THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAILS

Directed by Sergio Martino
Produced by Luiciano Martino
Written by Ernesto Gastaldi
Cinematography by Emilio Foriscot
Music by Bruno Nicolai
Cast: George Hilton, Anita Strindberg, Alberto de Mendoza, Janine Reynaud, Luis Barboo, Tom Felleghy, Annalisa Mardi, Tomas Picot, Ida Galli & Luigi Pistilli

1971/90 mins/Color/Mono
2.35:1 anamorphic/Italian/Italy/NTSC Region 1

Review from the NoShame DVD

The beautiful Lisa Baumer (Ida Galli aka Evelyn Stewart) is an unfaithful wife. When she learns of her husband's death in a plane accident, she seem more worried about the one hundred million dollar she just inherited then the lost of her husband. She leaves London for Athens to get the money. After collecting it, she's brutally killed by a black gloved killer and guess what... the money is missing.

Since he just became the number one suspect, the insurance company collector Peter Lynch (George Hilton) is helped by a dropdead gorgeous photograph (Anita Strindberg) to find who is doing all these murders as more bodies are piling up.

Sergio Martino's second giallo, made the year after THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS.WARDH, is without a doubt one of my favorite. Sure there's the obviously bad exploding airplane model kit and the rather confusing plot (aren't all giallo like that?) with two killers. But the pacing, acting, location, violence and the fact that Anita Strindberg is in this one guarantees its place along the classics.

NoShame have released the movie on DVD in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The DVD was unfortunately sourced from a PAL master of the film hence the artifacts and ghostly effect that gets annoying. Otherwise this is a fine transfer with rich and nicely saturated colors. We get the choice of either the original Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono or the nicely dubbed English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. Both of them sound good but the Italian one seem a little deeper and more ambient. Easy to read English subtitles are available.

"Creepy Crawl: The Scorpion's Shadow" is an interview 25 minutes interview with director Sergio Martino, producer Luiciano Martino, writer Ernesto Gastaldi and actor George Hilton. They talk a lot about the movie and have many anecdotes about it. Famous giallo writer Ernesto Gastaldi seem to recall pretty much everything and love his work. Its a shame (no pun intended) that NoShame didn't get the delicious and fav of mine Anita Strindberg to be part of this. We also get the theatrical trailer which is very remicent of the Italian one of Dario Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and a still gallery which consist of a few posters and many lobby cards. The movie is separated in 12 chapters, features animated menus with music, comes in a keep case along with a very informative 8 pages booklet. This is yet another great release from NoShame. X Rated also released this movie on DVD in Germany.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2006. ©

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