gridoon2018
"Watch Me When I Sleep" would be a more fitting English title for this second-rate giallo, made during the declining years of the genre (the "cat" in the original Italian title has absolutely nothing to do with the story either, it just seems that it was a fashionable word to use in the title of many gialli). The story sort-of makes sense, if you're OK with the fact that the killer appears in about 2 scenes in total. The killings are few, and sometimes more comical than shocking (a woman has her face pressed on....hot meat and potatoes!). The male lead does not have enough charisma to be a lead. The strongest asset of the film is the weird, discordant score. It's still somewhat of an ordeal to watch - it took me two separate sittings to make it. *1/2 out of 4.
Woodyanders
Nightclub dancer Mara (a solid and appealing performance by the fetching Paola Tedesco) finds herself being stalked by a killer after she witnesses a murder. It's up to Mara's sleazy, but overall decent boyfriend Lukas (a fine and likable portrayal by Corrado Pani) to figure out who the killer is before he claims Mara as his next victim. Director/co-writer Antonio Bido does a bang-up job with this nifty entry in the popular Italian giallo thriller genre: The tight and tricky plot unfolds at a swift pace, Bido creates and sustains a substantial amount of tension, the killer's true identity is a real surprise, and the brutal murder set pieces deliver the savagely satisfying goods (a vicious bathtub strangulation rates as a definite exciting highlight). Moreover, this film further benefits from sturdy acting by the able cast: Tedesco and Pani do praiseworthy work in the leads, with sound support from Fernando Cerulli as the scared and secretive Giovanni Bozzi, Franco Citti as angry convicted killer Pasquale Ferrante, and Bianca Toccafondi as the paranoid Esmeralda Messori. Mario Vulpiani's polished and dynamic cinematography makes inspired use of a smoothly gliding camera and gives the picture a neat stylish look. The lively and throbbing jazzy prog-rock score by Trans Europa Express does the pulse-pounding trick. Recommended viewing for giallo fans.
christopher-underwood
Not the most shocking, nor the most bloody, nor the most stylish of giallo, but it's likable enough and is just that little bit different. Much helped by a very decent performance from Corrado Pani as the cigar chomping guy who seeks to unravel one of the most complicated of tales. Far too many characters and just a few too many red herrings and yet it does keep going and if Paola Tedesco as the female lead does not match the performance of Pani, this may be the fault of the dubbers. Not awash with killings, what there are, are very good. The first one is a bit pedestrian but the fantastic bath scene killing and the one backstage with all the costume are worth the admission price and if the ending is a bit abrupt, it is conclusive and brought a smile to my face. Effective score.
Prof-Hieronymos-Grost
A young woman Mara(Paola Tedesco) accidentally stumbles into a murder in progress of a pharmacist in his store, she then finds that she is now being sought be the killer. Instead of notifying the police, she intrusts the services of an old cigar chomping friend Lukas (Corrado Pani, Secrets of a Call Girl, Gambling City ) to help investigate the killing and prevent the killer from killing her. Lukas investigation gets progressively more confusing and frustrating as people he looks to for information turn up dead or are none to helpful.Bido of The Bloodstained Shadow fame, has a reputation for approaching his films differently and here again the film hides its dark secret until the finale of the film. The film suffers a little as the print available is very dark and grainy, a fact that might lead some to believe the film has no merit, but it does and it also has a message that the past comes back to haunt everyone. There are also some gruesome killings to keep the gorehounds happy. Pani puts in a fine performance, despite some dodgy dubbing and the score by Trans Europa Express is powerful and memorable and much in the vein of a Goblin opus.
AD
