Within only two years, director Luciano Ercoli directed two Gialli with a title beginning with "La Morte..."/"Death Walks..." and starring cult-cinema beauty Nieves Navarro - the near-brilliant "La Morte cammina con i tracci alti" (aka. "Death Walks On Highheels", 1971) and this one. (To be precise, he made three Gialli with Nieves Navarro, the first being "Forbidden Fotos of a Lady Above Suspicion" of 1970). I cannot deny that "La Morte accarezza a mezzanotte" aka. "Death Walks at Midnight" (1972) is a bit disappointing, especially if compared to the aforementioned film from a year earlier. "Death Walks At Midnight" also raises high hopes due to the two magnificent men who wrote the screenplay, Ernesto Gastraldi, who penned many great Gialli, including "Death Walks With Highheels" and Sergio Martino's masterpieces, and Spaghetti-Western deity Sergio Corbucci, director of "Django" and "The Great Silence". While the convoluted plot definitely has its highs, and even several downright ingenious moments, however, it is undeniable that it also has its lows, and that the film can't hold up to Ercoli's other Gialli.
While testing a new drug in the presence of her journalist boyfriend Gio (Simon Andreu), sexy model Valentina (Nieves Navarro, credited here as "Susan Scott") witnesses an exceptionally brutal murder from the window of her apartment. When she reports the crime, the incident is dismissed as a hallucination in a drugged state. By becoming a witness, however, the beautiful young woman has put her own life at risk... The storyline is nicely convoluted, though it has its lengths and is sometimes a bit too confused. The film has many rewarding elements, such as the usual nice visual style and great score of early 70s Gialli, a likable protagonist played by the ravishing Miss Navarro, a highly original murder-weapon, and lots of red herrings and flashbacks. It is also a bit annoying in some parts, the film is full of, mostly painful, 'jokes', it gets a bit boring in the middle and the investigating police are a bit too stupid and stubborn to be believed. The plot also has some logical holes, but, overall, it is interesting enough for a Giallo-fan. Personally, I didn't much like the first half of the film, but it really catches up later. Nieves Navarro is beautiful and great as always, Simón Andreu is cool enough as her journalist boyfriend, and the other cast-members all fit in well. Regular 'ugly psycho' cult-actor Luciano Rossi is once again typecast in a demented role. Overall, this is a recommendable film for my fellow Giallo-fans, though I would recommend "Death Walks On High Heels" ten times over this one.
While testing a new drug in the presence of her journalist boyfriend Gio (Simon Andreu), sexy model Valentina (Nieves Navarro, credited here as "Susan Scott") witnesses an exceptionally brutal murder from the window of her apartment. When she reports the crime, the incident is dismissed as a hallucination in a drugged state. By becoming a witness, however, the beautiful young woman has put her own life at risk... The storyline is nicely convoluted, though it has its lengths and is sometimes a bit too confused. The film has many rewarding elements, such as the usual nice visual style and great score of early 70s Gialli, a likable protagonist played by the ravishing Miss Navarro, a highly original murder-weapon, and lots of red herrings and flashbacks. It is also a bit annoying in some parts, the film is full of, mostly painful, 'jokes', it gets a bit boring in the middle and the investigating police are a bit too stupid and stubborn to be believed. The plot also has some logical holes, but, overall, it is interesting enough for a Giallo-fan. Personally, I didn't much like the first half of the film, but it really catches up later. Nieves Navarro is beautiful and great as always, Simón Andreu is cool enough as her journalist boyfriend, and the other cast-members all fit in well. Regular 'ugly psycho' cult-actor Luciano Rossi is once again typecast in a demented role. Overall, this is a recommendable film for my fellow Giallo-fans, though I would recommend "Death Walks On High Heels" ten times over this one.