ma-cortes Moving and bleak Italian/Spanish film with high doses of violence and a lot of dialogue . This spooky picture about some criminals holding the couple hostage at home contains shocks , suspense , grisly killings and numerous creepy scenes . It is a passable home invasion thriller with noticeable flaws . It deals with a solicitor called Peter (Gianni Garco , famous Spaghetti actor as Sartana) , son of a respectable judge (Fernando Rey) , picks up Anna (Giovanna Ralli) , a prostitute from the club in which is shown a nude spectacle (performed by Karin Schubert as Nightclub Actress) and takes her back to his father 's place . The duo soon discover they are not alone , as a mugger called Quill (Julian Mateos), is waiting for them . Subsequently , there appears Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff who ulteriorly committed suicide) , the lead maniac disguised as a bobby , and things get worse . The couple is besieged and terrorized by the psycho-killer attackers and then look for some means to getaway .Tension , suspense , and unsettling scenes when a couple is harassed by two dangerous criminals . "Cold Eyes of Fear" provides that mindless entertainment in spades, with a few head-scratches along the way. It displays relentless thriller , intrigue , shocks , hard-edged drama , plot twists , creepy images and some violence when crimes and fights takes place . The villains in this movie are a mixed bag , each of the burglars have their own agenda that we find out over the course of the movie through the use of flashbacks . This flawed film written by Leo Anchoriz , an ordinary secondary actor , packs thrilling and hair-raising frames , twists and turns . You can attempt to put all the pieces together at the final but you'll only end up confused and disappointed , it's not worth the effort . This violent story belongs to ¨Home invasion sub-genre¨ similarly to ¨Michael Hanake's Funny Games¨, ¨William Wyler's Desperate hours¨, ¨Michael Cimino's Desperate Hours¨and recently : ¨Miguel Angel Vivas's Kidnapped¨ as well as ¨Joel Schumacher's Trespass¨. The overall result is chilling proof that E. G. Castell can take us back into a luxurious mansion while delivering a completely different scare . While the look is suitable eerie and frightening , the plot spreads to the breaking point and the ending turns out to be a little frustrating . The cast is pretty well , as Frank Wolff's eccentric performance really adds to the gravity of the situation and makes for a gripping protagonist-antagonist dynamic . Gorgeous Giovanna Ralli as an Italian woman of dubious virtue , Ralli played classic films as ¨El General De La Rovere¨ , but also acted in Spaghetti as ¨The mercenary¨ and Giallos . And Julian Mateos , a famed Spanish actor , player in US Western as well as Spaghetti as ¨Hellbenders¨ , ¨Four rode out¨ , ¨Catlow¨ , ¨Shalako¨, ¨Return of seven magnificent¨ . Special mention for Fernando Rey as a prestigious judge , Rey was Luis Buñuel's usual actor and unforgettable in ¨French Connection I and II¨. Atmospheric cinematography by Antonio L. Ballesteros shot at Cinecitta and in London . Jazzy musical score by the great Ennio Morricone , including some rare and atonal sounds.The picture produced by Jose Frade/Atlantida Films was professionally directed by Enzo Girolami Castellari , though has some flaws and gaps . Enzo is a craftsman whose father was filmmaker Marino Girolami and his brother Ennio Girolami . He had a lot of hit-smashes in the action cinema and Spaghetti . His first film was ¨Seven Winchester for a massacre¨ ; after the movie 's success, the same producers approached Castellari again to direct a Western ¨Jonny Hamlet¨ the next year, which he accepted . Enzo usually makes experimental editing techniques such as unbroken transitions from one scene to another and a cameo appearance in his films . Castellari often works with Guido and Maurizio De Angelis and uses to do slow motion shootouts and choreographic death scenes . Enzo is a good professional working in all kind of genres , but he made Western especially . His first one was ¨Some dollars for Django¨ co-directed by Leon Klimovsky , but actually , for the most part of its filming by the disagreements arising with Klimovsky was realized by Enzo G. Castellari, which this film was his directorial debut in a sub-genre that became one of its greatest representatives ; in fact if you compare the beginning of "7 Winchester for a massacre" which would direct the next year and the end this one seem to be similar direction . After that , he went on directing ¨ Johnny Hamlet¨ , ¨Kill them everybody and came back alone¨, ¨Tedeum¨ , ¨Cipolla colt¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨, and the masterpiece : ¨Keoma¨ and finally its inferior sequel ¨Jonathan of the Bears¨ with Franco Nero . Some of them are serious , others are goofy and plenty of slapstick and slapdash . He also directed successful wartime movies as ¨Inglorious bastards ¨ , ¨Eagles over London¨ , Sci-Fi : ¨1990 : Bronx warriors¨ , "The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland" , "Escape from the Bronx" , Adventures : ¨Tuareg¨, ¨Adventures and loves of Scaramouche¨ , Simbad¨, "The Shark Hunter" and Poliziotteschi : "Day of the Cobra" , ¨Striker¨, ¨Heroin Busters¨. The pic will appeal to Eurocult fans and Italian-Spanish production enthusiasts.

The_Void Everything I'd read about this film prior to seeing it pointed to it being rubbish, but after reading the plot description; I figured that it might actually be OK. However, I was wrong. The plot sounds like Cold Eyes of Fear could be a gritty cross between the Giallo and the slew of 'house' films (e.g. House on the Edge of the Park, The Last House on the Beach) whereby criminal(s) take innocents hostage inside their home. It sort of is a cross between these genres; but it's so damned boring that any positives that may have come from this are instantly sucked away. The film takes place in London, which is unfortunate as it means that we're 'treated' to a load of phoney British accents. It really annoys me that some people actually think we talk like this! Anyway, the plot focuses on Peter; a young man who picks up an Italian hooker and takes her back to his place. However, they arrive to find a criminal in wait for them. Peter's father, a judge, then sends a copper to sort the situation; but the man who turns up is an impostor, hell-bent on revenge...The film actually gets off to a good start...but that then turns out to be a stage show, and that pretty much sums the entire film up. Other directors have proved many times that the Giallo can be wholly entertaining, despite the often rubbish plots; but Castellari shows here that they can be really boring too! It's a shame really, as the director has proved himself to me with a trio of great crime films (The Big Racket, Street Law and The Heroin Busters), as well as one of the best Jaws rip offs in the form of The Last Shark - but the man obviously can't handle Giallo. It's strange that a man with such a penchant for violent action would make a film so boring, and perhaps one of the reason why it is so boring is that a lot of the main 'action' focuses on talking, and Castellari is obviously better suited to shooting car chases and fist fights. The acting is as crap as you would expect, and this isn't helped at all by the awful dubbing. Not even Morricone's score is up to much. Overall, don't bother with this one - there are FAR better Giallo's out there!

christopher-underwood Spanish, Italian co-production, set in London and already we are wondering if all will be well. We certainly get some strange accents and if this is giallo influenced, it is not drenched in the genre. What we don't get is lots of gore and nudity. On the plus side there is some Morricone soundtrack, great night shots of late 60's London and some unusually serious discussion of bribery and corruption in high places. Actually these suggestions of a totally corrupt judiciary might be references to Italy rather than England but hey.. There are some nice twists and if the piece is a little wordy it never stops being interesting as the characters change their stance and help to keep us on our toes. Meanwhile Fernando Rey spends the film sitting at his desk waiting for a bomb to go off, which it does and it doesn't!

Bobfingr Never been more bored. There are plenty of italian films of that time which have more content, action, excitement and better acting. First of all the italian versions are always better. Those international english speaking edition always miss something and never almost match with the acting. In this movie, nothing happens. The woman is very irritating, it should probably show a very spoiled italian woman. Hum, don't really get very close to that. The "criminal" dudes are not as such. If you really want to see some good italian Thriller choose directors like Mario Bava and you will never waste either your time or your money. PS - If Castellani would have made a movie entirely dedicated to the actress Karin Shubert, wow that would have been much much better and enjoyable.