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Excellent but underrated film

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This movie is a mess. Pretentious. Overly slow. Poorly acted. And boring beyond belief.The plotAs a thirteen year old, Martha Caldwell witnessed the death of her parents in a terrible railway accident. Barely surviving the tragedy herself, Martha was struck dumb due to the shock. Now an adult, the still mute Martha lives with her uncle Ralph in the Spanish countryside. Martha's cousin Jenny arrives to be with the family but is quickly stabbed to death. It appears that a sex maniac is roaming the countryside; killing pretty young girls. The already traumatized Martha seems likely to be the next victim but the case turns out to be far more complicated than it would first seem.

¨Il Coltello di Ghiaccio" also titled "Knife of Ice" or "Silent Horror¨ deals with a thirteen year old named Martha Caldwell who witnessed the death of her parents in a deadly railway crash . Barely surviving the tragedy herself, Martha was struck mute due to the shock . Now an adult, the still dumb Martha (Carrol Baker) lives with her uncle Ralph (George Rigaud) at a mansion in Spanish countryside . Later on , Martha's cousin Jenny (Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli) , a prestigious singer , arrives to be with the family . There appears a sex maniac roaming the countryside and committing several murders . Meanwhile , Inspector Duran (Franco Fantasia) and Vice-commissioner (Lorenzo Robledo) are investigating the killings of pretty young girls but case results out to be far more difficult than it would first seem . In the little town live various usual characters : the doctor (Alan Scott) , the priest (Jose Marco) , the judge (Angel Menendez) , the pharmacist , the local junkie (Mario Pardo) and the chauffeur (Eduardo Fajardo) , all of them seem to be suspicious people . The already traumatized Martha seems likely to be the next victim when take place strange events .This is a right Giallo where the intrigue, tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . This suspenseful movie is plenty of thrills, chills , high body-count and well staged murders . This exciting film follows the American wake from classics as ¨The Caracol staircase¨ (Robert Siodmak) , ¨Wait until dark¨ (Terence Young) , ¨Blind Terror¨ (Richard Fleischer) in which a mute or blind girl is stalked or harassed by a series killer . The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre that was invented by Mario Bava (Mask of demon ,The Evil Eye, A bay of blood) along with Riccardo Freda (Secret of Dr. Hitchcock, The ghost , I Vampiri) , they are the fundamental creators . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color with shining red blood, usual zooms, originally staged crimes , use of images-shock and a lot of plot twists . Later appears Dario Argento (Deep red, Suspira,Inferno), another essential creator of classic Latin terror films . Umberto Lenzi's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and more inclined toward violence and lots of killings . It's a co-production Italian- Spanish for that reason appears Italian actors such as Ida Galli , Franco Fantasia , as Spanish actors such as Lorenzo Robledo , Mario Pardo , Jorge Rigaud , Angel Menendez and Eduardo Fajardo ; most of them usually played in Spaghetti/Paella sub-genre. Colorful and adequate cinematography by Jose Aguayo who photographed splendidly Spanish outdoors . Thrilling and suspenseful score by Marcello Giombini.The picture was well directed by the prolific filmmaker Umbert Lenzi . Talented and versatile writer/director Umbert Lenzi has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, comedy, Western, and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years .Umbert Lenzi used the pseudonym Hank Milestone and Humphrey Logan . Umberto made his directorial debut with ¨Queen of the Seas¨ (1961) . Other pirate/sword flicks followed, starting with ¨Pirates of Malaysia¨ (1964) starred by Steeve Reeves, which was part of the height of the career of fictitious tales of historic legendary characters including Robin Hood , Catherine the Great, Zorro , Sandokan and Maciste . He subsequently directed a ¨Fumetti¨ titled The mask of Kriminal (1966) . After directing a war film and two "spaghetti westerns," Lenzi turned to the Giallo genre with ¨Orgasmo¨ (1969). During the 1970s, Lenz filmed a number of Giallo and thrillers , among them : ¨So Sweet, So Perverse¨, ¨Seven Blood-Stained Orchids¨ and ¨Eyeball¨ . Lenzi turned to the police thrillers called ¨Polizieschi¨, which rejuvenated his confidence and his popularity . Titles like ¨Almost Human¨ , ¨Free Hand For a Tough Cop¨ and ¨Brothers Till We Die¨ were the most popular and brutal of the thrillers . Lenzi is an expert on wartime genre such as he proved in ¨Desert commandos¨ , ¨Battle of commandos¨ , ¨From hell to victory¨ , ¨Young Lions¨ and ¨Bridge to hell¨. Prior to the Polizieschi, Lenzi directed ¨Man from Deep River¨ , which was the start of the Italian cannibal sub-genre . Later on , he directed two very gory jungle cannibal features , ¨Eaten Alive¨ and ¨Make Them Die Slowly ¨which was banned in 31 countries, made Lenzi distance himself from the cannibal genre . Then Lenzi directed ¨Nightmare City¨ (1980) , a zombie flick , and ¨Iron Master¨(1983) . In the 90s his films were extremely low-budgeted and failed at box-office .

Umberto Lenzi's Giallo's weren't his strongest point, but the handful that he made was mostly decent. Knife of Ice kind of bridges a gap between the director's best Giallo's - Seven Blood Stained Orchids and Oasis of Fear and his choppier, trashy stuff with films like Spasmo and Eyeball. This film looks nice and seems like it's a high quality production, but somehow it doesn't quite wash as a completely classy thriller. A big weakness here is the plot, as while there is certainly a basis for a good thriller on show; Lenzi doesn't always handle it very well, and it comes off as overly convoluted and the wrong elements are often the ones given the most emphasis. The plot focuses on Martha; a mute woman who invites her cousin over to stay with her and her family. However, the guest soon turns up dead in the garage, and the police are quick to suspect a local hippy as the murderer as it happened at around the same time as another murder in the town. However, as the murders continue it becomes obvious that the killer isn't the hippy at all...This film is pretty typical of Lenzi's early Giallo work, as it features the lovely Miss Carroll Baker in the lead role, as well as a plot revolving around sound; as seen in the earlier Orgasmo. However, Baker's character in this film isn't entirely likable; more irritating, in fact, and the convoluted Giallo plot doesn't work as well as it does in other Giallo films as it never really feels like there's a great deal going on. Further nuisances include the fact that all of the murders happen off screen - and that's unlikely to please fans of these usually blood-soaked thrillers. However, the film certainly isn't a complete dead loss. Lenzi's direction is stylish and the foreboding mood of the film is well implemented. I've already mentioned the good production values, which work well in spite of the occasional let down with the dubbing (case in point being the accused hippy). Carroll Baker does well in her role, despite it not being a very strong character. The film boils down to the usual unlikely ending, but at least Lenzi has taken the time to explain everything so we're not left wondering. Overall, Knife of Ice isn't a brilliant Giallo - but it's decent enough and just about worth seeing in spite of its flaws.

This early 70's giallo by Umberto Lenzi is certainly among the best in his filmography and also in the whole genre. Personally I think Lenzi's best films are the funny cartoon-turned-film Kriminal, the stylish giallo Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, the explosive Napoli violenta and this. In the eighties he did plenty of film trash in form of Eaten Alive, Hitcher in the Dark or Black Demons, all of which are ripping something off and/or very dull and slow moving. Knife of Ice came when the giallo boom was at its hottest and the result is convincing.Technically the film is superb, containing great cinematography in the beginning when we learn about the main character's trauma towards trains. From this point on, Lenzi shows us his ability to benefit the widescreen and, for example, the bicycle ride near the forest is genuinely beautiful! This scene also shows Lenzi's ability to build suspense, very slowly but meaningfully. After all, there aren't so many murders in the whole film, only the suspense circulating around the murderer's identity.One suspect is a devil worshipper which brings new aspects to the mystery. Since the final scene takes place in a church, one can wonder if Lenzi wanted to comment on something, maybe the hypocritical morale of church and superstition. The main character (Carrol Baker) is mute which demands a lot from her face and eyes. The actress works very well, giving us a believable performance circulating around the emotions of fear and mental pain. The other actors are good, too. The finally, however, may not give too positive a sight about female sex since they all are expressed rather negatively in the film, one way or another. Still this is easily among the most noteworthy in the genre, not as bloody as the Argento films, for example, but equally suspenseful and visually also interesting.