Crazy Desires of a Murderer

I am not kidding, I had this movie for almost two decades and I began watching it at least five times but the first 20 minutes or so never really caught my interest enough to keep watching for some reason. Now, finally I watched it to the end and can conclude that if you get past the opening 25-30 minutes you are in for a quite entertaining and good looking little giallo with quite some eerie atmosphere. Corrado Gaipa is the most memorable in the role of the inspector, along with Isabelle Marchall as the young countess. The opening and ending theme, which I believe is by Piero Piccioni (he is the credited composer here) is an incredibly atmospheric piece, but the rest of the soundtrack is a mystery to me. I hear themes from at least two other earlier giallo movies not scored by Piccioni. It would be nice to see these themes accurately credited.

Countess Ileana De Chablais (Isabelle Marchall) invites her swinging pals to her father's castle to get tipsy on expensive champagne and play sexy charades. When one of the young women, Elsa (Patrizia Gori), turns up stabbed to death and minus her eyeballs, a police inspector (Corrado Gaipa) tries to unravel the mystery and identify the killer, the many suspects including scoundrel Pier-Luigi (in trouble with the local mafia), Ileana's insane secret half-brother Leandro (a dab hand at taxidermy), a creepy uncle, and stern housekeeper Berta (Annie Carol Edel).

Part gothic horror and part giallo, Crazy Desires of a Murderer fails thanks to a muddled, meandering plot and a set of characters that it's difficult to care about. The film also includes subplots about heroin smuggling and the theft of a valuable emerald necklace, but it's all so confusing that trying to keep track of what's going on isn't worth the headache. Director Filippo Walter Ratti tries to compensate with a couple of bloody deaths and a fair amount of nudity from some attractive young women (with Berta actually proving to be quite the hottie), but the whole thing is so slapdash that it is hard to remain invested for the duration. By the time the identity of the killer is revealed, you'll have long given up caring.

N.B. Pier-Luigi moulding a candle into a phallus while gorgeous brunette Gretel (Adler Gray) lies naked on a bed suggests that there might have been a 'sexier' version available at some point.

I couldn't explain the rapid crammed in ending if I wanted to, Until the last 5 minutes I was ready to give it a seven.

I've been on a binge of the "Giallo" genre this summer of 2024...It reminds me of my love of 1940s-early 60s Film Noir, with soft core simulated sexual acts, and hysterical "gore" it's rare to truly be repulsed with how fake a stabbing and decapitation look.

The films in the genre that I truly like, are in the original language. It's incredibly rare that a predominantly French/Italian/Spanish film is dubbed well AT ALL. I've had to turn off promising ones not because of lip synchronization but I find a disconnect in mannerism, and facial expressions.

This goes on to this day, they should get experienced Animation voice actors to do it.

With subtitles I will come across something loosed in translation, too literal, or a coma or something is missing, but from the overall story, I can gather the gist.

I'm glad many of these films survived yet, very perturbed by the lack of streaming option in languages that exists more on Netflix.

(1977) Crazy Desires of a Murderer/ I vizi morbosi di una governante (In Italian with English subtitles) HORROR THRILLER

It has one of those odd introductions with someone viewers are unable make out other than his already bloody hands coming straight toward someone. A phone rings with the baron, De Chablais (Stuart Brisbane Colin) displeasure speaking with his teenage daughter, Ileana De Chablais (Isabelle Marchal) informing her dad ahead of time she has invited a few friends of hers. Meanwhile, Pierluigi La Rocca (Claudio Peticchio) is trying to make a drug deal with two goons on his case, and they are giving him a week to pay up. And it is during then we get to see Illeana's friends she has invited to stay with them who are Frank Hoffman (Giuseppe Colombo) who is a doctor to which the baron knows his dad; Elsa Leiter (Patrizia Gori), Gretel Schanz (Adler Gray); the drug dealer, Pierluigi La Rocca (Claudio Peticchio) with his friend, Bobby Jelson (Gaetano Russo). Living with the baron in the castle are housemaid, Berta (Anie Edel) and servant, Hans (Hugh Denis) . And it was not until the movie is progressing we find out there is a third person, a young man who became a mute, Leonardo (Roberto Zattin) who appear to be already been scarred as a result of the death of his mother. Leonardo loves down below them near the wine cellar that was supposed to staying in a room all to himself. He appears to be the character viewers saw at the opening with the bloody hand as it turns out he is a taxidermist, the reason why his hands are bloody at all times. When one of the guest's are killed after making out with one of the other friends, the detectives are then called and they cross examine each resident staying with them, including Leonardo. At this point all fingers point to him because when the victim was killed, her eyeballs were plucked out, and those same eyeballs eventually showed up in his dungeon room to which they could be planted there to make it appear like he did it.

Anyways, at first I was unable to get involve with watching it because the movie did some abnormal things, such as at the opening when the daughter, Illeana was speaking with his daughter on the phone. It appears that someone with bloody hands was going to attack the baron, because the way it ended their abrupt conversation was ambiguous. Illeana just kept calling out for her dad with no answer. She neither calls for authorities or anything. And then, it is like as soon as they do finally meet each other, it is as if nothing had ever happened. We find out much later that it was the brother. Viewers are also oblivious the connection between the killer and it's victims, for the drug scenario between Pierluigi and what happened has no relation with one another. Anyways, the eyeball sequence is more gross than it is scary. The poster is misleading as there are only two nude scenes throughout the entire movie of one of the guests and the maid, anyone who presume to see a ton of nudity would be disappointed.

"The Morbid Habits of the Governess" is one of the most obscure gialli I have seen.A group of men and their women is invited to a villa and then stalked and murdered by a mysterious killer who collects their eyeballs.Slow-moving and melancholic giallo with several macabre set-pieces and plenty of delicious sleaze.Corrado Gaipa's police inspector is especially memorable as are two sexy ladies Isabelle Marchall and Patrizia Gori.The film was released in 1995 on VHS by Redemption and after selling very poorly faded into complete obscurity.The moody score helps to create some suspenseful moments and the acting is solid.If you are a fan of Eurotrash you can't miss "Crazy Desires of a Murderer".7 out of 10.