Death Walks on High Heels (1971)

Another gorgeous looking film with plenty of ridiculous scenes, laugh out loud stuff that no one would get away with these days, a few bare bums and a complex plot. Not much in way of violence mind you. And it's long – damn long!We start off with a guy on a train getting his throated slashed by a balaclava wearing killer with blue eyes, then cut to the guy's daughter. Her name is Nicole and she's a stripper in Paris who is not averse to blacking up and donning a tight afro wig for the delectation of her audience (one of many 'huh?' scenes throughout the film). Seems like her father was involved in some diamond heist and the killer seems to think she might have them (he tells her this via one of those electronic voice box things while threatening her with a scalpel. Nicole needs to get away from it all so it's lucky that English businessman Frank Wolff offers to take her away to England (Spain, really).Once in England (Spain) Frank takes her to his love nest on the coast in a town that isn't far removed from Royston Vasey (not a stretch as Mark Gatiss is a fan of the giallo). People keep staring at her, especially Mallory, played by weirdo-for-hire Luciano Rossi, only this time he has a wooden hand for no reason! There's also some guy spying on Nicole and Frank while they are at it (you really should close the curtains) – Frank must really be turned on by women messily eating grilled fish! That fish of course bought from another weirdo who may hold the key to the killings! "I'll have a couple of red herrings today mate."What killings, however? Well, after making everyone involved look like a suspect, someone bursts in on Frank while he's doing eye surgery and shoots him, but then shortly afterward Nicole ends up dead in the sea. Frank turns out okay, but who's shooting him and why does his wife look so much like Nicole that I thought she'd faked her own death and how did Nicole's boyfriend get over to England (Spain)? And what's with the blue contact lenses?Plenty of twists in this one and there's a particularly hilarious scene later in the film involving Luciano Rossi, but the film is almost two hours long! Followed by two other 'Death' films by the same director: Death Walks At Midnight and Death Walks Like An Egyptian.

On the set of The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Beyond Suspicion (1969), redheaded Andalusian b-goddess Nieves Navarro had easily stolen the show from leading lady Dagmar Lassander – and the heart of first-time director Luciano Ercoli. Two years later, he made her the star of Death Walks on High Heels, the first half hour an extended (and highly exploitative) declaration of love to the stunning beauty and her ravishing assets; see Navarro with her thighs wide open in the taxi scene right at the beginning, the gorgeous strip sequence soon after, and certainly Miss Temptation 1972 doing her toenails – a ball for foot fetishists for sure, the superb soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani serving as the sonic seducer. Sadly, the movie also has a script, penned by the Man with the Steal Claw, Ernesto Gastaldi, as usual an insipid whodunit proving once again that the often reveled "giallo" was nothing but the spaghetti variation of the reeking German Edgar Wallace "Krimis", the bratwurst smell suppressed with some squirts of rosso sauce. As a devout Catholic, Ercoli very well knew that the profane could only be dispelled by the sacred, and that's why Navarro made the difference: A work of unadulterated worship, High Heels leads directly to the inner sanctum of the Holy Church of Nieves.

"La Morte Cammina Con I Tracci Alti" aka "Death Walks With High Heels" was my first venture into the world of Luciano Ercoli, and I have to say that this gripping 1971 film is a terrific example of Horror's finest sub-genre, the wonderful Giallo. I have not yet seen Ercoli's directorial debut film, "Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion" ("Le Foto Proibite Di Una Signora Per Bene", 1970), but if it is anywhere near as good as this film, I am more than looking forward to it. "Death Walks On High Heels" is an intelligently scripted and excellently executed Giallo that focuses on the mystery elements of the sub-genre, more than on the Horror elements. And what a mystery it is! Nicole (Nieves Navarro), a sexy Paris exotic dancer and daughter of an infamous Jewel thief, is being threatened with murder by an unrecognizably masked assailant. In order to save her own life, Nicole goes to England with Robert Matthews (Frank Wolff), a rich doctor who has fallen for her. But the danger does not cease to exist across the pond... I do not want to give away any of the marvelous plot twists in this gem, which is why my plot description is only quite vague. What I can say, however, is that this is an excellent specimen of the Italian Giallo, which all the desirable trademark ingredients. Stunning suspense and genuine creepiness are present from the first minute, all coming along with an excellent score and on beautiful settings. The film is not very gory, especially not by Giallo-standards, but it includes more than one moment of delightful sleaze. Sexy Nieves Navarro was a delight to cult-cinema fans in several genres, most frequently in Spaghetti Westerns and in Gialli, and she is once again great here. This is the third-to-last film starring the great Frank Wolff, the last ones being the brilliant "Milano Calibro 9", which ranks among the greatest crime flicks ever made, and a presumably trashy film called "When The Women Lost Their Tails". Wolff, an American, who had become one of the greatest regulars in Italian genre cinema after starring in Spaghetti Westerns including such masterpieces as "Once Upon A Time In The West" and "The Great Silence", sadly committed suicide in 1971 - a great loss for Italian cinema. This is one of the many films that prove what a great actor he was. Simon Andreu is also good in the role of Nicole's Parisian macho boyfriend. The supporting cast includes many familiar faces for fans of Italian cinema, such as the weird-looking Luciano Rossi and George Rigaud. All said, "Death Walks With High Heels" is a terrific Giallo that comes with my highest recommendations. A must-see for all suspense-fans!

A jewel thief is brutally murdered on a train by a masked assailant. But when the murderer is unable to locate any diamonds, the murderer immediately suspects that the thief's daughter, a Parisian stripper named Nicole (Nieves Navarro aka Susan Scott), may have the diamonds. Nicole, however, claims to know nothing of the diamonds. After a series of threats, both verbal and physical, Nicole decides to flee France with a man she hardly knows. The pair begin a seemingly ideal relationship in a secluded seaside village. But Nicole is unaware that the killer has followed her to England and will stop at nothing to get his hands on the diamonds.What a fun Giallo! Death Walks on High Heels has one of the most convoluted plots I've run into – even by Giallo standards. While the movie may lack the quantity of murder scenes found in other Gialli (although at least one murder scene is as violent as they come), Death Walks on High Heels makes up for this shortcoming with more plot twists than a mountain road and boatload of red herrings. It had me guessing (incorrectly, I might add) up to the very end. It's all about the mystery and director Luciano Ercoli skillfully casts the shadow of suspicion on just about everyone in the cast. Much of the movie is told quite nicely in flashbacks with bits and pieces of the story being revealed as each person confesses to what they may or may not have seen. There's even a pair of bumbling Scotland Yard detectives who are (surprise, surprise) actually funny. Overall, Death Walks on High Heels is very well done.The acting is a notch or two above what I've come to expect in a Giallo. The highlight, at least for me, is Nieves Navarro. She is amazing as Nicole. I didn't think I would ever say this, but I think she might have been capable of challenging Edwige Fenech in my mind as the Queen of the Giallo had she made a few more of these movies. I'm looking forward to checking out more of her work.As much as I enjoyed Death Walks on High Heels, it's not without its flaws. Chief among them, at least to me, is a "cheat" with respect to one of the murders. I don't want to give anything away, but there is one particularly nasty murder that the killer could not have committed given the circumstances immediately following the murder. Hopefully, with repeat viewings, I can reconcile this point in my mind and just enjoy the movie for what it is.Finally, and I'm really starting to sound like a shill, NoShame's new DVD is fantastic. I would have never dreamed that a movie like Death Walks on High Heels would look this good. Bravo NoShame!