review

THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN
Michel Antoine in Luigi Cozzi's The Killer Must Kill Again

A man is anxious to get his hands on his wife's money. One night he witnesses an killer-for-hire dumping a car, complete with corpse, into the bay. He immediately seeks his services. Once the murder is committed, their plans go a little off course. Two lovers have stolen the Killer's car, not knowing the wife's corpse is tucked away in the trunk. From that gold mine of an idea, director Luigi Cozzi crafted his debut film, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN, a very unconventional giallo that mixes sadism, obsession, greed, and lust into a potent cocktail. Unfortunately, Cozzi and his co-writers make a critical mistake. Not content with merely focusing on the crime, they focus also on the police investigation of the crime in a parallel story line that does little to advance the action. In fact, it threatens to derail the film at every turn.


George Hilton in The Killer Must Kill Again

While the storyline concerning the Killer's attempts to retrieve the car form the backbone of the story, the parallel storyline of the police investigation into the husband's possible motives is of equal importance. But Cozzi drops the ball in many ways. That second storyline doesn't quite fit, consisting mainly of the husband - played by giallo regular George Hilton - waiting around to hear from the Killer while the police chief casts suspicious glances in his direction. There's so very little going on in these scenes that they feel distinctly tacked on, like a reminder of the golden age of Hollywood crime films that dictated that no crime goes unpunished. The husband's ultimate comeuppance doesn't matter. Removing all of those scenes would have restored focus to the film and it would have been a much stronger as a result.


Cristina Galbo in The Killer Must Kill Again

But no matter. The story concerning the Killer's attempts to retrieve his car - and the body of his victim - is first class. Our two car thieves, a sweet-talking pretty boy named Luca - played by Alessio Orano from Bava's LISA AND THE DEVIL - and his virgin girlfriend Laura - played by Cristina Galbo from Massimo Dallamano's excellent giallo WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO SOLANGE? - aren't exactly innocent characters. Short on bread, Luca steals the Killer's getaway car to take his girlfriend to the beach, presumably just to pop her cherry. Along the way, he talks Laura into distracting a gas station attendant by flashing her breasts so he can grab his cash and take off. Once they reach the beach, they camp out in an abandoned home. Soon enough the killer arrives and things start to get nasty.


Luigi Cozzi's The Killer Must Kill Again

Short on dialogue, the part of the Killer is played with absolute menace by Michel Antoine, an actor blessed - or cursed! - with one of the most distinctive faces I've ever seen. Antoine brings a raw intensity to the film and creates a sociopath for the ages. While not teeming with graphic violence, the final third of the film is pretty rough. The Killer's eventual rape of Laura - intercut with Luca getting it on with some blond bimbo he picked up on the side of the road - is definitely disturbing and absolutely devastating. It's performed so calmly, so methodically, that it almost seems like it's being done out of cruelty and not out of passion, an extra bit of violence performed free of charge. Though it resolves itself in a very typical way, the final third of the film is absolutely worth the wait, It redeems THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN of any flaws it may have and is completely worth the price of admission.


Highly recommended.


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