Death Walks at Midnight (1972) User Reviews

You Might Need H.D.S. To Figure This One Out...

[ferbs54 · 6/10 · 5 March 2008]

Following such marvelous gialli as 1970's "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" and 1971's "Death Walks on High Heels," director Luciano Ercoli, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, and actors Susan Scott and Simon Andreu reunited one more time, and the result, 1972's "Death Walks at Midnight," although perhaps the least of the three films, is another winning entertainment, nevertheless. In this one, Scott plays a gorgeous redheaded model, Valentina, who becomes the willing test subject of a new hallucinogen, H.D.S. During her trip, she sees a spike-gloved killer mutilate a young girl across the way...a murder that, as it turns out, actually transpired six months earlier! Holy flashback! And from this bizarre setup, things get progressively stranger, as said killer starts to stalk Valentina all over the streets of Milan. Anyway, perhaps I'm a little slow on the ol' rebop, but I had to watch this picture almost three full times before it began to make a bit of sense to me. The plot is a bit convoluted, to say the least, and whereas in most gialli I make an attempt (usually a fruitless one) to spot the killer, here, I was hard pressed just to barely keep up. Still, brain twisting as the film is, it did, ultimately, kinda sorta make sense to me (just don't ask me to explain it out loud!). And the picture does have a lot going for it: stylish direction, beautiful photography of the city of Milan and its countryside, yet another supersexy performance from Susan Scott, a catchy score by Gianni Ferrio, several (not overly) gory homicides, and a furious rooftop dukeout to cap off the film. Drug dealers, a mental institution, a pot party, groovy discos, a couple of cute little Japanese kids, a murder attempt in a cemetery, and a bloody cat all, ultimately, get thrown into the mix. Yes, this IS one heady giallo. And the great-looking DVD from No Shame that I just watched does it justice indeed.

Spanish/Italian Giallo plenty of killings , thrills , twists and turns

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 18 February 2012]

Italian/Spanish co-production dealing with a killing spree with several suspects . It concerns on Valentina (Nieves Navarro and Susan Scott) a gorgeous and spunky fashion model living in Milan . Valentina proofs an experimental hallucinogenic drug and while influenced by the doses , she has a vision of a woman being cruelly killed by an ominous murderous . Valentina finds herself pursued by the same murderer with a spiked glove . It begins with the mysterious death of a woman and continues spirals into the killing . Meanwhile a journalist (Simon Andreu) becomes companion and protector the cover-up who is being continuously stalked .

This Giallo contains suspense , thrills, chills , intrigue and plot twists . Luciano Ercoli's great success is compellingly directed with well staged murders plenty of startling visual content , though was submitted to limited censorship in Spain . This is a customary slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . The picture packs atmospheric blending of eerie thrills and creepy chills combined with a twisted finale . It displays lots of blood but it seems pretty mild compared to today's gore feasts . It's a solid movie , a thrilling story plenty of suspense and intrigue in which the victims seem to be continuous . The staged killings are the high points of the movie , they deliver the goods plenty of screams, shocks and tension . The intriguing moments are compactly made and fast moving ; as the film itself takes place from various points of sights . It packs tension, shocks , thrills , chills and lots of blood . There're brief moments of gore as the killing with the spiked glove and a number of scenes that are quite thrilling , resulting to be definitely the spotlight of the film the surprising ending situation . Written by the usuals , Ernesto Gastaldi and Sergio Corbucci , a good director of Spaghetti Western . Good ambiance design and acceptable production design by Eduardo De La Torre Fuente. Luciano Ercoli's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and more inclined toward violence and lots of killings . It's a co-production Italian-Spanish filmed in Alfonso Balcazar studios (Barcelona)and De Paolis (Rome) , for that reason appears Spanish actors as Nieves Navarro , Simon Andreu and Italian players as Ivano Staccioli, Luciano Rossi and the recently deceased Peter Martellanza or Peter Martell , both of whom ordinary baddies in Spaghetti Western . Colorful cinematography by Fernando Arribas who photographed splendidly city of Milan where is developed the action . However , the photography is washed-out and for that reason is necessary an urgent remastering . Atmospheric and commercial musical score by Gianni Ferrio .

The picture is regularly directed by producer/filmmaker Luciano Ercoli. Talented and versatile Ercoli has produced/directed a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, Giallo and Western, in a middling career . He produced a trilogy for Duccio Tessari formed by two Western as ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, ¨The return of Ringo¨ and ¨Kiss, Kiss , Bang , Bang¨ , the latter is set in modern times and deal with a heist . All of them are amusing and entertaining and starred by similar cast as Giuliano Gemma , Fernando Sancho , Lorella De Luca and Nieves Navarro who married the producer Luciano Ercoli . He also produced the Giallo trilogy starred by Simon Andreu and his wife Susan Scott formed by ¨Death walks on high heels¨ , ¨The forbidden photos of a lady above of suspicion¨, and ¨Death walks at midnight¨. Rating: Acceptable and passable , this is one imaginative slasher picture in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with acceptable visual skills though contains some flaws and gaps . This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to hardcore Gialli fans

Don't bow to peer pressure, kids

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 10 November 2017]

If you have a daughter make sure she's not dumb enough to end up with a partner like this. Valentina is a fashion model (this is a giallo, after all) whose journalist boyfriend manages to talk her into taking an experimental LSD-like drug for the sake of a magazine article. He assures her she'll be wearing a mask and a doctor will administer the drug, but once she's high as a kite he takes the mask off and starts taking pictures of her. While she's ripped to the nines and well muntered, larging it the 'nth' degree and chewing her cheeks, she also has some sort of vision where she sees a man punching a woman in the face over and over again with a spiked glove.

Thinking it was all part of the trip, the next day she gets sacked from her job and finds her face plastered all over her boyfriend's magazine. She also finds out the 'doctor' was a doorman, goes mental, and throws a brick through her boyfriend's window. Then she starts seeing that killer around the place, and it seems that not only did she not hallucinate a murder, but the drug might have triggered a repressed memory of murder she may have witnessed six months before – and it gets even more complicated than that!

We know the killer right from the start, but we have no idea who he is, what he's up to, or why someone is in a loony bin for a murder he seemingly committed! Many other characters turn up to badger Valentino, and two very shifty gentlemen, including a knife throwing, giggling Luciano Rossi, roll into town for some reason too. The police are pretty much useless in this one, so can she turn to one of her two boyfriends for help? That's right, two, and one of them is a sculptor looking after two Japanese kids, for good measure.

Just like Ercoli's previous film Death Walks on High Heels, this one is a bit too long, but the pay-off is well worth it! Just about every character that makes it to the end of the film ends up on the roof of an apartment block for a final fight/punch up/stabbing/gun fight, and this is where Ercoli finally unleashes the nastiness. One character even ends up splattered across the pavement with his brains lying next to his head and his cigarette holder poking through his face. Kinds of wakes you up a bit when that happens in a film.

So then, another good, solid, beautiful looking giallo from Ercoli. I can't wait to watch the next one: Open the Door, Get on the Floor, Death Walks the Dinosaur!

Nieves Navarro, hallucinogenic drugs and lots of flashbacks

[Camera-Obscura · 12 February 2007]

DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT (Luciano Ercoli - Italy/Spain 1972).

Before the DVD-age the only English title for this film I know of, is CRY OUT IN TERROR, after the soundtrack released on LP and later on expanded edition CD. This is not mentioned on the IMDb as the film never got a proper release in English-speaking regions, not even on video, to my knowledge. Adding to the confusion, this title was already hardly distinguishable from Ercoli's earlier DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS (1970) (largely the same theme, cast and music) and I've noticed that in reviews on some sites, this is treated as a follow-up to Ercoli's first Giallo FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (1970), clearly confusing this film with DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, which is Ercoli's second Giallo.

Written by six writers(!), among them Sergio Corbucci and Ernesto Gastaldi, the film is set in Milan. Valentina (Susan Scott or Nieves Navarro), a successful model, agrees to try a hallucinogenic drug as part of a scientific experiment. While under the influence she experiences some flashbacks of a man in sunglasses graphically murdering a woman with a spiked metal glove, quite an original murder weapon. Strangely enough, a woman was butchered in exactly the same manner in a vacant apartment. The killer lures Valentina into this apartment after which she narrowly escapes with her life. What follows are more attempts on her life and even more questions about the killer's identity. Mind-bending drugs and outrageous fashions with plenty of tacky '70s dance floor scenes abound in this in this convoluted murder mystery. I might have been a bit harsh in my judgement on Ercoli's DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS but no matter how many reservations I have regarding his output, I've grown a bit fond of his work. This one is the weakest entry in his Giallo-cycle, but I cannot dismiss it either. It's rather disappointing because of its confusing plot and ridiculous finale, complete with a gang of giggling thugs. Gianno Ferrio's score is no patch on Morricone's scores in earlier Ercoli films, but its sheer luridness makes for some reasonably tacky entertainment.

Camera Obscura --- 6/10

Another Giallo that rocks!

[rundbauchdodo · 7/10 · 22 May 2001]

This rare Giallo was Luciano Ercoli's follow-up to the rather tame but nonetheless enjoyable "Le Foto Proibite di una Signora Perbene" (Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion in English; Frauen bis zum Wahnsinn gequält in German, which means "Women tortured to insanity"!!!).

There are some similarities in the storyline, but overall, "La Morte Accarezza a Mezzanotte" is obviously superior. After a powerful start, when Susan Scott as Valentina has a murder vision during a drug trip she suffers for her journalist colleague (who makes a photo session out of the "experiment" to publish it in the junk paper he's working for - that she initially does NOT know!), the film becomes a little bit slow moving as Valentina is suddenly stalked by numerous strange persons. But the second half of the film delivers more than many other thrillers together - suddenly, the bodies are piling up and there's also enough time for action and fist fights that could easily find place in Your average police drama of its decade.

The uncovering of the fiend is really surprising, more so if one considers that one thinks to know the face of the real killer after seeing the above mentioned drug trip sequence (to make things more clear here would give away too much).

Last but not least, there is also an exceptional musical score by Gianni Ferrio, a typical yet unique Giallo score including, of course, a lush main theme song.

To wrap it all up: This film is one of the many fine Italian thrillers of the 1970s that deserve to be rediscovered by an interested audience.

Pretty good giallo.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 24 March 2006]

"Death Walks at Midnight" stars Nieves Navarro as fashion model Valentina,who experiments with a new hallucinogenic drug to help newspaper writer Gio with a story.Immediately,Valentina is overcome by a vision of a generously coiffed killer in dark glasses plunging a spiked metal glove into the face of a woman in the vacant apartment across the street.After coming to her senses,she demands to know if whole thing was simply imagined,or if the drug somehow set a repressed memory free.When Gio publishes his story,Valentina finds out that the murder did occur,and she must solve the killer's identity herself."Death Walks at Midnight" is fairly conventional giallo co-written by Sergio Corbucci of "Django" fame.It's not as sleazy as some of its contemporaries,but there are some stylish and sadistic flashback murder scenes.Give this tense thriller a look.7 out of 10.

An Exquisite Giallo

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 7 April 2016]

Valentina, a beautiful fashion model, takes an experimental drug as part of a scientific experiment. While influenced by the drug, Valentina has a vision of a young woman being brutally murdered with a viciously spiked glove. It turns out that a woman was killed in exactly the same way not long ago and soon Valentina finds herself stalked by the same killer...

We should note that other than the lack of Frank Wolff, this film very much has the same cast as "Death Walks on High Heels". In fact, this was the third collaboration between director Luciano Ercoli and legendary screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. This makes the similar title appropriate, and even more appropriate still that Arrow Video has decided to bundle the films together.

"Midnight" draws inspiration from Mario Bava's "Girl Who Knew Too Much" (and both would be precursors to John Carpenter's under-appreciated "Eyes of Laura Mars"). Another scene is clearly an homage to Hitchcock's "Rear Window". Tim Lucas points out that this further makes the case for Ercoli being the Italian Brian DePalma, as DePalma is seen by many as the American successor to Hitchcock.

Lucas notes that the film unusually "visually conservative" for a giallo, due very much to Ercoli's preference for script over image. Lucas calls him a "carpenter" in his approach. Indeed, it is interesting to see how Ercoli works compared to, say, Dario Argento, who filled every inch with color. Ercoli, who was above all else concerned with producing, keeps it all very simple, very sparse. this is not to say he is without the clever shot here and there, but it is not the visual feast we might expect.

Stuart Galbraith has written that Midnight has "a stronger, less-predictable screenplay and a bit more visual flair" than its companion film, High Heels. I would say he is spot on with this assessment. Although both are great films, and High Heels probably has the better killer and soundtrack, Midnight seems to be overall the stronger of the two and has more complex characters.

Arrow Video has blessed the genre community yet again with their Death Walks twice set. As noted in my separate review, "Death Walks on High Heels" is packed with extras, and so is this one! Another very informative Tim Lucas audio commentary really sells it for me, but we also have a brand new interview in which Gastaldi discusses "Death Walks at Midnight" and a career script-writing crime films. Oh, and a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the distinctive giallo collaborations between director Luciano Ercoli and star Nieves Navarro. Amazing!

It was okay

[nightroses · 6/10 · 1 August 2020]

There is a lot of charm to early 70's European films that you don't find now. One of those charms is the music, and another is the way people used to dress, and their attitude. It was so quaint. The fact nobody relied on mobile phones back then and just ran to call boxes, and the turning dial phones was old fashioned and pleasant. Parts of the film here was just funny, the big smacks in the faces, the name calling insults, tantrums and the characters a bit goofy. Valentina, the main character has horrid visions of a scary man killing a woman after taking an experimental drug. Ever since then she's been followed and I always had suspicions. Pleasantly made gory crime film.

A silly but not unenjoyable giallo

[Red-Barracuda · 8/10 · 25 May 2006]

The third of Luciano Ercoli's trilogy of early 70's gialli is the oddest of the three. It tells the story of a fashion model who takes a hallucinogenic drug for a photo shoot. While tripping she witnesses a murder in the apartment across the street. She then finds herself stalked by the killer and drawn into a complex web of shady goings on, including drug trafficking and murder.

This movie is quite disappointing when compared to its predecessor, the effective Death Walks on High Heels. However, it starts extremely well. The trip murder sequence is well handled. Its both visceral and dreamlike, with a memorably creepy looking killer. Unfortunately, this excellent opening is the highlight of the movie. There are a number of other effective set-pieces but the movie gets bogged down a bit with excessively convoluted plot lines. There is a large cast of characters and it becomes difficult keeping track of who did what where. Everything is wrapped up when most of the remaining cast members get involved in a ridiculous, but fun, fight on a rooftop.

This is not a great giallo, however, it is certainly likable. Susan Scott is, as ever, great value in the lead role. She carries the film through the less interesting phases, ensuring that things never really get boring. Simón Andreu also is reliable. Ercoli shoots the film well and the decor is impressive. Overall, this is a beautiful looking, well acted but somewhat silly giallo. Its not one of the best from the genre but it is fun in a camp sort of way.

This is a movie you have to be patient with but concludes well and is worth your time

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 30 April 2021]

Death Walks at Midnight (1972) is an old Italian horror movie available for free on Tubi. The storyline is about a famous fashion model who gets high one night and sees flashes of a murder in her hotel. When a serial killer emerges that is killing people the way she envisioned she starts a manhunt to catch the killer. This movie is directed by Luciano Ercoli (Death Walks on High Heels) and stars Nieves Navarro (Death Walks on High Heels), Simon Andreu (The Way), Peter Martell (Two Brothers, One Death) and Carlo Gertili (The Big Racket). The storyline for this is a bit unevenly paced but I enjoyed watching it unfold. I can tell you for a model trying to show the world she wasn't crazy her behavior didn't match her efforts. She was swinging on everyone. The killers closing sequence and kill scenes were awesome. This is a movie you have to be patient with but concludes well and is worth your time. I'd score this a solid 6.5-7/10.

Something of a letdown

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 8 March 2006]

During an experiment with a hallucinogenic drug, model Valentina (Nieves Navarro aka Susan Scott) sees a woman being brutally murdered by a man wearing a spiked iron glove. But when no body is found, she can't seem to get anyone to believe her story. She begins to see the killer everywhere she goes. She's sure her life is in danger and is unable to convince her friends or the police that she's being stalked by a vicious murderer.

I had high hopes for Death Walks at Midnight having just seen and enjoyed Death Walks on High Heels. The two movies have so much in common that it seemed like a sure thing. While not being a sequel, the two movies share a director, a number of actors, and a convoluted plot. But while I found the twists and turns in Death Walks on High Heels a joy to watch unfold, Death Walks at Midnight is a little too convoluted for its own good. Story lines are introduced and almost dropped immediately with no resolution. These story tangents have nothing to do with the plot other than muddying the waters. Characters are introduced with no background information and almost immediately forgotten about. Too many of the characters never seem "real" or fleshed-out and are not effective red herrings. And, I almost get the feeling that much of the movie is weird for the sake of being weird. There's no real purpose for many of the unusual events, people, places, etc. in Death Walks at Midnight other than adding some bizarreness to the proceedings. For example, why even have the asylum scene? It adds nothing to the film. The problems with the plot are really disappointing because not only did I enjoy the first movie, but Death Walks at Midnight's screenplay was written by Sergio Corbucci. Corbucci directed some of my favorite Spaghetti Westerns. But here, he's written what I'll describe as a spastic script that tries too hard to be different.

That's not to say the movie was a total waste of time. There are a number of things I really enjoyed about Death Walks at Midnight. First would have to be Nieves Navarro. As I said when writing about Death Walk on High Heels, Navarro is excellent in this kind of film. She's a natural playing the "Woman in Distress". Navarro has a real, undeniable screen presence. Second would have to be the spiked glove. It's as nasty a murder weapon as you'll see. Finally, I like the overall look of the film. Ercoli had a real eye for some interesting visuals.

In the end, I can't wholeheartedly recommend Death Walks at Midnight to anyone other than a die hard Giallo fan. There are far better, more entertaining examples of the genre that might appeal more to the casual fan.

Convoluted, but engaging Giallo

[The_Void · 8/10 · 24 March 2006]

It would seem that many fans don't consider 'Death Walks at Midnight' to be a good film, and while it's not a first class addition to the Giallo sub-genre; I rather liked it. The film is far less graphic than many Giallo fans will be used to, and there aren't many murders. The first and central murder leads you to believe that this film will feature more bloodshed as the film goes on; but the plot veers off-course often, and the film doesn't always focus on the murder themed plot. The first murder is so striking largely because of the murder weapon used; I've never seen a spiked glove before, and the murder scene is stylishly shot and gives the odd murder weapon a good environment to operate in. The plot is co-scripted by two prominent forces in Italian films; Sergio Corbucci ('Django') and more importantly, Ernesto Gastaldi who has a number of important Giallo classics under his belt, most notably Sergio Martino films such as Your Vice and The Case of the Scorpion's Tail. It follows a woman who tries out an experimental drug and while under its influence, witnesses the aforementioned graphic murder.

The plot seems like an all too obvious excuse for a different perspective on the common Giallo theme of someone witnessing a murder, and as it isn't given explanation; it doesn't come off as being very credible. Director Luciano Ercoli makes up for this, however, with a constant stream of odd events and a good eye for striking cinematography, and although the plot soon becomes convoluted and often relies on coincidence; it's always engaging, and there's a lot of good ideas on display. The beautiful Susan Scott (a.k.a. Nieves Navarro), who has worked with Ercoli on films such as Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion and Death Walks on High Heels, heads an interesting cast, and does a good job of holding the film together. The fact that we know who the murderer is from the beginning ensures that there isn't a lot of mystery, but this is made up for by the way that there's always something new lurking just around the corner, and the script does a good job of implementing red herrings into the plot. The final twist can be seen coming a mile off; but the rooftop finale is a treat, and overall I've got to say that there's a lot to like about this not often seen Giallo.

Death walks on eggshells.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 11 December 2021]

Magazine journalist Giovanni Baldi (Simón Andreu) talks his girlfriend, fashion model Valentina (Nieves Navarro), into taking part in an experiment: a photoshoot while the woman is tripping her tits off on new mind-bending drug HDS. As the photographer snaps away, Valentina has terrifying visions of a woman being murdered by a man in sunglasses wearing a spiked metal glove. Giovanni publishes the pictures and writes up the model's experience in an accompanying article, revealing Valentina's identity despite promising not to. As a result, Valentina finds herself being menaced by the man in her visions. Is she still suffering from the effects of the drug, or did HDS unlock repressed memories of a violent crime?

Luciano Ercoli's third giallo (after The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion and Death Walks On High Heels) feels a lot like a parody of the genre, the plot more convoluted than ever, the killer's weapon of choice even more bizarre. With that in mind, one might reasonably expect the film to feature even more elaborate and bloody kills and a whole load of nudity from a bevy of beautiful babes, but that is where his film falls down: with the film's murderer armed with a spiked glove, the gore quotient should have been much higher, and the only actress of note in the film - Navarro - remains fully clothed throughout. It all adds up to a very uneven experience, wild in terms of story but strangely lacking in sex and violence. Ercoli gets his act together for the action-packed final act, where Valentina is attacked in her apartment, and Giovanni risks his life in a hard-hitting rooftop fight scene that is suitably crazy, but all of this only serves to highlight how reserved the rest of the film is.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Silly and Disappointing

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 25 May 2020]

"La morte accarezza a mezzanotte", a.k.a. "Death Walks at Midnight", is a silly and disappointing "giallo". The story and the situations are absurd; the characters are shallow and stupid; and the performances are wooden. For fans of this Italian genre, it is valid to watch the extremely unreasonable situations and deaths if he or she turn off the brain. Otherwise he or she will see an unbearable and idiot movie. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Morte Caminha a Meia-Noite" ("Death Walks at Midnight")

Nieves Navarro, a great score, and spiked-metal glove

[lazarillo · 25 December 2004]

A fashion model agrees to do a shoot in her swank apartment building while high on a powerful new psychedelic drug called "HDS" (why this would make for an interesting fashion shoot is never really adequately explained). While under the influence of the drug she witnesses a brutal murder in an adjoining building. Obviously, the beginning of this film is very similar to "Rear Window" (if you replace a crippled Jimmy Stewart with a sexy Spanish model hopped up on mind-bending drugs that is), but then the film goes off in its own totally unique direction. Even more than your usual giallo this film is pretty much a series of hysterical chase scenes and gory murders with little coherent plot to get in the way.

It's not really that good, but it has several things going for it. The first is Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott). Navarro was generally considered to be a second-rate Edwige Fenech (and she actually appeared as Fenech's sister in "All the Colors of Darkness"). She actually makes for a spunky, appealing heroine here, spending most of her time fighting off various loutish males including two sexist boyfriends, a guy who picks her up hitch-hiking and demands sex five minutes later, and FOUR different murderous male villains. Strangely though, she keeps her clothes on throughout the film (this is the same actress who in her late 30's was making borderline-hardcore sex films for the notorious Joe D'Amato). The movie also features a very unique murder weapon--a giant spiked metal glove (or "armored fist" as Navarro keeps calling it)which makes mince-meat of the faces of the various female victims (like many gialli this film is a strange mixture of feminism and misogyny). Finally, there is the upbeat score which probably should be in a better movie, but does serve to keep things rolling along. I wouldn't go through the expense and trouble of buying the imported British DVD (like I did), but I guess this is worth watching if you get a chance.

The Lesser of Luciano Ercoli's "Death Walks..." Gialli - But Still More Than Decent.

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 6/10 · 17 September 2009]

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.

A full action spirited finale

[christopher-underwood · 6/10 · 5 June 2006]

A full action spirited finale cannot make up for the fact that for the previous 100 minutes this has been pretty dire. The lovely Nieves Navarro (Susan Scott) does well with much screaming and wide eyed horror but barley removes her coat, let alone anything else. The dialogue is a real let down and until the very end there seemed to be little of interest at all. The visuals are nothing special, the music par for the course and for a giallo this is certainly lacking the sleaze element. Perhaps though this was intended more as a thriller, certainly the drug ring theme would seem to suggest this and viewed as such perhaps my comments are harsh. This certainly has it's moments, especially the weird penultimate scene in the flat with the crazies and the noose and then of course the marvellous rooftop fight, but is slow and unnecessarily confusing along the way.

Giallo Walks

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 6/10 · 9 May 2016]

(This review is of the box set of two Luciano Ercoli films, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS and DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT) This box set from Arrow Film combines two films by director Luciano Ercoli, an Italian director with little output in that role and only double that as a producer. While his output wasn't significant the quality of these two films shows much potential and the fact that had he chosen to do more he would have left a larger legacy behind for others to follow. As it is, both films offer well-made giallo films that fans of the genre will want to add to their collections.

The first of the two is DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS and is the better of the two films. The film stars the director's wife Nieves Navarro as Nicole Rochard, a well-known and much sought after striptease artists in France. Nicole's father was a renowned jewel thief and when he's killed someone calls her asking if she has his last score, something she knows nothing about.

A fan of Nicole's, Dr. Robert Matthews, attends nearly every performance she has no matter where she's working. After Nicole has an argument with her boyfriend over his drinking due being jealous of her success, she finds friendship and love in the arms of Matthews. After a quick romance heads home to England and she accompanies him. He sets her up in a house in the country, a place his wife knows nothing about. With promises of leaving her to set up his own practice, things begin to happen.

Murders of various side characters occur with startling frequency. An attack on Matthews happens, his wife the main suspect. Nicole's boyfriend shows in England trying to find her. And a twist near the middle of the film comes completely out of nowhere and sends the film off in a new direction. While this may seem like a brief synopsis to reveal any more would be to spoil the surprises the film has in store.

The movie works best as a mystery with clues being presented for the viewer to decipher but all doesn't become clear until the end of the film. What makes it work is that they all make sense and were there for the most part to be seen throughout the film. What makes it even better is the fact that even the most jaded mystery fan might have a difficult time knowing who did what to whom, something few mysteries can accomplish these days.

The second film, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, once again stars Navarro this time as super model Valentina. Valentina tries an experimental drug in the presence of a reporter friend and while on the drug sees images of a murder taking place. The fact she took the drug ends up in his article and she loses work because of it. It also discusses her visions and suddenly she begins seeing the murderer tracking her. When he makes an attempt on her life, only she has seen him. Is there someone out to kill her or is she simply hallucinating it all? Characters appear for no reason with no background only to take center stage at various parts of the film. As viewers even we aren't sure of Valentina's mental state at first. While the film starts with a decent premise it becomes a "are you kidding me" film as stupid decisions are made from start to finish. An example is, after having been attacked by someone she doesn't see, Valentina is asked to get in the car of a woman she has never met to talk and go for a drive. Not the smartest thing to do. When the woman abandons her in a mental institution where the convicted killer of the victim she saw in her drugged state is at (who is also supposed to be the sister of this woman), Valentina leaves only to go with the same woman to another location later on. With enough moments like this the movie became frustrating for me as a viewer.

But good or bad the main thing here is that two movies that may have been lost to the world have been rediscovered and brought out in the best possible transfer possible. Arrow once again goes above and beyond to deliver a package that fans will clamor to and others may want to see to get a taste of what giallo is all about, if for no other reason than the first film. Both display great cinematography that I've not come to expect in Italian made films from the time. Another plus.

Keeping in mind that this is an Arrow Films release you know there will be plenty of extras on hand for those that enjoy them. Included in the box set is a limited edition 60 page booklet with writings from authors Danny Shipka, Troy Howarth and Leonard Jacobs, all non-fiction writers about the giallo genre, that includes stills and posters for both films. For the first film you'll find extras like an introduction by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, an archive interview with Ercoli and Navarro, an interview with Gastaldi, an interview with composer Stelvio Cipriani, the original Italian trailer and an English trailer. On the second film you'll find another introduction by Gastaldi, an audio commentary track by film critic Tim Lucas, and extended TV version, an interview with Gastaldi and a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie discussing the collaborations between Ercoli and Navarro.

Fans of giallo will find this a must have. The same for collectors of Italian cinema of that time period. Fortunately for both, Arrow Film has done a marvelous job on this one, making it one worth owning as well as worth watching for those new to the genre.

Spoilers follow ...

[parry_na · 7/10 · 29 August 2017]

This giallo features more cigarette smoking than in any other I've seen. Never a scene goes by without someone lighting up, putting one out or going about their business with a casual ciggie clinging determinedly to their lips. Also, as is often the case for this genre, the females are not only the victims, but are also far more decent and respectful than the men – certainly Stefano (Pietro Martellanza) is brazenly patronizing and awful to Valentina (Nieves Navarro, or Susan Scott for English audiences) at every opportunity, and his male co-stars aren't much better. I really hoped I wasn't going to be asked to believe in him as any kind of hero. The best of this rotten bunch is probably Gio (Simón Andreu), another chain smoker notable for constantly running out of matches.

Valentina, with her incredible mane of red hair, whilst under the influence of an experimental drug, has a vision of a young woman being brutally murdered by a villainous-looking character with a spiked glove. This shades-sporting felon appears to her from then on, many times. Is it a product of her addled mind, as bone-headed Stefano arrogantly suggests, or is the truth more sinister? One thing is certain – any answers don't come easily in this convoluted, beautifully shot Italian thriller.

In a way, you hope that the villain is purely in her mind. The alternative, of a highly suspicious mac-wearing effeminate looking man in outsize sunglasses always lurking in an almost pantomime manner, not being seen by anyone but Valentina, becomes absurd.

Also absurd, in a thoroughly appealing way, is the somewhat formulaic way the villain (or villains), when unmasked, then take the time to gloat and explain how they got away with their fiendish plan. Here, these revelations precipitate a glorious climactic physical fight that only ends after a series of last-minute, life-saving shocks and surprises.

A little slow in places, and possessing some appallingly chauvinistic behaviour, this is nevertheless great fun and another pleasing addition to the genre.

Luciano Ercoli's Walk series:Death Walks At Midnight.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 19 October 2016]

Taking a look on Ebay UK for auctions that were about to end,I was surprised to find an edition of Mondo Macabro's Death Walks At Midnight about to end with no bids.With having been after the Giallo for a good few years,I decided to take a walk at midnight.

The plot:

Working as a fashion model, Valentina accepts a job to try out a new drug.Meeting the scientist/inventor of the drug,Valentina is surprised by her journalist boyfriend Giò Baldi joining them.Taking the drug,Valentina starts to experience horrifying visions of a women being killed by a stranger with a weird object.As Valentina becomes entranced by the visions,Baldi begins to take pics of her tripping.

Telling the scientist and her boyfriend about the visions,Valentina soon discovers that along with secretly taking photos,Baldi alters the images so that Valentina's "visions" can be turned into a story.Getting told by Baldi that her visions are just from tripping,Valentina stars to fear that her subconscious has witnessed a murder.

View on the film:

Shot in 1972,director Luciano Ercoli & cinematographer Fernando Arribas sway their Giallo back to the 60's,as hyper-active spinning camera moves and dashes of brash reds and yellows swings this gialli to the stylish swinging 60's.Whilst Ercoli and Arribas give the title a light atmosphere,they do give the film some sharp Giallo spikes,as Valentina's deadly dream images wash across the screen in an eye-catching clipped manner,as a spiked gauntlet (!) smashes the yellow gialli pulp open.

Following Ercoli's direction,the screenplay by Mahnahén Velasco/Guido Leoni/Ernesto Gastaldi and fellow director Sergio Corbucci soak the Giallo in a peculiar comedic tint,with Vlentina finding a mental hospital with slobbering patients,and a mysterious cackling henchmen following Valentina's every step giving this Gialli a wonderful lightness on its feet.Looking stunning in the rather tight clothing, Nieves Navarro (who was married to Ercoli) gives a terrific performance as Valentina,thanks to Navarro displaying a real joy in diving straight into the strange situations that Valentina gets stuck in,and also cutting Valentina with a strong determination to unravel her "trip",as Valentina discovers that death walks at midnight.

I Really Like This One!

[thalassafischer · 7/10 · 16 June 2023]

I started and stopped watching this a couple of times because the opening scene of a model being photographed after being injected with drugs made me suspect this would be one of the trashier, sexploitation giallos. However, Death Walks at Midnight is surprisingly strong in terms of story and weird characters, it has an almost-supernatural feel because of Valentina's visions, the strange circumstances that follow her around for most of the flick and the mysterious backstory.

La morte accarezza a mezzanotte is atmospheric, twisty and relatively unique. It never once resorts to any lurid sexploitation, like ever at all. I am wondering if some of the fans who are calling this film silly are in despair it's more story driven than a soft porn with murderers.

Disappointing Giallo

[Prof-Hieronymos-Grost · 5/10 · 29 November 2005]

Valentina(Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott as she is billed) is a fashion model who agrees to take an hallucinogenic drug for a medical experiment. The experiment is being recorded by Valentina's journalist friend for an article he is going to write,but under the influence of the drug Valentina somehow gets some extra sensory vision of a savage murder of a girl by a middle-aged man who kills her with a spiked metal glove. Valentina only participated on condition that her identity is kept secret but the journalist publishes the whole story and now Valentina's life is in danger from the killer.Valentina is then plagued by the killer every where she goes but unfortunately for her nobody else sees the killer.This trend continues as the body count rises the corpses that she sees disappear before the police get there and so nobody believes her fantastic story. One reason the police don't believe Valentina is that there was such a killing but the killer was caught and has been in a mental institution for six months and fob her off as a nut.Valentina goes to check out the killer but when she gets there the killer is not the man in her vision.Is she going mad ?Is she still feeling the effects of the drugs? is she being set up? Beautifully shot with a nice but sparsely used score this Giallo is a huge disappointment, from the offset we are lead to believe this might just be a classic of the genre with the opening kill, but this film dies a death after its opening gambit.The beautiful Navarro and Simón Andreu have a little chemistry but its not enough to save the film from being quite dull and unimaginative, there are no spectacular kills or set pieces to excite us and the distinct lack of suspense puts the final nail in this baby's coffin, added to that a propensity for silly comic characters in silly situations is just plain annoying.The sound on the Mondo Macabro DVD is also patchy and quite tinny and with a lot of hiss at times which is infuriating.I do hope the No Shame release next year is better.For Giallo completists only.

'Death Walks at Midnight' is a kaleidoscopically kooky, girl-goring Giallo classic from Italian Sinema's golden era of grisly glamour!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 9/10 · 3 August 2021]

On the startling evidence of the psychedelically lurid 'Death Walks at Midnight', dynamic director Luciano Ercoli is certainly no less a Giallo master-craftsman than Umberto Lenzi, Mario Bava or Dario Argento, having his very own slinkily glamorous Giallo muse in the deliriously delightful guise of Susan Scott, in this, the second instalment of his 'Death Walks' series, Valentina, a vivacious, care-free model is slickly coerced by handsome, altogether mercenary journalist Gio (Simon Andreu)to participate in a somewhat unconventional photo-shoot, wherein the delectable Valentina is given a potent psychedelic drug, and during this amusingly hysteric, hyper-hallucinatory interlude she experiences nightmarish visions of an especially gruesome slaying of a young woman, her beauteous visage horribly mutilated by a truly monstrous-looking, iron-spiked glove, being pitilessly brandished by an especially sinister gent in a demonstratively fly pair of sunglasses!

Having a wonderfully audacious script by Ernesto Gastaldi, maestro Luciano Ercoli's inventive, feverishly pitched, thematically twisted, wickedly warped, hallucinatory horror film is a greatest hits of groovy Giallo goodness, labyrinthine plot, wide-eyed sulky sirens in diabolical distress, sardonic coppers (Carlo Gentili), random red-herring weirdie (Fabrizio Moresco), and iconic nutjob, the immaculately insane, lank-haired loony Luciano Rossi in deliciously captivating, uber-cackling form, and, for me, the most sublime aspect to 'Death Walks at Midnight', outside of the surrealistically savage kills is another majestic score by the estimable Gianni Ferrio, who has written one of his most scintillating themes. 'Death Walks at Midnight' is a terrifically twist-headed, kaleidoscopically kooky, girl-goring Giallo classic from Italian Sinema's golden era of grisly glamour!

"Let's go to my house and trample the grapes."

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 5 November 2020]

A reasonable giallo but a trifle too long and a bit too confusing not helped by the rushed explanation at the end. It does have some good scenes but also some dull spots. Nieves Navarro is good as the endangered heroine and the film looks great in 'Technicolour' and 'Techniscope', with ideal Milan locations but the movie just lacks punch. The laughing killer was quite amusing though.

Very weird and unrewarding Giallo

[Coventry · 5/10 · 31 May 2005]

Rather disappointing and overly ambitious giallo that never is as compelling or exhilarating as it looks. Director Luciano Ercoli ("Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion") has several great ideas and a talented eye for cinematographic elegance, but his complex film never really succeeds in delivering genuine frights or commitment with the characters. I, as well as my fellow reviewers on this site, refer to "Death Walks at Midnight" as being a giallo, but I'm not totally sure if that's what it is, in fact. The terrific opening sequences (in which heroine Valentina visions a brutal murder whilst under the influence of a new drug) definitely are giallo-material! Mysterious and violent images of murder, committed with an unusual weapon (in this case, a vile looking spiked glove) and an unfortunate beauty whose life is in danger because she saw too much. Judging by this fantastic intro, it feel like you're about to see a giallo that can easily compete with the best efforts in this superior Italian horror sub genre, like for example the earlier work of Dario Argento (Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat O'Nine Tales), Sergio Martino (Torso, All the Colors of the Dark) and even Mario Bava (The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Blood and Black Lace). But, as the plot evolves further, the film seems to change into a textbook example of yet another typically Italian exploitation sub genre, namely the "Krimi", which is the European equivalent of complex crime/detective stories. As the plot develops more, Valentina finds herself caught in a web of drug-traffic, smuggling and double-crossing and all of a sudden the search for the malevolent killer's identity is put to the background. Bloody murders change into shoot-outs and horror settings like an asylum or a cemetery suddenly become hectic macho-fights on rooftops and overlong chases. The inevitable final result is a semi-giallo without morbidity and/or a semi-krimi without rawness.

That being said, I would like to stress that "Death Walks at Midnight" still is worth watching, especially for people who appreciate a more complex and demanding substance. Although it contains too many unnecessary story lines and underdeveloped character-drawings, this film is often beautiful to look at and the camera-work is handled with flair and style. Susan Scott is a rather good actress and capable of carrying an entirely complex structure that revolves around her. She receives good feedback from the congested supportive cast. Many little gimmicks and details featuring in this story are so ingenious that it could easily be split over two – or maybe three – separate movies.