Director: Antonio Bido
Year: 1977
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Il gatto dagli occhi di giada; The Cat with the Jade Eyes; The Cat’s Victims
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After the murder of a pharmacist, a series of follow-up murders of those around her forces a woman to turn to her boyfriend to help get her out of the situation, and when he realizes that there’s a far-reaching motivation for the crime spree races to stop it in order to protect her.
Review:
This one here was a generally enjoyable genre entry. Among the film’s brighter aspects is the actual mystery at play that’s pretty intricate and allows for great time uncovering its purpose. From the seemingly random attack on the pharmacist followed by the failed attack on the witness, there’s a worthwhile lead in that makes it curious about the need to decipher the recorded message left on the phone filled with dogs barking and the threatening message. Likewise, the unraveling mystery about the criminal case all the main players are involved in makes this one interesting, as the film generates the kind of grand connection that’s fully revealing in a shocking finale.
As well, the film also manages to get a lot to like with the stalking scenes featured throughout here. The initial attack in the store is a fine shock, as is the aborted stalking attempt in the girls' house, where the killer gets scared off before doing anything are rather fun scenes that give this some enjoyable thrills. The other attacks, ranging from the stellar sequence of the girl being attacked in the wardrobe department where he takes out a cast-member instead of her, the bathroom ambush in the hotel, or the final confrontation in the house, give this some rousing action along the way as well. These give the film a lot to like overall.
This one does have a few minor flaws. The main problem is the fact that this one really feels underwhelming, with a lot of the stock genre tropes that are in play. The investigation, for however much good it does at building a fine murder mystery, manages to forsake a lot of rational thought from the leads given the fact that bodies have been piling up with no interaction from the authorities. The attacks that happen here should warrant police protection or more of a presence here, yet it's all dismissed due to a one-line writer-off thinking the police would rather throw the party in jail rather than protect them for what they know about the crimes, a fact brought up after several bodies have turned up and one attack on their lives which is completely ridiculous to believe it would play as such, leaving it solely to be due to the genre conventions.
That also ties in marginally with the other flaw, in that there's a pretty sluggish pace here. The central investigation here tends to rely much more on sudden realizations about clues and sheer coincidences about the various events that are told in excruciatingly long conversations. The meeting with the pharmacist's widow or the tile salesman is filled with fine informational leads that just lead to some overlong scenes, much like the final half, which consists mainly of him running around the small town by himself, collecting the final pieces to the puzzle alone, while she's alone at the house with no protection. This should've been carried out together instead of setting her up for the killer to attack, another feature from the earlier segment, and it is what holds this one back.
Overview: ***.5/5
A solid, underrated giallo effort, there's a lot more to like here than expected, which manages to hold this one up over a few small drawbacks present within here. Those with an interest in the style, are big fans of this style of Eurohorror, or who don't mind the detrimental factors, will have the most to like here, while most others might want to heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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