kevinolzak Review of Death Smiles on a Murderer

Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973)

Seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1979

[6/10 · 2 March 2010]

Decidedly not for all tastes, 1973's "Death Smiles on a Murderer" is an Italian horror film from cinematographer-turned-director Aristide Massaccessi (now better known as Joe D'Amato). Rough sledding for most, but I admired all of the European fright flicks that aired regularly on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater (IMDb lists this film as 92 minutes but my copy runs 84). In 1906 Europe, an incestuous relationship between siblings Franz and Greta (Ewa Aulin) ends abruptly when she falls for a handsome doctor (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) who impregnates her, with both mother and child ending up dead. Her distraught brother has learned the secret of restoring life to the dead and subsequently revives her, with the Incan formula carved onto the back of an amulet which has her name and date of death on the front. In a nod to Edgar Allan Poe (one of many), she shows her gratitude by instantly slaughtering her beloved brother, the sharp claws of a black cat gouging out the man's eyes (shown in flashback only at the very end). Following a passage of 3 years, Greta is planted at the doorstep of a young couple, Eva and Walter (the latter the son of the doctor who had the affair with her), via a gory carriage accident that leaves the driver fatally impaled through the heart. Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski) provides the death certificate for the investigating detective, first examining the girl, who remembers neither her name or any recollection of her past. He soon learns that this is no simple case of amnesia (a telltale vertical scar on the side of her neck), proving it by inserting a pin in the unblinking girl's eye (a startling sight left intact on television). Dr. Sturges, already conducting similar experiments in life after death, recognizes the Incan symbols on the back of Greta's amulet, which help him restore life to a male corpse, only to be instantly strangled to death along with his mute assistant (the revived corpse is promptly snuffed out as well). Meanwhile back at the estate, both husband and wife separately declare their undying devotion to the beautiful stranger, with some nude frolicking that doesn't add up to much. The maid makes a sudden exit, haunted by the spectre of Greta's dead brother, only to have her face shot off by the same unseen assailant later responsible for the murders in the lab of Dr. Sturges (climactically revealed to be the couple's manservant). After an initially unsuccessful attempt to drown Greta in her bath, the wife succeeds in walling the girl up in a dark cellar, only to have the deceased return to haunt first the wife then the husband to their grisly ends. Greta then rewards the manservant's loyalty by slashing him to death (no explanation given as to how he knows her or why he protected her). The husband's doctor father (Greta's reason for vengeance) also meets his maker, trapped in the crypt of his daughter-in-law (whose eyes suddenly snap open!), leaving only the baffled detective still alive to try to sort out all the murder and mayhem. When he learns about the Incan symbols and their meaning, we flash back to Greta's brother revealing what he had done for her 3 years earlier, with his corpse only now discovered by the detective (untouched in the same spot). Having learned the identity of the mystery girl, he goes over the facts with his elderly wheelchair-bound wife, who promptly turns around to reveal herself as Greta, the 'angel of death' herself, her face displaying the smiling countenance of Mona Lisa (perhaps Jaibo was right in his review). Intentionally stronger on mood than coherence, it really only drags once Dr. Sturges exits the picture halfway through, with only the deviant love triangle dragged out until the climactic revelations. In what may have been her last role, the lovely Ewa Aulin gives the same kind of detached performance she did in 1968's "Candy," although she may have appreciated being effectively cast against type (her passivity works amazingly well considering the effect she has on all others, exactly like her character in "Candy"). Alas, Klaus Kinski is totally wasted in the sort of take-the-money-and-run kind of part that he nearly always accepted, with only a handful of lines and an unchanging look of consternation. Kudos to the other reviewers who made the effort to journey through the difficult plot line, I trust I succeeded in my own way.