The Fifth Cord (1971)

 I have another post, but I'll add my old August 2008 user comments:

Exceptional giallo thriller from director Luigi Bazzoni starring Franco Nero as a boozing news journalist, Andrea Bild, who is assigned a story regarding various individuals who are murdered on Tuesdays representing a specific horoscopic point of birth by a killer whose chilling voice diabolically whispers on a recorded machine his plans of executing chosen prey with anticipation. The selection of the killer all tie into an inner circle of wealth, as the film introduces us to an important doctor, Richard Bini(Renato Romano), his crippled, wheel-chair bound wife, Sophia(Rossella Falk), a French businessman, Edouard Vermont(Edmund Purdom)who doesn't realize that his up-coming marriage to Isabel Lancia(Ira von Fürstenberg)is what is ultimately fueling the the unusual murder spree, and Andrea's ex-lover Helene(Silvia Monti). What Andrea soon realizes is that he has ties to all those who are chosen for annihilation, and, despite being so wasted he couldn't hardly stand, doesn't have an air-tight alibi during the time each individual was killed. He's soon removed from covering the story, approaching his editor angrily, threatening to kill him for being taken off..and, in doing so becomes an even greater suspect when his editor is found dead, dying of a heart attack as someone chased after him with a knife in the bushes near the newspaper office. To truly clear his name, and motivated and driven to bring the real killer to justice, Andrea will not stop until the madness is over. And, as each body is found, a glove with an extra finger is missing at the crime scene of every subsequent victim who is discovered, with the final chosen perhaps being Helene's own son! What Andrea discovers is quite a perverse side to those involved with the victims killed, Edouard and Richard's extra curricular activities regarding their enjoyment in watching a couple, a race car driver and underage prostitute whose father likes to watch in hiding, making out in a secret establishment. In a sub-plot, Andrea has a on-again/off-again sexual relationship with a lovely fashion model who is the sister to the race car driver and he still carries feelings for Helene. Very important is the attack of a certain character, Lubbock(Maurizio Bonuglia) in a tunnel and how he communicates with Andrea regarding supposed threats from an unknown person harassing him with phone calls and letters. But, Lubbock is a key character in this film for, unlike the other victims killed on Tuesday, he was attacked on Monday. An image that means everything in the grand scheme of things is Lubbock's reaction to Edouard and Isabel's loving embrace at a fancy restaurant.

The creepy voice delightfully explaining how he/she couldn't wait to strangle and kill accompanying a fish-eye lens into the restaurant at the very opening of this movie sure sets the tone for this well crafted giallo which definitely benefits from the talents and artistic eye of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro(..who turned down working with director Michaelangelo Antonioni as a favor to his pal, Bazzoni)who was red-hot and on his way to great success(..but, he had already achieved this with Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece "The Conformist"). The exquisite camera set-ups, the masterful way he shoots characters from long distances in stunning locations exploiting beautifully empty spaces(..a massive flight of steps, a long tunnel, desolate ruins of skeletal warehouses), how the lens at times looks like a spying mechanism, a type of eye that's looking at the world from a different point of view all give this a thumb up over Bazzoni's contemporaries. But, to limit the film's execution to just Storaro is taking away from what everyone accomplishes, from the editing on down. I will say that while the twist wasn't that surprising, the finale(..from the moment Helene calls her son Tony about locking the doors only to discover that the killer is inside the house, to Andrea's chasing him into the ruins of decaying buildings where they scuffle often throwing each other through glass)is a nail-biter. And Morricone's musical accompaniment only adds to the visual work and tense sequences where danger possibly awaits Andreas. And, finally an actor of the caliber of Franco Nero, called Mr. Bill by almost everyone, in the lead as our troubled and fallible hero searching for the truth while confiding in the very police inspector tailing him, puts the final jewel in the crown of a gem giallo, and it comes highly regarded from yours truly. This is a must for giallo fans. The eerie sequence concerning Sophia, alone in her room up-stairs on the floor crying for help as a killer turns out the lights with only the flaming fireplace guiding her, is definitely a high-light.