My Dear Killer
Alternative Titles: Mio caro assassino; Sumario sangriento de la pequeña Estefania
Director: Tonino Valerii
Year: 1972
Starring: George Hilton, Salvo Randone, William Berger
Context:
Like many films of the era MY DEAR KILLER was an Italian-Spanish co-production with shooting taking place in the capitals of both countries. It would also represent director Tonino Valerii and writers Roberto Leoni and Franco Bucceri's only giallo which is a real shame.
Although starring Giallo mainstay George Hilton (THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH; THE CASE OF THE SCORPIONS TAIL; ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK; THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS) his role in this would be slightly different than that in which he is usually cast as he plays the hero Inspector Peretti.
Eagle eyed viewers will notice that the school teacher is watching Django in her apartment. Not too much of a surprise considering the western genre background of the crew.
Synopsis:
A mysterious decapitation leads Inspector Peretti into a case of blackmail, deceit and the unsolved kidnapping of a young girl.
Review:
A truly unique opening kill immediately demands your attention as an insurance investigator is decapitated by a digger. Investigating the bizarre ‘accident’ is Inspector Peretti played by genre stalwart George Hilton, who sporting a moustache and a pair of aviators is as suave as ever and puts in a strong performance.
Peretti soon tracks down the hired digger operative, but sadly for him the driver has already hung himself resulting in the majority of the force seeing this murder-suicide case closed. But not our highly astute Inspector who has other ideas and believes that there must be something more to this case, leading him to become embroiled in the past, unsolved kidnapping and murder of a young girl and her father.
On the subject of Peretti, writers Leoni and Bucceri attempt to inject a dose of character depth and complexity to the Inspector however this element is both underdeveloped and lacking in any real payoff despite showing how his obsession with his work is to the detriment of his relationship.
At best this is a moderate attempt to include a red herring into the story which is a real shame as the rest of the story is both well-paced and highly engrossing. The inspector's investigation sees us introduced to the several suspects which works very well including a jealous brother and a potential paedophile sculptor all of which would have had the opportunity and more crucially a motive. Meanwhile to avoid things becoming too dry or procedural Peretti has a few wise cracks up his sleeve helping to keep the tone fresh while endearing him to the viewer.
Furthermore the unique narrative decision taken by Valerii and co. sees past events woven seamlessly into Peretti's investigation via flashbacks allowing for both story strands to flow and for the past events to feed into the presents discoveries culminating in a Christie-esque unveiling as all of the suspects are brought together.
Interestingly for a 1972 film it shows an awareness and utilisation of the then fashionable Argento-style giallo tropes (black gloves, POV, brutal murders, potential psycho-sexual motive) and those from the more traditional Agatha Christie-esque mystery (multiple related suspects and greed motives, astute detective) and on a side note one of the murders, and clues, is clearly indebted to 'The Screaming Mimi' by Fredric Brown, itself a clear influence on the early films of Dario Agento.
Arguably MY DEAR KILLER represents the logical progression from the traditional giallo mystery to the more Argento-esque violent thriller and this is no doubt due to it being put together by a group from outside of the genre who have clearly sought to combine the best of both worlds in a bid to appeal to a wider audience. Thankfully it is pulled off with aplomb due not only to a plot that is both logical and plausible but also the narrative decision which ensures that the viewer is fed only the information they need as both we and the inspector remain just that one step behind the killer until the very end.
Not often given the credit is deserves, MY DEAR KILLER is a top tier giallo that is accessible to those just discovering the genre but also detailed enough to please more seasoned fans for whom this may have fallen under the radar.
Version Reviewed:
We watched the 2008 Shameless Films DVD release which is a notable improvement over the previous Shriek Show release but does still show signs of print damage. The disc only features English audio which is fine but as with the majority of Shameless releases it is lacking in extras coming only with a theatrical trailer and a Shameless Films preview reel.
