Cold Eyes of Fear (1971)

As far as I know this is Enzo Castellari's only venture into the giallo genre, and I'd also heard it wasn't that good. That's not true, and it's barely even a giallo, so maybe I should check my sources or just watch the film. Chocks away!Sporting incredible sideburns, Gianni Garko is a posh solicitor who quite wisely spends his free time with strippers and hookers who on this occasion takes home an Italian lady. When I say home, I mean his rich uncle's home in a rich part of London. You know, the kind that has a butler in it and a driveway. The Italian lady is playing hard to get even though she's a hooker, and the discovery of the dead butler is a bad enough dampner on the proceedings, so sex totally goes out the window when a gun-toting cockney emerges from the gloom. He's a kind of 'Alright Guvnor, knees ap Maaver Bhraaan' cockney type but his motivations are not quite clear. Adding to Gianni's woes is his uncle (Fernando Rey), who is a judge and keeps calling to harass him about case files. Fernando sends a policeman over to the house with some files, and while he's trying to whisper that he's being held hostage, the policeman punches him square in the face. Uh-oh! Looks like there's a doings-a-transpiring!Turns out the copper is the head bad guy which isn't much of a surprise seeing as he's played by Frank Wolff. Frank's motivations aren't quite clear but he does mention quite early on that he's wired Fernando Rey's office to blow up the moment he opens his door, so now the game is on for Gianni to free himself and the hooker, get rid of Frank and his partner, and save Fernando in the nick of time. Either that or he can just have a lot of punch ups while the hooker plays mind games with the two of them. As this is one of those films that could almost be a stage play in terms of limited set and characters, Enzo's usual hyperactivity makes sure that things don't get boring, so he throws in loads of jarring editing techniques, unusual camera angles (like filming Gianni through the bottom of a jug of icy water he's having his head forced into, or through those finger holes you used to get on telephones), loads of twists (even the cockney becomes unsure of Frank's motives), and an overly violent ending just to cap things off. Although Fernando Rey shouts down the phone a lot and doesn't do much else, Frank and Gianni do well in their roles, with Frank constantly mocking Gianni's Eton and 'playing rugger', with Gianni alternating between snivelling wimp and stiff upper lip radge mentalness.I've never seen an Enzo film I didn't like, so you might want to knock the praise in this review down a bit. Ennio Morricone's freeform jazz soundtrack is a winner too.

Maybe more of a crime thriller than true Giallo. I am really not sure how this got into my queue unless I was looking for Ennio Morricone's music. At least it had a flashy intro that puts Elvira to shame.If nothing else, the movie starts with a great nightclub show featuring Karin Schubert. Almost worth the price of admission itself.After the show, Peter (Gianni Garko) snatches Anna (Giovanna Ralli) from her date and takes her home where an intruder (Julián Mateos) is determined to spoil his evening.It's all about Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff) and his search for evidence that will exonerate him. There is little action and a whole lot of talking.

'Cold Eyes Of Fear' starts off well enough. Against a backdrop of Swingin' 60s London a young playboy type "steals" a beautiful Italian girl from her elderly date and suggests she comes back to his place for some good times. "His place" being owned by his father, a rich and respected solicitor. Unfortunately a couple of criminals have plans of their own, one for money, the other for revenge, and the lovers end up prisoners in a tense siege situation. So far so good. The problem is that you keep waiting for the movie to jump up a notch and it never does. Most giallo I have watched either feature some tasty violence or sex, have some amazing plot twists, or something else really spectacular about them, but 'Cold Eyes Of Fear' just ambles along, and stays on course as a reasonably entertaining thriller, no more, no less. The cast are all okay, the girl (Karin Schubert) is beautiful, and the solicitor is played by the legendary Fernando Rey, best known for his work with Bunuel. The best thing by far about the movie is Morricone's outstanding jazz rock score. If you don't expect much this is pretty good entertainment, but if you want to see some amazing examples of this genre try 'Tenebre' (Argento), 'Don't Torture A Duckling' (Fulci) or 'Autopsy'.

By no means the best giallo I've seen, this Enzo Castellari tale of ___ drags horribly and maintains little suspense. Set in Swinging London (but filmed primarily in Rome), the movie finds young lawyer Gianni Garko about to seduce prostitute Giovanna Ralli at his swank house. They stumble upon the butler's dead body, undoubtedly a victim of temperate ruffian Julián Mateos, who then terrorizes the couple with his gun and leather suit. Judge Fernando Rey, who keep a cat on his desk, calls nephew Garko to ask for legal assistance and sends constable Frank Wolff over with a missive. The sleazy couple assumes the cop to be a deus ex machine, but he proves to be in on the racket. After sending Rey a secret plea for help (in Latin no less), our hopeful gets haughty and gives the sneering tough guy a good pounding. While Ralli fails to seduce Mateos with a shower, Rey puzzles out the message and sends some genuine although ineffectual police. Some may wonder what will happen to the unlovable couple besieged by this complicated plot; others may not. Castellari fills Cold Eyes with similarly absurd post-nouvelle vague editing, and I suspect this was a strictly commissioned affair for the veteran writer, producer and actor who can claim over 40 films to his credit. His failure as director really displays itself in the overdone, montage-heavy finale. Despite its lack of flesh and gore, Cold Eyes is shockingly exploitative. Wolff murders a policeman in flashback during a gratuitously cruel story diversion, only to illustrate his already obviously violent side. The violence throughout comes off as unnecessarily brutal, as well as distinctly European in flavor. None of the male characters treat the unimpressive prostitute much like a human, her unsurprised response perhaps suggesting they're correct to do so. Easily the best part of the movie is Ennio Morricone's amazing score, would fit better in a well-paced environment. If you want to see a decent film with Rey, who doesn't actually appear in shot with any of the main cast and probably only showed up for a day's worth of filming, check out the same year's French Connection.