The Killer Must Kill Again (1975)
Giorgio Mainardi, a womanizer, plans to rid himself of his wealthy wife Norma. He happens to see a sinister figure disposing of a body and seizes the opportunity to make a deal in which the killer will murder Norma. The deed is done but a young couple, Luca and Laura, unwittingly steal the killer's car, complete with Norma's corpse in the boot. They head for the beach and break into an abandoned old house. The killer tracks them down and while Luca is out having sex with a blonde stranger, he terrorises and rapes Laura. When the young man and the blonde turn up for a threesome they are both quickly despatched. After a struggle, Laura manages to fatally wound her attacker. Back in the city, the police become increasingly suspicious of Giorgio Mainardi...
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A man named Giorgio sees a killer dispose of a corpse and pays the killer to kill his own wife. The killer does murder the wife then loses the body which he has stowed in the trunk of a car as two passing young people steal said car and drive off to the beach. The murderer follows. What begins promisingly develops into a tedious section with the young people finding an uninhabited house and finishes off by getting more implausible. The ending is supposed to be ironic but it doesn't make any sense as there is no reason why the Inspector of police should suspect Georgio at all. Not good plotting and Luigi Cozzi's direction is not thrilling or interesting.The actors are adequate. Antoine Saint-John as the killer looks menacing and is the best thing in it. The music score by Nando De Luca tries ludicrously hard but is quite ineffective. The house by the sea is picturesque though.
The Italian-produced crime thriller "The Killer Must Kill Again" is an interesting, off-beat twist on the giallo murder mystery, except we know the identity of the murderer from the outset. Indeed, "Contamination" helmer Luigi Cozzi planned it that way and even says so on the informative commentary track. Spaghetti western stalwart George Hilton stars as Giorgio Mainardi who survives off the wealth of his sexy babe wife and decides to kill her after she threatens to pull for money from his fingertips. One evening afterward Giorgio catches a cold-blooded killer dumping the body of a dead girl in the harbor in her VW Beetle. This is pretty eerie stuff. Giorgio confronts the killer and helps him light his cigarette with a zippo style lighter with the initials D and A on it. According to Cozzi, the D and the A stand for his mentor Dario Argento. Anyway, the killer (Antoine Saint-John of "Duck You Sucker") allows Giorgio to blackmail him into killing his wife. Giorgio tells his wife that an associate will visit her one evening while he is gone. Sounds suspicious? Of course, it is. The killer arrives and kills the wife and stuffs her corpse in the trunk of his car. However, while he is cleaning up some loose ends, a young couple show up and steal the killer's car because the keys are dangling in the ignition. Meanwhile, the police contact Giorgio and the police inspector (Eduardo Fajardo of "The Mercenary") gives him the third degree. Anyway, the young couple cruise off to the beach and wind up breaking in and spending time in a villa on the beach, until they discover to their chagrin that the place belongs to the killer. This splendidly lensed murder melodrama has an unforgettable ending.
Most giallos are scarlet whodunits's, but Luigi Cozzi reveals his killer (Antoine Saint-John) two minutes in and directs our attention to a business relationship struck between the killer and a sleazy ladies' man (George Hilton).Despite breaking a golden rule of the genre, "The Killer Must Kill Again" is a fresh, kinetic thriller with uneven performances (the women), terrific cinematography and striking set pieces.Antoine Saint-John is positively electric as the arrogant psychopath and rivets our attention to the screen. For a change, the storyline is relatively linear and free of the usual clutter. The violence is bloody and smoothly directed, and Cozzi demonstrates a real flair for atmosphere.Certainly not as operatic as an Argento or as sleazy as a Polselli, it is, nevertheless, compelling celluloid and a million miles away from inept Cozzi trash such as "Star Crash" and "Contamination".
Giorgio (George Hilton) has no clue what he's going to do with his bitchy nagging, yet wealthy wife. One night while on a pay phone in a remote section of town, he spies someone trying to dispose of a dead body, not believing his good luck he walks over to tell the murderer (Antoine Saint-John, still awhile away from his best role in Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond") to kill again, namely his wife Norma, or he'll go to the police with what he had just witnessed, throwing in 20 thousand dollars cash to sweeten the deal. The killer is able to hold his end off the bargain but then the car that the now deceased body is in is promptly stolen leading to a frantic chase between the killer and carjackers, while Giorgio deals with the police who think they're dealing with a kidnapping.This being a Luigi Cozzi directed film, I was sincerely surprised how competent and generally good it was. I mean sure, I enjoyed his later "Contamination", but that wasn't for the competence in that film, as their was none. This film, however, isn't just competent, it's actually a fairly solid cat and mouse chase story. And deserves too be more well known, hell I'd settle for known at all. If you can overlook a few plot holes, it's a solid effort.My Grade: B Eye Candy: Teresa Velázquezas Norma shows her right tit; Femi Benussi as a Dizzy Blone goes full frontal; and Cristina Galbó gets topless DVD Extras: Commentary with Director Luigi Cozzi and Author Pete Tombs; 3 Featurettes (Road to the Killer, Working with Argento, & the Giallo Genre); Original title sequence; Stills gallery; Theatrical Trailer; and a compilation trailer for other Mondo Macabro released films (featuring nudity)