(aka: WHO SAW HER DIE?)
Not as good as SHORT NIGHT OF GLASS DOLLS, the giallo film Aldo Lado did the year before, which I also happened to see the same time as this one.
I HATE the Morricone soundtrack. It's surprising to say that, but it's true. It's nothing more than an annoying children's choir that grates on one's nerves after awhile. Blah...I never knew a Morricone score could be this annoying.
Venice is rocked by the murder of children. The child murderess is always dressed in black with a big veil draped over her head. George Lazenby's daughter is found dead in one of Venice's canals and it is now up to him to find the killer. There's a convoluted sub-plot involving art dealers protecting someone, that's a real mess.
Then a woman Lazenby is supposed to meet in a theater is strangled by the killer and nobody else in the theater notices it until Lazenby sits down next to her. It's not even very dark in the theater so how come nobody noticed it? Sloppy and unbelievable.
Jeez, Argento did this kind of thing so much better while Lado makes it look a unconvincing cliché, here. In no way did I sense any tension or suspense with what looked like scenes of someone just going through the motions.
The kid getting murdered at the beginning looked fake, too. It obviously looked like a small mannequin with a red wig. Clumsy and sloppy, done on the cheap which the DVD makes even more apparent. Plus no motive is ever given as to why the killer only picks little red-haired girls to murder. The voices are also poorly dubbed with the children having adult voices, sounding like children. George Lazenby's daughter sounds older than he does as being one prime example. This is really bad, making the script sound even more amateurish than it should be.
And speaking of Lazenby, he looks like he lost a lot of weight here compared to his 007 days from a couple of years earlier. He looks like a long-haired junkie or someone ill with some kind of disease. Clearly not his usual, healthy-looking self.
The ending isn't surprising at all since it falls under the standard giallo cliché of copying Alfred Hitchcock from the 1960s. If you see enough of these films, you'll know what I'm talking about. I knew who the killer was a half an hour into the film, so you'll just have to see it for yourself.
The Anchor Bay DVD is up to their usual high standards with an 11 minute extra commentary by the director himself. A very pristine, wide-screen print is used. Plus we get to see beautiful Venice locations as part of the deal.
Get's a 3 out of 10 for boredom and annoyance
Not as good as SHORT NIGHT OF GLASS DOLLS, the giallo film Aldo Lado did the year before, which I also happened to see the same time as this one.
I HATE the Morricone soundtrack. It's surprising to say that, but it's true. It's nothing more than an annoying children's choir that grates on one's nerves after awhile. Blah...I never knew a Morricone score could be this annoying.
Venice is rocked by the murder of children. The child murderess is always dressed in black with a big veil draped over her head. George Lazenby's daughter is found dead in one of Venice's canals and it is now up to him to find the killer. There's a convoluted sub-plot involving art dealers protecting someone, that's a real mess.
Then a woman Lazenby is supposed to meet in a theater is strangled by the killer and nobody else in the theater notices it until Lazenby sits down next to her. It's not even very dark in the theater so how come nobody noticed it? Sloppy and unbelievable.
Jeez, Argento did this kind of thing so much better while Lado makes it look a unconvincing cliché, here. In no way did I sense any tension or suspense with what looked like scenes of someone just going through the motions.
The kid getting murdered at the beginning looked fake, too. It obviously looked like a small mannequin with a red wig. Clumsy and sloppy, done on the cheap which the DVD makes even more apparent. Plus no motive is ever given as to why the killer only picks little red-haired girls to murder. The voices are also poorly dubbed with the children having adult voices, sounding like children. George Lazenby's daughter sounds older than he does as being one prime example. This is really bad, making the script sound even more amateurish than it should be.
And speaking of Lazenby, he looks like he lost a lot of weight here compared to his 007 days from a couple of years earlier. He looks like a long-haired junkie or someone ill with some kind of disease. Clearly not his usual, healthy-looking self.
The ending isn't surprising at all since it falls under the standard giallo cliché of copying Alfred Hitchcock from the 1960s. If you see enough of these films, you'll know what I'm talking about. I knew who the killer was a half an hour into the film, so you'll just have to see it for yourself.
The Anchor Bay DVD is up to their usual high standards with an 11 minute extra commentary by the director himself. A very pristine, wide-screen print is used. Plus we get to see beautiful Venice locations as part of the deal.
Get's a 3 out of 10 for boredom and annoyance