Enigma rosso (1978)

Director:

Alberto Negrin

Writers:

Peter Berling (writer)
Marcello Coscia (writer)

Release Date:

19 August 1978 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sweet sixteen ... they'll lose more than just their lives.

Plot:

A detective investigating the murder of a teenage girl begins to focus his suspicions on the three girlfriends of the victim, who call themselves "The Inseparables." |

Plot Keywords:

Teenage Girl | Murder | Detective | Suspicion | Suicide

Cast

Fabio Testi	...	Inspector Gianni Di Salvo
Christine Kaufmann	...	Christina
Ivan Desny	...	Roccaglio
Jack Taylor	...	Parer Vicino
Bruno Alessandro	...	Di Salvos Assistant
María Asquerino	...	Miss Graham
Helga Liné	...	Mrs. Rosso
Silvia Aguilar	...	Virginia Nardini
Taida Urruzola
Tony Isbert	...	Max
Fausta Avelli	...	Emily Rosso
Carolin Ohrner

Also Known As:

Das Phantom im Mädchenpensionat (West Germany)
Nemesis (West Germany) (working title)
Orgie des Todes
Red Rings of Fear (USA) (dubbed version)
Rings of Fear (UK)
Tráfico de menores (Spain)
Trauma (USA) (video title)
Virgin Killer (International: English title)
Virgin Terror (Australia) (video title)
Warum mußte Angela sterben? (West Germany) (working title)

Runtime:

Germany:85 min | Italy:85 min

Country:

Italy | West Germany | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

CIPI Cinematografica S.A.

Quotes:

Roccaglio: Somebody really made a mess of her belly - cut it up this long.
[holds up hands to depict size]
Roccaglio: Really awesome.
Inspector Gianni Di Salvo: You come up with the strangest choice of words sometimes.
Roccaglio: I come up with my vocabulary by studying the Readers Digest

Gritty and sleazy, but holds back too much on the violence

Even though he only shares a writing credit with five other people, Red Rings of Fear is credited as being the third instalment of Massimo Dallamano's unofficial 'Schoolgirls in Peril' series; the masterpiece What Have They Done to Solange and the disappointing What They Done to Our Daughters being the other two. I went into this film with low expectations after seeing the second part of the 'trilogy', and unfortunately Red Rings of Fear only lived up to those expectations as while it has its moments, the film is certainly no masterpiece. For one reason or another, Dallamano himself hasn't directed this film, and the honour of the director's chair has fallen to the lesser known Alberto Negrin. The film retains the sleazy atmosphere that the first two delighted in, and once again focuses on schoolgirls. Red Rings of Fear starts with the discovery of a young girl's corpse. After being put on the case, Inspector Gianni Di Salvo soon learns that the girl was a part of a school clique known as 'The Inseparables', and a plot revolving around rich men paying them for sex soon unfolds.

The film stars Fabio Testi, who also took the lead role in the far better 'What Have they Done to Solange'. I've seen Testi in a handful of Italian films, and he always impresses me. His chiselled good looks benefit this film as it's easy to see him at the centre of a sleazy plot, and his performance bodes well with the rest of the film. He receives decent backup from a trio of teenage actresses, as well as child star Fauta Avelli, who has worked with the likes of Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento in the past. Any film focusing on teenage girls, murder and loss of innocence is bound to be sleazy; and director Alberto Negrin does well in capturing gritty locations and upping the sleaze quota. However, the plotting isn't very well done and often becomes hard to follow - and the film also focuses too much on police procedure and not enough on the style. There are a few decent murder scenes in the film, but none of them are particularly well executed and it often feels as though the director wants to get them over with as quickly as possible, which is a shame. The resolution to the murders is good, although the killer has become obvious by that point; and I really hated how the film ends entirely. On the whole; Red Rings of Fear is slightly better than What Have they Done to Our Daughters, but nowhere near as good as Solange. I'd like to rate this higher, but it has too many problems.