The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) aka La Ragazza Che Sapeva Troppo aka The Evil Eye

4 / 5 Feb '10
Tagline: What Does It Want? What Will Satisfy Its Cravings?
Directed by: Mario Bava
Written by: Mario Bava, Enzio Corbucci
Actors include: John Saxon, Letícia Román, Valentina Cortese
Genre: Giallo, Thriller, Horror
Length: 86 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
So this is arguably the first giallo film, and although it's not my favorite it's still pretty darned amusing. It's actually Mario Bava's final black and white film which gives it a sort of class however I hate to say this but I'd rather it were in color. Thing is with gialli films there is often so much garish color and that is a huge tool in many of them. This doesn't rely on that obviously but it does have a good story, some interesting characters and plenty of little twists and even quite a sense of humor. When American girl Nora sees too much (go figure) she ends up being knocked out in near Trafalgar square. After she's taken to hospital she meets a charming Doctor Marcello (John Saxon who is so much younger here than I'm used to) who wants to help her. See the thing she saw was the latest victim of the Alphabet Murderer (killing by last name in order A, B and C are already dead) and she wants to try to solve the crime. Of course things get dangerous and there are surprises around every corner, but it's a pretty engaging little flick really. We do get the gloves, a giant set of stairs, various red herrings and well the stage is pretty well set for everything that followed (though I didn't spot a bottle of J&B...maybe I missed it?). Definitely one to watch though I hate to say I prefer the sleazier titles!

Availability:  On DVD

Shock Corridor (1963)

4 / 5 Mar '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Samuel Fuller
Written by: Samuel Fuller
Actors include: Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Length: 101 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Although this is rather campy and obviously inexpensively made it's still a really charismatic piece and the ideas within are rather shocking (for the time). Peter Breck plays Johnny Barrett, a journalist hell bent on getting the Pulitzer Prize by any means necessary. He devices a plan to have his showgirl singer girlfriend Cathy pretend to be his Sister who he's obsessed with in order to be committed to an insane asylum so he can try to solve a murder. Yeah it's that simple! As you can probably already guess things don't work out quite as planned but considering that the basics are obvious it's the little details that made it special. Johnny has to try to milk the information out of three different mental patients who witnessed a murder in order to solve the crime. The film manages to delve into racism, mental patient abuse and obsession. It's quite the picture that won't appeal to everyone, but it's pretty fascinating I thought.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD