Complete credited cast: | |||
Florinda Bolkan | ... |
Maciara
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Barbara Bouchet | ... |
Patrizia
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Tomas Milian | ... |
Andrea Martelli
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Irene Papas | ... |
Dona Aurelia Avallone
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Marc Porel | ... |
Don Alberto Avallone
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Georges Wilson | ... |
Francesco
(as George Wilson)
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Antonello Campodifiori | ... |
Lieutenant
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Ugo D'Alessio | ... |
Captain Modesti
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Virgilio Gazzolo | ... |
Police Commissioner
(as Virginio Gazzolo)
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Vito Passeri | ... |
Barra
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Rosalia Maggio | ... |
Mrs. Spriano - Michele's Mother
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Andrea Aureli | ... |
Mr. Lo Cascio - Bruno's Father
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Linda Sini | ... |
Mrs. Lo Cascio - Bruno's Mother
|
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Franco Balducci | ... |
Mr. Spriano - Michele's Father
|
A reporter and a promiscuous young woman try to solve a series of child killings in a remote southern Italian town that's rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders.
I really enjoyed this film although I have only had a chance to watch it once. It's a great Giallo IMO and just as enjoyable as Fulci's later films. The direction was perhaps a bit rough around the edges but on the whole I thought the film worked really well and the ending was great (a real cliff hanger!). I thought one scene was particularly disturbing when the locals beat the hell out of a poor women while the radio played in the background. The inappropriate music made the images even harder to swallow but also gave the scene an emotional punch uncommon in a Fulci movie. I also felt that the story worked coherently and that the twist at the end was great. Fulci obviously has a rather low opinion of rural Italy's inhabitants because in this film all the villagers are presented as simpletons prone to mass-hysteria who live by their own backward laws (illustrated by the remorseless killing of the women) and religious beliefs.