An Exercise In Nonsense

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

After a gruesome murder, a police investigator looking into the incident finds a connection with the victim and an unresolved child abduction case in the past and races to solve the connection of the cases before more victims wind up dead by the killer.This here was quite the enjoyable giallo with a lot to like about it. A lot of this is due to the film's incredibly gripping central mystery at play here, which manages to come off incredibly well with the way this one makes for a wholly enjoyable storyline. What initially appears as a simple murder at first leads into a supposedly-unsolved abduction case from the past that creeps back into focus here that's quite logically worked into the main story and forces him to bring that one to light as well. That this here is a pretty entertaining and engrossing mystery comes off as a big plus for the film for it manages to make for a wholly more enjoyable time here with two such mysteries at first that need solving, and it's worked through in quite a logical manner with a nice assortment of clues that get worked over here as the scenes of him attempting to unravel everything with the help of the inspectors and later his girlfriend which enables him to find the last remaining piece in the puzzle needed. By the manner of which he manages to reason and uncover clues, he comes off as one of the more competent representatives of the law that one will find in the genre and proves to be a capable nemesis for the elusive which is fortunate since the bulk of the film is devoted to this investigation. Alongside this fun factor, there's plenty to like with the actual slashing and stalking that's put into play here, which has plenty to like about this one. The opening attack with the digger is a stand-out, the different stalking scenes against the two women early on are rather fun with the big scene involving the murder of the teacher in her house after a meeting with the killer and then uses a hand-held circular saw in a really messy sequence and the thrilling sequence at the old woman's house is a fine stalking scene as well, all giving this some rather enjoyable giallo sequences to match the investigations. There's a few minor flaws here, which starts with its peculiarly odd pacing. This one isn't as fast paced as many other films in this style, as instead of allowing for some pleasingly intricate mysteries to mature and unfold it's just a little too laid back for it's own good. There isn't enough dramatic contrast in the film for it to truly engage despite the solidly- laid-out mystery there's very small spurts of action to carry it along. The other small problem with the film is that it simply ends much too abruptly once the identity of the killer has been revealed, which seems to get announced just seconds before it ends rather than having a little more time to process everything that happens so quickly. Otherwise this one here manages to be one of the better second-tier efforts in the genre.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language, Nudity and a brief sex scene.

Insurance adjuster Paradisi is murdered when he fails to notice a very loud mechanical crane is being lowered close to his head. It decapitates him. The suspect in his murder is discovered shortly thereafter at an abandoned warehouse hanged in way to suggest suicide by the clumsy killer. Seemingly the entire cast is filled with creeps anyone of whom could be a homicidal maniac.Dapper police inspector Perretti (Hilton) investigates diving in head-first with his typical work ethic and sound deductive reasoning uncovering a complicated child abduction caper tied in with the murders. But his credibility begins to appear questionable as more corpses pile up and all he has for a lead is a child's book of drawings.Giallos were a genre shaped by the Hitchcockian tradition, and the Agatha Christie type whodunit but also the film noir genre. They co-opted aspects of each. In Giallos you quite frequently saw a convoluted criminal scheme plot point - a staple of film noir. The whodunit aspects seen here are readily apparent within the collection of stock characters. As for the Hitchcockian side you have the stark visual imagery, jarring plot-twists and deeply psychological motives of the characters.Another staple of these Giallo's was the subjective camera/point of view shot of the killer just before a grisly murder. Logic could get discarded in scenes like this and the one here offers us the interior of a victim's home where she just happens to have left power tools laying around. The bloody kill which leaves some particularly artistic blood spatters of course leaves no explanation how the power tool was still operational are its cord became out of reach of its outlet.

The British DVD edition of this one promises "giallo" fare of the most menacing, gory and misogynistic kind, but actually it is -- despite a pretty ridiculous decapitation and the infamous buzz saw scene which lasts about two and a half seconds -- a pretty meek affair, not even a "giallo", and far from depravity despite another infamous scene with a naked child girl -- well, you might have seen one before. "My Dear Killer" is alright in terms of characterization, especially in the scenes between Inspector Peretti (George Hilton) and his spouse (Marilu Tolo), competently directed, quite thrilling, but shares the problem of so many Italian movies of the same period: The script builds tension to the max, but can't deliver. Actually, it's nothing more than an Agatha Christie rip-off with some pseudo-gritty moments and a dull conclusion reminiscent of Hercule Poirot's most gammy moments. The biggest sleaze factor of the movie is Hilton's moustache: Those were the seventies.

From the opening strains of its eerie, baby-lullaby theme song to its haunting final shot of a child's drawing, "My Dear Killer" (1972) is a giallo pervaded with a sense of tragedy. A year before the action depicted in the film, a young child had been kidnapped from her wealthy parents' country villa and left to die, and now a wave of homicides, seemingly connected to this tragedy, opens the case anew. Giallo regular George Hilton plays Inspector Peretti here, a character who surely deserves a medal or promotion of some sort for getting to the bottom of this case; indeed, "My Dear Killer" is one of the most complicated gialli that I have ever seen. It is the type of film that you watch by the skin of your teeth, just barely comprehending the plot as things unspool; a repeat viewing--in my case, anyway--reveals that this seemingly unfathomable plot does make perfect sense. Anyway, Hilton (mustachioed here, for a change) is excellent, as usual, director Tonino Valerii keeps things nice and suspenseful, and the maestro, Ennio Morricone, provides a score that, if not his most memorable, is appropriately nerve jangling (and eerie, as I mentioned up top). While not a particularly violent giallo, a pair of set pieces should make this film of interest to all the gorehounds out there: one decapitation murder using an enormous dredging machine, and, most horribly, the death of a gorgeous schoolteacher with a circular power saw. (Don't all women have this tool lying around their apartment?) This latter scene, although not overly graphic, still proved kind of hard for me to watch. As far as the killer's identity is concerned, I suppose it IS possible to figure this one out, but my advice would be to just relax and enjoy the fun. The DVD that I just watched, by the way, from the fine folks at Shriek Show, looks just fine, but includes no subtitling option...not even with the interview extras, which are all in Italian! A pity...I would have enjoyed Hilton's comments on this very entertaining giallo, all these years later....