Rings of Fear (1978)

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Wonderfully lurid giallo with euro-cult legend, Fabio Testi. The ubiquitous testi plays yet-another atypically hard-nosed, libidinous detective, gianni di salvo. In this briskly-paced giallo, di salvo attempts to unravel the enigmatic motives behind a particularly brutal series of sexually motivated killings with an excess of gritty, inebriate resolve. Similar in tone and execution to Massimo Dallamano's equally exploitative and profoundly marvelous 'what have they done to your daughters'; 'rings of fear' is a wildly entertaining entry in the gaudy cannon of sensationalist 70's Italian sinema; giallo/thriller fans should find this zesty, prurient mélange of garish misogyny and gratuitous nudity; 'Rings of Fear; is an entirely worthwhile viewing experience for Gialli obsessives.

Co-written by Massimo Dallamano, this is the third film in the thematic 'schoolgirls in peril' trilogy. The first two films – What Have You Done to Solange and What Have They Done to Your Daughters – were directed by Dallamano himself and are among the upper bracket of the giallo sub-genre as a whole. Trauma, on the other hand, was only co-written by Dallamano, its director was the much less known Alberto Negrin. It would only be fair to say that it's clearly the least essential entry of the three. However, as is the way with most gialli, it's still pretty involving and entertaining.The story follows a detective who is investigating the rape and murder of a young girl. On the back of this other murders start. This is one of those gialli that is quite heavy on the police procedural side of things, with less emphasis on the various shady characters on the periphery of the story. It more or less gets away with this as Fabio Testi - who plays the cop - is a good presence. The movie overall lacks the sense of style and tight plotting of the first two films but it ramps up the sleaze factor with extended shower scenes and a sex-party that incorporates the use of a somewhat prominent dildo. Of course, the very fact that the young ladies in this are members of a girl school merely adds to the overall shadiness! The murder-mystery is certainly good enough, although admittedly by-the-numbers for this sort of movie. Perhaps surprisingly, the violence has been played down somewhat. Murder scenes are often very important in gialli but in this instance they aren't memorable at all and certainly not graphic in any way. It's more focused on the mystery and this is eventually wrapped up in a slightly unpredictable way it has to be said and for that it does receive plus points. Additionally, Riz Ortolani's soundtrack is once again very good and adds a lot to accentuate the suspense.

Marginally better than average giallo centres on an exclusive girl's school where the studies include mass orgies, gory retributions and murder. Detective (Testi) is called to investigate the brutal murder of a student and begins to suspect there's more going on at the school than just maths & science. A familiar trail is uncovered, highlighting several likely suspects (ubiquitous Euro horror ex-pat American, Jack Taylor primarily) who may or may not be the actual killer. There's also a neat little twist in the film's double-headed climax, although arguably, it could've been more effectively resolved.Testi is a likable leading man, his portly sidekick Bruno Alessandro also effective as they use unconventional methods in an attempt to solve the politically sensitive case. Jack Taylor is typically sinister as a sleazy fashion guru (the roller-coaster scene memorable), and Ivan Desny prominent as the police chief. Unusually, the dubbing isn't bad and doesn't detract so much from the film like others of the ilk. There's a fair quota of skin on display here, and the occasional ghastly corpse will heighten the senses.Director Negrin displays a solid appreciation for the sub-genre and while it's probably not strictly giallo for the puritanical fan, it serves the purpose well and maintains the mystery and suspense through to the dual climax.

I saw a black glove, I saw Italian names on the credit so what do we have, a giallo. I have seen a few but I can't understand why everybody says that this is a sleazy one. And why is everybody referring to the nudity especially the shower scene with all the school girls. There is nudity but i have seen more in other giallo's and even more explicit then here. There is indeed full frontal nudity but not that makes you go reach for the Kleenex. Even the ending was a bit dull for me. What was good was that you didn't have the typical dubbed sound effects like in so many Italian flicks. No exaggerated winds or footsteps. But it lacks also on the gore or blood for me. But I must say that I watched it on a bad copy with a very bad sound and washed out colors, maybe that's also a reason why I don't love it. But I'm used to watch old VHS sleaze. But for me it wasn't sleaze, just a giallo, no more no less