THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN (1975)
aka L'ASSASSINO E' COSTRETTO AD UCCIDERE ANCORA
50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray
Label: Rustblade
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 29 Seconds
Audio: Italian 1.0 and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Luigi Cozzi
Cast: George Hilton, Antoine Saint John
The Killer Must Kill Again (1975), directed by Luigi Cozzi (The Black Cat), is adapted from Giorgio Scerbanenco's novel Al mare con la ragazza, an Italian-French co-production, a non-traditional giallo, with a very strong Hitchcockian influences, and Argento-ish kills and a gripping, suspenseful narrative. The story follows Giorgio (George Hilton, All The Colors Of The Dark), a greedy adulterer who after an argument with is wife storms off, and ends up accidentally stumbling upon a killer (Michel Antoine, The Beyond) dumping the body of a woman he has just murdered into a canal inside of a VW Beetle. Instead of reporting the crime he instead introduces himself to the killer and proposes that the killer eliminate his wealthy wife, Nora (Teresa Velazquez), a bargain backed-up by a cash reward and some blackmail involving a monogrammed cigarette lighter belonging to the killer. The killer agrees and shows up at Nora's apartment, introducing himself as a friend of Giorgio to gain access. Once inside the tension mounts as he keeps moving around the apartment, setting Nora on edge, before strangling her to death. You have got to check out this apartment decor, it's wild, almost completely yellow with some blue flourishes, it's kind of stunning - check out the screenshots below. Anyway, things quickly start to unravel for the killer, cluing you in to the fact that he's no professional assassin, just a deranged killer, which becomes apparent when he leaves the car running outside while he cleans up the crime scene. A young man named Luca (Alessio Orano, Eye Witness) and his girlfriend Laura (Cristina Galbo, What Have You Done To Solange?) take advantage of this and steal the killer's car, unaware that Nora's corpse is in the trunk, leaving the killer to hotwire a car to pursue them!
Giorgio's plan involves staging a ransom to procure money from Nora's wealthy father, and her corpse turning prematurely up would put the kibosh on that, so the killer pursues the young lovers, who stop to steal gas and money along the way, with Laura flashing her titty to distract the attendant, before ending up at an abandoned seaside, where villa the young lovers hole up in, unaware that a sadistic killer is quickly closing in on them.
While the killer pursues the car thieves Giorgio must contend with a doubtful police inspector (Eduardo Fajardo, Knife of Ice), who finds the whole scenario rather sloppy and suspect. Meanwhile Luca, frustrated that the virginal Laura won't put out, leaves her alone at the creepy villa and ends up picking up stranded motorist, a pretty blonde (Femi Benussi, Naughty Teen) on the side of the road. This little lassie has no problem jumping into the back of his car for some roadside sex, all the while helpless Laura is set upon by the demented killer. Of course, she being virginal and not willing to put out for Luca, ironically ends up being raped by the killer, the rape scene is intercut with images of Luca and the blonde in the throws of passion in the car, which is rather unsettling. The use of intercut scenes is pretty effectively used by Cozzi here, the earlier scene of Nora being strangled to death by the killer is also intercut with scenes of Giorgio at a dinner party, establishing his alibi, laughing and making jokes to party guests while she is dying.
I have always enjoyed the film of Luigi Cozzi, who is probably best known by most for the sci-fi Starcrash, but I wouldn't say that I've ever really found him to be a particularly stylish director, but I was pleased to find that this giallo thriller is pretty stylish, not Argento level stylish, but with moody cinematography by Riccardo Pallottini (Lady Frankenstein) and an effectively atmospheric score by Nando De Luca (Blood Feud), the unsettling atmosphere and moments of disturbing violence really ramp up the dread.
The unnamed killer is a true frightful maniac, he looks frightening as fuck, perhaps enhanced by some make-up and lighting, I just found his craggy face and and chilling demeanor to be skin-crawling. He has a macabre habit of groping the breast of his dead victims, so you know there;s just something deeply wrong with this guy. I also quite enjoyed the finale, which has huge logic gaps I am willing to overlook, with a very pleasing cyclical structure loaded with irony. Cozzi's film is a non-traditional giallo in that it's not a murder mystery, there are no black-gloved killer to be unmasked, we know from the beginning who the killer is, it's just a matter of where is this all going and how will it pan out, and I found it pretty thrilling and suspenseful from start to finish.
Audio/Video: The Killer Must Kill Again (1975) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Rustblade, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (2.35:1) there's no information about the source of the transfer other than it is "complete and restored". The film was previously issued on DVD by Mondo Macabro, and I missed out on that edition which is now long OOP, so I was pleased to see this get an HD re-issue from Rustblade, but I am assuming this is a fated HD scan provided by the licensor. The source looks solid, colors are generally pleasing - that yellow themed apartment is something else, black levels are strong, though some of the darker scenes marred by what look like some strange photochemical staining that has an almost psychedelic effect with subtle blossoming colors. The film has also been DNR scrubbed pretty heavily, wiping away fine detail and textures, film grain, lines on faces and clothing textures are near non-existent, it's a smooth plasticine nightmare, which is a shame.
Audio comes by way of uncompressed DTS-HD MA Italian 1.0 mono or English 2.0 dual-mono, both tracks are dubbed as Italian film of this vintage were rarely shot with sync-sound, both are a bit muffled and anemic to be honest, I preferred the English dub which I think served the Nando De Luca score better, and it was marginally clearer with more clarity. Both tracks are serviceable though, but clicks, pops and some subtle background noise are present on both.
The disc includes a handful of extras, starting off with 32-minute Interview with Luigi Cozzi in Italian with subtitles, it features the director talking about his association with Dario Argento, first coming into his circle writing the script for Four Flies on Grey Velvet before getting his chance to direct an Argento-style thriller, a, wanting to make a giallo that was the opposite of the Argento clones that were popular at the time, adapting the source novel, the story structure, casting, and troubles with the producers. We also get a 14-min Appreciation by Federico Frusciante, also in Italian, with English subtitles, who offers an appreciation of Cozzi's career and this film in particular. Also included is a 7-min Location Tour by Giallo Italiano showing the locations then and now, including the seaside villa and other locations. The disc s buttoned-up with a 4-min Theatrical Trailer using the alternate The Dark is Death’s Best Friend title.
the single-disc release arrives in an oversized clear keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the illustrated original movie poster. The reverse side features some interior artwork by way of two images from the film in high contrast black on yellow background. The disc itself features an excerpt of the same Italian movie poster. The spine features both the Italian and English titles of the film.
Special Features:
- Interview with Luigi Cozzi (31:37)
- Appreciation by Federico Frusciante (14:07)
- Location Tour by Alessandro Zito of Giallo Italiano (6:40)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:47)
Screenshots from the Rustblade Blu-ray:
Double-click to enlarge images.
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