The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971)

I love this movie so much

Absolutely Fantastic

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

****SPOILERS**** In this blood splattering Gaillo flick it's greed and money more then anything else that motivates the killer to do in his victims then the usual failed love triangle or him being mistreated as a youth, by not getting a birthday or Christmas present, that you would expect in movies like this. It starts with death of businessman Kurt Baumer in a suspected bombing of the passenger plane-by a suspected like ISIS terrorist group no less-he was in, with the plane looking like a toy model, over the Pacific. It's Kurt's old lady Lisa who ends up getting one million dollars in insurance who's suspected by insurance agent Peter Lynch of somehow, he just can't put the finger on it, of having Kurt done him in.Meanwhile Lisa is stalked by this down and out on his luck junkie Phillip, her former lover, for cash to pay for his drugs who's later found dead when Lisa went to pay him off. As for Lisa herself she also ends up murdered by the same person who killed junkie Phillip when she flew to Athens Greece, from Rome Italy, to cash the million dollar check and take a flight to Tokyo. In order for her to split it with what seamed like the person who made all this good fortune possible, by knocking off Kurt and Phillip, for her. Things pick up when insurance investigator Lynch gets hooked up with reporter Cleo Dupont whom he not only falls in love with but later saves her life from the killer.***SPOILERS*** It's much later that both Lynch and Cleo go on a boat trip to an out of the way Greek island, oh how romantic, for both fun and games that the truth behind all these murders finally comes to light. And it's Cleo by doing a little scuba diving who not only uncovers the missing million dollars in cash but the person who stole it from Lisa Baumer after he murdered her! It was in fact a scorpion trinket found at Lisa's hotel room in Athens as well as a matching one in her late husband Kurt mansion back in Rome that lead, thus the movie's title "Case of the Scorpion's Tale", to the killer. That's after he also murdered the two other persons Lara Florakis and her burly bodyguard Sharif who could prove that Kurt's death wasn't an accident.

A fine Martino outing, this is a spirited and enjoyable giallo with fine performances from good looking cast and principally the two leads, George Hilton and Anita Strindberg.For me the jig-saw puzzle of a plot is so convoluted and confusing you just sit back and enjoy rather than try to anticipate. Just when all seems resolved we are again taken on a further series of twists, enjoyable twists, it has to be said.Sexy with plenty of gory kills this a well paced movie with London, Athens and Greek coastal locations. A super finale set upon Aegean rocks wraps things up and much fun was had by all.

I'm American so when dealing with foreign films, I'm willing to accept it when not all of the pieces fall exactly into place (especially in light that some things can become lost in translation from the original script to the English dubbing and/or subtitles), but this film leaves so many loose ends behind that it's difficult not to be feel a bit cheated at the end. However, it does provide giallo fans with exactly what they want and expect to see, so it's not exactly a total washout, either. After an (obvious toy) airplane explosion kills her husband Kurt, London socialite Lisa Baumer ("Evelyn Stewart"/Ida Galli, who was used to much better effect in the underrated MURDER MANSION) is set to inherit one million dollars from an insurance policy. Not an ideal wife to begin with (she's in bed with one of her many lovers when she hears the "bad" news), we get the strong feeling that Lisa's days are seriously numbered and get an even stronger impression of this when an ex-lover who tries to blackmail her is knifed to death inside her apartment. Lisa flees to Athens, Greece to both escape the killer and cash in the policy but is trailed by several characters; including Interpol agent Stavros (Luigi Pistilli) and insurance investigator Peter Lynch (George Hilton), both of whom seem to think that Lisa was somehow involved with planting explosives on the airplane. While in Greece, Lisa also meets up with her hubby's obnoxious short-fused mistress Lara (Janine Reynaud), who demands half the money... or else. Lara sends her "lawyer" Sharif (Luis Barboo) after Lisa with a switchblade, but Peter shows up just in time to save. A bit flustered, Lisa goes ahead and cashes the policy in, books an evening flight out to Tokyo and decides to spend her few hours left in Greece all alone in her hotel room. Big mistake. Someone dressed in the standard mad killer outfit (black outfit, leather gloves and mask), sneaks in, slashes her throat, guts her and walks away with her bag of money.  A few more characters are introduced (including blonde Anita Strinberg as a journalist who hooks up with Peter), there are several more murders (including a memorable close-up eyeball gouging with a shard of glass) and the plot twists are laid on thick and heavy (handed). And, oh yeah... the scorpion of the title refers to a cuff-link left behind at the scene of an attack, which seems to have belonged to Lisa's (dead?) husband.In all honesty, I had a difficult time dealing with some of the plot holes and multiple loose ends in the story. Some of the twists (particularly the identity of the mystery killer) are in annoying defiance to what we've already seen and don't make much sense. But as expected, the murder scenes are directed, lit and photographed with some style. The occasional cool green and red lighting brightens things up considerably. There's also one scene that Argento lifted wholesale for SUSPIRIA, as the killer teasingly tries to open a lock from between a crack in the door with a knife blade. Gore-wise, it is barely sufficient if you don't mind bright red blood. The cast is decent, with Hilton and Strindberg very attractive leads, though there's far less nudity here than in similar movies, with only Anita providing some brief topless nudity. Good score by Bruno Nicolai. Overall it's about average from what I've seen in the genre.

La Coda Dello Scorpione (a.k.a. Case of the Scorpion's Tail) was director Sergio Martino's follow-up to the wonderful giallo Strano vizio della Signora Wardh. This is the quintessential giallo, featuring all the aspects fans of the genre have come to know and love. Twisty plot, beautiful girls, black gloves, sharp blades, and a bit of gore all come together to make one heck of a piece of Italian exploitation.A group of gialli favorites, both in front of and behind the camera, work to make this one of the best non-Argento gialli around. There's the aforementioned Martino adding his touches as director, giallo great Ernesto Gastaldi as the writer, Bruno Nicolai creating the music, and a host of giallo stars and starlets, such as George Hilton, character actor Luigi Pistilli, and the fetching Anita Strindberg.With all this talent behind it, does Scorpione deliver? You bet. The film works on many different levels. It's a thrilling murder mystery, a tense and violent horror film, and a suspenseful thriller. All in all one of the best gialli around.Martino definitely knows what fans want when it comes to gialli. At some points in the film, he almost seems to be channeling Argento in his approach. For example, there is a direct rip-off of the scene in Bird With the Crystal Plumage where the killer tries to break through the door, that actually outdoes Argento's flick.Are there any problems with the flick? Hmmm... only minor ones. First, any scenes that aren't following the murders or the budding romance between the two leads begin to bore. But just before you fall asleep, the killer will pop out of nowhere and you'll be right back in the swing of things.Also, towards the end, the twists get a little too bizarre. I mean, what purpose did the scorpion pins really serve? If you don't play close attention to the dialogue, you could easily become lost with the twisting, weaving storyline.But these minor quibbles aside, La Coda Dello Scorpione is a tense, suspenseful, classy and all around entertaining film for giallo fans. Seek it out!