The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971)

Although it has a generic story about people killing for money and letting their greed run wild, 'The Case of the Scorpion's Tail' is well staged and set out the plot pretty well. A rich man dies in a plane accident and his widower inherits a million dollars. Other people who feel entitled to getting some of the money or all of it start threatening her, but when the widower is murdered an insurance investigator starts to investigate the case. The Case of the Scorpion's Tail. The plot runs along smoothly and it keeps you interested with enough tense moments, plot points and murders. Speaking of murders, 1971 is the year Gialli movies started getting more bloodthirsty so expect to see some blood and gore. The murders are more grisly in comparison to 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage', there is also some nudity although it does not have much sexual undertones. But the seeming lack of sexual undertones does not make it less interesting, also in comparison to 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage' its atmosphere is more subtle in tone. But I must admit, 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage' made me feel paranoid, it had stronger tension and themes that are more thought provoking.But the cinematography is pretty good and the movie switches from scene to scene with no problem. Sergio Martino is certainly a good director and I have to watch more of his movies, so I can get more familiar with the Italian movies. Sergio Martino certainly knows what the Giallo is about, although I feel there are scenes that are taken directly from 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage'. The writers also came up with a plot that keeps the movie interesting and hard to predict, well it was certainly harder to predict who the murderer was in comparison to 'Black Belly of the Tarantula'. I was constantly guessing who the murderer might be. Although the story is simpler compared to other Gialli movies the plot is still convoluted. That is always a good thing with Gialli movies because that is what makes Gialli movies exciting and interesting. 'The Case of the Scorpion's Tail' is not among the best in its genre but it is one of the better copycats that is worth watching and maybe eventually worth adding to a collector's shelf. I will recommend it for viewing at least once for Giallo aficionados. It is worth spending some hours of your life.8/10

Step right up! Cut rate spaghetti splatter at wholesale prices! First rate? More like Z Grade. 9 out of 10? 10 out of 10?! When did we start assigning one point per plot hole on the grading scale? All you really get from this deservedly obscure little ditty is a clichéd plot, abysmal acting, tepid pacing, dreary atmospherics, poorly developed characters who do the most senseless and boneheaded things imaginable just so the movie can hop from one scene to the next, utterly contemptible dialogue, wondrous effects like a hilarious plastic model plane bursting into flames and scattered gory moments employing only the finest and brightest of "candy apple red" colored paint. So "Scorpion" is unfortunately rather pathetic and dull, just as the majority of giallos are pathetic and dull. Yet for some reason these things have a small but devoted cult following composed of people who think that if a movie was made in Italy in the 1970s that automatically makes it good. No doubt if this had been made in America or a number of other countries, these groupies would be slamming it like crazy for the very reasons I listed above. Oh well, as they often say, there's no accounting for taste.Handsome and "smooth" as George Hilton may be, he possesses the energy and animation of a tree stump. I've never understood why he was given so many leading roles, as he comes off as incredibly pompous and makes for a stiff, unsympathetic and uninteresting protagonist (or, a-hem, surprise antagonist). Anita Strindberg shows up about midway through to play another pointless non-role and unleash her early model breast implants during the more routine passages. The rest of the cast give forgettable performances in forgettable roles. In fact the whole movie is forgettable. The plot is a tired one and involves an insurance policy being the centerpiece for a series of murders. Nothing new or interesting happens in the entire film. Martino's "All the Colors of the Dark" and "Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key" are far superior to this bore-fest.

I'm really tempted to reward "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail" with a solid 10 out of 10 rating, but that would largely be because I think Italian horror cinema of the 1970's is SO much better than the cheesy crap I usually watch. But even without an extra point for nostalgia, this is STILL a genuine masterwork and earning a high rating for its excellently convoluted story, uncanny atmosphere, blood-soaked killing sequences and superb casting choices. In my humble opinion this is actually Sergio Martino's finest giallo, and that has got to mean something, as "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh", "All the Colors of the Dark", "Torso" and "Your Vice is a Locked Room and only I have the Key" are all top-notch genre achievements as well. But this film is just a tad bit superior with its ultra-compelling plot revolving on an insurance fraud gone madly out of control. Following her husband's peculiar death in a plane explosion (!), Lisa Baumer promptly becomes the suspicious owner of one million dollars and she's eager to leave the country as soon as possible. Due to the bizarre circumstances, the insurance company puts their best investigator Peter Lynch on the case and he follows her to Greece. There, Lisa becomes the target of many assaults and the case's mysteriousness increases when it turns out several people are hunting for the money. I'm always overly anxious when briefly summarizing gialli because I don't want to risk giving away essential plot elements. In "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail", the events take an abrupt and totally unexpected turn before the story is even halfway, and I certainly don't want to ruin this for you. Many red herrings follow after that, but Sergio Martino always succeeds to stay one step ahead of you and, even though not a 100% satisfying, the denouement is at least surprising. It's also a very stylish film, with imaginative camera-work and excellent music by Bruno Nicolai. Everyone' s favorite giallo muse Edwige Fenech oddly didn't make it to this cast (she stars in no less than 3 other supreme Martino gialli), but Anita Strindberg ("Lizard in a Woman's Skin", "Who Saw Her Die?") is a more than worthy replacement for her. The charismatic and hunky George Hilton is reliable as always in his role of insurance investigator and – duh – ladies' man deluxe. If you're a fan of giallo, don't wait as long as I did to WATCH THIS FILM!!!!

I'm American so when dealing with foreign films, I'm willing to accept it when not all of the pieces fall exactly into place (especially in light that some things can become lost in translation from the original script to the English dubbing and/or subtitles), but this film leaves so many loose ends behind that it's difficult not to be feel a bit cheated at the end. However, it does provide giallo fans with exactly what they want and expect to see, so it's not exactly a total washout, either. After an (obvious toy) airplane explosion kills her husband Kurt, London socialite Lisa Baumer ("Evelyn Stewart"/Ida Galli, who was used to much better effect in the underrated MURDER MANSION) is set to inherit one million dollars from an insurance policy. Not an ideal wife to begin with (she's in bed with one of her many lovers when she hears the "bad" news), we get the strong feeling that Lisa's days are seriously numbered and get an even stronger impression of this when an ex-lover who tries to blackmail her is knifed to death inside her apartment. Lisa flees to Athens, Greece to both escape the killer and cash in the policy but is trailed by several characters; including Interpol agent Stavros (Luigi Pistilli) and insurance investigator Peter Lynch (George Hilton), both of whom seem to think that Lisa was somehow involved with planting explosives on the airplane. While in Greece, Lisa also meets up with her hubby's obnoxious short-fused mistress Lara (Janine Reynaud), who demands half the money... or else. Lara sends her "lawyer" Sharif (Luis Barboo) after Lisa with a switchblade, but Peter shows up just in time to save. A bit flustered, Lisa goes ahead and cashes the policy in, books an evening flight out to Tokyo and decides to spend her few hours left in Greece all alone in her hotel room. Big mistake. Someone dressed in the standard mad killer outfit (black outfit, leather gloves and mask), sneaks in, slashes her throat, guts her and walks away with her bag of money.  A few more characters are introduced (including blonde Anita Strinberg as a journalist who hooks up with Peter), there are several more murders (including a memorable close-up eyeball gouging with a shard of glass) and the plot twists are laid on thick and heavy (handed). And, oh yeah... the scorpion of the title refers to a cuff-link left behind at the scene of an attack, which seems to have belonged to Lisa's (dead?) husband.In all honesty, I had a difficult time dealing with some of the plot holes and multiple loose ends in the story. Some of the twists (particularly the identity of the mystery killer) are in annoying defiance to what we've already seen and don't make much sense. But as expected, the murder scenes are directed, lit and photographed with some style. The occasional cool green and red lighting brightens things up considerably. There's also one scene that Argento lifted wholesale for SUSPIRIA, as the killer teasingly tries to open a lock from between a crack in the door with a knife blade. Gore-wise, it is barely sufficient if you don't mind bright red blood. The cast is decent, with Hilton and Strindberg very attractive leads, though there's far less nudity here than in similar movies, with only Anita providing some brief topless nudity. Good score by Bruno Nicolai. Overall it's about average from what I've seen in the genre.