6/10
Passable Spanish/Italian Giallo with suspense , twists , turns and completely shot in Madrid
8 December 2021
This rarely watched Giallo turns out to be an acceptable thriller in which occurs a mysterious death at an attraction park , resulting in unpredictable consequences with thrilling events , deliciously twisted happenings and brief touches of erotism . Mystery/thriller with baroque giallo overtones and surprising intrigue, being well proceeded here and there , along with an unbearably tension in charge of the adequate protagonists . Insurance company sends its top man, an insurance investigator named Chris Buyer (Robert Hoffman) , he's assigned by the chiefs (Tomas Blanco, Philippe Leroy) of his company to investigate the death a wealthy industrialist named Johann Wallenberger who was found dead only hours after taking out a million dollar insurance policy . He decides to go undercover by dating the dead man's daughter , Catherine (Pilar Velazquez), who suffers astonishing nightmares and is taunted by menacing phone calls leaving her on edge of sanity , but before long , he's in her family home , in Madrid outskirts , there he meets her mother Magda (Irina Demick) who goes crazy and her sister Barbara Wallenberger (Patrizia Adiutori) who starts seducing him . Along the way , a stubborn commissioner called Huber (Adolfo Celi) begins investigating the grisly killings that are happening around the peculiar family .

A decent mystery/thriller with a lot of mysterious murders and combining the elements of intrigue with drama and plot twists . This is pretty entertaining stuff about a wealthy financier who has showed up dead outside a haunted house ride, while a young playboy investigator seeks answers from a luxurious countryside house . Suspenseful and interesting screenplay by expert Antonio Fos , Lorenzo Gicca Palli and Al Bradley himself , though quite tiring at times. There is a surprising murder in a House of Horrors of Madrid amusement park where was also filmed : ¨Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City¨ (1980) and there is plenty of nakedness and even adding Nazi war criminals . This intriguing/chilling Italian/Spanish exploitation displays colorful images , disturbing frames , eerie scenes , nudism , mysterious events and a pretty unexpected, unpredictable conclusion . Atmospheric and oddball Giallo with chilling frames , a lot of naked people , twisted scenes , taking place cruel killings , and confusion around Wallemberg family . Some illogical parts in the story are more than compensated for the excitement provided by some bizarre images , though are sometimes poorly shot and tedious at times . The movie is running out of ideas a lot ; however , being still good enough to be fun . Stars the handsome Robert Hossein as an investigator from insurance company , Pilar Velazquez as the beautiful young who's stalked by a stranger , Irina Demick as the often drinking mother usually losing her mind and Patrizia Adiutori as her sexually active elder sister Barbara . Being a Spain/Italy co-production here shows up a number of familiar faces as Spanish actors , such as : Tomás Blanco , Lorenzo Robledo , Teresa Gimpera , Maria Vico and Italians as Philippe Leroy , Adolfo Celi , Franco Ressel , Howard Ross .

It displays an adequate and atmospheric cinematography by Alfonso Nieva , utterly filmed in Madrid , though interiors shot in Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy . Likewise , it contains a mysterious and evocative musical score by Carlo Savina , a Morricone's disciple. This average giallo was regularly directed by really prolific Italian director Alfonso Brescia with flaws , gaps , shortcomings and a little bit cheesy . Alfonso Brescia often nicknamed Al Bradley was a below average director who in the 60s , 70s , and 80s made a lot of films . Bradley was a craftsman who directed all kind of genres . Alfonso Brescia or Al Bradley was born in Rome , 1930, and died in 2001 . He was a director and writer , known for directing Spaghetti Westerns : Days of Violence ,Killer Caliber and The Colt Is My Law . Alfonso began directing muscle-men epics as The Conqueror of Atlantis , The magnificent gladiator , La Rivolta dei Pretoriani . He also directed Sci-Fi and Sword and witchery genre as Iron Warrior , Sette Uomini D'Oro Nello Spazio , The war of the robots . Adventures : Zanna Bianca Il Cacciatore Solitario, White Fang and the Hunter , Amazons against Supermen , Adventures of Don Juan . And Wartime films such as Objetivo Rommel , Misiones Ardientes and Hell in Normandy . Rating 5.5 out of 10.
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