Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro (1975)

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Umberto Lenzi (screenplay)
Umberto Lenzi (story)
(more)

Release Date:

June 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A stabbing nightmare becomes a living terror!

Plot:

Killer in red cape and hood is killing off tourists on a tour bus by gouging out thier eyeballs. |

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Cape | Eyeball | Red | Tourist

Cast

Martine Brochard	...	Paulette Stone
John Richardson	...	Mark Burton
Ines Pellegrini	...	Naiba Campbell
Andrés Mejuto	...	Inspector Tudela
Mirta Miller	...	Lisa Sanders
Daniele Vargas	...	Robby Alvarado
George Rigaud	...	Rev. Bronson
Silvia Solar	...	Gail Alvarado
Raf Baldassarre	...	Martinez - the tour guide
José María Blanco
Marta May	...	Alma Burton
John Bartha	...	Mr. Hamilton
Olga Pehar	...	Madre della seconda vittima
Verónica Miriel	...	Jenny Hamilton
Olga Montes
Richard Kolin	...	Mr. Randall
Rina Mascetti	...	Hospital Nurse
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	Policeman
Vittorio Fanfoni
Francesco Narducci	...	Receptionist at Hotel Presidente
Tom Felleghy	...	Coroner
Lorenzo Piani
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ted Rusoff	...	Martinez - the tour guide (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Umberto Lenzi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Umberto Lenzi		screenplay
Umberto Lenzi		story
Félix Tusell		screenplay
Félix Tusell		story

Produced by
Joseph Brenner	....	producer
José María Cunillés	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Bruno Nicolai

Cinematography by
Antonio Millán

Film Editing by
Amedeo Moriani

Costume Design by
Adriana Spadaro

Makeup Department
Mario Di Salvio	....	makeup artist
Alfredo Tiberi	....	makeup artist

Art Department
José Massagué	....	set designer

Sound Department
Umberto Picistrelli	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Francesco Narducci	....	still photographer

Production Companies

• National Cinematografica
• Pioneer
• Estela Films

Distributors

• Joseph Brenner Associates (1978) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Wm. Lange & Associates (1979) (USA: Midwest) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Creswin Distribution (1979) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Astro Distribution (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Castro Films S.A. (Spain)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Prism Entertainment Corporation (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• marketing-film

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack

Also Known As:

El ojo en la oscuridad (Spain)
Eyeball (USA)
The Devil's Eye
The Eye
The Secret Killer
Wide-Eyed in the Dark

Runtime:

Germany:90 min | Spain:97 min | USA:91 min | Italy:100 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 (new rating) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

National Cinematografica

Quotes:

Paulette Stone: I was like you... before this friend of mine ripped out my eye playing doctor with me... leaving an empty socket.

Movie Connections:

References Don't Look Now (1973)

Hey There Little Red Eye-Stabbing Hood…

"Eyeball" isn't the best film to use as an example to state that the Giallo is the greatest sub genre in horror, and it's neither the ideal effort to claim Umberto Lenzi was one of the greatest European directors of the 20th century. "Eyeball" is, in fact, a rather mediocre Giallo and definitely one of Lenzi's least remarkable films, but it nevertheless remains an entertaining treat for fans of sleazy, gory and trashy Euro-horror of the 1970's. Lucio Fulci may have had a bizarre fetish for eyeball-gore, but it was Lenzi who revolved an entire Giallo-storyline on it! Multiple eyeballs are being removed from their sockets here, so you can rest assured this film will be nasty enough to satisfy even the most demanding gorehounds. The rest of the film is actually not so praiseworthy at all. The plot is silly and incoherent, there's a severe lack of tension building and the dialogs are almost laughably ridiculous. After the discovery of the first murder victim, a woman who was found with multiple stabbing wounds in her chest and the left eyeball missing from the socket, a rookie police officer ask the autopsy doctor if he thinks the murderer is a sadist. Well, what do you think? The script is full of stupid remarks and dialogs like that, and they don't exactly increase the plausibility of the story. The plot introduces a group of tourists on a sightseeing tour in beautiful Barcelona. There's a couple of lesbian lovers, an adulterous businessman and his lovely secretary, an odd-behaving priest and a handful of other disposable American travelers. There also is a maniacal killer on the loose in the city and he/she is inevitably linked with the passengers of the tour bus, because his/her disguise is a red raincoat identical to the ones distributed among the tourists and the victims are either members of the bus party or locals that were in contact with them. Lenzi provides his script with a couple of admirable red herrings and misleading plot twists, but "Eyeball" sadly never becomes as engaging as a true Giallo should be. Especially the tourists' calm and careless reactions to the murders are very unbelievable. Even after several members of the group were found killed and their bodies mutilated, the remaining ones continue to separate themselves from the rest and some of them even attend cheerful Flamingo-dancing parties like nothing happened at all. Can you imagine people to react like this during a real-life situation? I bet real tourists would lock themselves up in their rooms and remain there until they can hop on the first available plane back home. Bruno Nicolai's score is catchy and enchanting, but I can't help thinking I heard the exact same tune somewhere before in another Italian horror, crime or western flick. Lenzi often recycles plot-ideas, ingenious camera angles and music so I wouldn't be surprised if the same score was already used in one of his previous films. The denouement is utterly silly and far-fetched but, hey, it was nearly impossible to predict and that's all that matters. The acting performances are terrible but at least the female stars compensate their lack of talent by showing off their ravishing naked bodies. Recommended in case you're a sucker for Italian cult flicks, all others beware.