Directed by: Leopoldo Savona
Stars: Stelio Candelli, Patrizia Viotti, Veronika Korosec
Language: Italian | Subtitles: English
Country: Italy
Also known as: La morte scende leggera
Description: A man finds his wife brutally murdered. He has no alibi so is instructed by his lawyer to go into hiding in an abandoned hotel. Strange occurrences start happening immediately.
From the same director and indeed the same year as the similarly hard to categorise, Byleth comes this strangely hypnotic blend of thriller cum ghost story cum giallo. I have seen this categorically denied as a giallo and yet I beg to differ. There are many a wide eyed moment, plenty of kills amid the sex and more than a hint that someone may be going mad.
In addition there is an absolutely wonderful nod to Bird With a Crystal Plumage, and this scene with the locked glass doors probably ranks as the film’s best. There is also, in this movie set within a hotel a scene most reminiscent of The Shining, though this might well have inspired the writer Stephen King, rather than Kubrick.
Well worth a watch…
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