The Man with Icy Eyes (1971)

A state senator is murdered outside his home, and the police arrest a strange man described as having "icy eyes" for the crime. An Italian reporter finds a stripper who claims to have been ... See full summary »

Director:

Alberto De Martino

Writers:

Adriano Bolzoni, Massimo De Rita

Stars:

Antonio Sabato, Barbara Bouchet, Faith Domergue

Cast

Credited cast:
Antonio Sabato	...	Eddie Mills
Barbara Bouchet	...	Anne Saxe
Faith Domergue	...	Mrs. Valdes
Corrado Gaipa	...	Isaac Thetman
Giovanni Petrucci
Joe Pollini
Bill Stevens
James Smith
Phil Mead
Kurt Diamond
Victor Buono	...	John Hammond
Keenan Wynn	...	Harry Davis
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nello Pazzafini	...	Man in Elevator
Michael Santiago	...	Hoodlum

Storyline

A state senator is murdered outside his home, and the police arrest a strange man described as having "icy eyes" for the crime. An Italian reporter finds a stripper who claims to have been an eyewitness to the assassination and saw the man with the icy eyes commit it. At his trial she testifies against him, and he's sentenced to death. However, the reporter soon begins to find holes in the stripper's story, and other circumstances arise which makes him believe that the wrong man may have been convicted.

---

Plot Keywords:

female nudity | poliziottesco | giallo | murder | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 1971 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Man with Icy Eyes

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinegai S.p.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Victor Buono's voice was dubbed by another actor.

User Reviews

Not particularly exciting Giallo

The Man With Icy Eyes is one of the rarest Giallo's out there, and to be honest I'm not really surprised that it hasn't cemented itself a more profound place in Giallo history. The film is undoubtedly very well made and features a strong plot; but unfortunately Alberto De Martino's film is not particularly exciting at any point and the lack of gory murders that made other genre films such highlights makes the film's chances of becoming a genre favourite slimmer still. I would say that the film is something of a cross-over between the Giallo and Polizi genres, with a lot of the focus being on an investigation carried out by the lead character. The film begins with the assassination of an Arizona state senator. Ambitious journalist Eddie Mills (an Italian immigrant) is assigned to report on the case and he promptly begins investigating the crime. His investigation leads him to a stripper who seems to know more than she is letting on. The police later arrest a man they describe as having 'icy eyes', but Eddie believes he may not be the real killer.

The film is fairly well placed; although it does have a tendency to get confusing, and this is at least partly caused by the lack of excitement which can make concentrating on the film difficult. The mystery itself is not particularly interesting either, and I found myself not particularly caring who the murderer is on more than one occasion. I have to admit that the copy I saw was not of the best quality, so I couldn't fully appreciate the director's capturing of the locations; but most of it looked pretty desolate and the film doesn't feature the captivating colour scheme shown in many of the best Giallo's. Antonio Sabato takes the lead role and it decent in it, and he gets good support from the sexy Barbara Bouchet; whose role was too small for my liking. There's not a great deal of distraction from the central plot; only a 'supernatural' side plot that doesn't go anywhere. Overall, I have to admit that I found this film to be rather dull. There's nothing outstanding about it, and I'd only recommend it to real hardcore collectors.