THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN

Directed by Luigi Cozzi
Written by Luigi Cozzi & Daniele Del Giudice
Cinematography by Riccardo Pallottini
Music by Nando De Luca
Cast: George Hilton, Michel Antoine, Femi Benussi, Cristina Galbo, Eduardo Fajardo, Teresa Velasquez & Alessio Orano

1975/90 mins/Color/Dolby Digital Stereo
2.35:1 anamorphic/Italian/Italy/NTSC Region1

Review from the Mondo Macabro DVD

George Hilton is Mainardi, a playboy who cheats on his wife Nora (Teresa Valasquez) and to make things worse, wants to get rid of her. One night he witness the disposing of a female body by a killer (the rough looking Antoine St John, billed here as Michel Antoine). Mainardi ask the killer to dispose of his wife and make it look like a kidnapping, otherwise he will tell the police what he just saw.

At first everything goes as planned, the killer pretend to be a friend of Mainardi so his wife let him in their apartment. Mainardi is away at a party for the perfect alibi. The killer puts the corpse of the late Nora in the back of his car but while he is distracted, a young couple, Luca and Laura (Alessio Orano and Cristina Galbo) stole the car! Its there that the movie makes a ninety degree turn as the killer now tries to get his car back and Mainardi is soon questionned about the kidnapping of his wife by the police.

This is not your typical giallo, there is no black gloved killer and his identity is known within the first five seconds of the movie yet he is never given a name. Indication that it is a giallo are there, there's the yellow color everywhere, from Mainardi's apartment to the police station. Giallo means yellow in Italian. THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN was Cozzi's professional directorial debut, he previously made THE TUNNEL UNDER THE WORLD. Originaly called THE SPIDER, Cozzi's movie was based on his great tv episode called IL VICINO DI CASA for the Dario Argento's DOOR INTO DARKNESS serie. Made in 1973 but was ultimately banned in Italy. It was finally released only in 1975, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN was billed with other movies in Italy and failed to make any money. The juxtaposed rape and sex scene is still strong by today's standard so I can easily imagine how some people were upset back in 1973.

One of the highlight of THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN is to see all these familiar faces. George Hilton is a well known actor in the genre, appearing in lots of Italian productions back in the 1970s including ALL THE COLORS IN THE DARK and CASE OF THE SCORPIONS TAIL. The lovely Cristina Galbo was in the zombie classic LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE and finally the beautiful but always killed onscreen Femi Benussi who we also saw in HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON and STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER.

Mondo Macabro have done an amazing job with this movie on DVD! For a movie which is over 30 years old, the transfer is stunning and features strong saturated colors, deep blacks and no scratch, dust, compression or edge enhancement. The movie is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. We get two Dolby Digital Stereo tracks, one is the English dub while the other is the original Italian track. They both sound good but the Italian track is warner and clearer. There is also easy to read optional English subtitles available. There's also a very interesting commentary track with Luigi Cozzi and Andy Starke. Cozzi goes into all the small details behind the making of his movie and he's very enthusiastic about it.

The disc features some good extras like 'The Road To The Killer', an interesting interview with Luigi Cozzi about how he became attached with the genre, his background, debut, love and passion. In 'Initials D.A. Working With Argento', Cozzi recollect his long professional relationship with the Italian master Dario Argento. 'The Giallo Genre' is a cool featurette and introduction to the giallo genre. My only complain is that it didn't last long enough. We also get the theatrical trailer, the original titles sequences as THE SPIDER, bios on George Hilton, Cristina Galbo and Femi Benussi. Production notes, onset stills, posters and lobby cards and finally previews of other releases from Mondo Macabro. The menus are nicely dine and feature animation and music. The movie is separated in 12 chapters, comes in a red keep case and without any inlay card or booklet.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2005. ©

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