The Killer Is Still Among Us

#260 The Killer is Still Among Us (AKA: L'assassino è ancora tra noi) - 1986 (This Film Rates a C ) This Italian horror film tells the story of a serial killer targeting young couples in the midst of intimate moments. The murders follow a ritualistic pattern, with the killer mutilating the female victims' bodies. Criminology student Christina becomes increasingly obsessed with the case, despite her boyfriend Alex's disapproval. As Christina digs deeper, she receives strange phone calls and uncovers a connection to a previous murder from 1974. As the killer's brutality escalates, Christina's suspicions turn to Alex, leaving the audience questioning his true identity. The film's climax is somewhat effective in its twist, living up to its title. While the gore and special effects are limited, they are well-built up to, and the film features some graphic content. This includes nipple cutting, genital and throat slicing plus lots of gun shots. However, the film's dialogue falls flat, making some scenes feel overly long. The setting and cinematography are authentic, but the soundtrack is subpar. The inclusion of nudity adds an element of exploitation. Ultimately, the film's shortcomings outweigh its few redeeming qualities, making it a mediocre giallo slasher.

Based on a spate of unsolved, real-life murders in Florence, The Killer Is Still Among Us is a mid-80s giallo that lacks the intricate plot, stylish direction and stunning cinematography that is typical of the genre, but which compensates somewhat with a nastier, more misogynistic tone than usual and a final scene of sickening sexual violence designed to ensure the film a certain level of notoriety.

Exploitative elements aside, the film is a rather unremarkable effort that offers very little in the way of suspense and far too much boring exposition. For the first hour or so, the sex and violence is kept to a minimum, the thrust of the film being criminologist student Christiana Marelli's dull investigation of the murders and her growing suspicion of boyfriend Doctor Alex—all of which is very uninteresting.

During the course of her enquiries, Christiana crosses paths with a group of voyeurs, which widens the pool of suspects somewhat, but none of this is of much consequence: the film's raison d'être is clearly the 'money shot'—the graphic mutilation of a female victim (a nauseating nipple slice and some bloody knife damage to the nether regions)—after which The Killer Is Still Among Us closes without resolution, the open ending claiming that the film was 'made as a warning to young people and with the hope that it will be of use to law enforcement'.

Yeah, right!

Along with "Giallo a Venezia"(1979,Mario Landi)and "The New York Ripper"(1982,Lucio Fulci)this is possibly the nastiest Italian giallo ever made.It is based on the still unsolved series of murders in Florence and that lack of closure makes its over-the-top sexual violence all the more unsettling.A criminology student named Christina Marelli decides to write her thesis about a mysterious serial killer terrorizing couples in lover's lane.As she starts searching around she gets obscene phone calls.Is the killer her boyfriend Alex or maybe someone else?This forgotten Italian giallo is truly shocking.The scenes of sexual violence and mutilations are extremely well-done(brilliant special effects by Roberto Pace)and disturbing.A young couple is murdered in a tent.The boy has his throat cut open,while the girl is shot several times.The killer then slowly slices off her right nipple and cuts apart her vagina in close-up.This sequence is so graphic and sick that I almost threw up during it.The film is also suspenseful and bizarre in some scenes(check out the Devil's Bar moments)."The Killer Is Still Among Us" is certainly not for everybody,but if you like extreme cinema give this one a look.Highly recommended.

Very effective, brutal, gory and sexy thriller in the giallo mould. Mariangela D'Abbraccio is lovely as the leading lady as a criminal student getting involved in an ongoing and terrible series of sex killings of young couples making out in the backs of cars (and one tent).

Not quite as creepy as it might be but not short on sleaze and as for the bar where voyeurs hang out before setting off to spy on such young lovers - unbelievable! Some great moments and some of the most extreme sequences of sexual violence I have seen.

I prefer the alternative title, 'The Killer Is still Among Us' which is much more fitting when it comes to the astonishing cinema ending.

It's notoriously difficult to get your hands on an English language version of this late Giallo, and while I did manage to get one; my copy is very dark which did perhaps mean I didn't get the best out of this film as a lot of it takes place at night. Even so, it's clear that The Killer Is Still Among Us is not among the best of the genre. Its reputation suggests it to be nasty, which it is; but despite a promising beginning and the odd interesting moment, this is a sadly misguided and lacklustre effort. The film begins with a scene that sees a couple in a car butchered by an unseen assailant. The action then switches to a girl named Cristina who is studying criminology. With all these murders going on right under her nose, she naturally decides to use them for her thesis and begins looking into the murders by way of the victims. This soon turns out to be a big mistake as Cristina begins receiving threatening phone calls and then her acquaintances begin getting picked off by the same killer she is investigating.

The film often gets compared to the likes of The New York Ripper and Giallo a Venezia as it's along the same lines in terms of nastiness. This film is probably more violent than the latter two titles; but it's not done with as much style and while the violence is good (if you like that sort of thing), it's not enough to lift the film sufficiently. It's clear that director Camillo Teti was not the most sensitive man to ever live, as an interesting fact about this film is that there actually was a killer on the loose around the Florentine area at the time this was made! The story is really not all that interesting; the first half flows well and lead me to believe that it might develop into something noteworthy but unfortunately it never does; which is quite surprising considering that the screenplay was written by Giallo luminary Ernesto Gastaldi. It all boils down to a very odd conclusion that takes place in a cinema and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, though it does lead to the film's most shocking sequence. Overall, The Killer is Still Among Us is not of the Giallo greats and is actually one of the worst that I've seen.