Murder Syndrome (1981) Murder obsession (Follia omicida) (original title)

Director:

Riccardo Freda

Writers:

Antonio Cesare Corti (screenplay)
Antonio Cesare Corti (story)
(more)

Release Date:

24 February 1981 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Plot:

Michael is a successful actor, but he has a scandal in his past: at a tender age he knifed his father to death...

Plot Keywords:

Past | Fear | Death | Actor | Weekend

Cast

Stefano Patrizi	...	Michael Stanford
Martine Brochard	...	Shirley
Henri Garcin	...	Hans Schwartz
Laura Gemser	...	Beryl
John Richardson	...	Oliver
Anita Strindberg	...	Glenda
Silvia Dionisio	...	Deborah
Fabrizio Moroni
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carolyn De Fonseca	...	Glenda (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Susan Spafford	...	Beryl (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Pat Starke	...	Deborah (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Frank von Kuegelgen	...	Michael Stanford (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Riccardo Freda		(as Robert Hampton)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Antonio Cesare Corti		screenplay
Antonio Cesare Corti		story
Riccardo Freda		screenplay
Simon Mizrahi		dialogue
Fabio Piccioni		screenplay
Fabio Piccioni		story

Produced by
Enzo Boetani	....	producer
Giuseppe Collura	....	producer
Simon Mizrahi	....	producer

Original Music by
Franco Mannino

Cinematography by
Cristiano Pogany

Film Editing by
Riccardo Freda

Production Design by
Giorgio Desideri

Costume Design by
Giorgio Desideri

Makeup Department
Sergio Angeloni	....	makeup artist
Lamberto Marini	....	makeup artist
Agnese Panarotto	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Antonella Boetani	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Cohn	....	assistant director
Antonio Cesare Corti	....	assistant director
Jacqueline Freda	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Davide Magara	....	sound

Special Effects by
Angelo Mattei	....	special effects (uncredited)
Sergio Stivaletti	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Deborah Imogen Beer	....	still photographer (as Debora Beer)
Stefano Guidi	....	assistant camera
Roberto Lombardi	....	camera operator (as Roberto Lombardi Dallamano)
Alberico Novelli	....	chief electrician
Gianni Savini	....	key grip
Guglielmo Vincioni	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alberto Tosto	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Anne Barrault	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Salvatore Carrara	....	production secretary
Marialuce Faccenna	....	continuity (as Maria Luce Faccenna)

Production Companies

• Dionysio Cinematografica
• Société Nouvelle Cinévog

Distributors

• Capitol International Video (Italy) (VHS)
• Marquis Video (1985) (Canada) (VHS) (dubbed)
• Raro Video (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Search of Miami (2009) (USA) (DVD) (dubbed)
• Wizard Video (1985) (USA) (VHS) (dubbed)

Also Known As:

"Murder obsession (Follia omicida)" - Italy (original title)
"The Wailing" - International (English title) (dubbed version)

Runtime:

USA:92 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Italy:VM18 | UK:18

Company:

Dionysio Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

Featured in Zombiethon (1986)

Confusing and frustrating

I would take some of the other reviews about this film with a pinch of salt - it's not that amazing and it's not that gory, at least in the version I saw under the title "The Wailing". I also suspect a bit of cheating must have occurred to get it the 5.8 rating.

On to the film... It starts with some brilliant music, the sort you used to get in the early 80's horror films. This made me excited for what was to come, but sadly it seemed to go downhill from there. The problem with The Wailing is that it is confusing and the plot meanders too much. There's some dream sequences that go on for so long you forget they are actually dream sequences. Random scenes seem to be thrown together with no connection. There's also a serious lack of lighting, making it even harder to understand what is happening. It reminded me slightly of Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond" because of the meandering plot.

It does have some good points though. As mentioned, the music is great and gives it a real horror 'feel'. However they used it too much; it almost plays through the entire film and gets tiresome after a while. The atmosphere is quite good, and had the plot been more coherent this could have been a really atmospheric horror flick.

This really isn't worth seeking out unless you're a fan of Italian horror, even then you can still do much better. The UK VHS cover is cool though - I'll give it that.