DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT

Valentina is a top model who is offered the opportunity to test a hallucinogen in exchange for a large sum of money and an anonymous service in a famous weekly magazine. During the experiment, under the influence of euphoria, Valentina witnesses, from the window of her apartment, a brutal murder. When the weekly magazine containing the service is distributed in newsstands, Valentina realizes that the journalist did not keep his word and her face, as well as her name, clearly appear on the printed pages. Thus, the girl is summoned by the police for more information about the alleged murder that seems to have occurred, not that night, but six months earlier. From that moment, Valentina will begin to investigate the murder, but at the same time, the killer will try to eliminate her. Second attempt in the "spaghetti-thriller" field by producer Luciano Ercoli, who, after the good success obtained with "Death Walks on High Heels", tries again the following year with "Death Caresses at Midnight". The cast is almost entirely recycled from the previous thriller, starting with the protagonists Susan Scott and Simon Andreu, skilled actors and perfectly cast in their roles, although some difficulty can be found in seeing the beautiful Susan Scott in the role of a 28-year-old model. Compared to "Death Walks on High Heels", this film has fewer erotic elements and more scenes of bloody violence, much loved by the tradition of the Italian thriller; in this case, the weapon that characterizes the moments of violence is represented by a spiked glove from medieval armor that closely resembles the one already seen in a murder from Bava's classic "Blood and Black Lace". The story of "Death Caresses at Midnight" proves to be, in several aspects, quite original and engaging, thanks to some unusual elements for the genre (the device of the drug that gives clairvoyant abilities; the face of the killer clearly visible from the beginning), the contamination with other very Italian genres (comedy sketches and a finale in the style of poliziottesco), and the good characterization of all the characters, from the protagonists to the secondary ones. A slight drop in pace can also be noticed in the second part of the film, which, without weighing down the viewing, gives a sense of fatigue to the entire story. However, "Death Caresses at Midnight" appears as a solid thriller that is definitely worth watching for fans of the Italian tradition, although comparisons with other titles by more illustrious directors may seem embarrassing. Superior to Ercoli's previous thriller, but in line with the standard of many other Italian products from the 70s. The rating has been rounded up.