Director: Paolo Cavera
Year: 1976
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: E tanta paura; Magnum 45; Bloody Peanuts
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After a series of strange murders, a police inspector is tasked with investigating the crimes when it becomes apparent that a connection between all of the murders is found involving a strange coloring book found at each crime scene, and the investigation chases the culprits into a criminal underground.
Review:
For the most part, this was a pretty solid genre entry. One of the better factors here is the immensely likable and unconventional storyline that manages to bring about some fairly intriguing indictments of the upper class ruling greedily over the lower members of society. The investigation starts off well enough, with the discovery of the coloring book pages found at the scene of several supposedly unrelated murders, and the clues being revealed here point to the involvement of a strange cult-like organization looking to hoard the wealth in the area for themselves and are willing to do anything to preserve it, which offers quite a lot to like. There’s a strikingly topical look at how the influence of perversion and greed on their lives has turned them into vile, cruel degenerates willing to sail anyone down for their own vices, and it leaves this with quite an effective storyline that is then turned into a solid giallo outing when looking at the kind of investigation within here, involving him trying to work around the concept of the secret society conducting their own spree in the city and must deal with the aftermath while doling out justice to the innocent.
That leads into the nice aspects within this, where its use of conventional giallo elements is often at odds with the unconventional nature of the structure here. With the convergence of clues bringing the detective into contact with the upper-crust society trying to engage in their perverse desires, there are some immensely effective moments here where trying to get them to let their guard down and try to make sure he completes his investigation brings some solid satirical humor to the different interactions. Trying to understand how to navigate everything and not make it known what he’s trying to do gives this the kind of atmosphere that leaves everything here immensely enjoyable as we get to learn the depths of depravity they are willing to dive into with the rampant nudity, full-on sexual escapades within their club, and the other forms of blackmail, deception, and vice present here, providing this with some solid elements. Alongside some solid gore in the kills when they do occur, there are some worthwhile elements to come here that hold this one up.
However, there are some issues here that bring this one down. One of the main issues here is the somewhat lacking elements usually found here in some other giallo efforts, rather than going for some of the more unusual features at play here. The typical giallo stalking scenes, featuring a black-clad killer going around with a razor blade slicing people to pieces while shot through their point of view, are an important part of these films. While we get a few solid showcase setpieces in the opening double murder, a victim taken out on live TV, and one stumbling into a scenario where they get burned to death, these aren’t as prominent or important to the film. Instead, its main focus is the focus on its political commentary on the power-mad rich class looking to exploit the poor and how they plan to go about it with the series of interactions here instead being more impactful in their place, keeping the priority outside of the genre focus for a large part of its setup. As well as the generally disappointing conclusion to this that solves everything but leaves this somewhat disappointing, these all bring this down overall.
Overview: ***.5/5
A solid, middle-of-the-road giallo effort, there are some worthwhile elements here that make this an intriguing enough addition to the genre even though some of its issues are quite heavy and impactful. Those with an appreciation for this era of the genre, who are curious about it, or are hardcore giallo fanatics will want to give this a shot, as most others out there should 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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