BLOOD LINK (Alberto De Martino, 1982)

Dr Craig Mannings (Michael Moriarty) has recently been troubled by visions of himself murdering lonely women, which he attributes to the experimental therapy he's been under. In one such vision, he finds a clue that leads him to Hamburg, Germany, where his heretofore presumed dead siamese twin, Keith (Moriarty again), has taken residence. It's revealed that Craig has been seeing the murders through Keith's eyes (ala The Eyes of Laura Mars), and Keith through his just as often. Naturally, Keith seizes the opportunity to continue with his killing spree, now focusing on Craig's friends and framing him in the process. I wish I had an identical twin some days.

It's fairly easy to sum up Blood Link as a promising premise that's flatly executed. The mostly American cast takes away the Eurocheese feel from the proceedings, but the dialogue is long-winded and the performances feel forced at times. Oddly enough, I found Keith to be the most interesting character in the story, because he seemed the most dynamic, evil as he may be. Craig is a harder character to identify with, as he's weak and a bit slow on the uptake at times - and he screws around on his girlfriend, who ends up saving him in the end. In how many Italian thrillers of that period is the protagonist saved by his girlfriend? Can't think of too many.

Stylewise, Blood Link stands above it's ilk. The photography is lush and inventive, and makes good use of mirrored surfaces, disorienting compositions, and the ol' watery soft-focus lens. The moody, noirish lighting and beautiful, though forgettable Ennio Morricone soundtrack almost work with the general tedium of the film. Almost. It's still a dreadfully slow affair for a thriller, but not a bad film.

FORMULA FOR A MURDER

(Alberto De Martino, 1985)



I present to you here one of the giallo's last dying gasps. The genre's popularity had dwindled by the early 80s, and only a handful of these films were produced over the decade. Formula For A Murder is one of the better.



As a child, Joanna (Christina Nagy) was sexually assaulted by a man disguised as a priest, an incident that left her paralyzed below the waist and terrified of clergymen. She is now grown up and rather well-to-do, and has put most of her riches into a rehabilitation facility to help those like herself. There she falls for semi-suave coach Graig (David Warbeck), who promptly proposes to her to the supposed chagrin of her friend Ruth.



Graig, we soon learn, has an ulterior motive for marrying Joanna. He and Ruth plan to frighten her to death and collect her fortune. The means? By dressing as a priest and tormenting Joanna with a bloody doll similar to the one with which the false priest had lured her. Joanna, however, proves much more resilient than the two initially suspected.



I won't give away the ending here, as it's one of the few 80's gialli I might recommend for home viewing. Once again, director Alberto De Martino proves he's more than capable of delivering a film loaded with menace, style, and action. His extreme camera angles and occasional use of the fisheye lens coupled with the nursery rhyme-like synth soundtrack make for some memorable scenes. Add in some gory deaths by straight razor and shovel and a theophobic theme, and you have another hidden gem. It also features a tense chase scene in which Joanna, having hobbled her assailant, is pursued through her house at a speed that can only be described as nightmare-slow. Worth checking out, though you will have to order a burnt copy or download it as there is no official release to date.

THE ANTICHRIST aka The Tempter

(Alberto De Martino, 1974)



This title is the most visually-impressive of the Italian Exorcist clones. It opens on a crowd of the ill and insane's pilgrimage to the idol of a Saint. There, youngish Ippolita (Carla Gravina) hopes to be cured of the paralysis in her legs. A rather possessed-looking man in the crowd takes off, climbs a wall, and plummets to his death. Needless to say, no miracles are happening this day! Frustrated, Ippolita returns home to her father (Mel Ferrer), the man responsible for the car crash that killed her mother and left Ippolita crippled.



It is suggested that she try hypnotherapy to cure herself of the paralysis, a venture that proves disastrous when she remembers her past life as a witch who was burned alive. The dream sequence in which she remembers a Sabbath complete with group sex, frog head-eating, (implied) goat ass-licking, etc is disturbing and highly original. Her past self gradually comes to dominate her body, and then BINGO! Crotch-grabbing and vomit! Hot! She humiliates her father's new girlfriend Greta (Anita Strindberg), seduces a couple family members, and breaks a young guy's neck by spinning HIS head.



The housekeeper (Alida Valli) decides to enlist the aid of a local witch doctor, whose efforts are amusingly in vain. When this fails to work, Ippolita's uncle, a priest, tries to exorcise the demon himself, but to no avail. Then he brings in the big guns, a certified Exorcist who even has the authenticity to arrive in silhouette.



Cheap gross-out gags and archaic bluescreen technology aside, this film has much going for it. The ultra-stylish photography by Aristide Massacessi (Joe D'Amato) is vibrant and unearthly at times. The acting is well above-par, what with the likes of Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, Alida Valli, and Miss Gravina on board. The story is actually unique, and even most of the possession shenanigans are original or at very most retooled versions of their Exorcist counterparts. Recommended.