My Dear Killer [1971] [DVD]

Mr. G. Bywater

at 10:19 am

Review by Mr. G. Bywater for My Dear Killer [1971] [DVD]
Rating: (3 / 5)
With a cover that good how could you not want to check this out?!! well as with all these films you cant really judge it from its lurid artwork, however this is a cut above a lot of Italian Argento giallo rip offs and stands pretty strong on its own. Its also quite suprisingly well paced and low on the “horror” element you would expect. I would recommend fans of this genre to give this one a try, but dont expect too much as it gradually drifts into crime thriller territory pretty quickly and didnt leave me wanting a second viewing too soon. However, that buzzsaw murder was superbly creepy and stood out a mile! I just feel this film could have done with a bit more of that. Anyhow, well done to Shameless for giving this a much needed uk release. Even better that they put out TORSO…now there’s a film!!! Happy viewing.

A. J. Harrison

at 11:27 am

Review by A. J. Harrison for My Dear Killer [1971] [DVD]
Rating: (5 / 5)
Following a mysterious decapitation of an insurance investigator, Police Inspector Peretti (George Hilton) is put onto the case. As things turn out this killing is linked to the disappearance of a young and her father who were killed a year before.

This is a fine Giallo and in my opinion one of the best and ranks up there with the Dario Argento classics (such as Bird with the Crystal Plumange and Four Flies on Grey Velvet). George Hilton puts in a impressive performance as the lead inspector and I have to say I preferred him in this role over all the Spaghetti Westerns ive seen him in.

Director Tonino Valerii keeps the film going at a fast pace and it never gets boring and he is able to handle the slightly confusing plot very well. There isnt alot of gore in this film but there is one very violent death were a woman is sliced up by a mechanical saw and it looks very realistic. My favourite part of the film was the last scene were Hilton has all the suspects in a room and he slowly reveals who the killer is and I was on the edge of my seat as I waited for the killer to be unmasked.

The DVD has good quality but I found the night/dark sequences alittle hard to see what was going on.

Mr. C. Sutton

at 12:31 pm

Review by Mr. C. Sutton for My Dear Killer [1971] [DVD]
Rating: (1 / 5)
From the way Shameless have packaged this film and the write up on the back of the DVD you would think it’s some kind of heart stopping action-packed gorefest – wrong, it’s more like a bad episode of an Italian version of Colombo or something…really really slow paced and boring. Yes there is *one* moment of someone getting buzzsawed to death in the middle but generally the film is tedious. Shameless should ironically be ashamed of how they’ve tried to sell it. I’d recommend something like Dario Argento’s ‘Deep Red’ as a good example of Giallo instead of this…..