Director: Vittorio Sindoni
Year: 1968
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Omicidio per vocazione
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Following the death of their patriarch, a family tries to figure out ways of getting around the iron-clad will so they can receive their inheritance, but when a series of strange murders strikes the family, it forces the family to turn to a police officer to solve the killings.
Review:
This was a generally bland and lifeless giallo without much going for it. One of the better elements of this one is the rather intriguing storyline that provides some slight intrigue over the proceedings as they develop. The central mystery of the accidental death of the family head while working along the train tracks with the train diverted to where he’s working at the last minute is a genuinely chilling way to get this one going as it sets up the mysterious motives of the killer, the length they’ll go to, and brings the family along to start squabbling about their inherited money. That each one has a claim to it and a need for the sole inheritance to come to them is a solid touch, as for a murder mystery like this to play out as the red herrings are quite numerous in such a situation so as to allow the few random ambush scenes involving the killer stalking the family to come together decently enough.
Beyond that, there’s not much to be had with this one. The main drawback here is that there’s very little interest in the main storyline of the inspector chasing down one of the family members who’s suspected of the crimes simply for fleeing the scene of one of the crimes. The whole motivation for doing so might be right, but there’s little about it that comes off interesting enough with it just leading to one half-hearted scene of a listless and generally dull manhunt for the guilty party which makes everything feel all the more uninvolved when it’s made clear this wasn’t the killer later on so the whole section is entirely pointless doing nothing but following this bland story. Even the final reveal of the killer isn’t that exciting, and the whole thing just feels like padding for the sake of brushing up the running time. As well, the finale goes on forever to the point of rendering it hard to be invested or care about the series of double-crosses present, which hold this one down overall.
Overview: *.5/5
A generally lackluster and bland giallo effort, there are some worthwhile elements present here, but they’re mostly undone by the flaws on display that really hold this one down. Those with an appreciation for this style of genre fare or who are fans of the creative crew will have the most to like here, while most others out there should heed caution with this one.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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