Smile Before Death

From the director of the better known "Alla Ricerca del Piacere" (aka "Amuck!") comes this stylish thriller that involves not only a confusing web of love affairs and relationships, but also - towards the climax - a bundle of twists that are guaranteed to surprise every viewer without becoming implausible at any moment.

And this is the big plus of this movie: The twists all work. The first half moves on relatively slow (similar to Silvio Amadio's above mentioned earlier Giallo), but the viewer already gets enough information to know that the plot isn't as simple as it seems. In the second half the film becomes a roller coaster ride of red herrings, plot twists and other surprises, which makes it decisively superior to Amadio's earlier effort.

The acting is also thoroughly convincing, which is especially important once the film is finished and the viewer gets the whole story. But the most remarkable thing in this intriguing Giallo is the lush, ear-catching main theme that will never let one go after being heard for the first time.

Judging by the plot and the fact that it's directed by Silvio Amandio, I feared that this Giallo would be a lot like the director's earlier success 'Amuck!', but despite similarities between the pair; Smile Before Death is a lot more than merely a retread of the earlier work. This film adheres more closely to the Giallo tradition of stylish and bloody murders than the earlier movie, but still finds time to ensure that the plot always revolves around the central situation. In fact, it's a miracle that Amandio has managed to keep his script from becoming a complete mess; as aside from this new flair for murders, and the central situation; Smile Before Death is also a twisty little thriller, which manages to pull several things out of the hat before boiling down to a superb and unexpected conclusion. The plot follows the death of a woman named Dorothy. The police declare it suicide, but it's not long before Dorothy's daughter, Nancy, makes her way to her mother's house; where she meets the seductive Gena and her stepfather, Marco. However, things turn sinister when the housekeeper divulges some information that means Dorothy's death may not have been suicide...

The film starts off slowly, and aside from some lush photography that makes good use of its female leads, the film doesn't really commence until the half way point. Amandio keeps the tension bubbling throughout, and sex is always at the forefront of the action. Roberto Pregadio provides a suitable catchy jingle, which accompanies nearly every scene in the movie. The tune is typically Italian, and fits the movie well; but I'd have preferred it if it was played a bit less often, as it soon starts to get old, and the overall impact is lessened. The movie benefits, as Amuck did, from a great leading performance from Rosalba Neri, who is joined by the stunning Luciana Della Robbia. The pair doesn't share any scenes together that are as great as those between Neri and Barbara Bouchet in Amuck, but Silvio Amandio obviously enjoys filming lesbian scenes; and when they're this good, I enjoy watching them! The film is rounded off by an isolated atmosphere, which provides a pressure cooker for the lead characters to roast in. This is a rare Giallo in that, by the conclusion, most aspects of it make sense and while Smile Before Death is hard to track down, I recommend making the effort!

'Smile Before Death' is a fun little Giallo flick directed by Silvio Amadio who also made 'Amuck' which I enjoyed very much and this effort is also decent with its stylish visual set pieces, twisted sleaze and a well-executed narrative that maintains just enough tension to keep you engaged throughout.

The plot = After the death of her mother Nancy (Jenny Tamburi) arrives back home from boarding school to find her stepfather Marco (Silvano Tranquilli) living with another woman Gianna (Rosalba Neri), but in typical Giallo fashion nothing is quite as it seems.

The movie does open with a bang, which lays the foundation for the events that follow and after that the movie does become a little slow-paced with not much happening, but as the plot develops you can see the threads of intrigue and mystery being set up and the movie as well as the 3 main leads does a good job of keeping you invested, especially when things comes to a boil towards the last act with twists and turns that don't make much sense, but still creates a fascinating viewing experience. Although my only complaints is that this really could have done with a bit more excitement during the first act and that some of the flashbacks could have been better integrated into the plot. Also this does lack some much needed atmosphere and the limited amount of kills weren't staged very well, other than that this is still decent.

The performances were really strong in this with Jenny Tamburi providing a solid performance as the vampish sex kitten daughter and almost steals the show. Silvano Tranquilli gives a strong performance as the stepfather and Rosalba Neri is simply excellent as ever with an amazing screen presence and a fantastic character that simply upstages everyone else.

Overall 'Smile Before Death' is a solid Giallo but more middle tier than top of the pile.

Teenaged Nancy Thompson arrives unexpectedly at her mothers county villa.She discovers that her mom has died a violent death.The police investigate and believe the she killed herself by cutting her throat with a piece of broken of glass.Nancy meets and becomes friends with Gina who was her mothers best friend and who has a special relationship with her stepfather.Soon the older man turns his roving eye toward this young beauty as suspicion about the suicide starts to come to light.Pretty sleazy and entertaining Italian giallo with plenty of nudity and some nasty surprises.I haven't seen Silvio Amadio's "Amuck" yet,but I'd like to.The performances of Jenny Tamburi and sexy Rosalba Neri are fantastic and I must say that they are perhaps the main reasons to see this surprisingly obscure giallo.8 out of 10.

16-year-old boarding school student Nancy (Jenny Tamburi) arrives in town after her mother commits suicide. She is taken in by her stepfather Marco (Silvano Tranquilli), who has already moved in his mistress Gianna (Rosalba Neri). Things get a bit strange when Nancy begins to suspect her mother didn't commit suicide and puts the moves on both of her hosts. This is a nifty little thriller from Silvio (AMUCK!) Amadio with enough twists and turns to keep you interested. The main mystery isn't too hard to guess, but there is a nice extra twist at the end and, of course, another one for good measure. Tamburi and the gorgeous Neri spend a lot of their screen time nude and that certainly helps too. Quite possibly the best thing about the film is a theme that is so catchy with Amadio using it at every opportunity. You will definitely be humming it for days after watching this one.