The Murder Secret is a crazy giallo/slasher which, although directed by Mario Bianchi, was 'supervised' by Lucio Fulci. This inevitably means that the final product bears more than a passing resemblance to a Fulci flick, ie., it has a decent smattering of cheesy gore and a story that lacks any logic or cohesion. However, even with its flaws, The Murder Secret is still an entertaining film with enough good bits for it to be worth a watch.
A family travel to a remote country house where they hope to meet Martha, the aunt of the father, whom he hasn't seen for 30 years. When they arrive, they are met by the caretaker who informs them that Martha has been delayed and that she will arrive the next day.
But Martha never shows up, and one by one the members of the family are butchered by an unseen assailant.
The movie begins fairly sedatelyBianchi allows 45 minutes or so to introduce characters and build the storybut once it hits its stride, The Murder Secret doesn't let up, delivering plenty of welcome gratuitous nudity and some rather outrageous death scenes.
It is the mother who first reveals her charms during a brief 'sex' scene, but it is the cute (and busty) daughter who should be applauded for stripping off, not once but twice. It is immediately after her second strip that the violence really kicks in, with her bloody stabbing-in-the-shower scene. After that we get two great be-headings, one using a wooden chest(!), and another in which the young son gets decapitated by a chainsaw. This film certainly has balls, even dishing out the pain to the children!!
Unfortunately, after these juicy murders, the film rapidly goes off the rails, and the story becomes a jumbled (but still quite engaging) mess. It finishes with a surprise 'twist' ending which is a complete disappointment, making no sense whatsoever and completely lacking in originality.
But with its cheesy dialogue, no-holds barred killings, mad-as-a-bag-of-badgers killer, and OTT splatter, Bianchi's film is still a fairly fun way to pass the time.
A family travel to a remote country house where they hope to meet Martha, the aunt of the father, whom he hasn't seen for 30 years. When they arrive, they are met by the caretaker who informs them that Martha has been delayed and that she will arrive the next day.
But Martha never shows up, and one by one the members of the family are butchered by an unseen assailant.
The movie begins fairly sedatelyBianchi allows 45 minutes or so to introduce characters and build the storybut once it hits its stride, The Murder Secret doesn't let up, delivering plenty of welcome gratuitous nudity and some rather outrageous death scenes.
It is the mother who first reveals her charms during a brief 'sex' scene, but it is the cute (and busty) daughter who should be applauded for stripping off, not once but twice. It is immediately after her second strip that the violence really kicks in, with her bloody stabbing-in-the-shower scene. After that we get two great be-headings, one using a wooden chest(!), and another in which the young son gets decapitated by a chainsaw. This film certainly has balls, even dishing out the pain to the children!!
Unfortunately, after these juicy murders, the film rapidly goes off the rails, and the story becomes a jumbled (but still quite engaging) mess. It finishes with a surprise 'twist' ending which is a complete disappointment, making no sense whatsoever and completely lacking in originality.
But with its cheesy dialogue, no-holds barred killings, mad-as-a-bag-of-badgers killer, and OTT splatter, Bianchi's film is still a fairly fun way to pass the time.