Morirai a Mezzanotte
Directed by Lamberto Bava
Reviewed by Deep Red
Aka Carol Will Die at Midnight aka Midnight Horror aka Midnight Ripper
Giallo directed by Lamberto Bava, son of Mario Bava. Lamberto Bava is one of my favourite directors. I’ve seen Macabre (1980), A Blade in the Dark (1983), Demons (1985), Demons 2 (1986) and this up to now.
Leonardo Treviglio plays Nicola Levi, a cop whose wife, Sara, is cheating on him. He follows her to a lingerie shop and then watches her get into a car with a stranger. When she gets home they have a violent argument and Nicola leaves. His wife is then brutally murdered by a black-gloved killer. Nicola then arrives at the home of Anna Berardi (Valeria D’Obici), a criminal psychologist, he tells her about the argument with Sara. While Nicola’s with Anna, Inspector Pierro Terzi (Paolo Malco) phones and tells her that Sara has been stabbed and killed. Terzi, who suspects Nicola, asks for Anna’s help. Anna believes Nicola is innocent. Anna suspects Franco Tribbo (Peter Pitsch), the “Midnight Ripper”, a serial killer who is supposed to have died in a fire 8 years before but whose body was never identified.
Terzi’s daughter Carol (Lara Wendel) sees the “Midnight Ripper” in a museum. Carol and her friends, Gioia (Lea Martino) and Monica ( Eliana Miglio), go to stay at an empty hotel….
Very impressive giallo. Very impressive film. Ardent Giallo fans will lap it up, it’s breezy, stunning and vicious in all the right places. I personally didn’t see the twist coming, a genuine surprise. This needs a Blu-ray release A.S.A.P. so fans can see it at its very best. Recommending it? Well, do you like films like Tenebrae (1982), The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971), Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)? If you do, then I can see no reason why Midnight Killer (1986) wouldn’t appeal to you. I love A Blade in the Dark (1983) too, also directed by Lamberto Bava, so this just blew me away as it’s even better. I’m not sure if this was uncut or not, it really isn’t easy to tell, but I thoroughly enjoyed the film so if it is then there’s just an even better version out there somewhere; it didn’t seem to be cut. Great cinematography, I thought the cast was great, I enjoyed the tension and the violence, just loved this film. Love Lamberto Bava.
Fans of Italian cinema will recognise Gianpaolo Saccarola (The House by the Cemetery ’81) as the theatre caretaker.
