Death Carries a Cane 4K 1973

Maurizio Prado's " Death Carries a Cane" by Maurizio Prado can be used as a visual aid for film schools as an example of classic Italian giallo. Not only are there no deviations from the canons of the genre, but on the contrary, many of its characteristic features are so exaggerated that it seems that just a little more and the action will turn into a parody. Take, for example, the sharpened razor in the killer's black-gloved hands, slowly reaching for the defenseless throat... Or the cane knocking gloomily on the door (yes, that's right — if you don't believe that a cane can “knock gloomily,” then you've never seen old Italian genre films)... Or the victim's bulging eyes (supposedly in horror)... In short, the list goes on and on. And all this is filmed and shown without the slightest hint of irony, with accents placed so skillfully that while watching, you don't even think about how ridiculous the clichés used by the director are. After the final credits—yes, without a doubt, but only because Passi di danza su una lama di rasoio is not the most outstanding film of its kind. And then there's the Spanish actress Nieves Navarro, one of the best representatives of the “surviving victim” role I've seen in giallo.

The story begins with the heroine, played by Ms. Navarro, who this time is called Kitty, seeing through a telescope how an unknown man in a hat and black coat kills a woman in a house window. This is yet another cliché in the collection—the heroine of giallo observes the murder through a window in almost a third of such films. In addition, she manages to see that the killer was limping. Then everything goes as expected: the murders continue, random witnesses die, Kitty herself is in danger, the circle of suspects widens, and it turns out that almost everyone around her limps and carries a cane. This includes Kitty's “close friend” Alberto, who also gets involved in the investigation...

Giallo wouldn't be giallo if it didn't have something special that sets it apart from other films of the same genre. The title of Passi di danza su una lama di rasoio already hints at this special feature: all the murders are somehow connected to the dance school, which allows the authors to focus more than usual on the soundtrack. It is usually quite good in Italian films, but here it comes to the fore. However, the choreography is not so impressive: the choreographer who staged the dance for one of the school's students should have been made one of the killer's victims, but unfortunately, he only kills the unlucky dancer. However, no matter how good the music or dancing is, if the killer is identified long before the finale, it's not good (after all, this is not a psychological detective story). In this respect, Death Carries a Cane is fine... The gloomy shadow with a cane remains incognito until the very end (although the viewer will, of course, have some suspicions) and will only be exposed after a long chase through the night estate after the heroine Nieves Navarro. So she gets to scream and run around to her heart's content. And the actress does both... It would probably be wrong to say “hilarious” in relation to the genre, but I'll say it anyway. In fact, it is precisely this “hilariousness” of Nieves that makes her characters so memorable, unlike many other actresses who are considered much more serious “stars” of giallo. Well, Passi di danza su una lama di rasoio will remain a worthy representative of its glorious family...