IMDb > Un delitto poco comune (1988)

Un delitto poco comune (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Videos
Un delitto poco comune -- From the writing team behind the vicious ‘n' delicious New York Ripper and Ruggero Deodato, the director of the hunger-inducing Cannibal Holocaust, comes this star filled frenzy of brutal vengeance. Michael York (Austin Powers) stars as piano virtuoso Robert Dominici who suddenly contracts a devastating disease that ages him rapidly. With death closing in fast a decaying Robert abandons tinkling the ivories to instead embark on an arpeggio of vicious slaughter upon anyone who finds out about his impending gruesome fate! Closing in fast to try and end this crescendo of violence is Police Inspector Datti, played by the seasoned psychopath chasing Donald Pleasence (Halloween). Will he solve this mystery? Not before you've enjoyed a long and lingering symphony of superbly gory set pieces! PHANTOM OF DEATH (cert. 18) is released fully uncut (for the first time in the UK) on DVD by Shameless Screen Entertainment. The film will be presented remastered in 1.85:1 with English 2.0 sound. Also included on the disc is a Shameless original trailer gallery.

Overview

User Rating:
5.2/10   324 votes »
Your Rating:
Saving vote...
Deleting vote...
/10   (delete | history)
Sorry, there was a problem
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Ruggero Deodato
Writers:
Gianfranco Clerici (story) &
Vincenzo Mannino (story) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Un delitto poco comune on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
December 1988 (USA) See more »
Genre:
Horror | Thriller See more »
Plot:
Police Comissioner Datti is investigating the murder of a female doctor whose murderer seems to be a thirty-fivish year old man... See more » | Add synopsis »
Plot Keywords:
See more »
User Reviews:
Promising but also flawed thriller See more (18 total) »

Cast

  (in credits order)

Michael York ... Robert Dominici

Edwige Fenech ... Hélène Martell

Donald Pleasence ... Inspector Datti
Mapi Galán ... Susanna

Fabio Sartor ... Davide
Renato Cortesi ... Agent Marchi

Antonella Ponziani ... Gloria Datti
Carola Stagnaro ... Dr. Carla Pesenti
Daniele Brado ... Dr. Vanni
Caterina Boratto ... Robert's Mother
Lewis E. Ciannelli ... Chief Physician (as Lewis Eduardo Ciannelli)
Renata Dal Pozzo ... Agent Corsi
Giovanni Lombardo Radice ... Father Giuliano
Gianni Franco ... Inspector
Marino Masé ... Expert on aging
Achille Brugnini
Giovanni Tamberi ... Andrea

Loris Loddi ... Danzil, a cop

Hal Yamanouchi ... Swordmaster (as Hal Yamanouchy)
Diego Verdegiglio
Raffaella Baracchi ... Laura, Venice prostitute
Emy Valentino (as Emi Valentino)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Daniela Merlo ... Mother
Rossana Canghiari ... Party Guest (uncredited)
Lella Cattaneo ... Woman at Robert's piano concert (uncredited)
Ruggero Deodato ... Man That Gets on Moped at Station (uncredited)
Giuseppe Marrocco ... Uomo al concerto (uncredited)
Benito Stefanelli ... Man in Restroom (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
Ruggero Deodato 
 
Writing credits
Gianfranco Clerici (story) &
Vincenzo Mannino (story)

Gianfranco Clerici (screenplay) &
Vincenzo Mannino (screenplay) &
Gigliola Battaglini (screenplay)

Produced by
Gianfranco Clerici .... associate producer
Pietro Innocenzi .... producer
Vincenzo Mannino .... associate producer
 
Original Music by
Pino Donaggio 
 
Cinematography by
Giorgio Di Battista 
 
Film Editing by
Daniele Alabiso 
 
Production Design by
Paolo Innocenzi 
 
Costume Design by
Giovanna Deodato 
 
Makeup Department
Carla Indoni .... hair stylist
Antonio Maltempo .... makeup artist
Franco Schioppa .... makeup artist: Edwige Fenech
Fabrizio Sforza .... makeup artist: Michael York
 
Production Management
Fabrizio De Martino .... unit manager
Giuliano Piermarioli .... production manager
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roberto Tatti .... assistant director
 
Art Department
Alessandro Laurenti .... assistant scenic designer
Antonio Murer .... prop man
 
Sound Department
Renato Giannelli .... sound mixer
Ettore Mancini .... boom operator
Tommaso Quattrini .... sound
 
Special Effects by
Dino Galiano .... scenic effects (as Cataldo Galiano)
 
Stunts
Ottaviano Dell'Acqua .... stunts
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Gaetano Coniglio .... gaffer
Fabrizio Lucci .... second camera operator
Gianni Maddaleni .... camera operator
Martino Valente .... head grip
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Clary Mirolo .... seamstress
Franca Viganò .... assistant wardrobe
 
Editorial Department
Enrico Crescenzi .... assistant editor
Rita Triunveri .... assistant editor
 
Music Department
Luca di Silverio .... soundtrack album producer
Maurizio Guarini .... musician: keyboards
Natale Massara .... conductor
 
Transportation Department
Sandro Loreti .... transportation
 
Other crew
Lewis E. Ciannelli .... dialogue director (as Lewis Eduardo Ciannelli)
Massimo Esposti .... business manager
Maurizio Guarini .... synthesizer programmer
Maria Pia Mancini .... accountant
Alberto Paluzzi .... production assistant
Susanna Pellegrini .... script girl
 

Production CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
See more »
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
90 min | Germany:88 min (DVD edition) | France:100 min
Country:
Italy
Language:
Italian
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
France:-16 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R | West Germany:Not Rated | Portugal:M/16 | Hong Kong:III
Filming Locations:
Empire Studios, Rome, Lazio, ItalySee more »
Company:
DMV DistribuzioneSee more »

Did You Know?

Trivia:
DIRECTOR CAMEO: [Ruggero Deodato] Man at train station who hops on moped.See more »

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

   (Review this title)
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful.
Promising but also flawed thriller, 15 June 2003
Author: Bogey Man from Finland

Ruggero Deodato's Un Delitto poco comune aka Off Balance (1987) is an Italian thriller about a wealthy and happy pianist (Michael York) whose life turns upside down after the doctors find a very rare and lethal disease inside him. He starts to grow older very fast, having only few months to live or so and things turn even darker for him as someone starts to viciously murder those close to him. The plot follows police agent Donald Pleasance's attempts to find the killer before it's too late as well as the pianist's own efforts to return a some kind of balance to his life.

Film maker Ruggero Deodato has made one of the most challenging and important films of all time, Cannibal Holocaust (1979) which tells about rotten media violence and the animal species that consumes it. The film is notorious for its unspeakable acts of carnal violence but none of it is in vain or gratuitous which is way too much for some viewers to understand and admit as most of them can't face themselves on the screen. Deodato has also made pure exploitation trash like the 1980 La Casa sperduta nel parco aka The House at the Edge of the Park or Inferno in diretta aka Cut & Run (1985) both of which are mostly just extremely gratuitously violent but also have at least some thoughts and themes to make them more interesting than other nasty and gory Italian films of the period.

Off Balance is written by Gianfranco Clerici whose other credits include the mentioned masterpiece Cannibal Holocaust with Deodato as well as The House at the Edge of the Park but also Lucio Fulci's sadistic and misogynistic terror tale Lo Squartatore di New York aka The New York Ripper (1982) the last two of which are perfect opposites to the firstly mentioned and its subject matter. Off Balance is easily among their weakest works but, fortunately, has some brain too in addition to blood.

The film has a very promising beginning with the first murder scene taking place during the credits inter-cutting to calm scenes depicting the protagonist play piano in his concert. The film moves fastly from the beginning and the characters and their relations get introduced well too. But ultimately, after the first half or so the film loses its fire and becomes slower with plenty of talk and things that don't make too much sense, mostly involving the killer and his (absent) motives for his vicious acts. I can't name one single explanation for his acts and that is rather frustrating once one has realized that. The things that are discussed in the second part are also interesting and important but they are presented with too much contrast with the more lively first half.

The film's theme about aging and living one's life while it's offered and on hand is of course important and surprisingly well-concentrated on in the script and practically the whole last part is about this and not about the killings anymore. The film tries to make the audience understand how important it is not to let your life pass by without living it, as there may come times in the future that you start regretting it as life after all would have offered something interesting and worth living. It definitely doesn't say life or youth ends when your hair go off but it says that some things should be understood not by experience but for example by other people around us or art depicting these things.

The film works also as a pure giallo thriller as it has its moments of suspense and mystery and of course the graphic blood letting. There are few nasty murders in the film, both at the very beginning and they are definitely very "Italian like" with the huge amount of red color sprayed over the screen. The second one is very close to Dario Argento's style but serves not any other purpose than itself, unlike the great usage of similar effect in Argento's Tenebre (1982) for example. The effects are pretty good and the aging character becomes all the more tragic as we see the horrible face mutations of his in so little time. York does a believable role and never over-acts at all.

Off Balance is more promising and potential than some other films of the giallo/slasher genre and since it's Italian, it could've been so much more than it now is. Deodato and Clerici have once proved to be a very efficient couple but it seems they're ambitions are either not supported by the producers anymore or have just changed a little bit in themselves. 3/10

Was the above review useful to you?
See more (18 total) »

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Un delitto poco comune (1988)

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Horror section IMDb Italy section

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Edit page' button will take you through a step-by-step process.