review

THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES
Carroll Baker

At first glance it would appear that THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES was made a lot earlier in the giallo cycle than it actually was. It has the feel of a late 1960s giallo - back when the giallo was, more or less, definable as a "crime thriller" instead of a "stalk and slash thriller" - with the look of one to boot. It's curiously tame and almost bloodless. It's also missing the kind of suspense that marked even the earliest gialli. But, surprisingly, this was made in 1971, the same year as giallo favorites MY DEAR KILLER, BAY OF BLOOD, BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA, and A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN. In every way, THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES feels more like a remote ancestor to those films instead of a contemporary.


George Hilton The Devil Has 7 Faces

Julie Harrison has a couple of problems. The most pressing is her sudden involvement in a jewel heist that her identical twin sister, Mary, has pulled off. She's being terrorized by a group of thieves who desperately want the one million dollar diamond that Mary is in possession of. Poor Julie has no idea what they want or why they're repeatedly harassing her. She seeks the help of Dave Barton, a lawyer, and his ex-con/ex-detective friend, Tony. Tony takes a liking to Julie - as does Dave - and tries his best to keep her safe. Meanwhile, Dave does some digging and turns up evidence that Tony, Julie and the jewel thieves all have more in common than any of them have been letting on.


Osvaldo Civirani's The Devil Has 7 Faces

The real problem with THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES - besides it groan-inducing title, that is - is the utter lack of tension throughout the film. For the most part, every character is nonchalant about the goings-on. A near rape and knifing, various fist-fights and shoot-outs are all glossed over rather quickly. The film feels like it's lacking clear momentum. It might not be boring, per se. Simply lifeless. The typical giallo film simply paints over their narrative dead spots with heaping piles of depravity and sexuality but THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES doesn't use either to any real effect. No one gets naked - a good thing, as Carroll Baker was well past her BABY DOLL prime - and the violence is limited to a few squib hits and poorly choreographed fights. Nothing spectacular here.


The Devil Has 7 Faces Giallo

It's even lacking the usual serving of high melodrama. The love triangle of Julie, Dave, and Tony is largely ignored and Baker's performance of Julie is so constrained that the viewer will have little sympathy for her when she gets a little knocked around. With the memories of films like FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION, THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL and STORY OF A CRIME still lingering in the audience's minds at the time - they were all released a year earlier - THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES must have felt even more lifeless than it does now. It lacks the skill and intensity of any of those films. As it stands, THE DEVIL HAS 7 FACES will interest giallo enthusiasts more than a standard issue genre fan.


Dull.


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