Death Carries a Cane (1973)

Photographer Kitty (a solid and appealing performance by comely redhead Nieves Navarro) witnesses a vicious murder in a window through a tourist telescope. After two fellow witnesses meet similarly gruesome and untimely ends, Kitty fears that she's going to be the killer's next victim.Although director/co-writer Maurizio Pradeaux fails to generate much in the way of suspense or creepy atmosphere, he nonetheless still compensates for this glaring deficiency by keeping the engrossing story moving along at a steady pace, pulling out the savage stops for several brutal murder set pieces, and delivering a satisfying smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity. Moreover, the sound acting by the capable cast helps a whole lot, with especially praiseworthy work by Robert Hoffman as Kitty's helpful boyfriend Alberto Morosini, George Martin as the inept Inspector Merughi, Anuska Borova as pesky reporter Lidia, and Simon Andreu as the impotent Marco. Roberto Pregadio's elegant score and Jaime Deu Casas's competent cinematography are both up to par. Worth a watch for fans of the genre.

I have to admit that Italian films never cease to surprise me almost every time. I didn't expect much of this movie and i wasn't disappointed at all. It's just a crazy Italian movie with a few intense scenes that'd work even today.Argento influence is certainly there and this isn't far from being a cult classic. Its plot just isn't solid enough and there are just too many scenes that make no sense at all. Even with all the flaws this movie is still fun to watch.I had no idea who the bad guy was before the finale because everyone seemed to have a cane at some occasion throughout the film.

Released during the height of Giallo's popularity, Death Carries a Cane is a sadly lackadaisical film. It seems as though everyone involved couldn't really be bothered, with the sole intention of creating another popular film on the mind of the director and scriptwriters. The acting is mundane, the plot is highly derivative, the scene settings are very bare and the character's motivations range from unlikely to completely ridiculous, and more often than not are an obvious attempt at furthering the plot. The film seems to be taking Dario Argento's masterpiece 'The Bird With the Crystal Plumage' as its main inspiration, as the plot centres on someone who witnesses part of a murder and endeavours to solve the case. The plot follows Kitty; a young woman that, while looking through an observation point, spies a murder happening in a house across the street. After doubting her story, the police do nothing; but then the murders continue, and Kitty's boyfriend ends up noticing that all of the murder victims were a part of a ballet group.Stylish murders are an important part of the Giallo, so it's lucky that director Maurizio Pradeaux decided to do a good job with this area of the film. The murders are rather tame compared to other genre films, but the director makes them stylish, and shots of things such as the killer hiding under a bed or on the backseat of a car are good, and the cane/razor blade murder weapon combo features well. The film benefits from a strong Giallo cast, including most notably; Luciano Ercoli's spouse, Susan Scott. Scott is largely wasted, however, as her role doesn't allow her strong screen-presence to shine through and she left only with the task of providing some nice nude shots. She is joined by her Ercoli Giallo co-star Simón Andreu as well as prolific Italian horror star, Robert Hoffman. The plot doesn't flow too well, as the murders are the only standout parts of the film, and much of the build up/aftermath to them isn't interesting, especially as the police investigation is mostly lacklustre and redundant. Overall, Death Carries a Cane isn't a particularly bad Giallo; but it's not a very good one either, and Giallo fans can feel free to skip it.

One of the better Italian slasher flicks of it's time.Interesting use of color and editing. The story is rather typical but it moves about quickly enough. If you enjoy the earlier Argento flicks, Bava or even Fulci's "Don't torture a ducking" you should enjoy this.