Death Carries a Cane (1973)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Memorable, crazy movie

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

After witnessing a violent murder, a photographer tries to convince her boyfriend of the incident but gets nowhere until the killer starts killing off a series of regular interlopers in the case and forces the two to try to figure out the killer's identity before he targets them.This was a decent enough if flawed genre effort. What really tends to push this one along is the actual murder mystery that plays out which is a rather intriguing and engaging storyline. Initially appearing to be centered around the incidental tourist, the gradual reveal of the killers' vendetta against the ballerina company through the use of the mannequins being supplied by the boyfriend that ties everything together and brings them their involvement into the rampage. The build-up to this isn't that bad, from the discovery of the bodies and the revelation of the handicap that spurs the interest in the two and provides this with some decent red herrings. That also leads this one into some enjoyable stalking moments that have a lot to like, from the opening sequence involving the murderer striking which is seen through a telescope lens that runs out of time before the face can be seen, the stalking of a witness through a darkened hallway where the killer again strikes out of nowhere and the tense chase on city streets to get away from a location containing clues to their identity as they race to find a phone from which to call and report on their findings. The finale in the house where the killer appears is exceptionally fun as well with the blackout and misidentification of the killer and the resultant chase through the grounds out to the backyard which has a shockingly tense confrontation in the greenhouse to finally resolve matters. Alongside the nicely frequent nudity present here from the capable performers, these here are enough to hold it up over the problems present. The main issue at hand here is the fact that this one never really manages to offer any kind of enjoyable twist on the formulaic story presented. Once again this presents a film in which someone commits a murder seen only by the main character who has nobody else believe their story which is a rather flimsy pretext to start it off but it just dives into numerous cliches after that point. Rather than just dismiss the outrageous story as the ramblings of a deranged woman, erring on the side of caution with someone reporting such an incident would've generated a far more interesting story here due to plainly going around the familiar plotline that comes along. The other big problem is that this leaves the film rather bland during the investigation here without too many bodies to knock off which is what leaves the film to feel dragged-out in points that don't really need it. These here are what really hold this one down.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Language and several sex scenes.

The name Maurizio Pradeaux probably won't ever be written in the annals of cinematic history, but he will at least be remembered by the true lovers of Italian gialli for his two contributions "Death Steps in the Dark" and "Death Carries a Cane". The former was released in 1977, already after the heyday of the gialli, and tries to be successful through mixing the whodunit-mystery plot with slapstick elements. The latter is from the absolute peak-year 1973 and is an exemplary giallo from every possible viewpoint! The plot, the disguise and modus operandi of the killer, the red herrings, the gratuitous nudity … it's all prototypic and by-the-numbers giallo material. But personally I couldn't care less. Quite the contrary, in fact, I tremendously enjoyed "Death Carries a Cane" although – admittedly – the plot twists are slightly too transparent and I would have preferred an even higher body count. Whilst waiting for her lover, photographer Kitty looks through a tourist telescope and witnesses the brutal murder of a pretty girl by a maniac dressed in black. Nobody believes her, of course, and it takes quite a while before the police find the body. It even takes so long that the killer also has the time to eliminate two other witnesses, namely a chestnut vendor (no, it's not Tom Savini) and a greedy cleaning lady. Eventually another pretty ballerina gets killed and the police are on the lookout for a crippled killer, because they found the print of a cane in the blood. Kitty's lover Alberto is the prime suspect, because he's an artist who stabs mannequin dolls for pleasure and he just happened to hurt his ankle. It's actually rather easy to guess who the killer is, and I don't quite know if this is because I've seen far too many gialli, or because the plot is really predictable. I suppose option number two… Still, you have to watch this film for it's hilarious politically incorrect dialogs ("Take a look at my girlfriend's pictures, it's the only thing she does well aside from making love…"), the bloody razor blade massacres and the nudity provided by one-hit-wonder Anuska Borova!

I have to admit that Italian films never cease to surprise me almost every time. I didn't expect much of this movie and i wasn't disappointed at all. It's just a crazy Italian movie with a few intense scenes that'd work even today.Argento influence is certainly there and this isn't far from being a cult classic. Its plot just isn't solid enough and there are just too many scenes that make no sense at all. Even with all the flaws this movie is still fun to watch.I had no idea who the bad guy was before the finale because everyone seemed to have a cane at some occasion throughout the film.

This movie has all the elements of a good giallo, but it somehow manages to fumble every one of them. All gialli have ridiculously convoluted plots, but the plot of this movie could best be described as random and meandering, and it never succeeds in developing any real tension. While looking through a viewfinder in a park the heroine (Nieves Navarro) accidentally spots a woman being killed by a man with a cane and a straight razor. Suspicion falls on the heroine's boyfriend (the incredibly bland Robert Hoffman)even though his girlfriend is the only witness or potential witness(including a street vendor, a blackmailer, and a prostitute)who is NOT immediately murdered as well. Meanwhile, as the boyfriend is forced to investigate the murders to clear his own name, the killer also continues going after his main targets--pretty young women associated with a mysterious dance academy.There are way too many characters in this story (even a minor female journalist character has an identical twin sister for no good reason)and almost all of them carry a cane. (Be careful though because this is the kind of movie where even the cane itself might be a red herring). The final revelation of the motivation of the killer is always enjoyably ridiculous in gialli, but here it is just plain dumb. The only thing that might recommend this movie is the gratuitous nudity. EVERY woman that appears on the screen in this movie finds a reason to get naked (including a memorable scene where a ballerina suddenly decides to go topless during her routine). Even this becomes a liability, however--Nieves Navarro is actually a pretty good actress and I'm sure no one will complain about her two gratuitous sex scenes, but does she really need to stand out around bare-ass naked when all she's doing is discussing the case with her boyfriend? In its favor this movie DOES have some amount of visual style, and it will probably be looked on more favorably when it is released on legitimate DVD (which shouldn't be too long--THREE Nieves Navaro gialli have been released in the last six months). OK, not great.