The Weekend Murders (1970) User Reviews

Largelly successful Agatha Christie spoof Giallo

[The_Void · 7/10 · 8 June 2006]

Weekend Murders is one of the more hard to find Giallo films, and I find that rather surprising as the English countryside setting as well as the mystery plot that spoofs Agatha Christie stories means that it's actually one of the more accessible films of the genre. Despite the fact that Weekend Murders is an Italian production, director Michele Lupo has done a great job of creating a distinctly British atmosphere, and this could easily have been a British film were it not for the poor dubbing. Michele Lupo has a great sense of humour and he succeeds several times in lampooning the tradition that the film is spoofing, and Weekend Murders is a very funny film throughout. We open on a golf course where a leisurely game is interrupted by the discovery of a hand sticking out of a sandpit. It soon becomes obvious that the butler didn't do it because, contrary to the norm, he is the first to go! We soon move on to the first real plot building scene, which takes form in a will reading to the members of a wealthy estate. Aside from getting a few laughs, we are also given the knowledge that the owner of the estate's favourite daughter is to inherit everything, much to the dismay of the rest of the house.

Most of the humour in the film comes from the seemingly inept local policeman played by Gastone Moschin. His character soon hooks up with the self proclaimed ace Scotland Yard Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival), and their double act forms the backbone of the movie. The two pair up well actually, and their exchanges work because the two characters are so different. Unfortunately, the rest of the support cast isn't so memorable; and while none of them put in particularly bad performances - there isn't a real standout either. The film also has a few plot problems, as the focus isn't always on the mystery and the exchanges between the members of the house are often redundant and not relevant to the central theme. The mystery itself is rather bare, and although clever at the conclusion - the plot is not the labyrinth that I have come to expect from Giallo's. After spoofing just about every mystery cliché in existence, it is fitting that the common revealing scene at the end is also lampooned by Lupo, and while the identity of the murderer is actually rather obvious; at least the reasons behind it make some sort of sense. Worth tracking down!

Hey, there.......do you fancy being in the movie?

[freemanist · 6/10 · 26 February 2005]

If anyone out there has this on DVD give it a close look from the start. Why? Well, my Dad is in it!!!!! The stately home scenes were part shot at Somerleyton Hall, not far from where we live. Anyway, when my Dad and his brother, simply riding by and puzzled by a crowd, stopped the car to see what all the commotion was about, a back-combed sycophant suddenly appeared, carrying a clipboard and asked if they could spare a few moments to fill a couple of subsidiary roles.

Hey presto, the old man became the young dark haired stretcher bearing ambulance man and his brother became a taxi driver (although his scene was cut). They were given exceptional 24 hour equity memberships (the actors union) and were dismissively paid about £10 each for their trouble - not bad for 1970!!! They were also told that the working title of the film was "Weekend Murders" but it might have some kind of Italian title upon release.

Their abiding memory was of Lance Percival (English comedian & actor on the fringe of the "carry on" team, popular 1960's/1970's) being locked in the portable toilet by one of the sound crew.

There you go - a bit of movie trivia for you.

A fun Agatha Christie-style murder mystery.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 18 March 2018]

A group of relatives gather at the family estate for the reading of the will of the late Sir Henry. When the entire fortune is left to niece Barbara (Anna Moffo), one of the occupants of the house turns to murder. It is up to local bobby Aloisius Thorpe (Gastone Moschin) and Scotland Yard Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival) to crack the case.

Italian murder mystery The Weekend Murders is often classed as a giallo, but I don't think it really qualifies as such: its English setting and typical Agatha Christie style 'whodunnit' plot make it far too British in tone for it to be a part of the giallo genre. Admittedly, director Michele Lupo throws in a few typically Italian flourishes - most notably, rapid zooms and jump cuts (to the strains of Tchaikovsky and the sound of gun shots!)- but there is little else to link it to the ultra violent, style-over-substance world of shadowy leather-gloved maniacs stalking sexy female victims.

The films 'Ten Little Indians'-style structure holds very few surprises, but the excellent cast make this fun to watch despite the predictability, with the amusing dynamic between the pompous detective Grey and the actually-cleverer-than-he-seems Thorpe making for a whole lot of fun. Chris Chittell, as emotionally disturbed Georgie, is also worth a mention, his deranged character a prime suspect, while the ravishing Orchidea de Santis, as Evelyn, the maid, is worth keeping an eye on for very different reasons.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Interesting blend of genres--and a great cast

[lazarillo · 8 July 2010]

Agatha Christie mysteries and Italian gialli may have some things in common, but they're also very different. First off, gialli are really "mass-murder mysteries", whereas only a few Agatha Christie mysteries really fit that description(the most famous being her seminal "Ten Little Indians"). Moreover, Agatha Christie mysteries are very mannered and British while Italian gialli are very over-the-top and usually chock-full of lurid sex and violence. This movie is impressive, therefore, because it manages to successfully combine the two styles (much like Mario Bava's "Five Dolls for an August Moon"). It has a typical Agatha Christie set-up with various grasping relatives gathered at a remote country estate to hear a will, but like a giallo, it's also full of ridiculously shifty characters, sexual perversity, OTT crash-zooms, and overly dramatic music.

Perhaps, even more impressive, it's one of the few gialli to successfully incorporate (completely intentional) black comedy. It really plays with the conventions of the mystery genre--the first person killed is the butler (so he didn't do it), and the Scotland Yard detective (Lance Percival) turns out to be an inept bumbler while the thick-looking local bobby (Gaston Moschin) turns out to be quite clever. Being a giallo though, it also has certain stock "giallo-esque" characters like an impotent, virginal mama's boy (Chris Chittel) who likes fake bloody suicides and a black woman(Beryl Cunningham)who is married to one of the family members and (naturally) is the most sexually predatory of the characters--with the possible exception of the saucy maid (Orchidea DeSantis).

This has a great cast including Eveline Stewart, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, and American Peter Baldwin who were in any number of 60's and 70's Italian films. Gaston Moschin (who is GREAT here) was usually in Italian crime thrillers, but also had an important part in the "The Godfather 2". The sexy Beryl Cunningham was in "Crimes of the Black Cat", and the even sexier Orchidea DeSantis played all kinds of sexy roles in all kinds of sexy Italian movies. Even the English actors are familiar--Lance Percival was a big comedy actor in Britain at the time and Christopher Chittel was in another movie very much like this called "Erotic Inferno", except that it was a softcore porn movie with Mary Millington! (VERY few actors have ever appeared in both Italian giallo thrillers AND Mary Millington sex comedies). This has just received a superior release by Code Red. I would definitely check it out.

Comic murder mystery is unusual and great fun

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 3 December 2016]

Here's a weird one - an Italian comedy/giallo crossbreed, filmed in Britain with a mainly Italian cast. However, the gambit pays off, and despite the predictable reading-of-the-will-followed-by-rash-of-murders premise, the film remains fresh and engaging up until the final unmasking. Surprisingly, the comic aspects of the script are in fact more entertaining than the more typical gloved killer antics, and in particular Gastone Moschin's portrayal of the bumbling but not altogether dense bobby Sergeant Thorpe is a delight. Moschin's cache of puzzled expressions, bizarre mannerisms, and awkward words is a delight, and his role is a pivotal one. Moschin never fails to be funny and his performance alone makes the film worthwhile.

The rest of the Italian cast are all fine in their respective roles, and there's time for appearances from Beryl Cunningham - a hot black Euro-starlet at the time - and the British Lance Percival, who also excels as Scotland Yard's Superintendent Grey, and frequently gets to engage in amusing banter with Moschin. The characters are varied and interesting, with a fair assortment of weirdos (especially "Georgie", with his mother fixation) and icy Italian beauties - namely Ida Galli. The script mixes in red herrings and practical jokes involving staged murders with the real deaths to further muddy the plot, and while the film is neither gory nor violent - and, let's face it, there's not a lot of action either - it doesn't need to be. The comedy, for a change, is what helps the film stay watchable.

The film is as stylish as usual for an Italian giallo, with lots of neat directorial flourishes, and you don't get much more classy than the opening discover of a murder when a hand is unearthed in a golf course much to the assembled's consternation. However, I could have done without the occasional moments that director Michele Lupo decides to use his camera like a trombone and make the audience feel giddy into the bargain! My favourite scene comes when the seemingly incompetent Thorpe displays his genius by explaining a particularly elaborate suicide set-up involving a gunshot recording, a dumb waiter, and resin from a silencer. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and often hilarious experience, although to give fair warning those expecting anything like a "serious" Italian genre film will be severely disappointed - the film-makers here know their premise is clichéd, so have all the fun they can at the story's expense.

Enjoyable Whodunit Romp

[acidburn-10 · 7/10 · 14 February 2023]

'The Weekend Murders' is a fun little Italian Giallo flick that combines elements of whodunit, mystery/thriller, and comedy into something quite different and unique for the genre. Due to its rather light-hearted tone, the movie is severely lacking in suspense, but there is just enough to enjoy here with its cast of colourful characters, well-crafted mystery, and stylish direction by Michele Lupo. All of which makes this an entertaining viewing experience.

The plot = Family members goes to a British estate to attend the reading of a will of Sir Henry and while there they are murdered one by one.

I have heard a lot of good things about this with many calling it an underrated masterpiece in the Giallo genre and while I thought it was good it was nowhere near a lost classic. The movie was just fine, but I found the pacing sagged a little and it could have done with more interesting murder set pieces to really elevate it. The comedy was very hit and miss, but the script was well written and does have moments of brilliance with its effective use of red herrings and a couple of engaging sequences.

The cast were strong with several interesting characters with standout performances from Anna Moffo, Evelyn Stewart, Peter Baldwin, Gastone Moschin, Christopher Chittell and Marisa Fabbri.

Overall 'The Weekend Murders' is not quite a classic and if you're looking for something more in line with the usual Giallo tropes, then you'll be sorely disappointed, but other than that it's a fun little romp that deserves to be viewed at least once.

Homage to Agatha Christie

[thalassafischer · 6/10 · 12 May 2023]

The Weekend Murders is disconcertingly British. It's not just that this Italian giallo is in UK English but that the setting, style and even the lame quaint humor are all indicative of a mid-century cozy English mystery-comedy.

I must say that i was completely taken by surprise by who the murderer is and what method they used. However, this isn't unusual in Agatha Christie mysteries which totally cheat and throw so many red herrings at the reader that the end is usually a nice surprise. Either you get it or you don't, no review on Earth will talk someone into the sheer relaxing enjoyment of watching a formulaic mystery set on a European estate where you'll never be able to figure out the murderer by discerning the clues.

This effort is solid, the cinematography and musical score are lovely, but in a very mainstream MGM sort of way.

Agatha Christie giallo

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 19 June 2020]

Known in Italy as Concerto per Pistola Solista (Concert for Solo Gun), this Michele Lupo (Arizona Colt) film takes place in England instead of the Italy we've come to depend on for our giallo adventures.

As a family comes to an estate for the reading of the will of Henry Carter, Second Earl of Vale, and get murdered one after the other. Is it because his niece Barbara got all of his money? Was the sniper who killed the butler trying to shoot her all along? Did the makers of Knives Out watch this and figure that everyone would think they were making an Agatha Christie film and not aping a giallo?

Inspector Grey, who takes the case, is played by Lance Percival, who was the voice of Paul and Ringo in Yellow Submarine. Beryl Cunningham (So Sweet, So Dead) and Marisa Fabbri (Rabid Dogs) also appear.

Chris Chittell plays George, who is pretty much the villain of this movie. You may remember him from The Wild Geese and They Call Him Cemetery. There's a scene where he decides to sexually assault one of the maid, who tells him he could have just asked and she would have given in. They end up making love, but visions of his overbearing mother lead to more bloodshed. Ah 1970! What a time you were for things no one would try in a movie today.

Ida Galli, who also used the name Evelyn Stewart, is on hand. She was in Special Mission Lady Chaplin, Footprints on the Moon and The Case of the Scorpion's Tail.

This might not be my favorite giallo of all time, but it's fine for what it is. It's closer to a detective tale with some trapping of pre-Argento and much Christie influence. It's not bad, but I just demand more weirdness from my murder movies.

Watch Agatha Christie instead

[wmschoell · 2/10 · 26 October 2019]

An Italian take-off on a country estate mystery of the type done by Agatha Christie, but while this has possibilities be warned that it's rather slow and foolish and really isn't worth nearly two hours of your time. The film's composer simply changes a few notes and uses Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto No. One" as his theme music. The movie has no style and is not memorable.

Quirky, beautiful, giallo

[Bezenby · 8/10 · 5 December 2018]

A success in just about every aspect, The Weekend Murders is a good old Giallo with a healthy does of humour thrown for good measure. Nice!

It's one of those 'reading of the will' type set-ups too, with a family converging on an English manor to find out if they are going to get any of the loot. Relatives of the deceased Earl are daughter Ida Galli, niece Barbara (or something), Nephew Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and a few other that I'll stop naming because I got bored. Of note is the crazed Georgie, who keeps pranking the group by pretending to be murdered, dresses up in full Giallo uniform (black gloves etc), and keeps hallucinating his mother.

Gastone Moschin is the local seemingly bungling policeman who, in attendance at the reading of the will, learns that all the money has been left to the Earl's niece. This leaves the rest of the family furious, and when the fake killings stop and the real ones start, it's up to Gastone to get to the bottom of the problem. Only thing is, he's got a detective from Scotland Yard with him who doesn't think Gastone is up to the job. Oh, and when the butler is found dead, someone quips "At least they can't say the butler did it!"

It's mostly played for laughs, so don't expect gore and sex, but everything else is so well done and presented the whole thing was a delight to watch. Gastone Moschin, most famous for being The Black Hand in the Godfather Two, is brilliant here as the cop who comes across as harmless and clumsy, but who turns out to be smarter than all those supposedly in the Upper Classes who look down on him. The expression he wears on his face the entire time is priceless. The whole look of the film is a stand-out too, with inventive camera angles and a slightly psychedelic vibe to everything.

It also has a bit of social commentary thrown in too - Just see the scene where Giacomo Rossi Stuart reveals his new wife is black. Michele Lupo was a talented man, no doubt.

italian agatha christie take off

[emrio-1 · 30 September 2002]

This is a take off of the agatha christie type films done in the italian style and set in a statley home in britian.It is great fun and should be seen.Great use of classical music,zoom shots,red herrings and a little bit of the naughty..i mean a little bit,it was early 70s. great apperance by ballard barclay,the major in fawlty towers.It will not set the world on fire but you could do worse. Out of ten,say seven

Well, at least the butler didn't do it

[Coventry · 8/10 · 24 June 2015]

"Weekend Murders" perfectly summarizes all the reasons why Italian gialli-movies made between 1970 and 1980 are my absolute favorite type of horror flicks! Surely this little flick steals ideas of several other classics, surely it's incredibly absurd and far- fetched, and surely it isn't that well-made… But, come on, you just have to discover how much fun and exhilaration this crazy little whodunit thriller provides! "Weekend Murders" is basically a spoof of an Agatha Christie story, particularly "Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None", and thus definitely not your standard type of giallo, however the highly imaginative murder methods and bizarrely eccentric characters are maintained. And then there's something else that usually never features in gialli, namely lots and lots of humor! Director Michele Lupo – mostly known for his numerous Terence Hill & Bud Spencer action/comedy vehicles – marvelously succeeds in narrating the tale of jealousy, family hatred and murder in a very light-headed fashion, with special thanks to a handful of delightfully funny dialogs and a cast full of respectable names with (hidden) comedy talents. Gastone Moschin, for example, whom I only knew from the raw and violent crime thriller "Milano Calibro .9", here demonstrates his comedy skills together with the textbook British Lance Percival. Speaking of textbook British, "Weekend Murders" is probably the only Italian film that successfully manages to look authentically British (aside from the dubbing) with gloomy land houses, stereotypically well-mannered characters and oppressed humor. The film creatively opens somewhere halfway in the plot, in fact. When a lifeless body is discovered in the sandpit of a golf course, local police sergeant Aloisius Thorpe reminds his Scotland Yard colleague that this is already the third vicious murder in three days. So we go back in time and get acquainted with the remaining members of the Carter family and their partners. They have gathered in the old family home for the reading of the will of their deceased patriarch. Like often the case with inheritances and greedy relatives, most of them aren't too happy with the outcome. Soon after the first murder takes place and this indirectly leads to what I personally find the most hilarious part of the movie. For you see, the first victim is Peter butler, so one of the characters makes the incredibly dry and witty remark: "Well, at least this time nobody can say that the butler did it". Anyways, more murders follow, but Sergeant Thorpe certainly isn't as dim-witted as he looks and impressively gets closer and closer to capturing the killer. For my liking, the body count easily could (and should) have been a bit higher, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ingenious unfolding of the mystery and by the revelation of the killer's identity + modus operandi. If all this isn't persuasive enough just yet, "Weekend Murders" also has an awesome score, with a fantastic reworking of the catchy classical music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and stars a few couple of really ravishing actresses (Ida Gallo, Anna Mofo, Beryl Cunningham, Orchidea de Santis). It exists on DVD, what are you waiting for?

...And Then There Were None.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 26 April 2011]

When a friend showed me the trailer to this film,I was surprised at how different this looked to any of the other films in the Giallo genre that I had seen.

One of the things that I noticed from the trailer was,that the film seemed to have been inspired by the works of novelist Agatha Christie and with having enjoyed watching the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films with my dad over the years,I felt that this was defiantly a film that was worth watching.

The Plot:

At a family gathering to hear the will of a recently deceased wealthy relative,the local police officer (sgt . Aloisius Thorpe) at the village near by the deceases mansion, (where all his family are gathered to hear the will) decides to pay a visit to make sure that the reading of the will goes as smoothly as possible.

After the reading (which has angered most of the family,due to almost all of them hardly getting anything at all,apart from the one who looked after him for the last three years of his life,who has inherited most of his huge estate.)As Thorpe starts to leave the family and the mansion behind,he is shocked to discover the dead body of the mansions butler!.Realiseing something foul may be afoot Thorpe gets some detectives from Scotland Yard to come down to help him investigate this strange death.With everyone being told to stay at the mansion for the next few days,due to the investigation of the murder,the police are almost stunned into silence,when they find another dead body,which is this time one of the family members (Ted Collins).

As more dead bodies start to pile up,and the police begin to suspect that a killer may be loose in the mansion,Aloisius Thorpe decides that he has had enough of trying to follow loose ends,and that he is instead going to do a complete search of the mansion and its surroundings.When Thorpe finds out that before he died the wealthy relative had become obsessed with star gazing from the tallest plier in the mansion.This leads Thorpe to thinking that along with looking up in the sky to gaze at the stars,he may also be able to look down,to gaze at the murderer...

View on the film:

The first people who I feel should be massively praised for the film are the DVD company Code Red who,instead of letting this extremely strong Giallo fade away into complete obscurity,have into brought the film right back to the present,with a DVD that is filled with fantastic special features.

With the screenplay,writers Fabio Pittorru,Massimo Felisatti and Sergio Donati surprisingly stay away from most of the ingredients that Giallo films are famous for,with no sign of any black gloves at all!,they instead go for a much more "traditional" English mystery plot,that feels as if this is a film that could have an adaptation of a long lost Agatha Christie novel.

This Giallo also has the unique distinction of perhaps,being the only Giallo that would be perfectly suitable for the whole family to watch (from age 8 to 80!),due to its fun light breezy feel,that has something for everyone.For the music,composer Francesco De Masi has written a very enjoyable score,which has a main theme that will be stuck in your head for days!.

Although the screenplay mostly stays away from the style,the fantastic directing from Michele Lupo injects an excellent Giallo feel into the film,with a very good use of jump cuts and whip-pans,that help to show the uneasiness that all of the family have for each other.

Final view on the film:

A fantastic,very different Giallo, that the whole family can enjoy!

"Please Forgive Me, I'm A Little Overwrought!"... "Explain Yourself, Sonny Jim!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 1 February 2020]

THE WEEKEND MURDERS gets underway as a body is discovered buried in a sand trap at a posh, private golf club. The police reveal that it is the latest in a series of murders.

A flashback introduces us to the Carter family, gathered at the vast Carter estate for the reading of their dearly departed relative, Sir Henry Carter's will. Of course, the inheritance isn't distributed in a manner that pleases everyone. Well, okay, it pleases no one, except for an inept, flower-loving policeman, Sergeant Aloisius Thorpe (Gastone Moschin), and Sir Henry's Niece, Barbara Worth (Anna Moffo). The rest of the family is bitter to say the least, and it's not long before the bodies start popping up all over the grounds!

With greed, jealousy, and treachery in the air, a mansion full of suspects, and a pair of bungling coppers on the case, this movie is enjoyable on several levels. Part "old dark house" mystery, part giallo, and all comedy, this movie manages to parody its subject matter while still respecting it.

Co-stars Ida Galli as Isabelle Carter, and Giacomo Rossi Stuart as Ted Collins.

On a personal note: I didn't figure it all out until the very end. I like that in a movie!...

I love it...british comedy whodunnit meets italian giallo

[gorytus-20672 · 10/10 · 22 April 2021]

Apr 2021

How best to describe this wonderful film, it is a british comedy whodunnit meets an italian giallo and it works brilliantly.

Lance Percival represents the british actors along with Ballard Berkeley from Fawlty towers plus a couple of others, most of the cast are Italian actors who would see in a giallo such as Evelyn Stewart. We do get a couple of American actors too.

Great fun, it all works for lovers of the giallo and lovers of a british whodunnit comedy.

If you are unfamiliar with the actors then you would assume they are all British, the film is very well dubbed and can now be brought on blu ray, so is a little bit easier to get hold of now.

10 out of 10.