Plot of Fear 4K 1976

Michele Placido was also young and just starting out once. Sure, he'd already had some leading roles before “...e tanta paura,” but it seems like he played a police commissioner for the first time in Paolo Cavara's giallo. His character's name was not Cattani, but Lo Menzo, and he did not fight the all-powerful mafia, but investigated a series of mysterious murders typical of the beloved Italian film genre, but the fact remains. Michele Placido took his role as police commissioner seriously and for a long time.

The presence of this actor, who is a cult figure for viewers born in the Soviet Union, would be enough to spark interest in this film. But apart from Signor Placido, ...e tanta paura has many other merits. First of all, it has an interesting plot and a convoluted intrigue, which are fundamental to the detective genre. They keep the viewer in suspense until the very last minutes, offering one false denouement after another, forcing them to rack their brains over the mystery of the closed club “Lovers of Fauna,” whose members suddenly begin to die one after another in the most ingenious ways. What's more, the killer leaves pictures from a children's book illustrating each death on every corpse. Placido's character is at a loss, because apart from the fact that all the victims belonged to the same club, they have nothing in common. In addition, all the murders were committed in different ways and in completely different styles... The mystery could be solved by events that took place four years ago, when a prostitute died at one of the parties, after which the club was closed, and its founder died of a stroke some time later.

Lo Menzo meets one of the girls who was present at the tragic party. But apart from the fact that he likes the model Zhanna, he learns nothing new. The girl claims that she attended the club's meetings only once, but her undisguised interest in the investigation arouses the commissioner's suspicions...

However, the creators of “...e tanta paura” have woven so many layers into their film, so many crimes that follow one after another, that in anticipation of the true denouement, it is easy to lose track of your suspicions. However, Paolo Cavara keeps a tight grip on all the threads of the narrative, not forgetting even the smallest detail. So rest assured, the puzzle will come together perfectly at the end, without any deus ex machina intervention, which was often resorted to not only by ancient playwrights. Add to this the consistently compelling performance of Michele Placido, who, at thirty, bore little resemblance to his later self in appearance but was already a skilled professional, and you have a solid giallo that will allow you to enjoy your evening. It's a pity, though, that Corinne Clery in the role of Jeanne did not prove to be a worthy partner for Placido — but you can't have everything.