Prior to today, I had seen three of director Serguio Martino’s Giallos: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh from 1971; Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key from 1972; and 1973’s Torso. All rank among my favorites of this particular subgenre, weaving intriguing storylines into a narrative style that is as sexy as it is visually engaging.
Now, I can add The Case of The Scorpion’s Tail, also released in 1971, to this amazing list of movies.
When her wealthy husband dies in a mysterious airline explosion, London resident Lisa Baumer (Ida Galli) learns she was the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy, worth one million dollars.
Soon after flying to Athens to collect the money (which she took entirely in cash), Ms. Baumer is brutally murdered in her hotel room, and the chief suspect in her slaying is insurance investigator Peter Lynch (George Hilton), who was tasked with looking into possible irregularities in her case.
As more people associated with the Baumers turn up dead, both police inspector Stavros (Luigi Pistilli) and John Stanley of Interpol (Alberto De Mendoza) become convinced that Lynch is, indeed, behind this sudden rash of murders. To prove his innocence, Lynch teams up with (and romances) French reporter Clea Dupont (Anita Strindberg), in the hopes she’ll uncover a clue that will clear him once and for all.
One cannot discuss Sergio Martino’s output in the subgenre without also mentioning Ernesto Gastaldi, who wrote (or co-wrote) all of the director’s Giallos. The story of The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, which twists and turns in a number of directions, throwing one potential suspect after another our way, is a definite strength, and keeps us guessing the whole way through.
That said, it’s the visual style Martino brings to the table that pushes it over the top.
In what is, for me, the strongest sequence in The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, the killer stalks Lara (Janine Raynaud), a pretty redhead who, earlier in the movie, tried to blackmail Lisa Baumer for the insurance money. Lara, it seems, was the late Mr. Baumer’s mistress, and claims he intended to divorce Lisa and marry her. Lara said she was in possession of a letter that would prove Lisa Baumer wished her husband dead (Lisa herself had a lover, played by Tomas Pico). Naturally, when Lisa then turns up dead, Lara and her accomplice Sharif (Luis Barboo) are considered prime suspects.
That all ends when Lara herself becomes the killer’s next target, a scene that utilizes POV, a clever use of slow motion, and a fair amount of blood. When Sharif barges in before the killer can flee the scene, it leads to a tense rooftop chase that also ends in bloodshed.
Shot on-location in London and Greece, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail is, along with its other attributes, a gorgeous motion picture, and proof positive that Martino is every bit the master of the Giallo as fellow countryman Dario Argento (Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red). I still have a few of Martino’s Giallos to check out, and now I chomping at the bit to dive into them!
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
