Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Fifth Cord (1971) aka Giornata nera per l'ariete aka Evil Fingers

 3.5 / 5 Jul '09
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Luigi Bazzoni
Written by: Luigi Bazzoni, David McDonald Devine
Actors include: Franco Nero, Silvia Monti, Wolfgang Preiss
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Length: 90 minutes
Banned: Nope
Country: Italy

Review:
This is one giallo that fits the bill to a tee, the multiple winding staircases, the J&B, the beautiful locations for shooting, twists in the plot and so on. It's actually quite well made surprisingly considering this is one of the lesser known ones. It features Franco Nero in the lead as an alcoholic reporter. There is a murderer going around cutting the finger off a glove for each killing (guess how many are planned!). The problem is the reporter never has an alibi and he blacks himself out drunk on a nightly basis so he's not even sure that he's innocent. There are many who could be guilty though and between the Police and Franco, someone will get to the bottom of this! The murders are quite bloodless for the most part, and this one is more story driven. At least most of the "talky" scenes take place in some magnificent location so we can always stare off into that when it gets a little dull. The mystery is well let's just say I wouldn't bother trying to solve it if I were you, it's an interesting conclusion but we definitely don't have enough facts and it could drive a person mad trying, just hang on and wait to be filled in. An odd entry into the genre, but it's at least lovely to watch, and Nero is a treat!

Availability:  On DVD

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