnsinn gequält in German, which means "Women tortured to insanity"!!!).

There are some similarities in the storyline, but overall, "La Morte Accarezza a Mezzanotte" is obviously superior. After a powerful start, when Susan Scott as Valentina has a murder vision during a drug trip she suffers for her journalist colleague (who makes a photo session out of the "experiment" to publish it in the junk paper he's working for - that she initially does NOT know!), the film becomes a little bit slow moving as Valentina is suddenly stalked by numerous strange persons. But the second half of the film delivers more than many other thrillers together - suddenly, the bodies are piling up and there's also enough time for action and fist fights that could easily find place in Your average police drama of its decade.

The uncovering of the fiend is really surprising, more so if one considers that one thinks to know the face of the real killer after seeing the above mentioned drug trip sequence (to make things more clear here would give away too much).

Last but not least, there is also an exceptional musical score by Gianni Ferrio, a typical yet unique Giallo score including, of course, a lush main theme song.

To wrap it all up: This film is one of the many fine Italian thrillers of the 1970s that deserve to be rediscovered by an interested audience.

DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT (Luciano Ercoli - Italy/Spain 1972).

Before the DVD-age the only English title for this film I know of, is CRY OUT IN TERROR, after the soundtrack released on LP and later on expanded edition CD. This is not mentioned on the IMDb as the film never got a proper release in English-speaking regions, not even on video, to my knowledge. Adding to the confusion, this title was already hardly distinguishable from Ercoli's earlier DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS (1970) (largely the same theme, cast and music) and I've noticed that in reviews on some sites, this is treated as a follow-up to Ercoli's first Giallo FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (1970), clearly confusing this film with DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, which is Ercoli's second Giallo.

Written by six writers(!), among them Sergio Corbucci and Ernesto Gastaldi, the film is set in Milan. Valentina (Susan Scott or Nieves Navarro), a successful model, agrees to try a hallucinogenic drug as part of a scientific experiment. While under the influence she experiences some flashbacks of a man in sunglasses graphically murdering a woman with a spiked metal glove, quite an original murder weapon. Strangely enough, a woman was butchered in exactly the same manner in a vacant apartment. The killer lures Valentina into this apartment after which she narrowly escapes with her life. What follows are more attempts on her life and even more questions about the killer's identity. Mind-bending drugs and outrageous fashions with plenty of tacky '70s dance floor scenes abound in this in this convoluted murder mystery. I might have been a bit harsh in my judgement on Ercoli's DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS but no matter how many reservations I have regarding his output, I've grown a bit fond of his work. This one is the weakest entry in his Giallo-cycle, but I cannot dismiss it either. It's rather disappointing because of its confusing plot and ridiculous finale, complete with a gang of giggling thugs. Gianno Ferrio's score is no patch on Morricone's scores in earlier Ercoli films, but its sheer luridness makes for some reasonably tacky entertainment.

Camera Obscura --- 6/10

The third of Luciano Ercoli's trilogy of early 70's gialli is the oddest of the three. It tells the story of a fashion model who takes a hallucinogenic drug for a photo shoot. While tripping she witnesses a murder in the apartment across the street. She then finds herself stalked by the killer and drawn into a complex web of shady goings on, including drug trafficking and murder.

This movie is quite disappointing when compared to its predecessor, the effective Death Walks on High Heels. However, it starts extremely well. The trip murder sequence is well handled. Its both visceral and dreamlike, with a memorably creepy looking killer. Unfortunately, this excellent opening is the highlight of the movie. There are a number of other effective set-pieces but the movie gets bogged down a bit with excessively convoluted plot lines. There is a large cast of characters and it becomes difficult keeping track of who did what where. Everything is wrapped up when most of the remaining cast members get involved in a ridiculous, but fun, fight on a rooftop.

This is not a great giallo, however, it is certainly likable. Susan Scott is, as ever, great value in the lead role. She carries the film through the less interesting phases, ensuring that things never really get boring. Simón Andreu also is reliable. Ercoli shoots the film well and the decor is impressive. Overall, this is a beautiful looking, well acted but somewhat silly giallo. Its not one of the best from the genre but it is fun in a camp sort of way.

Following such marvelous gialli as 1970's "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" and 1971's "Death Walks on High Heels," director Luciano Ercoli, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, and actors Susan Scott and Simon Andreu reunited one more time, and the result, 1972's "Death Walks at Midnight," although perhaps the least of the three films, is another winning entertainment, nevertheless. In this one, Scott plays a gorgeous redheaded model, Valentina, who becomes the willing test subject of a new hallucinogen, H.D.S. During her trip, she sees a spike-gloved killer mutilate a young girl across the way...a murder that, as it turns out, actually transpired six months earlier! Holy flashback! And from this bizarre setup, things get progressively stranger, as said killer starts to stalk Valentina all over the streets of Milan. Anyway, perhaps I'm a little slow on the ol' rebop, but I had to watch this picture almost three full times before it began to make a bit of sense to me. The plot is a bit convoluted, to say the least, and whereas in most gialli I make an attempt (usually a fruitless one) to spot the killer, here, I was hard pressed just to barely keep up. Still, brain twisting as the film is, it did, ultimately, kinda sorta make sense to me (just don't ask me to explain it out loud!). And the picture does have a lot going for it: stylish direction, beautiful photography of the city of Milan and its countryside, yet another supersexy performance from Susan Scott, a catchy score by Gianni Ferrio, several (not overly) gory homicides, and a furious rooftop dukeout to cap off the film. Drug dealers, a mental institution, a pot party, groovy discos, a couple of cute little Japanese kids, a murder attempt in a cemetery, and a bloody cat all, ultimately, get thrown into the mix. Yes, this IS one heady giallo. And the great-looking DVD from No Shame that I just watched does it justice indeed.