Sette scialli di seta gialla (1972)

Director:

Sergio Pastore

Writers:

Sandro Continenza (writer)
Sergio Pastore (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A blind pianist tries to figure out who is responsible for a string of murders using a black cat with its caws dipped in curare.

Plot Keywords:

Cat | Black Cat | Murder | Pianist | Model

Cast

Anthony Steffen	...	Peter Oliver
Sylva Koscina	...	Françoise Ballais
Giovanna Lenzi	...	Susan Leclerc (as Jeannette Len)
Renato De Carmine	...	Inspector Jansen
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	Victor Morgan
Umberto Raho	...	Burton
Annabella Incontrera	...	Helga Schurn
Romano Malaspina	...	Harry
Isabelle Marchall	...	Paola Whitney
Imelde Marani	...	Harry's girlfriend
Liliana Pavlo	...	Wendy Marshall
Lorenzo Piani	...	Waiter in Hamburg (credit only)
Irio Fantini	...	(credit only)
Shirley Corrigan	...	Margot Thornhill

Also Known As:

Seven Shawls of Yellow Silk (USA) (literal English title)
The Crimes of the Black Cat

Runtime:

90 min | USA:96 min | Italy:95 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Capitolina Produzioni Cinematografiche

Movie Connections:

Features Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971)

OK "Blood And Black Lace" clone

(aka: THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT)

Filmed in Denmark with a largely Italian cast in a setting away from the usual Italian locations for this genre. So forget that these people are Danes speaking Italian. You can't be too specific with a film like this.

OK so you've seen this before and if you've seen BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, then you'll know how it turns out. Even so, this really isn't bad watching and the story is constructed well despite a couple of suspense contrivances for the audience like footsteps approaching a door, expecting the viewer to believe it's the killer when it turns out to be the hotel bellboy delivering breakfast.

Blind composer Peter Oliver (spaghetti western star, Anthony Steffen) helps sleuth the murders of fashion models in swanky Copenhagen after his close friend Paola is murdered. He suspects something is wrong when he overhears a conversation about a crime in a restaurant while waiting for Paola to show up. She never does. It turns out Paola is blackmailing Victor (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart), threatening to expose some incriminating photographs to his wife (Sylvia Koscina).

Of course when it comes to this genre, the murders can't always be done in a straightforward way and one particular device is using a black cat who's hands are dipped in curare, scratching the victims and causing them to have heart attacks. Strange, yes, but that's typical of the genre so one has to suspend disbelief if you want to watch films like this.

I won't reveal who the name of the killer is. You'll have to see that for yourself, but I will say that it ends in one of those typical freeze-frame endings that were popular in the 1970s.

The DVD by Degored is of poor quality, taken from videotape source with dropouts appearing occasionally and muffled sound, although the subtitles in English look pretty accurate.

There are worse out there.

5 out of 10