Death Carries a Cane
Alternative Titles: Passi di danza su una lama di rasoio; Pasos de danza sobre el filo de una navaja; Die nacht der rollenden Koepfe.
Director: Maurizio Pradeaux
Year: 1973
Starring: Robert Hoffmann, Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott), George Martin, Anuska Borova, Simon Andreu,
Context:
Released arguably at the end of the golden period of the giallo (though not in terms of volume), Death Carries a Cane is surprisingly indebted to the films (and cast) of Ercoli and Lenzi as well as Argento and no doubt proved to be an adequate entry to the growing market place. Maurizio Pradeaux would go on to direct only three more movies (in the next 26 years!) including another giallo, DEATH STEPS IN THE DARK (1977) which shows signs of grow from the writer/director.
The Italian title can loosely be translated as 'Death dances on a razor blade' which is a far superior title to 'Death carries a cane' and while both are accurate in terms of the film the English language better sums the film to first time viewers.
Nieves Navarro, Simon Andreu and Luciano Rossi (who is uncredited in this film) all starred together in Luciano Ercoli's DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT (1972).
Synopsis:
While waiting for her boyfriend Alberto, Kitty peers through a tourist telescope only to witness the brutal stabbing of a woman. Unable to see the killers face she informs the police only no crime had been reported and they are unable to check her story casting doubts over what she really saw. Soon after the body is discovered and the police suspect that the killer suffers from a lame leg, as does Alberto...
[Adapted from the fantastic So Deadly, So Perverse by Troy Howard.]
Review:
Featuring on paper a decent and mainly recognisable cast including Robert Hoffman (SPASMO), Simon Andreu (FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT) and Nieves Navarro aka Susan Scott (DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK, SO SWEET SO DEAD, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT) it is a shame that director Pradeaux only manages to produce a formulaic and cliché-packed entry into the genre.
Despite a strong premise with the initial set up having Kitty (Nieves Navarro) witness a brutal murder through a tourist telescope but before she can see the killers face the money runs out and the shutter closes. As far as being an accidental witness goes this is quite a strong premise as she seeks to prove that what she saw was real and more importantly prove who was behind it.
Within fifteen minutes the film has all but pronounced Kitty's boyfriend Alberto as the killer, and he doesn't help himself when the Inspector comes round to find him brutally stabbing a human dummy in the stomach. Once he realises the inspector is there, he (comically) states "It's not what you're thinking!"
Pradeaux in his two gialli also seems to portray the emergency forces (primarily police) as bumbling fools, in this film he has one fireman flat out refuse to answer calls of help because his wife is with him while the police themselves often come across as somewhat comical yet entertaining but despite this he does manage to get the balance between amateur detective and police involvement spot on, with neither overstaying their welcome or falling into the background and despite a few filler scenes the pacing is generally decent and helped by several red herrings (although these are overused in general).
Despite its few strong moments however the film is fairly pedestrian and many of the characters (excluding Simon Andreu) seem to be phoning this one in, which is particularly strange in the case of George Martin who plays Inspector Merughi as he was one of the four scriptwriters involved. Additionally the dialogue in the English dub contains a few (unintentional perhaps) bizarre moments exemplified by the classic line from Alberto when discussing Kitty's sculpting expertise as "It's the only thing she does well besides make love" and the phone call decrying Marco's (Andreu) impotence.
As briefly mentioned previously the films over reliance on red herrings is hit and miss, from almost ramming down the viewers throats early on that Alberto was shifty and likely to be the killer, Pradeaux comes across as trying too hard and while the introduction of an uncredited Luciano Rossi is welcome as a distraction it ultimately proves worthless and the sudden insertion of a lesbian angle seemed more of a convenience to the filmmaker as he shoehorns it in just to tick that box off the giallo checklist.
Death Carries a Cane is not a bad film, formulaic yes and suffers from opening act that tries too hard to force the viewer to suspect one particular character but it is still fun and there is plenty in the final hour to recommend to fans of the genre. Director Maurizio Pradeaux proves himself as competent if uninspired and manages to pull it out of the bag enough times to make this a worthwhile watch, particularly due to several gruesome and inventive murder scenes.
Version Reviewed:
We watched the 2006 version put out by X Rated Kult DVD in a hardbox format. There were no extras but audio options in German, English and Italian and subtitles in German.