A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1975)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely the worst movie.

A masked killer is murdering the pimps, prostitutes and drug addicts of Milan, and leaving a dragonfly ornament on each corpse. Paul Naschy is the police inspector trying to stop him.As far as giallos go, this is unremarkable stuff. The murders are unconvincing at best, and laughable at worst. There are far too many scenes of chases which showcase very lame gunfire. The plot constantly throws distractions at you like a coat button, a tattoo, golf clubs, extra marital affairs, and two deadly fairground rides, but they don't add up to an engaging story. Paul Naschy does a decent job as the detective, although I couldn't stop staring at his ridiculous comb-over (actually all the male characters in the cast have terrible hair),but most of the rest of the acting is wooden. Even Erica Blanc, who has made striking appearances in other movies, does not impress. To cap it off, the climax is very weak.Currently quite hard to see on DVD and Bluray, this movie has not aged well. Groovy theme music and early 1970's fashions aside, it does not have a lot to recommend seeking it out.

A Dragonfly for Each Corpse is quite unusual in that it is a Spanish movie filmed in Italy. More specifically, it tries to pass itself off as an Italian giallo. By the time this had been released this particular sub-genre had already past its peak years but its characteristics were so well established by that point that they could be mimicked quite easily. This film doesn't just copy the conventions of the genre; it also goes to the trouble of setting its action in Milan to make it seem even more like a true Italian product.Its director was León Klimovsky who made quite a lot of genre pictures, including the impressive Vampire's Night Orgy (1974). In this one, he directs the top Iberian horror actor of the day, Paul Naschy. This chunky leading man appeared in many genre pics and in this instance he plays a cynical, violent cop who investigates a serial murder case. The killer's calling card is a wax dragonfly left on the corpses of the victims, all of whom are considered 'degenerates'. Interestingly, Naschy's detective actually seems to sympathise with the killer's objectives for the most part! Anyway, what follows is a violent and sleazy whodunit, where the mystery killer batters their way through the cast via a variety of slaughter methods.The mystery here is, as is typical for the genre, somewhat convoluted with quite a large selection of suspects/victims. It's not a bad mystery though, even if it might be a bit heavy on the police procedural side of things. Admittedly it does end with a particularly biscuit-taking lack of explanation for the mayhem that we have just spent the last 90 minutes witnessing and the unmasking of the killer is somewhat underwhelming too. But this is not really a deal-breaker given that gialli in general often put very little effort into this side of things. On the other hand, there is a pleasing selection of salacious content sprinkled throughout to keep things interesting such as violent murders, completely gratuitous nudity, a seedy plot-line and a stupendously silly set-piece where one character tries to make a getaway on a roller-coaster car! So all-in-all, a pretty enjoyable movie with the requisite lack of political correction and an abundance of of-its-time fashions that make these films so much fun.

Despite having seen his name be connected to Spanish Gialli titles for a number of years,I've somehow have never got round to taking a look at the work of Paul Naschy.With the October Challenge coming up on the IMDb Horror board,I decided that it would be the perfect time to witness Naschy pick up a dragonfly from each corpse.The plot:Investigating the recent killing of a drug addict, Inspector Paolo Scaporella discovers that the murderer has left a small dragonfly statue on the victim's body,which leads to Scaporella fearing that a serial killer may be on the loose.Hitting nothing but dead ends over the addicts death, Scaporella soon discovers that a spree of killings is taking place,with each of the victims being left with a 'dragonfly.'Looking for a link among the victims, Scaporella finds out that each of them had a low-level connection to the city's underworld.Realizing that the killer is attempting to 'clean up' the city's underworld, Scaporella begins to tread deep into the underbelly of the city,in the hope that he will catch the murderer before the city is completely 'cleaned.'View on the film:For the screenplay of the film,co-writer/ (along with Ricardo Muñoz Suay) lead actor Paul Naschy takes an extremely distinctive approach to this Giallo,by showing Scaporella to be only half-interested in catching the killer,thanks to the murderer doing all of Scaporella's work for him!Taking a deeply cynical view in Scaporella's investigation,the writer's give this Giallo a firm Film Noir heart,with the trash which the killer is pulling out of the city's gutter being matched by Scaporella finding out that all the power players in the city are set to go any distance,in order to keep their habits hidden underground.Along with its Film Noir heart,Naschy and Suay also give the title a delightful jet-black comedic streak,with Scaporella openly saying that he is happy that someone is doing the police's job for them,whilst the mysterious killer sends a letter which states that he really respects Scaporella.Opening with an eye-catching, stylish murder scene,director León Klimovsky soaks the film up in a wonderful Film Noir atmosphere thanks to using worn,washed out colours to show the overflow of the underworld,which has got to the point where a Neo-Nazi can openly walk around in public!Along with the gritty Film Noir mood, Klimovsky also delivers wild lashings of Giallo,as Kimovsky's gives each of the murderer's blood splattered killings a mesmerising poetic quality.Giving the film's cast (nothing personal guys!) an unexpected sense of glamour,the beautiful Erica Blanc (who in the uncut edition also appears naked) gives a terrific performance as Silvana Scaporella,thanks to Blanc showing Silvana determination to track down the killer to grow to the point where she ends up leaving her husband completely in the dust.Attacking on a delightfully stern note,Paul Naschy gives an excellent,brash performance as Paolo Scaporella,with Naschy tearing anyone who gets in his sight apart as he takes on the murky underworld,whilst hunting the mysterious killer,which helps to make this title a great nasty bite of Naschy.

This is a typically looney Paul Naschy take on the giallo. It has some gory deaths, nice ladies, and totally whacked out dialogue and characters. However, this is not an easy film for Naschy fans (like myself) to find. There was a very early 80's release (about 1980/81) on Video Unlimited which was excellent quality (but full-screen)and uncut: not surprising that it is VERY RARE and highly sought after by collectors/fans.