Year: 1972
Duration: 01:27:45
Directed by: Umberto Lenzi
Actors: Carroll Baker, Alan Scott, Ida Galli
Language: Italian | English Subtitles
Country: Italy | Spain
Also known as: Il coltello di ghiaccio, Aima stin pagomeni lepida, Detrás del silencio, Matomeno stiletto, O Cutelo de Gelo, Silent Horror
Description: A thirteen year old girl March Caldwell witnessed the death of their parents in a terrible train crash. Very nearly left alive, and then transferring a terrible shock, March becomes dumb. It takes many years. Still dumb March lives with his uncle Ralph in the Spanish province. Once at their house comes cousin by the name of Martha Jenny to get a little time with their parents. But soon someone kills…
Review: For all fans of giallo decoupling the film Umberto Lenzi (Nightmare Beach and Spasmo) is pretty predictable, and with it the value of «Knife of Ice» as a detective would decrease significantly. On the other hand, the professional qualities of the Director enabled him to keep in suspense until the final even sophisticated audience (and suddenly killer still not anyone I think?), so you never know… However, other advantages of the movie is not. Carroll Baker not too convincingly portrays here dumb girl, but it though role quite originally registered. The rest is just a character, characteristic for the detective. In this case, detective combines the features of a classic English (not coincidentally, all characters have English names) and Italian slasher: a series of mysterious murders, a hint of sexual crimes, paradoxical at first glance ending.
No psychological atmosphere in this case, no speech, no prominent figures of the detectives (minus English detective), but there is no suspense, no sudden turns of the plot. Most of the movie, leading an investigation into the deaths of two women suspected a drug addict and homebrew Satanist, but the authors unambiguously let know, that the young man is not to blame. The spectator remains only iterate over the other actors: uncle Martha, whose cousin was killed first, very suspicious driver Marcos, finally, even a priest, father Martin, who constantly stayed around girls Christina (the third victim of the maniac). Finally, killer harass March, with the arrival of which the estate of the uncle started all these events.
However, the level of adrenaline in the blood viewer rise hardly… For some reason Signor Lenzi in «Il coltello di ghiaccio» level of suspense carefully doses and not increase to a critical level even at the moment of climax of the story, thus following the traditions of the English detective with his thorough explanation in the final shrewd detective of all the circumstances of the mysterious crimes. But the thing – inspector Duran performed by Franco Fantasia on the role of this the detective fits with great difficulty. Too slow as it progresses too far to the second role retracted. In fact, in the role of a detective-lover in the film acts March, but making it a dumb authors of the film limited the possibility of the viewer to follow her actions. Besides combination in one person roles simultaneously, and «victims of the remaining alive», and «detective-lover», and some other things, with all its originality deprived writers the opportunity to extend the action by introducing additional characters. And one Carroll Baker, with all respect to it, the load on their shoulders not made, leaving the Knife of Ice in a number of good, but not the most outstanding Italian investigators.
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