Director: Umberto Lenzi
Year: 1972
Country: Italy/West Germany
Alternative Titles: Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Following a serial killer's strike, a woman who was attacked but managed to survive the incident finds that the killer is continuing to strike others around her, and forces her and her fiancée to investigate why the killer is still on his rampage and targeting more victims.
Review:
This was quite an enjoyable and engaging Giallo. One of the better features of this entry is the fact that there's some rather fun work to be said here about the manner in which this one springs forth with the main plot line. Going from the idea of a killer's botched attempt on the heroine and then turning into the fight to uncover the identity as he continues his rampage gives this a solid base to work with, and the film's really at its best when it uses this setup for a series of rather brutal and shocking stalking scenes. The opening double murder strikes, where he takes out the woman lying in her bed, as well as a later sequence with a hookers' ambush in the tall grass after being picked up by the killer, start this off on a solid note, while the later scenes here are quite fun as well.
There's a visually-arresting set-piece on an artist in her home where she discovers that poisoned milk intended for her has instead killed her pet cats first before the killer strikes for real and in the ensuing aftermath the shot of red and black paint dripping onto the corpse creates a fantastically beautiful image, the big attack on a train where she manages to escape the encounter alive makes for a thrilling action-packed sequence and the big stalking of the victim in the hotel room where she gets dragged away and placed in the bathtub is a stellar sequence that gives this a great traditional Giallo sequence of the murder victim being placed in the bathtub by drowning.
There are more brutal and shocking deaths placed throughout here, and these overall give this one a rather strong framework that compares incredibly favorably to the modern gialli taking place at the time, with the increasingly strong attack scenes. That carries over into the fine finale, which has so much to like here with the big battle with the killer and the final revelation of their motives, which ties the whole thing together as well as gives this a rather strong and enjoyable finish for an overall enjoyable Giallo.
There's not a whole lot to dislike here, which mainly consists of the expected storyline motivation for the killer. It's way too hard to believe that this incident would've sprung anyone into such a rampage much less the one engaged in here, and the round-a-bout way this goes trying to convince that the trauma inflicted forces this kind of reaction as the connections are tenuous at best and sloppily executed at their worst with the film grinding to a halt in the middle segment following the investigation as a montage of him wandering through the city looking for answers. It doesn't make the film any clearer, and it does cause this one to really feel overlong during that time, and it is something that does lower this one slightly.
Overview: ***.5/5
A solid and highly enjoyable Giallo that has a lot going for it, this is a pretty solid second-tier outing that's a notch below the major titles out there, but is still entertaining enough on its own. This is definitely worthwhile for fans of the genre, Eurohorror overall, or the creative crew, while those who aren't fans of the style would want to need caution here.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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