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Milk Tray Guy
70s Man of Action
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2017
- Messages
- 19,275
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Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972)
Standard 'mysterious killer bumps-off assorted Eurobabes' giallo, directed by Umberto Lenzi, and starring Antonio Sabato Snr, Uschi Glas, and Pier Paolo Capponi. A prostitute is picked-up by a client, driven to some waste ground and beaten to death. A party girl returns home from a night out and is strangled to death with her telephone cord. A newlywed woman is attacked and stabbed in a railway carriage; however, this attack is interrupted and the woman - Giulia - survives. Police know the first two murders are connected, as a half-moon pendant was left at each crime scene. But with no pendant at the scene of Giulia's attack they discount any connection there. The following morning, however, a half-moon pendant arrives anonymously at Giulia's home. The police, now satisfied the same person was responsible, tell the press the killer was successful and that Giulia was killed. They hold a fake funeral, hoping the killer will attend; but when they show photographs of the attendees to Giulia and Giulia's new husband - Mario - all the faces are accounted for. Giulia realises the pendants are similar to one owned by an American male visitor to a hotel she ran a few years ago. She and Mario visit the current owner and examine the hotel register for the weekend she is sure he stayed. One page for that weekend is missing - the one day that he visited - but the pages for the two days either side show that both the prostitute and the party girl were there that whole weekend. When a third woman is killed and a half-moon pendant left at the scene, her name is also found on the register for the whole weekend. Giulia and Mario tell the police what they've found. The race is then on to track down the remaining women on the register before they're also killed.
The story (co-written by Lenzi) is interesting, although some of the so called 'reasoning' from the husband-and-wife team is ridiculous. And once again Lenzi creates a complex red herring smokescreen; but the actual truth is pretty straight-forward. Antonio Sabato is about as interesting as a block of wood as 'Mario', but Uschi Glas (a big name in Germany at the time - featured because the movie was an Italian/West German co-production) is fine as 'Giulia', Pier Paolo Capponi is convincing as the lead detective, and the set-piece killings - including one by power-drill - are entertaining. It's a shame the climax is as cheesy and overdone as it is. It's not great, but it ticks most of the boxes. Fair amount of blood/gore and nudity. 7/10
Standard 'mysterious killer bumps-off assorted Eurobabes' giallo, directed by Umberto Lenzi, and starring Antonio Sabato Snr, Uschi Glas, and Pier Paolo Capponi. A prostitute is picked-up by a client, driven to some waste ground and beaten to death. A party girl returns home from a night out and is strangled to death with her telephone cord. A newlywed woman is attacked and stabbed in a railway carriage; however, this attack is interrupted and the woman - Giulia - survives. Police know the first two murders are connected, as a half-moon pendant was left at each crime scene. But with no pendant at the scene of Giulia's attack they discount any connection there. The following morning, however, a half-moon pendant arrives anonymously at Giulia's home. The police, now satisfied the same person was responsible, tell the press the killer was successful and that Giulia was killed. They hold a fake funeral, hoping the killer will attend; but when they show photographs of the attendees to Giulia and Giulia's new husband - Mario - all the faces are accounted for. Giulia realises the pendants are similar to one owned by an American male visitor to a hotel she ran a few years ago. She and Mario visit the current owner and examine the hotel register for the weekend she is sure he stayed. One page for that weekend is missing - the one day that he visited - but the pages for the two days either side show that both the prostitute and the party girl were there that whole weekend. When a third woman is killed and a half-moon pendant left at the scene, her name is also found on the register for the whole weekend. Giulia and Mario tell the police what they've found. The race is then on to track down the remaining women on the register before they're also killed.
The story (co-written by Lenzi) is interesting, although some of the so called 'reasoning' from the husband-and-wife team is ridiculous. And once again Lenzi creates a complex red herring smokescreen; but the actual truth is pretty straight-forward. Antonio Sabato is about as interesting as a block of wood as 'Mario', but Uschi Glas (a big name in Germany at the time - featured because the movie was an Italian/West German co-production) is fine as 'Giulia', Pier Paolo Capponi is convincing as the lead detective, and the set-piece killings - including one by power-drill - are entertaining. It's a shame the climax is as cheesy and overdone as it is. It's not great, but it ticks most of the boxes. Fair amount of blood/gore and nudity. 7/10
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