User Reviews

I stumbled upon this film at a horror convention recently basically because of it's bright attractive DVD cover art and it's classic gialli inspired title. As a fan of the giallo genre I certainly was hoping for at the very least the basics of a good giallo with this film. I had no great expectations certainly knowing it was going to be a b-movie...at best. And shortly after picking it up off the dealers table at the convention the gentleman behind the table told me it was his film. That gentleman was Ted Moehring. After talking with Ted both about his experience making this film and gialli in general I came away very impressed by his love for the genre. I also let him know I would be frank in my assessment of this film, to which he said he wanted it no other way.

So, on a budget far below a thousand bucks was Mr. Moehring able to pull off what I personally hoped for?

1. A good soundtrack.

2. Some well lit scenes and scenes that exhibit stylish flare that would put me in a giallo frame of mind.

3. A decent murder mystery where I wouldn't be able to pin down who the killer is at least for half the film.

4. A sensuality to the whole affair.

??? Well...

Now I can forgive some of the bad acting as on this kind of budget it's probably fair to say that is impossible to achieve. As well, so long as a giallo has an artistic feel/style/soundtrack I can forgive a lot of nonsensical things that happen, even in many of what are considered great giallo of heyday's past much is found to be nonsensical.

But the hardest part to watch regarding this movie was the editing. Some of the scenes go on too long and hurt the overall effect of such scenes. Case in point, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the girl who has the plastic bag over her head screaming for far too long. Watch it and you'll see what I'm referring to. As well, there are editing problems with some of the stabbing scenes where for example an actor is making a stabbing throwing motion into another actors body, instead of editing it where it looks like an actual stabbing is happening instead you can see where the stabber stops short of the victims body and then a sudden edit cut to a knife inside a shirt stuffed pillow (I assume). Very tough to watch and be able to maintain suspended belief when editing like this is mishandled.

Much of the acting is stiff. But I did actually enjoy the first actress (Nicola Fiore) and first scene as it showed the overall basic promise of this director. Although again the end of this scene for me should have been edited differently and been made shorter.(It was sad to see her go so soon too as she was pretty hot LOL!) And I found John Link as the hypnotist gave a really impressive quirky performance. Ivy (Anne Reiss) wasn't bad really either.

OK, so overall this isn't a great film by any real stretch is it? But then again, it's great in that for the budget Mr. Moehring WAS very able to capture many of my own personal giallo "musts" for his first effort. He is to be commended for at least actually living his dream and attempted to make a decent little giallo with a true love for it behind his first effort.

Thanks Ted!

Fact is that it is easy to be a critic and personally I don't like to be a negative critic, but precisely BECAUSE Ted Moehring cares about this film and his own future in filmmaking he deserves to hear both positive and negatives so that he may learn and improve. The effort, the love behind this movie (I mean come on! He picked a giallo as his first movie! That is a tall order to fill on a budget far less than a thousand bucks! Most first timers on this kind of budget would do a simple stalker flick shot on video or a cell phone and it would truly truly...not be good. But this film has good things in it for certain.

So having put down in writing most of my negative impressions I still feel the movie pretty much hit 3 out of 4 of my hopes. The only one it did not meet was to capture that sexy feeling the best giallo's always do. This film was far more torture porn giallo (perhaps it's own sub sub genre?)

Bottom line was that I will even re-watch this film or at least some of those scenes I think that were pulled off pretty damn well. I do suggest if your the type of giallo fan I am that misses the golden giallo years to grab this DVD. I doubt you'll turn it off mid way and I suspect you'll at least find some things in it that will make your cold black gloved killer heart feel right at home.

I hope my review is helpful.

A sinister black-clad killer savagely butchers various lovely young women. Meanwhile, sweet Ivy (a solid and sympathetic portrayal by Anne Reiss) receives threatening phone calls from a creepy stalker and a man flips out after a freaky hypnotist (a memorably quirky turn by John Link) puts him in a trance. Writer/director Ted Moehring does an excellent and admirable job of crafting a modern American version of a vintage 70's Italian giallo: the murder set pieces are shockingly brutal and graphic (the first murder in particular with a woman being repeatedly stabbed in the groin is quite rough and upsetting), there's a considerable amount of marrow-freezing tension, the tone is appropriately hard, grim, and sadistic, the shivery score recalls both Goblin and Ennio Morricone, the killer sizes up as one seriously nasty piece of scary and unhinged work, we also get a sizable smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity, the gorgeously stylized cinematography makes especially striking use of bold'n'bright garish color, and the tricky story boasts a few nifty twists (the killer's true identity is a genuine surprise). Although this film does suffer from hit or miss acting from a decidedly variable no-name cast, Monica Moehring nonetheless does well as Ivy's snippy sister Violet, Damien Colletti contributes a pleasingly scuzzy performance as the smarmy Nick Lemenza, and Lloyd Kaufman pops up in a lively and funny good-sized part as a sleazy lawyer. Recommended viewing for giallo fans.