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“I'm telling you the truth – believe it or not!”
Utilising much of the same cast and crew as he had done with his previous two
forays into the giallo genre, Director Luciano Ercoli's third – and final –
giallo film is less interested in murder and mayhem at the hands of a
black-clad killer and much more taken with its leading lady. Having been
portrayed in The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970)
as a free-love nympho, Nieves Navarro (who would go on to spend the rest
of her life with Ercoli as husband and wife) advanced up the ladder of
gialli's roster of ladies in peril. In Death Walks On High Heels (1971),
Navarro is portrayed with love as a far more rounded, yet still sexual being,
whose forthright attitude enthrals or confounds the men in her life. However,
in what was to become one of her strongest roles, Navarro (aka Susan Scott)
kept her clothes on and her fists at the ready for Death Walks At Midnight,
which could arguably be considered the 'girl power beacon' of the entire
genre...
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screenshots…
“The junk you took is breaking down your mind – just
look at you – a nice girl bombed out of her skull for a phony promotion
gimmick.” Valentina (Navarro, All The Colours of the Dark)
is a trend-setting model in Milan – independent, wealthy, and brimming with
confidence. However, when her magazine journalist friend – and apparent occasional
lover – Gio (Simon Andreu, Die Another Die) talks her into being
the test subject for 'H.D.S.', a new mind-bending hallucinogen, her life
spirals out of control. After descending into hysterics, her gleeful trip cuts
into a blood-soaked vision of a woman being murdered by a man wielding a spiked
gauntlet – as Gio documents her horrified expressions, having removed the mask
he had promised would hide her identity.
“You're so naïve – sometimes you knock me out with
your bourgeois sense of reality.” Shortly thereafter, Valentina is
fired from her job and quickly discovers why – her fear-stricken face is
plastered over the front cover of Gio's magazine, which goes into salacious
detail of her drug-fuelled vision of bloody slaughter. Tricked and out of work,
Valentina isn't shy about coming forward. She goes straight to Gio, justifiably
flips out, and smashes up his office. Naturally, the police (or “the
Gestapo” as one character refers to them) get involved, and while they go
out of their way to dismiss whatever she has to say, their intrigue is piqued.
The vision was real – a murder with a spiked gauntlet happened just six months
prior – and not only that, it happened in the office directly opposite
Valentina's balcony. Did she witness the event and suppress it, only for the
drug to unleash the memory? The killer is in jail – a mental ward, in fact –
but when Valentina meets Verushka (Claudie Lange), the sister of the
murdered girl, she discovers that the killer in her vision – and the victim –
are entirely different people!
“All the blood – I feel sick!” Stalked in busy
streets and empty hallways alike, Valentina's insistence that the killer is out
to get her routinely falls on deaf ears. Her artist boyfriend Stefano (Pietro
Martellanza, The French Sex Murders) is more interested in bunking
up than believing her, while Gio smells nothing more than money if he can
convince her to write an exclusive article for his magazine. The police,
likewise, are next to useless (a common giallo trope) – indeed, all the
men display a wilful ignorance or disinterest that would inspire any sane woman
to throw a swift punch or kick to hammer some sense into them! And herein lies
the real strength of Ercoli's film.
“Profession – mannequin – model for fashions, photo romance,
and advertising.” While many gialli feature the traditional 'victim'
role for their female leads – their lives turned upside down by a sort of
'passive nightmare' from which they seemingly cannot escape – Death Walks At
Midnight features perhaps the most powerful female player of the genre. In
Nieves Navarro, Ercoli not only found the love of his life, but he found a
woman more than capable of giving as good as she gets. The sexual politics of
the film are fascinating. At first, Gio – driven by arrogance and selfishness –
sees Valentina as little more than an object, dismissing her profession as
frivolous, and yet his attitude is frequently countered by her with a spirited
attack, whether verbal or physical. Here, respect and equality must be fought for,
but it is a winnable fight.
Another scene, taking place in a mental asylum,
juxtaposes institutional sexism while simultaneously devolving men to creatures
of base desire when their faculties fail them. You get the impression that,
even if their minds were straight, their wide-eyed assessment of Valentina
would remain. When she does stumble into peril – such as a moment when an
amorous van driver attempts to force her into the back of his vehicle –
Valentina dispenses swift justice and goes on her way. Her lack of surprise at
this event occurring, and relative ease returning to her business, speaks a
thousand words – of the regular chauvinism of the time, and of how many women
would readily deal with such things as a matter of course. However, the upside
of her character's strength proves to be the film's downside in terms of being
a taught thriller.
“Well, baby, the dragon lady awaits you.” Many
other giallo films may feature women of variable capabilities, but none of them
give Navarro a run for her money – she's simply too good at staying alive – and
therein lies the film's major flaw. At no point does Valentina appear to be
truly in peril. She gets into scrapes, of course, but she never circles close
to death. The strong female/strong giallo mix was perhaps better struck in Death Walks On High Heels – although certain events rob that film of its
strongest card. Other starlets of the genre – such as Edwige Fenech or Anita
Strindberg – tended to be cast in roles that victimised their characters more, but
in the same sweep afforded them a true sense of jeopardy. Although, it should
be noted that both Fenech and Strindberg found forthright and complex roles in
their own careers – indeed, both were afforded that opportunity in the same
film: the deliriously well-titled Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key (Sergio Martino, 1972). Back to Navarro though, a fighting
chance is one thing, but when compared to the killer that stalks her throughout
the picture, Valentina offers no contest – she could deal with them no problem
if push came to shove. She's an arse-kicking heroine versus a surprisingly
fragile-looking villain.
“You don't give me pleasure because you have features
like a monkey – and you're crazy.” Similarly, the film's low level of menace
(there's an awful lot of daylight, considering the title!) is also
related to the vein of comedy from the outset. From Valentina slamming a door
in a befuddled policeman's face, to the outrageously camp club fiend Jack, Death
Walks At Midnight is light on tension but more confident on general
entertainment. That said, Valentina's hallucination of the killer at work does
prove to be a stand out sequence in the film, its audacious choice of weaponry
matched by a liberal use of the red stuff. Strengths aside though, the script –
written by Ernesto Gastaldi (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail) and
May Velasco (story by Sergio Corbucci, Django) – turns weak in a
mid-section that sags. At 102 minutes long the film is sorely in need of a few
judicious trims, and the peripheries of the main plot result in a final act
reveal that is particularly complex and loaded with exposition.
“Here in Milan they stare at me like a freak – I begin
to feel homicidal.” For Ercoli's part, the presentation is strong (cinematography
by Fernando Arribas), but the low body count and lack of bravura violence (unlike
in his prior giallo Death Walks On High Heels) will potentially
disappoint some fans of the genre. Few could ever compete with the set pieces
of Dario Argento, but even still, the film strays more towards a psychological
drama than a full-blooded thriller.
“You provided the attraction – he admired you – these
men have normal desires.” Arrow Video's 2016 premium box set –
featuring Death Walks On High Heels and Death Walks At Midnight (both
in HD and SD) – is another example of the distributor's commitment to high
quality releases for specialist viewing fare. Even the physical presentation of
the set is gorgeous, with both Blu-Ray/DVD cases – and the lush hard-spine
booklet – housed within a firm box featuring some of the wonderful newly
commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx, who almost gives master-of-the-form
Graham Humphreys a run for his money. Specifically regarding Death Walks At
Midnight, the picture – preserved here in its 2.35:1 aspect ratio – is just
as clear as its counterpart while preserving the pleasing grain of 35mm
celluloid. The sound – featured in the original mono mix in your choice of
English or Italian (with optional subtitles) – is nice and clear throughout,
exhibiting only a handful of scattered pops or clicks. Suffice it to say, much
like its boxset counterpart, this is the best the film has ever looked or
sounded. Extras wise you get: 'Crime Does Pay', a 31 minute interview
with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi; 'Desperately Seeking Susan', a 28
minute 'visual essay' by regular Arrow contributor Michael Mackenzie, which
examines Ercoli's three forays into the giallo genre; an audio commentary by
Tim Lucas, and finally the longer 'TV version' of the film (106 minutes)
– which has been sourced from an SD tape.
“You go about flinging rocks at window panes to
increase the sale of glass?” Weak in terms of a killer thriller, but
especially strong as a vehicle for Nieves Navarro (her maturity and
assurance steal the show), Death Walks At Midnight is all at once a
highlight of the genre and a slight disappointment. If you want the classic
image of a leather-clad maniac gripping a moonlight-reflecting straight razor
stacking up bodies like it's going out of fashion, you're not going to get it.
There are many elements of a typical giallo utilised from the outset, but the
film's real draw is Nieves Navarro – fans of her work are rewarded with a
feast. This is, in no uncertain terms, Navarro's film, an opportunity which the
actress grabs with both hands and relishes from start to finish. Otherwise
known as 'Cry Out In Terror' and 'Death Caresses At Midnight',
ultimately Ercoli's film stands as an impressive – albeit flawed – slice of
gialli.
N.B. Screenshots are taken from the DVD copy of the film.
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