Death Smiles on a Murderer

Death Smiles on a Murderer is not your average Joe D'Amato film. The prolific Italian director made a name for himself by directing cheap, trashy productions; and while this film isn't exactly "high quality" (in the usual sense of the word), it's certainly a lot classier than your average D'Amato sleaze. The film mixes Gothic horror, zombies and Giallo elements into a cocktail of the popular genres of the early seventies. As you might expect considering the heavy fusing of multiple genres, the film isn't always coherent; and despite the fact that it could be considered a classy film, D'Amato has still seen fit to insert some trashy gore sequences. The result is a mixed bag. The somewhat confusing plot focuses on a young woman called Greta. She is involved in a coach accident which leaves the driver dead after he is impaled. Greta is then taken in by a couple who seem to become strangely fascinated by her. Around the same time, there's also a doctor working on a formula to bring the dead back to life, and this somehow connects through flashbacks...

The setting and atmosphere are the key element of the film. Death Smiles on a Murderer is very well photographed and every frame in the film is great to look at. This serves the film well as it ensures that it remains interesting even when the plot starts to dry up. The plot itself takes influence from a range of sources, but most recognisably the great Edgar Allen Poe with several themes from the highly influential "The Black Cat". The head of the cast list is Klaus Kinski - but unfortunately, he doesn't appear in the film for long at all and he isn't given much to do with the screen time he does get, which is a shame. The leading ladies are Ewa Aulin and Angela Bo, and while neither of them stand out for their acting; they both look nice. The special effects don't really suit the film and Joe D'Amato probably would have been better advised to cut down on the bloodshed - but I can't complain too much because the gore does make the film more fun. Overall, I can't say I was overly impressed with Death Smiles on a Murderer - it looks nice and has its moments, but it's not put together well enough to be one of the great Italian horror films.

Death Smiles at Murder-Aristide Massaccesi (aka Joe D'Amato) This is not your typical D'Amato movie, if there is such a thing. There's graphic violence, a little gore, but nothing really over the top. But what this movie has, is a little style and maybe even ~~gasp~~ some class. It's very confusing, and includes everything from reanimation, to a three way love affair, to a murder mystery. The basic plot is about a young beautiful woman Greta, who shows up at a Villa and is involved in a horse carriage accident which impales the driver. A couple take her in since she has developed amnesia. There's a series of flashbacks that attempt to cast some Intel on who she is, but not why she is there. Klaus Kinski has a small role as the doctor who attends to her, but has a totally different agenda which deals with a concoction he's working on to bring back the dead. Soon the movie gets even more bizarre and even takes a little from Poe's "Black Cat". Everything looks pretty damn good in this movie, the sets, the actors, and the main thing I noticed is the main theme to the soundtrack is straight out of "Suspiria". In fact, you could pretty much say ~~stolen from Suspiria~~.

Both the Husband and his Wife fall in love with Greta, and the Wife especially turns out to be rather jealous and walls up Greta in the dungeon. After that some even more bizarre happenings occurs resulting in the gruesome death of the Wife. But what happened to the walled up Greta? Well, that little chore is up to the local Police Inspector, and he hasn't got a clue as to what is going on, because Greta has vanished. This all culminates in a fairly good, if not confusing, ending that seems to put most of pieces back in order.

Greta von Holstein (Ewa Aulin) survives a terrible accident, and is taken in by the Ravensbruck family. Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski) is called in to examine her. This somehow leads to his discovering how to re-animate the dead. When someone murders Sturges and absconds with his secret, horror soon follows.

That's the basic, skeletal plot. The rest of DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER is a series of love affairs, sexual situations, and a soap opera story line with an Edgar Allan Poe tie-in, interrupted by gruesome deaths. This may sound cockeyed and absurd, and it is. However, there's something eerie about it that makes it watchable. It's held together by a sort of nightmare logic.

Beautifully filmed, with haunting set pieces, it seems nonsensical, yet satisfying nonetheless. Ms. Aulin is both stunningly beautiful and terrifying!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: The graveyard scene!...

'Death Smiles on a Murderer' is a 1973 horror/giallo hybrid with a rich gothic setting bathed in an unnerving dreamlike atmosphere with stylish set-pieces, a non-linear storyline that's both confusing and intriguing at the same time. The camerawork has a lot of cool yet bizarre shots which adds more to the strangeness of this flick and the direction by Joe D'Amato is really strong with stunning cinematography work which makes every scene pop in the way it should.

The plot set in the early 1900's where a mysterious young woman Greta (Ewa Aulin) whose carriage crashes outside the Ravensbruck mansion and not remembering who she is, is soon taken in by the wealthy couple Mr & Mrs Von Ravensbruck. Soon the three of them enter into a dangerous love triangle, and soon it is revealed that Greta is there to take revenge on the family as the plot further unfolds.

I do admit that if you don't read the plot synopsis before watching this movie, then things get's really confusing due to it's oddly structured storyline that jumps around a lot with quickfire pacing that could allowed more time to breathe which makes the whole thing rather uneven as a whole. But there's enough thrills and surprises to keep you interested throughout with effective set pieces and a great cast of characters thrown together in this rather strange and unique world.

Ewa Aulin is fantastic as Greta who has a wonderful alluring quality to her mysterious character and Klaus Kinski is another firm standout as the mad scientist and gives a wonderfully creepy performance, and actually wanted more of him throughout, but the interesting subplot was cut rather short. Luciano Rossi as the brother Franz is quite effective and terrifying in his short screen time yet makes a firm impression.

Overall 'Death Smiles on a Murderer' is a pretty decent flick with an unusual structure that may not appeal to everyone, but it's an okay effort all round.

Joe D'Amato is often said to have directed nothing but worthless sleaze, but this reputation is certainly not (completely) justified. I have personally been a fan of the prolific Exploitation filmmaker for years, and though it is true that his repertoire includes a wide range of crap, he is also responsible for several downright great films, and for many vastly entertaining ones. Such as the ultra-gruesome video nasties "Antropophagus" (1980) and "Buio Omega" (1979). Or this stylish little film, in which D'Amato dabbles in the great sub-genre of Gothic Horror. "La Morte Ha Sorisso All Assasino" aka. "Death Smiled At Murder" of 1973 is a stylish, obscure and incredibly atmospheric Gothic tale that is incredibly creepy at times. Even though this is not as nauseating as "Antropophagus" or "Buio Omega", the film is genuinely nasty at times, with a wide range sexual intrigue and perversions as well as a bunch of very gory scenes. The film's arguably greatest aspect is the mesmerizing score by Berto Bisano, which contributes a lot to the film's uncanny atmosphere. The casting of the always-sinister Klaus Kinski in the (sadly small) role of a mad scientist is another highlight that makes this a must for my fellow Italian Horror lovers.

The one weak point of the film is that the story is a bit too confused for its own good. I love convoluted plots, but this one has several huge holes. A proper description would be difficult, as the film handles several topics that are interlaced, and the structure is not always 100 per cent comprehensible. Set in early 20th century Europe, the film is basically is about an ancient Incan formula, which is capable of awakening the dead. A beautiful young woman (Ewa Aulin) is injured in a coach accident near a castle that leaves the driver dead. The castle is owned by a kinky aristocratic couple, Walter Von Ravensbrück (Sergio Doria) and his wife Eva (Angela Bo). The mysterious beauty who cannot remember anything after her accident is first checked by the (equally mysterious) local Doctor Sturges (Klaus Kinski)... A macabre Gothic tale, the film also bears some elements of the Giallo and Zombie genres but it is mainly in the style of 60s Gothic Horror, transformed into a nastier and sleazier 70s style. The great Klaus Kinski (one of the greatest actors ever, in my opinion) gets top billing, but, sadly, little screen time. The man gets the best out of the screen time he has though, he simply was one of the most brilliant actors ever to play madmen. Although not as constantly sleazy as many other D'Amato outings, the film provides female eye-candy. The female cast includes beautiful Ewa Aulin in the lead and the equally sexy Angela Bo. The performances are generally quite good, other than the Kinski and the two leading ladies, the cast also includes two other cult-actors that any fan of Italian genre-cinema will recognize: the hunchbacked Luciano Rossi, who, due to his ugly looks, would mostly play crooks and psychos, who plays another demented role here, and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, who is probably best known for his role in Mario Bava's Gothic masterpiece "Operazione Paura" (aka, "Kill Baby Kill") of 1966. Overall, "Death Smiled at Murder" has only one major flaw, which is that the storyline is too co fused. Otherwise, this is a creepy, atmospheric and vastly enjoyable Gothic tale from D'Amato that lovers of Italian Horror should not miss! My rating: 7.5/10