Death Walks at Midnight (1972)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Dreadfully Boring

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Nieves Navarro is a true queen of giallo, appearing in All the Colors of the Dark, Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, So Sweet, So Dead and Death Walks on High Heels. Here, she makes her second film with her husband, Luciano Ercoli.In this one, she plays a fashion model named Valentina who agrees to help her journalist beau study LSD. But while she's dosed and in the middle of a photo shoot, she watches a man brutally murder a woman with a spiked gauntlet. He thinks she's just hallucinating and publishes her account, but she believes it's real. And when the killer starts stalking her, she really starts to worry.The entire opening of the film is one big acid freakout and everything that follows is the bad trip, the comedown and reality brutally intruding into drugged out bliss. This is a film packed with brutal violence and plenty of gore, but it makes sense. The movie demands it.The end, when everything is wrapped up by the killer (killers?) is pretty great, as the many red herrings are discussed and the entire plot is finally explained to us. If everything before felt like a nightmare, this is bracingly cold water directly to the face.Even better, Navarro portrays a heroine who doesn't faint at the first sign of danger. She deals with the ineffectual police and indifference of her boyfriend with aplomb.And yes - this film is packed with bonkers crazy fashion - a metal/glass silver wig and a strange sculpted wall feature prominently - so if that's why you love giallo, you'll be quite happy here. Me? I loved every minute.

On the surface, director Luciano Ercoli's Death Walks at Midnight appears to be a rather straight-forward Giallo. You get to see the killer's face right at the beginning, his brutal murder of a woman named Dolores visually captured within the drugged out vision of fashion model Valentina(..luscious red-head, Nieves Navarro, her fiery personality a major attraction to this here Giallo fan)who agreed to have an experimental hallucinogen called HDS injected into her bloodstream(..I'm guessing it was essentially a drug like LSD). The one responsible for talking her into taking HDS was journalist for a rag mag Novello 2000, Gia, Valentina's on-again / off-again lover. Gia got a great article out of her revelations regarding the sickening violent attack of a maniac, with big black shades and an overcoat, burying his iron glove with spikes into the skull of a brunette. Gia reckons she read about, sometime ago, a similar murder of a stripper named Hélène, and is pulling his chain about actually seeing the act take place in vivid detail as it was being carried out(..although, his suggestion that she possibly saw it happen, "self-censored" the act in her sub-conscious, with the drug re-awakening the memory, is probably a more accurate assessment). When the killer discovers her article in the magazine, Valentina's life is in danger, but the plot doesn't stop here..it's far more complex and stretches it's tentacles beyond what she could possibly have imagined.You get everything a Giallo fan is accustomed to here and then some. The fashions, the exotic Milan setting, luxurious apartments, restaurants and clubs, a positively gorgeous lead actress, insanely convoluted plot with a plethora of characters coming out of the woodwork, a really nasty murder weapon which does some serious damage to a victim's face, a series of questionable suspects and colorful villains(..including a drug-dealing psycho who giggles), well orchestrated finale where Gia comes to Valentina's rescue, engaging in fisticuffs on top of an apartment complex with those planning to set her up in a murder / suicide scenario, with some fabulous set-pieces including methods of how Ercoli captures facial reflections and action up close and personal as bodies(..and blood as the iron glove "stabs the screen") fly toward the screen when characters are fighting. The twist is a good one.The plot really places poor Valentina in a difficult predicament for everyone doubts her as she tries her best to get the truth across to Inspector Serino(Carlo Gentili;who believes she's staging a publicity stunt with Gia), sculptor boyfriend Stefano(Pietro Martellanza;who always dismisses her rantings as a whole bunch of hullabaloo), and Gia(Simón Andreu;who believes she's seeking revenge against him for the HDS incident, and for restitution). After the article is published, Valentina is inadvertently involved with a mysterious woman named Verushka(Claudie Lange;whose sister was Hélène), Verushka's odd asylum doctor husband, Otto(Ivano Staccioli;whose role in the grand scheme of things is of consequence), Pepito(Fabrizio Moresco;a pale skinned weirdo with a red scarf, often confronting Valentino about their lives being in grave danger), and two drug dealers who are tied to a secret mastermind whose operating within Milan. Henri Velaq(Claudio Pellegrini), the infamous killer of the film, is only a piece in a larger puzzle regarding rival drug dealing groups. The empty apartment across from Valentina's pad where Delores was brutally slain is of great importance to the overall story and figures highly into how Valentina become(..and remains)involved in the story.Navarro proves to be quite a find for me as I make my way through the Giallo genre, her elegance and beauty certainly enchanting, as is her strength and tenacity when confronting those that question her validity regarding what she knows(..as Velaq stalks her, no one will take her seriously when she informs them of his actions, not to mention the other people who start entering the picture).

DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT (Luciano Ercoli - Italy/Spain 1972).Before the DVD-age the only English title for this film I know of, is CRY OUT IN TERROR, after the soundtrack released on LP and later on expanded edition CD. This is not mentioned on the IMDb as the film never got a proper release in English-speaking regions, not even on video, to my knowledge. Adding to the confusion, this title was already hardly distinguishable from Ercoli's earlier DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS (1970) (largely the same theme, cast and music) and I've noticed that in reviews on some sites, this is treated as a follow-up to Ercoli's first Giallo FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (1970), clearly confusing this film with DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, which is Ercoli's second Giallo.Written by six writers(!), among them Sergio Corbucci and Ernesto Gastaldi, the film is set in Milan. Valentina (Susan Scott or Nieves Navarro), a successful model, agrees to try a hallucinogenic drug as part of a scientific experiment. While under the influence she experiences some flashbacks of a man in sunglasses graphically murdering a woman with a spiked metal glove, quite an original murder weapon. Strangely enough, a woman was butchered in exactly the same manner in a vacant apartment. The killer lures Valentina into this apartment after which she narrowly escapes with her life. What follows are more attempts on her life and even more questions about the killer's identity. Mind-bending drugs and outrageous fashions with plenty of tacky '70s dance floor scenes abound in this in this convoluted murder mystery. I might have been a bit harsh in my judgement on Ercoli's DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS but no matter how many reservations I have regarding his output, I've grown a bit fond of his work. This one is the weakest entry in his Giallo-cycle, but I cannot dismiss it either. It's rather disappointing because of its confusing plot and ridiculous finale, complete with a gang of giggling thugs. Gianno Ferrio's score is no patch on Morricone's scores in earlier Ercoli films, but its sheer luridness makes for some reasonably tacky entertainment.Camera Obscura --- 6/10

It would seem that many fans don't consider 'Death Walks at Midnight' to be a good film, and while it's not a first class addition to the Giallo sub-genre; I rather liked it. The film is far less graphic than many Giallo fans will be used to, and there aren't many murders. The first and central murder leads you to believe that this film will feature more bloodshed as the film goes on; but the plot veers off-course often, and the film doesn't always focus on the murder themed plot. The first murder is so striking largely because of the murder weapon used; I've never seen a spiked glove before, and the murder scene is stylishly shot and gives the odd murder weapon a good environment to operate in. The plot is co-scripted by two prominent forces in Italian films; Sergio Corbucci ('Django') and more importantly, Ernesto Gastaldi who has a number of important Giallo classics under his belt, most notably Sergio Martino films such as Your Vice and The Case of the Scorpion's Tail. It follows a woman who tries out an experimental drug and while under its influence, witnesses the aforementioned graphic murder.The plot seems like an all too obvious excuse for a different perspective on the common Giallo theme of someone witnessing a murder, and as it isn't given explanation; it doesn't come off as being very credible. Director Luciano Ercoli makes up for this, however, with a constant stream of odd events and a good eye for striking cinematography, and although the plot soon becomes convoluted and often relies on coincidence; it's always engaging, and there's a lot of good ideas on display. The beautiful Susan Scott (a.k.a. Nieves Navarro), who has worked with Ercoli on films such as Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion and Death Walks on High Heels, heads an interesting cast, and does a good job of holding the film together. The fact that we know who the murderer is from the beginning ensures that there isn't a lot of mystery, but this is made up for by the way that there's always something new lurking just around the corner, and the script does a good job of implementing red herrings into the plot. The final twist can be seen coming a mile off; but the rooftop finale is a treat, and overall I've got to say that there's a lot to like about this not often seen Giallo.