sol ***SPOILERS*** Strange tale of two identical Siamese Twines, played by the prying mantas or string bean looking Michael Moriarty, separate at birth who go on in life in two opposite directions. One Craig Manning a respected and well loved doctor in the USA and the "Evil One" of the two Keith a ruthless serial murderer in far off Germany who specializes in murdering well stacked women,both young and middle age, after having sex with them. It's the good twin Craig who get's visions of women being murdered that tips him off on his twin brother Keith's, who supposedly died in a house fire in Cleveland at the age of 17, murder spree across the Atlantic.Craig While taking a trip to Hamburg Germany, where he saw Keith commit his murders, where Keith is soon spotted and mistaken for him at a Hamburg coffee shop by by one Craig's former patients ex-boxer and now professional wrestler Bud Waldo, Cameron Mitchell,whom he treated some time ago for an arm injury. Feeling that he may uncover his true identity in him not being Craig Manning has Keith trick Waldo, who has a serious heart condition, into a friendly sparring session with him in the park. With Keith hitting the much older man in all directions and not for once letting up induces Waldo to drop dead of a massive heart attack. Now really getting into it Keith goes all out to murder anyone, not just sexy and buxom women, who can figure out or prove that he's in fact not Craig but Keith! Keith uses this sham to murder at his heart's desire and have Craig take the blame for it!It's when Craig's busty & sexy secretary as well as lover Julie Warren, Penelope Milford, realizes his dreams or visions are real and has the local authorities in Hamburg headed by police inspector Hessinger, Reinhold Olszewski, check out Keith whereabouts and connection to the murders that Craig is now being blamed for that Keith targets her for his next victim. In that she can prove that Craig in fact does have an identical twin who's been murdering at will and laying the blame for his murders to his brother Craig! ***SPOILERS*** It's difficult to believe that Keith can commit so many murders in the movie without anyone not only not suspecting he committed them but not being able to catch him as well. Keith finally slips up when he sets up Julie as his next victim. It's during his hot and heavy sexual tryst with her that he drops his switchblade knife and ends up getting it plunged into his back by Julie before he could retrieve it! Now dead and on a slab in the morgue Craig come to bid his twin brother Keith a final farewell that in fact turns out to be fatal for him! ***MAJOR SPOILER***The films crazy and unexplained ending in the dead not only raising from the grave or morgue but taking over someone's body and mind was just too much for me to take. Up until then "Blood Link" at least made some kind of sense as a crime thriller but in it's suddenly turning into a supernatural horror movie it took any credibility that was still left in the film away for it.

The_Void Blood Link is a German and Italian co-production; although it was clearly made for an American audience. The film has got itself in with the 'Giallo' style that had it's heyday in Italy during the seventies; although the reason for that is probably merely down to the fact that it's directed by Alberto De Martino; as despite some Giallo elements, I wouldn't call this film a Giallo on the whole. Blood Link is more of a psychological thriller that takes in themes relating to psychology and a psychic link between two people. Craig Mannings and his girlfriend are doctors trying to create a new way of exploring pain and dreams. Craig decides to test the new methods on himself but ends up finding a way into his presumed dead ex-Siamese twin brother's conscience. He discovers that his brother is living in Hamburg and murdering people; but this doesn't stop him from going to Hamburg and tracking him down. When he arrives in Hamburg, the killings continue until the inevitable meeting between the two brothers.Michael Moriarty has had an interesting career; the highlight of which for me is his role in Larry Cohen's excellent 'The Stuff'. His performance here is not quite as over the top, but it is rather more impressive. Moriarty is not an obvious choice for the lead role in a film like this; but he fits into it excellently and makes both characters he plays very believable. The film is interesting throughout and several good ideas are explored; not least the idea of a psychic link between two brothers that used to share a physical link, but there's also some good ideas relating to the sexuality of the 'bad' twin. There's a few murders scenes; none of them particularly bloody or over the top but good enough and fitting within the movie. Cameron Mitchell's aging wrestler's character has a highlight scene in that respect. The film manages to stay interesting for the duration and it all boils down to a suitably dark and compelling conclusion. The premise of the movie is similar to David Cronenberg's later Dead Ringers; and while the latter is the better film, there's lots to like here and Blood Link is certainly worth a look.

Coventry I'm strangely fascinated by the acting career of Michael Moriarty. He's rather odd-looking and never seems to know what's going on, yet he was often offered important horror roles during the 1980's. Especially, by Larry Cohen who cast him in "Q – The Winged Serpent" and "The Stuff". Well, "Blood Link" isn't exactly an important film, but it's easily his most ambitious and valuable role. Your first impression will probably be that he's terribly miscast in his double role as sadistic murderer and the telepathically linked twin brother who pursues him, but he actually grows in his role and gets more convincing as the story develops. Craig Mannings is a doctor living in the United States who's frequently disturbed by nightmares in which he sees himself committing gruesome murders. He's instantly reminded of his former Siamese twin brother Keith, only he supposedly dies in an arson at age 17. The search brings him to Hamburg where the sane & insane brother will be reunited, although not without a lot of bloodshed. "Blood Link" is an interesting, albeit slow and implausible thriller with some clear giallo influences and a most enchanting score by master Ennio Morricone. Alberto De Martino – one of Italy's most criminally underrated director – professionally and adds in twists, nifty murders and even some nudity whenever you tend to lost interest. Although nearly not shocking or violent enough to rank among Italy's better thrillers, fans might find it enjoyable and worth tracking down.

lazarillo A man shares a psychic link with his siamese twin brother who he thought perished in a fire but has actually become a serial killer in Berlin, Germany (don't ya hate it when that happens?). This is kind of an interesting movie, not good necessarily but interesting. Basically its a latter-day Italian giallo except that it is a German co-production with American actors, it has a slightly bigger budget than usual, and it was apparently not post-synced. It was also made at a time when big-budget Hollywood films were actually beginning to imitate Italian gialli instead of just the reverse. In fact, the two films it borrows most liberally from--Brian DePalma's "Sisters" and the John Carpenter-scripted "Eyes of Laura Mars"--were themselves very heavily influenced by gialli making this film a kind of trans-Atlantic cinematic feedback.The acting is very good. Michael Moriarity plays dual roles as the protagonist and his psychopathic brother. Cameron Mitchell has a pretty decent cameo as an aging prize fighter. Penelope Milford is also pretty good. The script has Milford and all the other women in this movie generously shedding their clothes, even though doing so often requires their characters to be unbelievably stupid. One woman goes to bed with the identical twin of a man who she has just watched beat her elderly father to death, even though she really only has his own word that he is in fact the twin. Milford herself basically lets the homicidal brother rape her in an ill-conceived effort to save her unfaithful boyfriend from a murder charge. The ending might be an interesting attempt to explore the same psychological and metaphysical ground touched on in "Sisters" or the later David Cronenberg movie "Dead Ringers", or it could be just another sorry excuse to show Milford naked--hard to tell with these kind of movies. An interesting film though, especially for Michael Moriarty and/or giallo fans.