Un omicidio perfetto a termine di legge (1971)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Tonino Ricci

Writers:

Rafael Azcona (screenplay)
Aldo Crudo (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 August 1971 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Giallo | Murder

Cast

Philippe Leroy	...	Marco Breda
Elga Andersen	...	Monica Breda
Ivan Rassimov	...	Burt
Rosanna Yanni	...	Terry Povani
Franco Ressel	...	Tommy Brown
Rina Franchetti
Julio Peña	...	Inspector Baldini
Franco Fantasia	...	Professor Mauri
Giorgio Cerioni
Liana Del Balzo
Mario Morales
Carla Mancini	...	Lawyer's Secretary
Franco Balducci	...	Sante Foschi
Ferdinando Poggi		(as Nando Poggi)
Franco Marletta

Also Known As:

Cross Current (USA) (dubbed version)
Homicidio al límite de la ley (Spain)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Eurovision Cinematografica

Currents of unexplainable madness, Italian style

This rare giallo visibly has a bad reputation all over the planet, and I can't really understand why; probably because no one has seen it...

Here we have a rich playboy doing boat races, and at one of them he has an accident - his boat shatters and explodes, but he's thrown in the nearby water and rapidly picked up by the medical crew, and after an operation to the brain returns home safe and sound, with some memory loss and a prescription of calm, peace & love for recovery. However, his surroundings - including luscious Rossana Yanni, constantly mini-skirted and looking ready to seduce - stick to his incredibly designed villa, and the killings begin.

First the gardener, and then some other individuals whom I won't name not to spoil anything. The deaths aren't spectacular and we never get to see the killer, so that's a change from other well known gialli... but the plot doesn't really make sense here.

Especially when the end credits roll, we're left with a huge question mark : "What the hell just happened ?" With about 5 writers working on the script, I guess it's just unexplainable. Or it perhaps can be the horrible english dubbing that made me lose some parts...

Confusion aside, this movie is visually gorgeous, with amazing architecture + actors + landscapes. Ivan Rassimov plays his usual self, evil eyebrows included. And there's never a dull moment. In trying to include twists so often, the writers may have forgotten that in the end, it all needs to make at least a bit of sense, but they're forgiven for carving a real impressive mood for the ensemble of the movie. Highly recommended !