Giallo x 2: The Sex Maniac vs. The Killer!

It's getting harder and harder to find gialli I haven't seen and those I find is more and more obscure, and most of them time also less and less spectacular. I've seen two interesting Italian thrillers the last couple of days and because neither of them is interesting enough for their own posts I've decided to squeeze both of them into one post. Hope you don't mind (I've done it before, so you better accept it!)? :) First out is a semi-famous, The Slasher is the Sex Maniac! (1972), more known as So Sweet, So Dead and with the impressive looooong Italian title "Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile".

A killer is slashing up unfaithful women and leaves compromising photos next to their bodies. Inspector Capuana, played by an excellent and emotional Farley Granger - who also has a nice moustache, takes the lead in the hunt for the killer but something makes the killer getting closer and closer to him! Why? What? How? And... who is it?

The Slasher is the Sex Maniac isn't the most original giallo ever made. Actually the total opposite. It feels quite cheap and is packed with nudity and sleaze, and less gore and violence. The American cut, they say, had inserts of hardcore. I don't know if that's true, but it would fit the cheap style and flat cinematography. The story itself isn't bad, it's just very unimaginative. What makes it interesting is the kinda unexpected ending, who has an extra dark twist in it. Which is also the best thing with this giallo. In the end it might be only for us, the fanatics, but give it a try if you feel bored and need Farley Granger to spice up your boring evening.

Next up is the very interesting Five Women for the Killer (1974), directed by Stelvio Massi. Don't be scared away by the absurdly generic title, this is one of the better gialli I've seen - and I've only seen it dubbed to German without subtitles!

A journalist, played by British actor Francis Matthews, comes home after being abroad and finds out that his wife has died and their little son at the hospital. Tragedy! He seeks comfort in the arms of his sons doctor Lydia (Pascale Rivault) and tries to cope with his sorrow. But then terror strikes! A killer is murdering pregnant women, one after another and now it's up to the brave journalist and macho-cop Howard Ross to solve the mystery and catch the killer!

Here we have a thriller that I haven't read much about, which is strange because the mystery is quite good and it has two of the most brutal and bloody murders I've seen in a giallo - up there with the macabre and sadistic murder set-pieces of Andrea Bianchi! But what makes this thriller a stand-out is the excellent directing by Massi and cinematography by Sergio Rubini. It has a lot of handheld, almost documentary camera, natural light and wonderful editing. In more than a few occasions it feels "real", like a radical, edgy crime doc.

Two gialli, none of them perfect, but still with enough interesting details and twists to be worth watching. The Slasher is the Sex Maniac is fairly easy to find, but I've only seen 5 Women for the Killer on an non-subbed German DVD under the ridiculous title Ghostkiller! It's in widescreen, but the quality isn't exactly stellar....

That's all folks!