Nick Duguay The best part about this film is that it's shot in Greece. The city looks very nice and it's fun to see a giallo shot in Athens. Gialli are known for their exotic locations but I don't think I've ever seen one set in Greece. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is a bit of a letdown. Incoherent, confusing story-line with more than a few rabbit holes, a bad balance of comedy and horror, even after expecting the usual bad dialogue I still came away amazed at the sheer awfulness in this one. I'll chalk that up to translation but that doesn't fix anything. One thing that I did enjoy is the inclusion of a traditional black-gloved killer with a shaving razor. I've seen quite a few of these films and this trope really isn't as common as those who stereotype the sub-genre would lead you to believe. It's always cool to see. The camera work is more than adequate but the score is unmemorable. I found myself thoroughly bored. One note though, that gold bust actually is hilarious. I wish I could have that as a decoration in my house.

Bloodwank The giallo has since the genre began employed humour, from at least the time of Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much spots of comedy have leavened the intrigue and stylised violence. Not a bad thing either in my book, gialli operate in a realm outside of normal human experience and to pursue their concerns with deathly seriousness is not always the best approach. Still, there aren't many substantially comic gialli, perhaps because the earthy nature of a lot of Euro exploitation comedy of the time was ill fitting with the rarefied nature of the giallo. Death Steps In The Dark is an example of a substantially humorous giallo and it actually works out pretty nicely, while never especially funny the film carries its humour with an unforced daftness that is a little charming, and only grating in a short sequence of the hero in drag. Then again I've never been a fan of drag humour and others may think more of it. The general plotting is serious stuff and fairly convoluted, whilst travelling through a tunnel the lights go out in a train and a nun is murdered, suspicion falls on fashion photographer Luciano and he must prove is innocence, murder and intrigue continuing all the while. Maurizio Pradeaux of the similarly lesser seen Death Carries A Cane directs here, bringing style and colour, the pace is quick and there are some memorable moments including a use of defiantly unerotic ultra close up during a sex scene that could pass for one of Jesus Franco's craziest dalliances and a particularly fine murder with nice bloodshed. The suspense scenes are for the most part taken seriously with good use of killer POV shooting, and while never especially gory the kills get a bit of the red stuff flowing, satisfying enough in a film like this where the tone is lighter and the emphasis not so much on shocks. Acting is generally decent, Leonard Mann sympathetic as the confused and somewhat frazzled hero, Vera Krouska a delight as his dim witted girlfriend and Robert Webber suitably dry as a police inspector just trying to get the job done, despite plot convolutions, idiots around him and heartburn. The Riz Ortolani score is solid too, has a smooth and romantic feel to it that works with the surroundings and general style. There are a couple of drawbacks here, one easy to point out and one less so, but they conspire to bring the film down a few notches. Though often amusing the humour is pretty basic and tends towards sexism, it may all be in good fun but the lack of sophistication is pretty glaring. And the explanation for events is based on information that doesn't appear anywhere in the prior proceedings, the film lays clues as to its killer, but the ultimate explanation is pretty left-field and its a bit of a downer that it wasn't hinted at earlier, it feels a bit of a cheat. Still for the most part this is fun stuff and giallo completists could do worse than check it out.

MARIO GAUCI This is another little-known but well-above-average giallo, in its case a latter-day entry; again, we have here an American actor – Robert Webber as an Inspector having to contend not just with a series of murders but a constantly upset stomach! – sparring with the protagonist, Leonard Mann (Italian despite the English-sounding name). Atypically, the film intercuts the genre's trademark intensity with a good deal of humor (including the hero fleeing detection in drag!); while it may feel uneasy at the start, the mix soon becomes acceptable and, in fact, proves considerably entertaining. In this respect, Mann's dumb girlfriend proves a bit much – having said that, there is one other kooky female character, a young safecracker who aids them in unmasking the villain of the piece! As usual, the film concludes with a rushed, muddled and rather banal explanation of the killer's motives (incidentally, the original murder cleverly occurs in a train compartment just as the vehicle enters a tunnel!) – which, however, is atoned for by one last delightful joke involving the inexperienced petty criminal. Like I said, its light mood notwithstanding, DEATH STEPS IN THE DARK (nicely shot in Greece, by the way) certainly does not hold back on blood-letting – since this had become pretty much the norm following Dario Argento's vicious face-lifting of the genre with DEEP RED (1975); still, there is one additional incongruous (and, in hindsight, unnecessary) element in the few – albeit surprisingly explicit – sex scenes (notably a lesbian coupling seen in extreme close-up!)...

The_Void I saw Maurizio Pradeaux's other Giallo effort, Death Carries a Cane, and thought it was lacklustre. This film is another lacklustre Giallo from a director who obviously isn't one of Italy's best - but if you look at it as a comedy instead of as a Giallo, what you actually have here is an enjoyable little romp with some amusing characters and humour. Of course, this is unlikely to please most people going into this film and expecting a gritty and macabre gore-fest - but the film really should be taken for what it is. The Giallo style was obviously drying up a little by 1977 anyway, and Pradeaux obviously thought that a spoof would add something new. The film opens with a woman murdered on a train. The carriage passes under a tunnel and when they emerge, the unlucky lady has a letter opener belonging to Luciano stuck in her chest. This obviously makes him the chief suspect in the investigation. Luckily for him, however, he's a master of disguise (or not); and after dressing up as a whore, he manages to evade the police and buy himself some time to catch the real killer.The film takes in all of the Giallo's standard elements, including black gloves and a lackadaisical police investigation. The jokes come thick and fast for pretty much the entire running time, and while it's possible that they're there for comic relief - I find it hard to believe that any scriptwriter could be so misguided, which makes me think that Death Steps in the Dark is spoofing the Giallo style on purpose. The humour is rather funny, however, although the ditsy girlfriend gets a bit tiresome after a while. Director Maurizio Pradeaux obviously thinks that bloody murders are important in a Giallo, as both this one and his earlier film feature some brutal killings. The razor blade slashing here are rather nice, but they do feel out place as the film puts so much focus on humour. The director doesn't have the star quality of Susan Scott to rely on this time round, but Leonard Mann is a good sport in the lead; and the lass who plays 'Little Blatto' is definitely a highlight. Overall, I can certainly see why this film isn't regarded as a classic of the genre; but if you take it with a pinch of salt, you should have fun with it. I did.