La stirpe di Caino

I haven’t been able to find out much about Lamberto Benevenuti's La stirpe di caino. There are no reviews on imdb and it’s not avilable on any of the usual torrent sites. One of the few places I’ve seen it mentioned is in Antoni Brsucshini & Stefano Piselli’s “Giallo & Thrilling all’Italiana”, so I guess I won't be seeing it anytime soon. Artwork by Caroselli. 

200th post

It took a while to get here but this is the 200th post on Giallo locandine, so I thought I’d post something special to celebrate. You’ll get not one, not two, not three, but four posters this time.

During the last 12 months or so I’ve finally managed to a few of most wanted alternate posters so I thought I'd share a few with you today.  

The first one up is the alternate poster for Paolo Cavara’s giallo classic La Tarantola dal ventre nero. Beautiful artwork from an unknown artist where the two Barbaras (Bouchet and Bach) and Giancarlo Giannini are featured more prominently than on the poster most people know (since it used for the Blue Underground DVD Cover).  

The next two posters are alternate posters to Lamberto Bava’s 1992 giallo, Misteria (or Body Puzzle). I find the film slightly underrated and actually think it’s one of the best 90‘s gialli by far. The artwork in itself is not that inspiring, but that’s seldom the case with a 90’s film.

The last locandina is the alternate artwork to Luciano Ercoli’s La morte cammina con i tacchi alti. I’ve been searching for this ever since a narrowly missed out on a bidding war on ebay a five years ago or so. Great artwork by the mighty Sandro Symeoni. 

Le Tue mani sul mio corpo (Shocking)

The English title of Brunello Rondi's Le Tue mani sul mio corpo is Shocking, but as a description of the film that title is pretty far off the mark. It sounds pretty good when you look at credits, it features a script by Luciano Martino & Mino Loy, a soundtrack by Giorgio Gaslini, it stars Lino Capolicchio and even Sergio Martino pops up a "Organizzatore generale". With a line-up like that you'd be forgiven for thinking you're in good hands, but unfortunately the giallo links are tenuous at best and the film really is more of a character study than a thriller. There are a few interesting visuals on display here and there but on the whole it's a far too slow moving to be of interest to most genre fans. No info on the poster art.

Il Diavolo nel cervello (Devil in the Brain)

Sergio Sollima is best known for his excellent westerns and poliziotteschi, but Il Diavolo nel cervello is a great murder mystery that unfolds in a series of flashbacks. It also features one of Morricone's most beaautiful scores. No info on the poster artist.

Bestia uccide a sangue freddo (Slaughter Hotel)

I'm a big fan of Di Leo's crime flicks, but I've never really been a fan of his only giallo La Bestia uccide a sangue freddo. I know it's got its fair share of fans (usually die-hard Rosalba Neri fans), but I find it crude and uninspired in a way that his superior poliziesco never were.
Poster art by P. Franco.

Gli Occhi freddi della paura (Cold Eyes of Fear)

As far as I know Gli Occhi freddi della paura was Enzo G. Castellari's only foray in the giallo genre. I say giallo, but the film really seems to have been more inspired by films like William Wyler's The Desperate Hours than any of the other Italian thrillers on release at the time. 

The locandina by Renato Casaro was quite tricky to find, but I finally managed to get my hands on it.

La Vittima designata (The Designated Victim)

Maurizio Lucidi's La Vittima Designata has long deserved a wider audience. This excellent Strangers on a Train inspired giallo stars Tomas Milian and Pierre Clémenti who both deliver wonderful performances. Fortunately 2008 has given us not only one, but two DVD releases of this highly recommended title. Germany's New Entertainment released it earlier this year and only a couple of few weeks ago, Shameless Entertainment released it in the UK. Make sure you pick it up. It's avilable at a very low price (under £6 at the time of writing) from Amazon.co.uk.
Poster art by Rodolfo Gasparri.

Sette cadaveri per Scotland Yard (Seven Murders for Scotland Yard)

I think I've mentioned that I've got a soft spot for gialli set in London before, but Sette cadaveri per Scotland Yard isn't really one of them. José Luis Madrid's 1971 thriller is a less than stellar effort. The film is poorly paced, very predictable and the less said about Paul Naschy's limping trapeze artist protagonist, the better. Great poster art by Renato Casaro though.

L'Uomo più velenoso del cobra (Human Cobras)

I was well and truly surprised when I first saw L'Uomo più velenoso del cobra as the film starts out in my hometown Stockholm, but apart from the opening montage, we don't really get to see anymore of Stockholm in this bottom of the barrel giallo. The script is quite poor to begin with (in spite of co-writing credits from Ernesto Gastaldi and Luciano Martino) and it certainly doesn't help that Albertini manages to botch the few sequences that should have been suspenseful due to poor direction and poor choice of music. The score doesn't really fit the film, but I would suspect that Cipriani recycled quite a few cues here (certainly the Femina Ridens theme anyway). I didn't find much worthwhile about it, but at least is was mercifully short at 82 minutes.
Art work on the fairly rare locandina is by Renato Casaro

La Controfigura (The Double)

Looking at the poster, you'd hardly think it's be a thriller, but Romolo Guerrieri's La Controfigura is something of a hidden gem and it has more than Jean Sorel in common with Short Night of the Glass Dolls. It all starts off with Jean Sorel getting gunned down in a underground parking garage and through non-linear flashbacks we're shown the events leading up to the shooting. The flashback narrative works well and there are some great visuals along the way. The trio of Jean Sorel, Ewa Aulin and Lucia Bosé are all great in the leads and the film features a groovy lounge score by Armando Trovajoli. Those looking for a fix of black-gloved killers and straight razors won't find a lot to savour here, but to the more adventurous gialli fans, this is a good as it gets. I'd love to see it on dvd one day.

La Morte cammina con i tacchi alti (Death Walks on High Heels)

Spoilers in this post, so tread carefully if you haven't seen the film!

Although Luciano Ercoli's La Morte cammina con i tacchi alti is an above average giallo with a great cast (Ercoli regulars Susan Scott and Simon Andreu are joined by the ever dependable Frank Wolff) and a great soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani, it's probably my least favourite of his thrillers. Part of the reason is the demise of one of the main characters about halfway. Gastaldi pulled a similar trick in one of his other scripts to much better effect, but the loss of this particular character really hurts the film. The poster by Symeoni is great though.

L'Iguana dalla lingua di fuoco (The Iguana with the Tounge of Fire)

It's fair to say that Riccardo Freda's L'Iguana dalla lingua di fuoco isn't particularly well-regarded in giallo circles. I'll have to agree that it isn't a top-tier giallo. The special effects are a bit questionable and the zooms every time we see sunglasses on screen are a bit over the top, but any film starring Luigi Pistilli and Dagmar Lassander in her prime is worth watching and the soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani is great.

Una Farfalla cin le ali insanguinate (The Bloodstained Butterfly)

The iconic poster for Duccio Tessari's Una Farfalla cin le ali insanguinate. It's truly is mind-boggling that this genre classic has yet to receive an English friendly release. Thankfully there are a few fan composites around that'll tide me over until an official English friendly release surfaces. 

Unfortunately I haven't got any info on the poster designer, but the scull pops up again (slightly modified) on the La Via della droga locandina.

In fondo alla piscina (The Fourth Victim)

The locandina for Eugenio Martín's overlooked 1971 giallo In fondo alla piscina. Arthur Anderson (Michael Craig) has just been acquitted of the murder of his third wife when he meets Julie Spencer (Carroll Baker). Will she be the fourth victim or does she have an agenda of her own? An entertaining thriller that features a cracking (and sadly unreleased) Piero Umilinai soundtrack. Would love to see this on DVD in original aspect ratio one day. Poster by Cirello.

Un posto ideale per uccidere (Dirty Pictures)

In a recent (very interesting) interview posted at Cultfilms en Kutfilms Umberto Lenzi states that he dislikes Un posto ideale per uccidere and has some pretty harsh things to say about it. I was a bit surprised to hear this, because even though it's perhaps not up there with his greatest Baker gialli, I still find it a quite enjoyable thriller. Poster by Angelo Cesselon.

La Volpe dalla coda di velluto (In the Eye of the Hurricane)

José María Forqué's La Volpe dalla coda di velluto is clearly influenced by Umberto Lenzi's successful Jean Sorel and Carroll Baker thrillers, but it's a very entertaining thriller in its own right. With its great cast, beautiful Côte D'Azur locations and the fantastic soundtrack by Piccioni, it remains one of the more overlooked genre entries.
I was very happy to find Mos's beautiful looking locandina in such good condition, since I haven't seen it for sale very often.

Lo Strano vizio della Signora Wardh (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh)

Since I've been slacking a bit this week, I thought I'd make up for it by posting the two great looking alternate posters for Sergio Martino's Lo Strano vizio della Signora Wardh.
The first of the four (!) gialli Martino directed between 1971 and 1972. They were all produced by his brother Luciano Martino and featured screenplays by Ernesto Gastaldi. This excellent thriller starred the lovely Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Ivan Rassomiv and Alberto de Mendoza. All of which would appear in different constellations in several of Martino's later films.

The top poster is made by G.Nistri and features a kaleidoscope view of Hilton that brings back memories of one of the films effective nightmare sequences. The beautiful poster below is from a re-release of the film in 1978. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any info on who did the art-work.

Il Diavolo a sette facce (The Devil Has Seven Faces)

Considering Osvaldo Civirani's Il Diavolo a sette facce is starring two great genre actors (George Hilton and Carroll Baker), I had fairly high hopes the first time I watched it. Unfortunately the film is a fairly uninspired effort. The set-pieces are far and few between and you can see the ending coming from miles away. Not a total write-off, but certainly not the lost masterpiece by any means.
The top locandina is a bit unusual, since it's thinner than usual. The first time I saw it, I thought it'd been cropped by the seller, but I've seen it for sale several times since and it's always had the borders cropped. The bottom one is from the films rerelease in 1977. No info on the poster artist.

La Coda dello scorpione (Case of the Scorpion's Tail)

Sergio Martino's La Coda dello scorpione has more or less everything you want from a good giallo. Clever twists and turns, the always dependable George Hilton, gorgeous women (Swedish stunner Anita Strindberg and the beautiful Evelyn Stewart), a killer with black gloves, a good Nicolai score and liberal J&B product placement. A favourite of mine ever since I first saw it.
Generally the posters design for Martino's gialli are quite striking, but it's hard to get too excited about this locandina.

La Notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba (The Night Evelyn Came of the Grave)

Even though I currently own three dvds of La Notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba, it's has never really been a favourite one of mine. The poster art by Symeoni is beautiful though.