Surgeon Roberto(George Hilton)is married to Elena(Luciana Paluzzi),the owner of the clinic at which he works.Another surgeon named Michaeli is thinking of leaving because his girlfriend Paola(Anita Strindberg)is still in love with Roberto with whom she had an affair some years previously.So Michaeli ends up shot to death with Remington pistol and a detective Fernardo Rey begins to investigate.Obscure hospital giallo with all-star giallo cast:George Hilton,Fernando Rey,Luciana Paluzzi and Anita Strindberg.The film is relatively bloodless apart from long open heart surgery sequence which combines real footage and footage with the actors.6 mute parrots out of 10.
7 Reviews
A great genre cast wasted in a tepid tale
melvelvit-123 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Elena Carli (Luciana Paluzzi), the owner of a posh medical clinic, doesn't want her doctor-husband Roberto's (George Hilton) partner, Dr. Michele Razzini (Antonio del Real), to leave the practice and offers him a quarter-share in the business if he'll stay on. Razzini is murdered before making a decision and Police Inspector Nardi finds his suspects among the staff. Dr. Paola Lombardi (Anita Strindberg) was Razzini's fiancé and the beneficiary of his will but knows Elena and Michele were having an affair. Dr. Lombardi and Dr. Carli once had an affair and Luis (Eduardo Fajardo), the clinic's director, was jealous of Razzini and in love with Lombardi. Elena has a bad heart and, after this fright, must have an immediate operation but begs Nardi not to let her husband do it even though she'll die if he doesn't. The operation is a success but a surgical-gloved killer soon pulls the plug on Elena...
Taken at face value, this would-be giallo has no terror but does offer a fairly interesting murder mystery as compensation. Genre staples George Hilton, Anita Strindberg, and Luciana Paluzzi look great and do their best with the soapy material but the mundane methods of murder preclude any stylish set-pieces although, in a graphic, over-long surgical sequence, Strindberg and Hilton operate on Paluzzi and even massage her heart. When he's not finding clues that implicate each of the swinger suspects in the crimes, the likable Fernando Rey's Inspector Nardi and his partner get to share a few humorous moments. Real footage of an open-heart surgery from a prestigious clinic in Madrid was inserted into the film and one has to wonder if the filmmakers just wove a tale around it. As it stands, this tepid piece of Eurotrash lacks a body count, could have been a lot steamier, and is reely nothing special but fans of the handsome Hilton, the sexy Strindberg, and the pulchritudinous Paluzzi won't be disappointed. The VHS I have is letterboxed and in English with Greek subtitles.
Taken at face value, this would-be giallo has no terror but does offer a fairly interesting murder mystery as compensation. Genre staples George Hilton, Anita Strindberg, and Luciana Paluzzi look great and do their best with the soapy material but the mundane methods of murder preclude any stylish set-pieces although, in a graphic, over-long surgical sequence, Strindberg and Hilton operate on Paluzzi and even massage her heart. When he's not finding clues that implicate each of the swinger suspects in the crimes, the likable Fernando Rey's Inspector Nardi and his partner get to share a few humorous moments. Real footage of an open-heart surgery from a prestigious clinic in Madrid was inserted into the film and one has to wonder if the filmmakers just wove a tale around it. As it stands, this tepid piece of Eurotrash lacks a body count, could have been a lot steamier, and is reely nothing special but fans of the handsome Hilton, the sexy Strindberg, and the pulchritudinous Paluzzi won't be disappointed. The VHS I have is letterboxed and in English with Greek subtitles.
Heartbreaker
unbrokenmetal22 September 2018
Doctor Carli (George Hilton) is a heart surgeon at a clinic owned by his wife Elena (Luciana Paluzzi). Now imagine: if she should die an untimely death, her husband would inherit the clinic and become very rich. Inspector Nardi (Fernando Rey), while initially investigating a different case, realizes that Mrs Carli may be in great danger and starts to watch over her.
The movie boasts with footage from an actual heart surgery (not that I ever wanted to see that so closely), but doesn't manage to provide as many surprising twists and turns as other classic giallo movies. Thus it becomes only an average contribution to the genre, although with a great cast also including Eduardo Fajardo and Anita Strindberg.
The movie boasts with footage from an actual heart surgery (not that I ever wanted to see that so closely), but doesn't manage to provide as many surprising twists and turns as other classic giallo movies. Thus it becomes only an average contribution to the genre, although with a great cast also including Eduardo Fajardo and Anita Strindberg.
Weak, like that lady's heart
Bezenby6 January 2018
If you had to rate the Gialli in terms of curry strength then this one would be a chicken korma. It has all the right ingredients, but lacks the additional spice that would elevate it to the level of a more 'spicier' giallo, like Red Queen Kills Seven Times. That would be a madras. With a peshwari naan. And fried rice. And a pint of Lal Toofan.
Now let me try and get this one straight, as I knew it was mild and tried to watch it while two kids rolled about the house screaming about Harvest Moon and Star Wars Battlefront 2. There's a clinic in Rome run by several surgeons. One of them has a heart condition, and she's married to renowned surgeon George Hilton, who may or may not be having an affair with surgeon Anita Strinberg, who is engaged to marry Dr First Victim, who is planning to move to Milan and set up his own practise.There's also another guy who is in love with Anita Stringberg. We first see someone break into Dr First Victim's office and steal something, and shortly afterwards Dr Victim is gunned down in his office, and the only witness is a parrot.
Cop Fernando Rey appears and his main problem is that he can't smoke and everyone else in the film can! This irritable cop knows that one of the other doctors killed this guy, but then he finds a scrap book that features every suspect holding the gun used in the crime. Not only that, he also finds a film that features the cast using the same gun. Plus, forensics tell him the killer had talc on their hands but guess what - they are all surgeons, and they all have talc on their hands. Fernando shortly makes his comedy sidekick assistant (who he forces to interrogate the parrot) to drive through Rome at full speed, which I thought was the stupidest part of the film, until I got to the end and realised that the stupidest part of the film was me.
This is a mild Giallo with a full body count of two, but then if you get a chicken korma, sure it is mild, but then if it is cooked well it stills pleases, and this film does. You can't go wrong with a bit of George Hilton, as well as a bit of Fernando Rey (who makes a comment about the chain smoking doctors hypocritical ways). There's plenty of daftness to go with this one, including a heavy breasted window washer, Rey's constant battle with smokers, and his assistant's drooling over Hilton's home movies. You've got a film here that really doesn't come close to ticking all your giallo boxes, but is still worth watching because the mystery elements are all in place. I liked all the bits about Star Wars Battlefront 2. And of course I forgot to mention all the open heart surgery footage. That wasn't so good.
I really thought I'd have watched more films by this point in my holidays.
Now let me try and get this one straight, as I knew it was mild and tried to watch it while two kids rolled about the house screaming about Harvest Moon and Star Wars Battlefront 2. There's a clinic in Rome run by several surgeons. One of them has a heart condition, and she's married to renowned surgeon George Hilton, who may or may not be having an affair with surgeon Anita Strinberg, who is engaged to marry Dr First Victim, who is planning to move to Milan and set up his own practise.There's also another guy who is in love with Anita Stringberg. We first see someone break into Dr First Victim's office and steal something, and shortly afterwards Dr Victim is gunned down in his office, and the only witness is a parrot.
Cop Fernando Rey appears and his main problem is that he can't smoke and everyone else in the film can! This irritable cop knows that one of the other doctors killed this guy, but then he finds a scrap book that features every suspect holding the gun used in the crime. Not only that, he also finds a film that features the cast using the same gun. Plus, forensics tell him the killer had talc on their hands but guess what - they are all surgeons, and they all have talc on their hands. Fernando shortly makes his comedy sidekick assistant (who he forces to interrogate the parrot) to drive through Rome at full speed, which I thought was the stupidest part of the film, until I got to the end and realised that the stupidest part of the film was me.
This is a mild Giallo with a full body count of two, but then if you get a chicken korma, sure it is mild, but then if it is cooked well it stills pleases, and this film does. You can't go wrong with a bit of George Hilton, as well as a bit of Fernando Rey (who makes a comment about the chain smoking doctors hypocritical ways). There's plenty of daftness to go with this one, including a heavy breasted window washer, Rey's constant battle with smokers, and his assistant's drooling over Hilton's home movies. You've got a film here that really doesn't come close to ticking all your giallo boxes, but is still worth watching because the mystery elements are all in place. I liked all the bits about Star Wars Battlefront 2. And of course I forgot to mention all the open heart surgery footage. That wasn't so good.
I really thought I'd have watched more films by this point in my holidays.
Better than average giallo
dopefishie29 April 2024
All star cast with Fernando Rey (from The French Connection) who is a police inspector investigating a murder where the suspects are Anita Strindberg, George Hilton, and Luciana Paluzzi (from Thunderball). The acting is great across the board.
The mystery and writing is fairly well done. The directing was serviceable. The score was quite good.
This is a low body count whodunit. There is very little gore/special effects with the exception of an open heart surgery which was very well done.
At the end of the day, this one was all about the acting, the relationships, and figuring out the mystery.
The mystery and writing is fairly well done. The directing was serviceable. The score was quite good.
This is a low body count whodunit. There is very little gore/special effects with the exception of an open heart surgery which was very well done.
At the end of the day, this one was all about the acting, the relationships, and figuring out the mystery.
The Two Faces of Fear
BandSAboutMovies10 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Dr. Michele Azzini (Luis Dávila) is living the life of Riley. He's engaged to a gorgeous co-worker, Dr. Paola Lombardi (Anita Strindberg, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key), and has just been offered an even better job in a cardiology clinic in Madrid. This angers his boss, Elena Carli (Luciana Paluzzi, Thunderball, The Green Slime, The Klansman), who owns his current place of work along with her husband Dr. Roberto Carli (George Hilton, Sartana as well as several giallo films). Despite her offering him a stake in the business, Azzini still plans to leave until he's murdered.
Inspector Nardi (Fernando Rey) is on the case, trying to learn just who killed the doctor. And at the same time, Elena's heart is giving out and she has to get a surgery that takes up the closing moments of the movie. And because this is an Italian movie, that's a real open heart surgery that we get to watch, conducted by Dr. Martinez Bordiu who is thanked in the credits.
Directed by Tulio Demicheli (Ricco) and written by Pedro Mario Herrero and Mario di Nardo, The Two Faces of Fear is a movie that really never gets going, but at least it has Strindberg, Paluzzi and Hilton in the cast, as well as that realistic surgery scene.
Inspector Nardi (Fernando Rey) is on the case, trying to learn just who killed the doctor. And at the same time, Elena's heart is giving out and she has to get a surgery that takes up the closing moments of the movie. And because this is an Italian movie, that's a real open heart surgery that we get to watch, conducted by Dr. Martinez Bordiu who is thanked in the credits.
Directed by Tulio Demicheli (Ricco) and written by Pedro Mario Herrero and Mario di Nardo, The Two Faces of Fear is a movie that really never gets going, but at least it has Strindberg, Paluzzi and Hilton in the cast, as well as that realistic surgery scene.
Three major actors/actress come together
james1-494-82685728 September 2020
Fernando Rey, George Hilton and Anita Strinberg- that trio alone gives you an eight star base with two stars added on just because it's a pretty good movie. The year 1972 certainly doesn't hurt as that was an outstanding year for movies in my opinion.... Great scenery just don't know what cities they were in it's not mentioned IMDB... saw it three times....
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