Director: Jorge Grau
Year: 1974
Country: Spain/Italy
Alternate Titles: Pena de Muerte; Penalty of Death; Night Fiend
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Arriving at a lavish resort, a judge and his wife attempt to start a vacation together after a slew of gruesome cases is startled when a series of crimes around the hotel mimic the crimes of those he ordered to be executed, leaving his wife with her ex-husband to solve the crimes.
Review:
This was a fairly fun and likeable Spanish giallo effort. One of the better features with this one comes from the rather impressive setup that works in quite a few intriguing elements into a typical genre formula. The main idea of the judge and his wife on holiday while trying to relax from the series of cases he’s recently overseen, which include a series of executed criminals convicted of their crimes, only to stumble into a crime spree mimicking the kills committed by the various individuals he’s recently executed, serves the film incredibly well. This setup not only provides a means of getting him out to the middle of nowhere with an ineffectual police force unable to handle the case, but it also forces him to turn to a reporter for help dealing with the case once the gimmick with the crimes starts up.
Moreover, the personal interactions with him and his wife being there for their strained marriage allow this one to dwell on her potential infidelity with a potential suspect, to not only set up the plotline about her in danger as well as the secondary order of putting further strain on their relationship, which hinders the investigation. That all provides this one with a slew of solid and somewhat chilling concepts involving the potential killer being connected to his caseload. Once the revelation comes and the different flashbacks are brought about involving each of the cases he presided over, which are being recreated in the new spree, there’s some intriguing work on display as we watch him deteriorate over the incidents. Being unable to come to grips with either the idea of the judge himself being the culprit or someone doing it to mess with him about what type of career he has, the central setup at play manages to bring about a solid enough mystery over what’s going on.
The one area where this one might suffer is from the slasher setpieces, which are well enough to be of some worth to the style, but it doesn’t stand up to the best of the genre’s output. The idea of the killings being committed as copies of the various modus operandi of the various criminals he’s put to death as a career serves as a great way to provide some gruesome deaths, namely, a whole family getting butchered, and another victim found decapitated in a swimming pool that was the key way a former killer knocked off a victim. However, these are a bit drier and not as over-the-top as expected with the film focusing more on the dialogue about the crimes or the exploits of the couple sneaking around behind his back to rekindle their relationship so the big spots that would’ve provided blood and gore it would’ve wanted are forsaken. This approach might be a bit off-putting as a result for those looking for more bombastic material, but it works well in the context of the film, even if it’s the main issue on display.
Overview: ***.5/5
An enjoyable standard-fare giallo effort, there’s a lot to like here, which manages to provide enough positive points here that manage to give this enough over its drawbacks. Those with an appreciation for this style of Eurohorror, who enjoy gialli in general, or who are curious about it, will have the most to like, while most others out there turned off by these factors should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment