I Vizi morbosi di una governante (Crazy Desires of a Murderer)

There’s little about this Filippo Walter Ratti directed giallo to make me recommend it. Since the film is set in a castle, there are a few scenes with a somewhat gothic touch to them that I liked, but it’s a slow moving story filled with uninteresting characters and a minimal amount of suspense. There’s an eyeball removal scene and a fair amount of nudity to liven the proceedings but that doesn’t compensate for the fact that is a rather lacklustre effort.

The poster has been quite difficult to find, but when I finally came across it, I ended up with two copies within a week. Artwork by Crovato

Solamente Nero (The Blood Stained Shadow)

The two alternatie posters for Antonio Bido's Solamente Nero proved quite tricky to track down for me, but I finally managed to find both of them. I'm fond of the top poster (by L. Crovato) which I find quite striking and atmospheric. The bottom poster by Studio TEF on the other hand is more in line with their frankly rubbish posters for Bido's Il Gatto dagli occhi di giada.

Vita privata di un pubblico accusatore (Violent Blood Bath)

Judge Oscar Bataille's (Fernando Rey) vacation with his young wife Patricia (Marisa Mell) is interrupted when someone starts copying murders where the killer was sentenced to death by Judge Bataille.
Since Vita privata di un pubblico accusatore is directed by Jorge (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) Grau, I had fairly high hopes the first time I saw the film but unfortunately it's fairly uninspired and predictable. Not even the presence of the normally reliable Rey and Mell makes it rise above the average Spanish thriller. Poster art by L. Crovato.

5 donne per l'assassino (Five Women for the Killer)

I've only seen Stelvio Massi's 5 donne per l'assassino once. It was quite a few years back and it was dubbed in German, so I can really tell you too much about the film. The poster by L. Crovato is quite cool though. One of the few gialli posters to pay homage to the genre's paperback origin.

L'Assassino...è al telefono (The Killer is on the Phone)

De Martino was never one of the more exciting Italian directors and L'Assassino...è al telefono is another rather poor and lacklustre effort by him. The premise of the film isn’t fantastic, but might have worked in the hands of a better director. Anne Haywood is no Edwige Fenech and makes for a rather uninteresting damsel in distress. Savalas walks through all of his scenes and none of the menace that he managed to convey in Lisa & the Devil is present here.