With films like All the Colors in the Dark (1972), Torso (1973), Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972), The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), etc., Sergio Martino is recognized as one of the pioneers of the Giallo genre, alongside Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, and Mario Bava. His 1971 flick, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, is a perfect introduction to his filmography and for those unfamiliar with the Giallo films, as it incorporates all of the genre’s defining characteristics.
Lisa Baumer (Ida Galli) is the unfaithful wife of Kurt Baumer, a businessman who dies in a plane accident and leaves behind a one-million-dollar insurance policy with Lisa as the sole beneficiary. She departs for Athens to collect the money, but is followed by Peter Lynch (George Hilton), an insurance investigator tasked with confirming the payout’s legality. Lisa plans to withdraw the funds in cash and travel to Tokyo to visit her lover in Japan, but soon discovers that there are others, besides herself, who are also equally anxious to get hold of that money and are willing to kill for it. Things get complicated when a masked killer breaks into her apartment, kills her, and steals the money.
The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail contains every Giallo trait imaginable, including a killer wearing black gloves, an animal in the film’s title, multiple red herrings (including one with scorpion-shaped cuff links), explicit sexual content, violent murders, unexpected plot twists, and suspense over the killer’s identity, which is only revealed at the end. Despite the story’s lack of originality, the busy and dense screenplay manages to keep the audiences engaged in the film due to the involvement of numerous other characters—including Kurt, his mistress Lara Florakis (played by Janine Reynaud) and her muscle Sharif (Luis Barboo), Lisa’s ex-phillipe, Interpol agent John Stanley (Alberto de Mendoza), who is investigating the plane crash, etc.—many of whom may be after the money themselves. The makers ensure that the plot advances at a breakneck pace, demanding your undivided attention, and they succeed in completely engrossing you in the procedural elements, leaving you with no time to speculate on the killer’s identity. There are some gruesome killings depicted in the film that primarily revolve around the killer’s plan—to steal the insurance money and to cover up his crime by pinning it on someone—both of which come off as credible without being illogical or unjustified, adding to the film’s appeal and intrigue.
Unlike his contemporaries in the Giallo genre, particularly Dario Argento, Sergio Martino was not known for crafting elaborate killing sequences. However, this film contains a couple of impressively designed and flawlessly executed kills, particularly the one in which the killer tries to enter the victim’s house through the door but is eventually successful in doing so by breaking the windows as the scene begins inside the house and ends on the rooftop. Although the final reveal might not be entirely satisfying, it is undoubtedly surprising because the makers are so good at successfully steering the audience’s attention in tangential avenues that we never once consider looking in the right direction. Also impressive is the manner in which the twist is conveyed, as we learn about the killer’s identity through an underwater scene, which is something new and refreshing to witness.
The Case of a Scorpion’s Tail is a very engaging entry in the Giallo genre that is stylishly shot, with plenty of pulpy thrills, some impressive kills, decent gory effects, and a solid central mystery. It is my second favorite Martino film after his awe-inspiring All the Colors of the Dark (1972).
The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (1971) movie links: Letterboxd, IMDB
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