Credits

Director: Tonino Valerii Starring: George Hilton, Salvo Randone, William Berger, Manuel Zarzo, Patty Shepard Screenplay: Roberto Leoni, Franco Bucceri Country:

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The weapon of choice?

A bucket digger mounted on an earthmover (they call it a dredger in the film, but that is wrong) picks up a guy by his head and squeezes until it pops quicker than a bra in a titty bar. My reasoning for claiming its 'best' status is twofold: one, the inventiveness of the killer to think 'Mmmm, opportunity is knocking, why not answer?' when suddenly deciding to grab the victims head, and two: his/her sheer chutzpah to actually use it. I mean, an earthmover? It is hardly stealth, kill-in-an-alley kind of a weapon!! Colour me impressed!

This film was directed by western/Trinity Brothers director Tonino Valerii from a script by Roberto Leoni (Santa Sangre) and Franco Bucceri (Gli Esecutori), based on a story by them, along with Velerii himself and Django co-writer José Gutiérrez Maesso (which is nodded to in a scene where Django is played on a TV).

My Dear Killer tells of police investigator Luca Peretti (Giallo regular George Hilton) who is assigned to a murder case when an insurance investigator has had his head removed in the aforementioned murder. As the layers of the case are revealed he finds himself caught up in an older investigation involving the kidnap and death of a young girl, and of course as the investigation gets deeper the bodies start piling up. But can Peretti figure out who the killer is with the unusual clues he has?

As a fan of Giallos I looked forward to this, especially as its male lead was in other Giallos such as The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All The Colors of the Dark, and I was much more than pleasantly surprised. Even though the story is quite detailed, it never becomes a victim of its own cleverness, nor does it become convoluted as some Giallos do. The investigation goes from A to B without any long-shot hunches that these films can sometimes contain.

There is some well played violence though it's somewhat silly at times, a prime example being when the killer sits and chats with one victim before searching her house, whilst she quizzically watches, for something to kill her with, and finds a circular saw!! This guy is clearly a disorganised serial killer to not have a weapon handy. Being an Italian film of its era, there's also some cute patootie for the boys.