La tarantola dal ventre nero (1971)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Paolo Cavara

Writers:

Marcello Danon (story)
Lucile Laks (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 August 1971 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

With needles dipped in deadly venom the victims are paralyzed - so they must lie awake and watch themselves die!

Plot:

Inspector Tellini investigates serial crimes where victims are paralyzed while having their bellies ripped open with a sharp knife...

Plot Keywords:

Victim | Spa | Tarantula | Wasp | Knife

Cast

Giancarlo Giannini	...	Inspector Tellini
Claudine Auger	...	Laura
Barbara Bouchet	...	Maria Zani
Rossella Falk	...	Franca Valentino
Silvano Tranquilli	...	Paolo Zani
Annabella Incontrera	...	Mirta Ricci
Ezio Marano	...	Masseur
Barbara Bach	...	Jenny
Stefania Sandrelli	...	Anna Tellini
Giancarlo Prete	...	Mario
Anna Saia	...	Maria's friend
Eugene Walter	...	Ginetto, the waiter
Nino Vingelli	...	Inspector Di Giacomo
Daniele Dublino	...	Entomologist
Giuseppe Fortis	...	Psychiatrist

Also Known As:

Black Belly of the Tarantula (USA)
Tarentule au ventre noir (France)

Runtime:

89 min | Italy:98 min (uncut)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Italy:T (DVD rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1972) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

Da Ma Produzione

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Crew member visible in second victim's clothes shop.

The Black Belly Of The Tarantula (Paolo Cavara, 1971) ***

From the recent spate of giallo releases via the Blue Underground label, this was the one I was most looking forward to; still, now that I've watched the film, the proclamation on the DVD sleeve of its being "The Best Giallo Ever Made" is an exaggeration - as it's not quite in the same league as the best of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, or even Lucio Fulci!

Despite being made by people not usually associated with the sub-genre (director Cavara had started out in "Mondo" documentaries!), most of the requisite elements are present - and this, I have to say, is its major weakness: though the killer's modus operandi here is undeniably original and particularly vicious, the settings, (mostly irrelevant) plot complications and the unconvincing explanation at the end are all-too-typical, thus making the whole somewhat predictable (down to the identity of the murderer!), if never less than enjoyable and occasionally exciting (the rooftop chase scene above all). Still, as shot by Marcello Gatti, the film is stylish enough (even if the technique isn't really pushed to the limit as in, say, the films of Argento) and, in any case, it has two major assets in the performance of Giancarlo Giannini (as bewildered a giallo protagonist as one can get though, for once, he is a cop and a fairly intelligent, albeit disillusioned, one at that) and a typically unforgettable, indeed irresistible soundtrack courtesy of the tireless and ever-inspired Ennio Morricone.

One can't have a giallo without the presence of a bevy of beauties - most of whom get to shed their clothes and are soon shown on the receiving end of the killer's paralyzing poison-tipped needle: Barbara Bouchet (appearing, all-too-briefly, as the first victim in one of the most effortlessly erotic openings to any film!), Barbara Bach and Stefania Sandrelli (who, alas, is too often left by the wayside - though she does share a love scene with Giannini - and whose voice, as far as I can tell, was dubbed even in the Italian version!). The notable cast also features Claudine Auger, Silvano Tranquilli, Rossella Falk and Eugene Walter (as a patronizing gay waiter, whose vaguely androgynous features were later utilized to startling effect in another solid giallo, Pupi Avati's THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS [1976]). Trivia note: I got to see Giannini, Sandrelli and Bouchet at the 2004 Venice Film Festival (the latter on more than one occasion, since she was a guest of honor during the Italian B-movie retrospective!).