L'arma l'ora il movente

Trying to keep his affair a secret, a priest romantically involved with two women against the Church is brutally murdered which brings an inspector onto the case, but when he develops a relationship with one of the potential suspects is forced to put his feelings aside to stop the killer.

This was a fairly fun and generally enjoyable giallo. One of the better features with this one comes from the solid and highly likable setup that manages to bring together the fun mystery with a series of solid storylines. The main setup involving the life of the priest and his relationship with the two women, which means he's breaking the cardinal sin of priests by engaging in forbidden romances of the flesh, gives this a solidly sleazy air long before the murder occurs, which signals the start of the turn into genre proper. This manages to bring about a solid series of suspects and different players into the mix when we see the different figures in and around the convent who come forward to expose the affair after his death, from the nuns who teach at the orphanage, the numerous red herrings that emerge from the investigation once the body has been discovered, and the implications that arise when one of the eyewitnesses is brought forth. All of this comes together with a solid touch to the Catholic Church's conventions and orders that are in play due to the nature of the initial murder, and this all comes into a solid overall setup. That makes for a fun enough setup for the film to indulge in a nice bit of exploitation goodness that fits into the storyline provided here. With the whole affair taking place due to a priest's scandalous relationship with multiple women against the approval of the Church, this makes for a generally solid approach to the sleazy air he dwelled in due to the use of showing his various romantic trysts with multiple women, so that it can focus on the romantic couplings. This continues into the other fun sequences involving the different groups of nuns at the local orphanage, as there's not just the expected shower sequence where we watch them bathe and soap themselves up, but also deliver an extended topless flogging session that mixes the sadism with the erotic quite nicely. The more traditional stalk and slash elements aren't that well-developed due to a smaller-than-expected body count, but it does have some decent stabbing ambushes and a viciously cruel murder with a straight razor that at least provides a bit more bloodshed in the proceedings, all of which come together to give this a solid series of positives. There are some big issues within this one. The main drawback to be had with the film is the overlong running time that comes together at the expense of the main storyline, as this is held up by some sluggish setpieces that don't quite come together. The most egregious of these is the wholly unlikable romantic relationship that arises between the inspector and one of the women the murder victim was involved with, creating an immensely unlikely scenario that doesn't really impress all that much. The fact that such a by-the-book inspector that we've seen from the rest of the investigation would be so willing as to start a relationship with that particular figure at that point in the story is so unlikely that it comes off as quite contrived and overly dramatic by trying to force this kind of setup along. It also has the unfortunate benefit of being far more of a priority in the storyline, so the body count and stalking scenes are quite low and don't have much in the way of bloodshed for this kind of film. Overall, these factors all come together to hold this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Full Nudity, Violence, Language, and violence-against-children.

It must be deliberate this the colour scheme in this film is so muted - everything's beige, brown or grey. Strange.

The story involves the murder of a Hip Priest. In fact, he's so hip he has not one but two lovers on the side. He's having a bit of a crisis about that though, judging by the way he self-flagellates in his church, of an evening. This is made even more disturbing by the unseen presence of a little kid whom the nuns have adopted.

The priest reckons that God might look down on him having it off with two ladies, so he breaks up with one of them (with the strange name of Orchidea) and tries to break it off with the other. I can't remember if he was successful because he ended up in the sack with her, before shortly getting stabbed to death by a mystery assailant. There's also a cute nun kicking about (the actress playing her is called Claudia Gravy - great second name! Looks like she's in Nun and the Devil too!)

Some rough looking copper turns up with a bumbling sidekick and they start obviously digging around to looks for clues. The copper also starts spending a lot time making goo-goo eyes at Orchidea, so quite a bit of the plot is devoted to that too. The most off-putting thing about this is that the actress who plays Orchidea is a dead-ringer for Italian actor Franco Rassell (only with hair), which makes all her upcoming nude scenes a bit disturbing.

Not quite so quirky as other Gialli, this one concentrates on the police investigation (before turning into a family drama near the end!), and if you're out for sleaze you do get to see the nuns taking a shower AND the whole bunch of them stripping to the waist and whipping themselves in honour of the dead priest.

It another well made film but will kind of get lost in the avalanche of more gory, pervier gialli released in 1972. I did have a good laugh at the punch up the copper had in a dark room, only for him to find out it was his sidekick, whom he then tells to feck off!

According Salvatore Puntillo the director Francesco Mazzei also was a producer, cutting any extra cost whenever it could boost the pre-arranged low budge, as we can state through the low-profile casting which didn't have any major star, in other hand the story is very exciting, where a trendy Priest (Maurizio Bonuglia) has been a sinful behavior on two heretic affairs with two different women, a married Orchidea Durantini (Bedi Moratti) and the fortune-teller Giulia Pisani (Eva Czemerys) ends up murdered inside the church witnessed by an orphaned boy.

Soon a Police Commissioner Franco Boito (Renzo Montagnani) starts investigate the weirdo case together with his sidekick Moriconi (Salvatore Puntillo) after several inquires at crime scene and all nuns hosted there, meanwhile Giulia appears dead with slashed throat, she was one of suspect, after an exhaustive work Commissioner Franco finally figures out that Orchidea's jealous husband ought be the main suspect, later he is found dead at your house apparently committed suicide, then closing the case, not so fast as usually a final twist comes.

The movie touches in a neuralgic matter about an unholy hidden affairs on church, exposing many auto-flagellation upon a whip, such scourge was routinely used to by Priest and Nuns to purge wicked throughs, many nudity scenes were scattered along the picture as well, fine Giallo with a modest casting, nevertheless not devoid of interest.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.

Eureka! What a wonderful feeling when realizing that, after having seen more 150 Italian Gialli varying from absolutely brilliant to terribly awful, there are still great gems out there for me to discover! "The Hour, The Weapon, The Motive" is not your typically textbook Giallo, because of its unusual setting and only a limited number of murders, but it contains enough highlights and ingenious twists to appeal to fans of the genre, and admirers of sleazy Euro-exploitation in general.

The plot introduces priest Don Giorgio, who obviously chose the wrong profession. He's handsome and a bit wild, and he certainly doesn't mind a bit of smooching with two gorgeous ladies that also work as volunteers in the nuns' convent/boarding school where he teaches music. But Don Giorgio gets ashamed of his sinful behavior, and after another session of self-flagellation, he decides to devote himself to God again and terminate both his affairs. Shortly after, though, is brutally stabbed to death inside the convent. Who's the killer? One of his ex-mistresses? Their husbands? A jealous nun? A young orphan boy who lives in the convent may have witnessed something, but he doesn't speak. The rebellious Commissioner Franco Boito must resolve the case, but he falls head over heals in love with a suspect with the lovely name Orchidea.

"The Hour, "The Weapon, The Motive" is a slow-paced but intriguing thriller that remains mysterious and unpredictable, and this despite the relatively low number of potential suspects. Writer/director Francesco Mazzei, who's completely unknown to me, compensates for the shortage of clues and body count by inserting a couple of bizarre gimmicks; - most notably a jaw-dropping scene in which all the nuns at the convent undress and flagellate themselves for several minutes, and this supposedly to redeem the deceased Don Giorgio of his sins. Really odd, and strangely enticing. The trick with the key and the rope (you'll see) is pure Giallo-gold, and the ending is also marvelous. The one thing I regret most is that Mazzei didn't opt for a juicier and more flamboyant title. I would suggest "Eight-hundred Lashes for a Murder" or "Death to the Sound of a Bouncing Marble".

I liked this a lot. Bit of a confusing and strange start, a young boy in a room, a nurse with a hypodermic and all within a convent of singing nuns. And who is that guy on the motorbike getting in the way of the police? Oops, he is the police! I guess this just about qualifies as a giallo for while it doesn't have the stylish look or garish details, there are the sudden kills, the child always there mysteriously in the background, not to mention the cat and the bouncing marbles. Compelling and absorbing, this is well directed and we have to gradually piece things together as best we can to keep apace. And then there is the extraordinary scene where the priest flagellates himself for his guilt over his lovers, yes two of them. Oh and that is nothing to what we are treated to once the nuns decide to do the same - en mass! Good resolution always helps and so in summary a good yarn intelligently told and peppered with enough sex and violence to keep the most jaded giallo fan happy.