Sam Panico London. The 70's. Professor of Italian Enrico Rosseni (Fabio Testi, The Four of the Apocalypse) is on his boat, making out with Elizabeth (Cristina Galbó, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, The House that Screamed) and trying to get her to go further than she has before. Right when it seems like he's going to finally conquer her, she looks up to see a woman being stabbed on the shore.After angrily rowing to the shore, Rosseni and Elizabeth find no evidence of a crime. He accuses her of being too religious, like all the girls at the school her uncle sent her to. The next morning, while he dresses and argues with his wife Helga, he hears about a horrid murder on the banks of the Thames river. He drives to where he and Elizabeth were and finds tons of cops. And there are even more at the school where he works!The victim was one of Elizabeth's friends, so she wants to tell the police what they know. However, he doesn't want the affair exposed. However, his pen has been found near the body and he shows up in the crime scene photographs in the newspaper.More murders. More clues in Elizabeth's mind. More priests doing evil things. More anger from Helga. More of Rosseni trying to solve the crime. And all he has is one clue: Who is Solange and what was done to her?The movie takes a turn when Elizabeth is killed inside the apartment that Rosseni has rented for the two of them to continue their affair. And at that point, Helga starts being much nicer to our hero. As their relationship improves, her makeup grows softer, her clothing gets more fashionable and her hair comes down. How strange to find a giallo about a relationship coming back together as the result of murder!What happened to Solange (Camille Keaton, I Spit on Your Grave)? She was given an abortion that all of the murdered girls were there for. In a kitchen, no less. And all of those girls were involved in doing drugs and dating older men.So what do the cops do? Oh, just set up a sting operation with all of the surviving girls. And of course, Solange just happens to show up, walking through the park. Here's the second of course - the cops bungle everything and the killer takes Brenda, asking her the story of Solange, as he did every other victim.This is one well put together film, thanks to Massimo Dallamano, who was the cameraman for Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Joe D'Amoto was the cinematographer and added plenty to the film. And you can't deny the power of having an Ennio Morricone score!This film is an interesting combination of the German krimi film and the Italian giallo and gave way to Dallamono's Schoolgirls in Perili trilogy, which includes What Have They Done to Your Daughters and Rings of Fear.

Bezenby Massimo Dallamno takes the most sleaziest of premises and smothers it in luscious cinematography (by Joe D'Amato) and a silky Ennio Morricone soundtrack, to produce something uniquely Italian. It starts of fairly giallo like, with Italian teacher Enrico floating down the Thames on a boat with schoolgirl Elizabeth (Cristina Galbo, who hasn't aged a day since playing a schoolgirl in The House That Screamed three years earlier). Enrico wants to get into her pants, but Elizabeth tries what Enrico thinks is yet another delay tactic - that of claiming she saw a girl being chased in the bushes, and the flash of a knife. Enrico only has one bush in mind and stomps off in a huff.Unluckily for Enrico, a girl is found dead with a huge blade rammed into her most private of parts, and she's one of his pupils from the school he works in as a teacher! Enrico now has to try and cover up the affair he's having with Elizabeth, not only from his cold, distant wife, but also from all the staff at the school he works at. He probably shouldn't have dropped that pen when he flounced off either, because now he's got a cop on his tail too.In an effort to clear his name, Enrico has to hunt down the killer too, and sort out his love life! Maybe Elizabeth can remember something about that day on the river, or if she can't maybe she should shut up and stop using the flashbacks as an excuse to tell Enrico she's not in the mood. Enrico embarks on a journey where everyone around him is a suspect, from the priests as the girls school, to the janitor, and what has the mysterious girl Solange got to do with it all?This is the beginning of a giallo trilogy by Massimo Dallamano that continues with What Have You Done With Our Daughters and Rings of Terror (written by Dallamano, but filmed after his death). All involve schoolgirls who are a lot less innocent that they appear to be, and all include rampant schoolgirl nudity that is kind of frowned upon these days (don't worry though, we are not in Borderline Jimmy Saville Territory (or BJST) here, as it's mentioned a few times that girls are about eighteen, and very evident that the actresses involved left school long before they appeared in this film!). There's a bizarre scene where the girls all have a communal shower and cigarettes at the same time, which aren't two activities you'd usually associate with each other. This is a highly rated giallo due to the complex plot and amazing visuals, plus Fabio Testi always makes a good leading man. I've got to admit the plot was quite absorbing as well, as the focus shifts around various peripheral characters throughout, and Camille Keaton as the strange Solange definitely makes her mark. There was one bit that was rather iffy though - if a witness has a vital piece of evidence, would you have her blurt it out in front of every suspect in the film? Apart from that, this might be a good starting point for anyone interested in this kind of film.

HEFILM This film has many strengths, it's well photographed and has a very good score by Morricone. The plot twists get a little to twisty--though that's part of the fun of giallo's and the final answer as to what happened to Solange is memorably nasty. It's also well produced, the dubbing is pretty good and much of it looks or at least feels like it's really taking place in England--though the cast doesn't look very British.So what's wrong with this picture? Well the lead character is a lecherous teacher and the movie itself seems to wallow a bit in scenes of naked school girls in the shower. Though you can get a exploitation thrill from this you don't really identify with any of the characters. The detective gets more screen time but isn't interesting and doesn't have any emotional involvement in solving the crimes.So you'd expect our lech lead "wrong man" character to learn or get more involved in solving all this--and he sort of does but mostly doesn't. Some of this can be actor Testi's though he's less stiff here than in other films.The film also doesn't build as well as it should and as it starts to explain what's going on it slows down and gets convoluted--in other words it has a slow middle.There is one silly scene with an over the top witness to a crime and lot's of Catholic hatred and confusion to liven things up.Film has some style, helped by the music, but the style neither overcomes nor expresses all the elements of the film. It's an interesting film that isn't all that compelling.

Boba_Fett1138 This movie is a textbook example of a giallo. And when watching this movie you'll also understand what makes the genre so popular and distinctive.As far as giallo's go, this isn't the most violent or bloody one around. It tries to build its tension and mystery differently, without excluding any of the typical genre elements. And I must say that the killings that are in this movie (and that we get to see) are shot very well and possible form the movie its most memorable moments. Perhaps this is also thanks to director Massimo Dallamano his background as a cinematographer. The movie has some good solid characters in it, that are being likable ones as well. They help to make the story move along and help to carry it over the movie its slower points. Yes, this perhaps isn't the most exciting giallo to watch but it's a well constructed one nevertheless.I don't rate it among my favorites but it remains a good giallo nevertheless.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/