Mondo
Macabro
| Review by Dan Taylor
Imagine
Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller STRANGERS
ON A TRAIN re-imagined as a gory, creepy
giallo and you'll have some idea what to
expect from Luigi Cozzi's THE KILLER MUST
KILL AGAIN. Unavailable in its uncut, widescreen
form for many years, fans of Italian thrillers
can thank Mondo Macabro for bringing this
clever, sleazy creepfest to DVD. [SPOILER
ALERT: The following review reveals some
plot twists of the flick but does not give
away any major third act details.]
George Hilton (who starred
with Klaus Kinski in THE
LIBERATORS and THE
RUTHLESS FOUR) stars as Giorgio Mainardi,
a philandering businessman married to the
shrewish Norma (Teresa Velazquez), daughter
of a wealthy industrialist. After the two
have a blowup at their mod pad, Giorgio
heads out to a payphone to call one of his
galpals and accidentally witnesses a creepy
killer (Michel Antoine) ditching the body
he murdered and – in one of many creepy
touches – felt up at the film's outset.
Seizing the moment, Mainardi
blackmails the nameless killer into taking
care of some business for him. Primarily,
eliminating Norma while making it look like
she's been kidnapped. As insurance he holds
onto the killer's lighter – another
nod to STRANGERS – promising to go
to the cops with it and the location of
the dead girl if he doesn't pull off the
job.
With Giorgio busy firming
up his alibi at a swinging shindig complete
with babes and booze, The Killer is free
to take advantage of the apparently mildly
retarded Norma – who the hell lets
a creepy stranger into their house at 1:30
in the morning?! – and finishes her
off after toying with her and letting Cozzi
inject some mild spooks.
The formality of Norma's murder
out of the way, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN
then takes a surprising turn that twists
the tale in new and unexpected directions.
After stashing Norma in the trunk of his
car, The Killer returns to the apartment
to clean up any evidence of his presence.
Returning outside to ditch the body he discovers
that the car – complete with Norma's
corpse – has been stolen from in front
of the house.
This inventive twist makes
THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN a welcome change
from the many by-the-numbers entries that
populate the giallo genre. Instead of watching
yet another wrongly accused man or murder
witness play amateur sleuth while the cops
bumble around, Cozzi aims the focus of the
flick squarely on The Joyriders and The
Killer, who is pursuing them in a car he's
stolen from Mainardi's street! Mainardi
and the requisite inspector (Eduardo Fajardo)
are mere side characters as The Killer tracks
Luca (Alessio Orano) and Laura (Cristina
Galbo) to a beachfront villa where he'll
have to deal with them and Femi Benussi
as a dizzy blonde who can't whip her fabulous
hooters out fast enough.
To say more would spoil the
fun of what's probably Cozzi's best –
if not most entertaining – flick. (I
think I'll reserve that spot for the wacked
out ALIEN CONTAMINATION.) Packed with sex,
violence, nudity and a fabulously creepy
performance from Antione as The Killer of
the title, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN overcomes
a tiresome middle portion that focuses too
much on the horny Luca and the cock-teasing
Laura to deliver a satisfying and entertaining
little thriller.
Kudos to Mondo Macabro for
bringing this minor classic to home video
and packing it with fun extras like an interview
with the affable Cozzi (who describes how
he got into the business) and a short look
at the highs and lows of the giallo genre
with the author of BLOOD
AND BLACK LACE. (Though this clip-packed
featurette should have a spoiler alert for
those who haven't seen titles like Fulci's
DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING.)
