7, Hyden Park - La casa maledetta

Formula for a Murder completely lacks the mystery of an unknown killer, a key element of so many Italian movies known as Giallo. These combine horror with a series of murders, often involving a police investigation. The British DVD covers gives away the killers identity, and it is not long into the film before that is confirmed. However, there is plenty of shock and style, though it is not on par with the classics in this sub genre. David Warbeck gives a satisfying performance, though I fear he was dubbed.Some great kills (thankfully the British release is uncut), a little bit of sex and a decent, if somewhat predictable finale.

OK De Martino did some decent films... And I love a good giallo as much as the next man ... Probably more … But this is unbelievably bad ... I can only think that the good write-ups here are coming from people who are trying to pass this off as a lost giallo bootleg you should buy ... All I can say is thank god for the internet Its great to see David Warbeck obviously ... And he knows very well its drivel, but a cheque ... God knows who the two women were, I can't be bothered to look, but lets just say I won't be searching out any more of their work ... If there was any Give this one a wide berth folks ... Unless you are a completist like me ... Why do we put ourselves through this : ))

Due to its predictable, second-rate title, (the one it was distributed under in Italy, at least) I didn't expect much from this movie. Thought it'd be another cheap flick about a haunted house ("LA CASA MALEDETTA" means "The cursed house"). Well, I had to change my mind just after the very first brilliant scene! The constant presence of priests and the creepy atmospheres, reminded me a bit of The Exorcist and some of its decent Italian rip-offs, but this was going to be something completely different... This is more like Hitchcock meets Italian thriller! Very well written and directed, good actors, interesting plot... OK, I've tried not to spoil the viewing of "7 Hyden Park" for you, which I'd highly recommend to everyone.

P.S. Am I wrong, or when Joanna crawls or tries hard to stand (she's paralyzed from the waist down) her feet and legs move a little too much? (... And I'm not talking of the "bad dream" sequence.)

A Formula For Murder isn't a well known Giallo, but that isn't to say it's not a very good one! The film is directed by Alberto De Martino, the man behind cult classics such as The Antichrist and Blazing Magnums. The film was released late on in the Giallo cycle, but more than stands up to many of the films released around the 'golden' period in the early seventies. Despite a lack of logic in some areas, the film works mainly due to the competent way it mixes Argento style death scenes with some genuinely surprising plot twists, and a host of well defined characters. The film is, perhaps, not as exciting overall as many other films in the genre; but this is more than compensated for by the assured way that the central situation is fed to the audience, and the tension resulting from that. The plot begins by showing a fake priest raping a young girl named Joanna, before pushing her down a flight of steps. We then fast forward several years and the girl is now a woman, who is unfortunately in a wheelchair. She is being trained for a sports event by Craig; a man who also has romantic designs on her. However, his proposal isn't met with glee by Joanna's personal assistant, who also has romantic designs on her.

The film features a plot twist half way through that makes up the backbone of the movie, and while it's not exactly logical; it's good to watch and hints that you're in for an interesting movie. Director Alberto de Martino is clearly not afraid to show a few outrageous gore scenes, and the best of which in this film features a priest being battered to death by a spade - and I personally wouldn't hesitate to name that sequence as one of my favourite Giallo murder scenes! The plot can be a little uneven at times, but generally the action is very good. The director spends what seems like an eternity on the conclusion to the film; but it's absolutely packed with tension, and the way that it plays out is good in that it takes advantage of all the plot points that have gone before it. The musical score, taken from Fulci's The New York Ripper, works well in this film also and, breaking a Giallo tradition, de Martino's film also features some rather good acting performances from cult veteran David Warbeck and Christina Nagy, in her only feature film role. Overall, this film isn't one of the easiest Giallo's to come across; but its well worth tracking down and comes recommended to fans of this sort of film.

My review was written in October 1986 after a screening at Selwyn theater on Manhattan's 42nd Street.

"Formula for Murder" is an above-average Italian thriller. Concurrent with its U. S. theatrical release, pic is available on video cassette under the slightly different title "Formula for a Murder" from Lightning Video.

Set in Boston, where most of the film was shot, pic falls loosely into the "Gaslight" genre, as Craig (British thesp David Warbek, dubbed with an American accent) trains paraplegic Joanna (Christina Nagy) for special athletics events to be held in New York City. They fall in love and plan to marry, which makes Joanna's lovely live-in companion Ruth (Carroll Blumenberg) very jealous.

Carried by fine acting by Christina Nagy, pic drags a bit halfway through as Warbeck procrastinates while Blumenberg urges him to kill Nagy, but it picks up again with okay twists. Tech credits are okay and, except for the post-synchronized dialog, pic adequately passes for a U. S.-style production.