Sam Panico Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti (who took all the credit) directed the first shockumentary, Mondo Cane. Following that, they worked on Women of the World before Jacopetti moved on to make increasingly more insane films with Franco Prosperi. Cavara? He went on to make his own films, including this one, a film that some place amongst the best giallo ever.A mysterious killer is killing women who were involved with a blackmail scheme, using a needle to paralyze them before he slices their stomachs open, the same way a tarantula kills a wasp. Even worse - the victims are awake and can feel the pain, but are unable to move or scream.Cavara uses one of the queens of giallo for his first victim, Barbara Bouchet (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Don't Torture a Duckling, Amuck!). Soon, it's up to Inspector Tellini to solve the case before he or his girlfriend are killed. He's a totally likable character, rare for a giallo, who mostly argues with his wife who buys too much furniture while worrying if he's good enough at what he does. He hits a little too close to home.There is plenty more eye candy in the film, with Claudine Auger (Domino from Thunderball) and Barbara Bach (The Spy Who Loved Me, The Humanoid) showing up. And there's a great Ennio Morricone score.

gridoon2018 Promising title, good cast, some stylish camerawork, but the film soon runs out of steam, becoming unoriginal, muddled and tedious. The single best thing about it is Barbara Bouchet's INCREDIBLE a$$ - and you can see that in the first 2 minutes! The finale is quite ridiculous. ** out of 4.

Blake Peterson Unless you tend to believe that sub-genres crumble once their prime decade ends, gialli never died — just rested in blood colored coffins until gore hounds rediscovered their artfully minded slasher perks in the 2000s and couldn't help but lap them up. "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" is one of the better known examples, so long as you pretend Dario Argento and Mario Bava don't exist for a moment. Because gialli not helmed by Argento or Bava strove for killer offings rather than smartly nourished whodunit charades, and, unfortunately for this film, which often seems to rank high on those blood soaked "best giallo" lists, does nothing more than pale in comparison to all those damned Argento and Bava pictures. Stylish to a fault but also shoddily dubbed, acted, written, and directed, it intrigues for bits and pieces (those bits and pieces being the murders themselves) and then leaves us in the cold with Giancarlo Gianni, who, despite his later Oscar fame, turns charisma into emotionless leaden material with just the bat of an eyelash.As in all decent giallo films, "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" details a series of murders, all involving attractive women and cringey circumstances. The killer, maniacal and sex obsessed (a shock), practices a particularly cruel method of slaughter — in addition to his butcher knife, he brings along a needle dipped in black wasp venom, causing paralysis for anyone who gets the stuff in their bloodstream. That way, his victims are forced to remain defenseless as they watch (and feel) their insides get ripped open. What a joy! (Vomits.)Young woman after young woman is stalked and slashed; each murder is edited with such impressive precision (cross-cutting is as well-executed as an excruciating long-shot) that we can't help but want to applaud Paolo Cavara for taking a route authentically suspenseful rather than hackish. But I digress. As the madman sneakily wanders around, eyeing potential victims, the killings themselves are being investigated by Inspector Tellini (Gianni), a young policeman not so sure he can stomach such a high amount of atrocities for much longer.While "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" keeps us interested with its frenzied mystery- meets-gore approach, nonexistent are the normally intoxicating images presented by most gialli. Aside for clean-cut edits and assertively framed shots (mostly found within the scope of a murder), the film is mostly dry, thrilling only when action is present. In better giallo pictures, such as "Suspiria" and "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" (both directed by Argento), terror is always part of the atmosphere — distinctively nightmarish imagery, after all, is what makes giallo so much finer than your average slasher. "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" oft threatens to be your average slasher — so thank goodness so much attention is put into how the killings are shot. Otherwise, we'd have a bad case of sex-and-death- 101 nobody wants. But aside from a grouping of inventive offings (the second victim's demise, photographed in a clothing store, cleverly inserts doll-like mannequins to mirror the soon-to-be dead woman's paralyzed helplessness), "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" is nothing more than a subpar giallo. Considering it was made as a cash-in ready to imitate the success of "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" at the time, it's only fitting that it hardly compares to the best of Dario Argento and Mario Bava. Dammit! — there are those names again.

billoneil2 Although made during the height of the giallo's popularity in the early 1970s, this film is probably going to disappoint anyone who started out with "Blood and Black Lace," "Bird with the Crystal Plumage" or "Torso." First, the good news: There is style and mood, particularly in the scenes where a gloved killer is preparing his hypodermic needle for the kill. The theme music at these points is excellent. Now, the bad news: The kills themselves are a bit underwhelming despite a fascinating concept (being paralyzed and murdered while conscious but immobile). The plot is so convoluted that after five or six viewings I still don't know why the killer was killing or how he was discovered. Is it because of an excessively convoluted script or because most of the film is so dull one's attention wanders and they miss key clues? You be the judge.Finally, a bone to pick with the producers: This film is rife with the mentality that women are the most fantastic, magnificent creations in the universe (not true). It's typically Italian BS. So if an unending boy meets girl plot bores you or if you are annoyed by a ceaseless parade of homely broads being presented as goddesses, this film is not for you.5 stars for the scenes preceding the kills only.