A wealthy industrialist, George Stark(Teodoro Corrà), invites various couplings to his palatial island beach house with the goal of needling a "scientist", Prof. Farrell(William Berger)into selling a formula that could lead to millions. Several of the men who show up to George's shindig are business acquaintances also desiring to purchase the formula. One by one, the visitors(the wives who came along as well as their husbands)fall to a quiet killer using various methods while others' backs are turned. Playing off the oft-used "Ten Little Indians" concept, someone(..or more than one?)amongst the group is bumping the others off. For macabre humor, director Bava has George store each fallen victim in his freezer wrapped in plastic followed by some music to commemorate being among the death-list. Before long, they are dropping like flies until a mere three or four are squabbling over who is sneaky and slick enough to pull off the killings without being noticed.
That is what Bava toys the viewer with setting up a possible killer, and then subsequently upping the ante by pulling the rug from under us a good three times at the end. For a film Bava was forced into making, the twists that come at the end are quite inspired. I especially enjoyed his pokes at the wealthy..it's kind of a satire on just how greedy, vile, and back-stabbing the upper-class yuppie types can be. The desire for more and more wealth is played to it's zenith at the end. It seems that Bava doesn't give us anyone to care about, providing us with a list of unlikable, selfish cretins to root against. We are perhaps given a character with humanity in the scientist, but, as the film continues, even he is corrupt and exposed. Not violent at all for a psycho thriller/mystery. It features an attractive cast with a bevy of beauties wearing skimpy outfits. I think it comes off better because Bava seems to have contempt for these people which might explain why the scenes in the freezer seem much more absurdly amusing than a normal reaction might extract from the viewer. It's typically stylish, but Bava surprisingly holds back(..this might be considered a weakness from Bava's avid fanbase who like it when Bava lets loose a visual frenzy often making up for the story's lack of bite)allowing the mystery to take center stage.
That is what Bava toys the viewer with setting up a possible killer, and then subsequently upping the ante by pulling the rug from under us a good three times at the end. For a film Bava was forced into making, the twists that come at the end are quite inspired. I especially enjoyed his pokes at the wealthy..it's kind of a satire on just how greedy, vile, and back-stabbing the upper-class yuppie types can be. The desire for more and more wealth is played to it's zenith at the end. It seems that Bava doesn't give us anyone to care about, providing us with a list of unlikable, selfish cretins to root against. We are perhaps given a character with humanity in the scientist, but, as the film continues, even he is corrupt and exposed. Not violent at all for a psycho thriller/mystery. It features an attractive cast with a bevy of beauties wearing skimpy outfits. I think it comes off better because Bava seems to have contempt for these people which might explain why the scenes in the freezer seem much more absurdly amusing than a normal reaction might extract from the viewer. It's typically stylish, but Bava surprisingly holds back(..this might be considered a weakness from Bava's avid fanbase who like it when Bava lets loose a visual frenzy often making up for the story's lack of bite)allowing the mystery to take center stage.