DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT

Luciano Ercoli's twin gialli, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT and DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, are two of the best examples of the giallo film as mainstream product. Neither one contains very much in the way of violence - his earlier giallo, FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION, contains even less - and the narratives barely reach the level of sadism found in even the earliest gialli. But they are extremely entertaining, often downright hilarious and suspenseful in that old Hitchcock way. They are matinee films, not out to offend or push the boundaries of acceptability. They are designed to be, for the lack of a better word, fun. DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT is my preferred film of the two. It's more visually interesting, a lot less middling and much more effective.


Death Walks At Midnight

DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT follows Valentina, a fashion model talked into taking a psychedelic drug by her friend Gio, a smooth-talking reporter for a tabloid newspaper. As Valentina trips out - and Gio snaps photos - Valentina witnesses a young woman having her face smashed in by a man wearing a spiked glove in a building across from her apartment. The newspaper article is a smash - much to Valentina's dismay; she never wanted her picture taken in the first place - and only serves to undermine Valentina's attempts to convince the police that she really did witness a murder that night. They dismiss it all away saying that she did not witness anything. She is simply remembering a murder that occurred there a long time ago in the same fashion. She must have seen it being committed and was so traumatized that she buried the memory. The effects of the drug must have caused that subconscious wall to come tumbling down and bring that memory back to mind. Valentina not so respectfully disagrees and it isn't long before the man with the spiked glove is following her everywhere she goes.


Luciano Ercoli's Death Walks At Midnight

The screenplay, written by Ernesto Gastaldi and May Velasco - the former one of the premiere giallo screenwriters and the latter an assistant director on quite an impressive list of genre goodies - from a story by none other than Sergio Corbucci, is far less complicated than their screenplay for DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS but is more lively and entertaining. Things moves along at a brisk pace with very little narrative dead space. The suspense sequences consist of little more than chase scenes but are genuinely thrilling and much more entertaining then yet another stalk and slash set piece. This was before the giallo devolved into little more than hip, flashy slasher films and DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT shows a great deal of restraint when it comes to violence. Apart from the iconic face smashing - complete with flying chunks of meat and geysers of blood that shoot straight into the camera - it's practically anemic, something that will spell the kiss of death for giallo fans that demand Argento-level displays of carnage. Hopefully, the lack of grue won't have people reaching for their remotes. The last ten minutes are among the most satisfying you will find in the genre and are well worth the time investment.


Luciano Rossi in Death Walks At Midnight

Ercoli - who worked as everything from a production assistant and editor before finally settling in as a producer, then later, a director - obviously understands the importance of casting. Both DEATH films feature Susan Scott - Ercoli's wife, real name Nieves Navarrao - and Simon Andreu in the lead roles. Scott has the good looks of a soap opera star and the spunky attitude of a diva, a perfect giallo lead whose marginal acting talents flourished under her husband's direction - anyone who has seen Scott's performances in Maurizio Pradeaux's DEATH CARRIES A CANE, Sergio Martino's ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK or Roberto Montero's SO SWEET, SO DEAD can attest to the fact that she was never as good as when she was performing in her husband's films. Andreu has that sleazy Italian mack daddy vibe to him, a "take no shit" demeanor and a definite aura of rico suave - even if he makes Jean-Paul Belmondo look like a glamour model. The two of them are simply fantastic together. Toss in solid supporting work from Carlo Gentili, Claudie Lange and the immortal Luciano Rossi and you have a giallo built to entertain. And entertain it does.


Highly recommended.