Young people are often portrayed so gleefully negatively in horror films, it is always a relief to find appealing 'teen leads'. As unlikely as it sounds, the two exploitative hippies featured here, Ingrid and Dick (Ornella Muti and Ray Lovelock) are a truly cute couple. Selling softcore pictures of Ingrid, the two gad about Italy spending their money on brief periods of excessive living before they are eventually asked to move on by the law.
They become even more endearing when, now on the run, they accept an offer from the mysterious Barbara Slesar (Irene Papas) to stay the night at her opulent home – naively unsuspicious that anything could be amiss. It soon becomes apparent that the nervous, vulnerable Mrs Slesar could teach the young tearaways a thing or two about subterfuge.
This is a giallo that stretches the rules. There's no black-clad killer, no huge revelation or great unmasking at the end, but it works very well and the finale packs a punch even though it isn't entirely unexpected. It seems things could either have gone one way or the other. They go the other! Ornella Muti is new to me, but has had (and continues to have) a prolific career. Precocious and wilful, it is Ingrid's credulousness (entirely in keeping with her free-living, unconstrained character) that lands herself and Dick in the climactic situation they find themselves in, but because she is so child-like and appealing, she never loses our goodwill.
Variations of the very catchy theme music 'How Can You Live Your Life', sung by Lovelock, are threaded throughout - it should have been released commercially.
'An Ideal Place to Kill' is also sometimes known as 'Oasis of Fear', 'Dirty Pictures' and 'Deadly Trap'.
They become even more endearing when, now on the run, they accept an offer from the mysterious Barbara Slesar (Irene Papas) to stay the night at her opulent home – naively unsuspicious that anything could be amiss. It soon becomes apparent that the nervous, vulnerable Mrs Slesar could teach the young tearaways a thing or two about subterfuge.
This is a giallo that stretches the rules. There's no black-clad killer, no huge revelation or great unmasking at the end, but it works very well and the finale packs a punch even though it isn't entirely unexpected. It seems things could either have gone one way or the other. They go the other! Ornella Muti is new to me, but has had (and continues to have) a prolific career. Precocious and wilful, it is Ingrid's credulousness (entirely in keeping with her free-living, unconstrained character) that lands herself and Dick in the climactic situation they find themselves in, but because she is so child-like and appealing, she never loses our goodwill.
Variations of the very catchy theme music 'How Can You Live Your Life', sung by Lovelock, are threaded throughout - it should have been released commercially.
'An Ideal Place to Kill' is also sometimes known as 'Oasis of Fear', 'Dirty Pictures' and 'Deadly Trap'.