Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

enosfenton Seems boring for just a while, as the plot builds, then WOW! The ending is twisted just like all Giallos, and you can't figure out who did it. This one has plenty of skulduggery, but it's not the "psycho" style like many Giallos. I don't want to spoil it,but it is well worth the watch. I was delighted. Like almost all Giallos- this would have been banned in the USA in 1971, or at least X rated. This is a WHO DONE IT mystery, and a good one. It satisfied my itch for the classic mystery.

Mark Turner (This review is of the box set of two Luciano Ercoli films, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS and DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT) This box set from Arrow Film combines two films by director Luciano Ercoli, an Italian director with little output in that role and only double that as a producer. While his output wasn't significant the quality of these two films shows much potential and the fact that had he chosen to do more he would have left a larger legacy behind for others to follow. As it is, both films offer well-made giallo films that fans of the genre will want to add to their collections.The first of the two is DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS and is the better of the two films. The film stars the director's wife Nieves Navarro as Nicole Rochard, a well-known and much sought after striptease artists in France. Nicole's father was a renowned jewel thief and when he's killed someone calls her asking if she has his last score, something she knows nothing about.A fan of Nicole's, Dr. Robert Matthews, attends nearly every performance she has no matter where she's working. After Nicole has an argument with her boyfriend over his drinking due being jealous of her success, she finds friendship and love in the arms of Matthews. After a quick romance heads home to England and she accompanies him. He sets her up in a house in the country, a place his wife knows nothing about. With promises of leaving her to set up his own practice, things begin to happen.Murders of various side characters occur with startling frequency. An attack on Matthews happens, his wife the main suspect. Nicole's boyfriend shows in England trying to find her. And a twist near the middle of the film comes completely out of nowhere and sends the film off in a new direction. While this may seem like a brief synopsis to reveal any more would be to spoil the surprises the film has in store.The movie works best as a mystery with clues being presented for the viewer to decipher but all doesn't become clear until the end of the film. What makes it work is that they all make sense and were there for the most part to be seen throughout the film. What makes it even better is the fact that even the most jaded mystery fan might have a difficult time knowing who did what to whom, something few mysteries can accomplish these days.The second film, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, once again stars Navarro this time as super model Valentina. Valentina tries an experimental drug in the presence of a reporter friend and while on the drug sees images of a murder taking place. The fact she took the drug ends up in his article and she loses work because of it. It also discusses her visions and suddenly she begins seeing the murderer tracking her. When he makes an attempt on her life, only she has seen him. Is there someone out to kill her or is she simply hallucinating it all? Characters appear for no reason with no background only to take center stage at various parts of the film. As viewers even we aren't sure of Valentina's mental state at first. While the film starts with a decent premise it becomes a "are you kidding me" film as stupid decisions are made from start to finish. An example is, after having been attacked by someone she doesn't see, Valentina is asked to get in the car of a woman she has never met to talk and go for a drive. Not the smartest thing to do. When the woman abandons her in a mental institution where the convicted killer of the victim she saw in her drugged state is at (who is also supposed to be the sister of this woman), Valentina leaves only to go with the same woman to another location later on. With enough moments like this the movie became frustrating for me as a viewer.But good or bad the main thing here is that two movies that may have been lost to the world have been rediscovered and brought out in the best possible transfer possible. Arrow once again goes above and beyond to deliver a package that fans will clamor to and others may want to see to get a taste of what giallo is all about, if for no other reason than the first film. Both display great cinematography that I've not come to expect in Italian made films from the time. Another plus.Keeping in mind that this is an Arrow Films release you know there will be plenty of extras on hand for those that enjoy them. Included in the box set is a limited edition 60 page booklet with writings from authors Danny Shipka, Troy Howarth and Leonard Jacobs, all non-fiction writers about the giallo genre, that includes stills and posters for both films. For the first film you'll find extras like an introduction by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, an archive interview with Ercoli and Navarro, an interview with Gastaldi, an interview with composer Stelvio Cipriani, the original Italian trailer and an English trailer. On the second film you'll find another introduction by Gastaldi, an audio commentary track by film critic Tim Lucas, and extended TV version, an interview with Gastaldi and a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie discussing the collaborations between Ercoli and Navarro.Fans of giallo will find this a must have. The same for collectors of Italian cinema of that time period. Fortunately for both, Arrow Film has done a marvelous job on this one, making it one worth owning as well as worth watching for those new to the genre.

waldog2006 Death walks very slowly in high heels in this badly subtitled ("Have you got something on your head, Inspector?" for "What's on your mind..." etc)'gialli' which makes the odd decision to use heavily Italian-looking actors to play English characters. The music, and the on-location settings, are the most interesting things. Otherwise, this is a souped-up Agatha Christie-style whodunit with stolen jewels, the usual red herrings, a not-very-smart Inspector Plod with an even less smart PC Plod, and a supposedly sexy leading lady who blacks up for one of her stripteases. There is no sense of pacing or directorial flair. I thought it would never end. Plenty of bright red ketchup, though. Nice ice, too (if you make it that far). For die-hard 'gialli' fans only.

ferbs54 Director Luciano Ercoli, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, and actors Susan Scott and Simon Andreu had greatly impressed me with their 1970 giallo offering, "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion." Curious to see whether lightning could possibly strike twice for this same team, I took a look at 1971's "Death Walks on High Heels," and it turns out that this latter film is, remarkably, even better than the first. In this one, sexy redheaded stripper Nicole (appealingly played by Scott) gets into major-league trouble when a masked killer with a mechanical voice box starts to target her, whilst looking for some stolen diamonds. You may think that you know where this stylish thriller is headed (and Ercoli DOES direct with style to spare), but trust me, you're dead wrong. A shocking twist of plot around halfway through really does pull the rug out from the viewer's expectations here, sending us into very strange and uncharted waters indeed. Gastaldi has here provided us with yet another ingeniously plotted story that hangs together marvelously (unlike--for me, anyway--Ercoli and Scott's follow-up film, 1972's "Death Walks at Midnight"); composer Stelvio Cipriani has contributed a chic and catchy score; and some great-looking lensing of Paris, London and the English countryside provides some elegant backdrops for the film's very sinister doings. Add some touches of welcome humor (in the film's latter half), one genuinely nasty slice-and-dice sequence for the gorehounds, and some fairly brutal fisticuffs at the film's conclusion and you have one extremely satisfying giallo indeed. Good luck trying to figure out the killer's identity in this one! As icing on the cake, the DVD that I just watched comes to us courtesy of the fine folks at No Shame, who continue to impress with pristine prints of lost Italian wonders, and with excellent subtitling, to boot. Grazie, No Shame!