TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Steineded How sad is this?

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

HumanoidOfFlesh A man is decapitated with a steam shovel.It's not an accident,though because steam shovel operator is later found hanged and apparently murdered.When the other bodies begin to pile up Inspector Luca Peretti connects this case with the kidnapping and murder of a little girl and her father."My Dear Killer" by Tonino Valerii is a tightly woven giallo full of surprising twists and turns.There are some interesting flashbacks and very memorable soundtrack by Ennio Morricone.Giallo regular George Hilton shines in his excellent performance as Inspector Luca Peretti.The storyline is extremely complex and demands full attention of potential viewer.If you like Italian gialli you can't miss this classic.8 ransoms out of 10.A brief shot of a young naked girl is quite shocking and unexpected.

radiobirdma The British DVD edition of this one promises "giallo" fare of the most menacing, gory and misogynistic kind, but actually it is -- despite a pretty ridiculous decapitation and the infamous buzz saw scene which lasts about two and a half seconds -- a pretty meek affair, not even a "giallo", and far from depravity despite another infamous scene with a naked child girl -- well, you might have seen one before. "My Dear Killer" is alright in terms of characterization, especially in the scenes between Inspector Peretti (George Hilton) and his spouse (Marilu Tolo), competently directed, quite thrilling, but shares the problem of so many Italian movies of the same period: The script builds tension to the max, but can't deliver. Actually, it's nothing more than an Agatha Christie rip-off with some pseudo-gritty moments and a dull conclusion reminiscent of Hercule Poirot's most gammy moments. The biggest sleaze factor of the movie is Hilton's moustache: Those were the seventies.

movieman_kev An unseen killer is murdering people that know too much in connection with an earlier unsolved case of a missing girl. I like the giallo genre, but this one by Tonino Valerii is laid back to the point of being tedious, a few gory set-pieces can't even help this film. The ending is horribly cliché and the film has one scene that featured a fully naked prepubescent girl that repulsed me. There is NO reason to put a nude eleven or twelve year-old in any film. EVER! I'm going to sell my copy of the DVD because of that.My Grade: D- DVD Extras: Interview with Tonino Valerii and George Hilton; Trailers for "What have you done to Solange?", "Spasmo", "Seven blood stained Orchids", and "Hitcher in the Dark" Eye Candy: Marilu Tolo as the detective's girlfriend gets topless, but she's not that good-looking

Wheatpenny Director Tonino Valerii is best known in the USA for the spaghetti western "My Name is Nobody," but "My Dear Killer" is no less an excellent example of the giallo genre than "Nobody" was to its own. The plot revolves around a series of murders committed by an unknown assailant intent on keeping the deaths of a small child and her father unsolved. As is the case with most gialli, there's a detective one step behind the murderer, a lush and creepy music score (this time by Morricone), a houseful of suspects, creative and illogical murders, and a downbeat and melancholy plot. What elevates this one above all the others made in that banner year for the genre (1971), though, is the detail given to the script and production. The characters are all fully formed and functional to the story, which itself is well thought-out and clever. The resolution is well-handled, and even if the killer's identity is impossible to guess beforehand, the means in which he (or she) is finally discovered will make you smile. Add to this one of the saddest musical-score main themes in movie history, featuring a woman's voice singing a haunting child's melody, and you have a giallo that fans of the genre should definitely not miss.