Death Walks at Midnight (1972)
"La morte accarezza a mezzanotte" (original title)

Valentina, a beautiful fashion model, takes an experimental drug as part of a scientific experiment. While influenced by the drug, Valentina has a vision of a young woman being brutally ... See full summary »

Director:

Luciano Ercoli

Writers:

Sergio Corbucci (story), Ernesto Gastaldi,

Stars:

Nieves Navarro, Simón Andreu, Pietro Martellanza

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nieves Navarro	...	Valentina (as Susan Scott)
Simón Andreu	...	Gio Baldi
Pietro Martellanza	...	Stefano (as Peter Martell)
Claudie Lange	...	Verushka Wuttenberg
Carlo Gentili	...	Inspector Serino
Ivano Staccioli	...	Professor Otto Wuttenberg
Fabrizio Moresco	...	Pepito
Claudio Pellegrini	...	Henri Velaq
Luciano Rossi	...	Hans Krutzer
Raúl Aparici	...	Juan Hernandez
Alessandro Perrella	...	Van Driver
Elio Veller	...	Pino
Giuliana Rivera	...	Vanessa
Anna Recchimuzzi
Manuel Muñiz	...	The Porter (as Pajarito)

Storyline

Valentina, a beautiful fashion model, takes an experimental drug as part of a scientific experiment. While influenced by the drug, Valentina has a vision of a young woman being brutally murdered with a viciously spiked glove. It turns out that a woman was killed in exactly the same way not long ago and soon Valentina finds herself stalked by the same killer...

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Plot Keywords:

death in title | psychopath | giallo | lsd | rooftop fight

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

17 November 1972 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Death Walks at Midnight

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 20,658,563 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

C.B. Films S.A., Cinecompany

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Valentina (Controluce)"
Performed by Mina

User Reviews

A silly but not unenjoyable giallo

The third of Luciano Ercoli's trilogy of early 70's gialli is the oddest of the three. It tells the story of a fashion model who takes a hallucinogenic drug for a photo shoot. While tripping she witnesses a murder in the apartment across the street. She then finds herself stalked by the killer and drawn into a complex web of shady goings on, including drug trafficking and murder.

This movie is quite disappointing when compared to its predecessor, the effective Death Walks on High Heels. However, it starts extremely well. The trip murder sequence is well handled. Its both visceral and dreamlike, with a memorably creepy looking killer. Unfortunately, this excellent opening is the highlight of the movie. There are a number of other effective set-pieces but the movie gets bogged down a bit with excessively convoluted plot lines. There is a large cast of characters and it becomes difficult keeping track of who did what where. Everything is wrapped up when most of the remaining cast members get involved in a ridiculous, but fun, fight on a rooftop.

This is not a great giallo, however, it is certainly likable. Susan Scott is, as ever, great value in the lead role. She carries the film through the less interesting phases, ensuring that things never really get boring. Simón Andreu also is reliable. Ercoli shoots the film well and the decor is impressive. Overall, this is a beautiful looking, well acted but somewhat silly giallo. Its not one of the best from the genre but it is fun in a camp sort of way.