Blue Underground DVD release
Black Belly Of The Tarantula/La Tarantola dal ventre nero, Paolo Cavara, Italy, 98 minutes, 1971
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The Giallo genre has a couple of components that separates it from more traditional murder mysteries. One of the most important components is style, the 70's wardrobe and decorating is as important to me as any other ingredient. The score should be some kind of jazzy lounge funk and possibly an eerie nursery rhyme. The murderer does not kill his/her victim with a firearm and mostly kills beautiful women. The murders are often triggered by some sort of trauma in the murderers past. There are a huge number of suspects and a lot of red herrings. Basically it's about beautiful women getting killed in fancy apartments shot in a stylish manner. In my opinion the more cliché a giallo is the better it works. In this 1971 entry everything that should be in a giallo is present. I had only seen Plot Of Fear by Paolo Cavara. The tired police inspector Tellini (Giancarlo Giannini) investigates a series of strange murders. The killer is using acupuncture needles to paralyze his victims before he kills them. A number of beautiful euro cult actresses are killed in a stylish way (More or less undressed).The plot is a mess as is the case of most giallos. There is a number of red herrings and things that does not make a lot of sense, which I won't get into (I don't want to give away too much of the plot).The motives for the killings is ridiculous. Giannini is sympathetic lead actor and manages to seem vulnerable and very human. Barbara Bouchet, Claudine Auger and Barbara Bach are all very beautiful and act ok. The rest of the cast is better than your average giallo. A bit odd is the fact that all three of the girls starred in bond movies and Giannini starred in the 2006 Casino Royale. The camerawork is excellent throughout the movie and it really looks and sounds good. Ennio Morricone's score is good but not one of his finest. Black Belly Of The Tarantula has less comic relief characters than usual which is very satisfying. The mandatory bottle of J.B. is present (Did Italians drink anything else during the 70's?) Blue Underground has made a very good transfer, the quality of both picture and sound is excellent. The extras contain a trailer, a TV-spot and a 15 minute long interview with the producer Marcello Danon's son Lorenzo Danon. It is not a spectacular movie but it is highly entertaining and stylish. It is sure to please fans of the genre. Reviewed by Jonas Tarestad |
