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The Killer Must Kill Again
[Mondo Macabro]
1975; color
Directed by Luigi Cozzi
Starring: George Hilton, Antoine Saint-John, Femi Benussi, Cristina Galbó, Eduardo Fajardo, Teresa Velázquez & Alessio Orano
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At the risk of repeating myself (yet again) I do enjoy a crime flick from the swinging late '60s or early '70s, especially if it was made in a foreign country and features at least one sexy curvaceous chick and at least one swarthy sleazy dude. Yet despite having both of these things, as well as one of the genuinely creepiest looking serial killers I've seen in some time, somehow this early entry in the MM catalog snuck past me. Thanks to the fact we had another movie with the word killer in the title in the review pile, and each week I like to group movies together based on details that don't necessarily group movies together, I had an excuse to rent it and I'm glad I did. Although somewhat slow in parts, The Killer Must Kill Again is a very watchable Italian thriller offering an interesting twist on the Giallo genre; and may or may not be considered a Giallo itself. (The Kommandant and I actually engaged in a fairly lengthy debate over our morning coffee the morning after we watched it and, actually, we never reached a final verdict; thus it's placement in the regular review section.) Normally in these types of movies the person who witnesses the initial murder or stumbles across the scene initially after an initial murder is the person who winds up on the receiving end of the ensuing blackmail, threats, other assorted menacing, etc. but in this case it is the initial killer himself who winds up the doing the bidding of another to protect his own secrets. (At the risk of veering off topic, this is one of my main sticking points on the non-Giallo side - there is no mystery to the identity of the killer who must kill again, nor a mystery as to who is manipulating the killer, which seems to put it into more of the regular ol' thriller with a black comedy twist not uncommon to Italian films of the era.) To elaborate the movie intertwines the story of the aforementioned typical Euro-sleaze who wants to dispatch of his wife with that of a deadly serious serial killer. A man who, as we've already established, must kill again. Additionally, as we are soon to learn, after he kills he cannot let murdered corpses lie in trunks of cars. Thus, the rub. For you see, as easy as it is for our anti-hero to snuff out the life of a random innocent blond or annoying wife, dump her ass in the trunk of someone else's car and set out for a body of water in which to drown both simultaneously, it is just as easy for a random pair of college aged teenagers on the hunt for kicks to come into the picture and completely fuck up this whole game plan. On the bright side, when something like this does happen the killer is offered an opportunity to add another notch or two to his euphemistic serial killer headboard so it's not a total loss. Rounding out the DVD package are a batch of appropriate extras in the form of three fun featurettes (one with director Luigi Cozzi discussing the film; one with Cozzi discussing his work with Dario Argento; and one that's kind of an overview of the Giallo genre) and the usual array of trailers, filmographies and a gallery of on-set stills.
—Bunny
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