Death Steps in the Dark (1977)

Absolutely the worst movie.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

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.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The best part about this film is that it's shot in Greece. The city looks very nice and it's fun to see a giallo shot in Athens. Gialli are known for their exotic locations but I don't think I've ever seen one set in Greece. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is a bit of a letdown. Incoherent, confusing story-line with more than a few rabbit holes, a bad balance of comedy and horror, even after expecting the usual bad dialogue I still came away amazed at the sheer awfulness in this one. I'll chalk that up to translation but that doesn't fix anything. One thing that I did enjoy is the inclusion of a traditional black-gloved killer with a shaving razor. I've seen quite a few of these films and this trope really isn't as common as those who stereotype the sub-genre would lead you to believe. It's always cool to see. The camera work is more than adequate but the score is unmemorable. I found myself thoroughly bored. One note though, that gold bust actually is hilarious. I wish I could have that as a decoration in my house.

Taking a look at a mountain of gialli DVDs,I spotted a title which appeared to take the unusually step for the genre of setting the movie in Greece instead of the "traditional" Italy surroundings ,which led to me getting ready to step into the dark.The plot:Getting set to step off the Istanbul to Athens train,a passenger's pearl necklace breaks.Using a pen-knife as a bookmark, (what a typical bookmark!) journalist Luciano Morelli puts the bookmark aside,and starts helping his fellow passengers to gather up the pearls.Suddenly,the train enters a dark tunnel which covers the carriage in darkness.To their horror,the passengers find out that a mysterious stranger used the darkness to kill the women with Morelli's pen-knife.Seeing his face splashed across the papers as the lead suspect,Morelli decides that he must track down the murderer.As Morelli tries to clear his name, 2 fellow passengers keep a tight grip on a black glove that they found near the body,as they set their sights on blackmailing the killer.View on the film:Kicking off with a lava lamp title sequence backed by a tense jazzy score from Riz Ortolani,co-writer/(along with Arpad DeRiso)director Maurizio Pradeaux & cinematographer Aldo Ricci hit the movie with some groovy groves,as some surprisingly graphic sex scenes are overturned in favour for the killer to get revealed in a weird acid nightmare.Along with the Acid Jazz dashes,Pradeaux Pradeaux gives the outdoor on-location filming in Greece a rustic Film Noir appearance,which is given a rough edge by Pradeaux splashing the Giallo with vibrant blues & reds which gives the film a lively atmosphere that is lit up by each of Pradeaux's elegantly stylised set-piece killings.Starting in an Agatha Christie-style train,the screenplay by Pradeaux & Arpad DeRiso brilliantly use Comedy to give the title a delightfully off-beat, playful edge,as Morelli (played by a very good Leonard Mann,who shows Morelli really out of his comfort zone) and his friends trip up every time they get close to locating the killer.Along with the comedic notes,the writers also give the film an excellent dark, cynical twist,as 2 of the passengers decide to use their knowledge of the murderers identity to their financial advantage,as Morelli steps into the dark.

Quite ludicrous but bright and breezy enough to be likable this is, wait for it - a comic giallo. I know, obviously, we are on dangerous territory straight away because, what with all the twists and turns and often daft denouements, gialli, are sometimes laughable enough. Yet here we have a particularly complicated one, albeit with simple enough start, Agatha Christie style with six people in a railway carriage, light goes out, one dies, who dunnit? But this is complicated by the fact that one gets involved in blackmail and then maybe another and there are characters chasing characters, we are struggling to keep up only for the characters to start making jokes (sometimes amusing, sometimes not). On the positive side, it looks tremendous, great costumes and furnishings with the girls not afraid to slip off their clothes, the killings are fairly gory and the score keeps things bobbing along as the cast seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves. Just wish I had as much fun watching.

Many people have trashed this film on account of it being a strange mixture of thriller and comedy. "Passi di morte perduti nel buio" (Death steps in the dark) has all the ingredients of a good giallo and I think that the comic moments don't spoil the suspenseful ones."Death steps in the dark" starts as an homage to Agatha Christie. In a compartment of the Istanbul-Athens express train, a girl is fumbling nervously with her necklace. The train passes under a tunnel. When it emerges from the tunnel this girl has a letter opener sticking in her chest. The letter opener belongs to Luciano Morelli (Leonard Mann), a fashion photographer. He'll be one of the main suspects of the police. Luciano along with his naive girlfriend Ingrid (Vera Krouska) will investigate on his own the murder(s) and try to find out the killer - this is the only way to clear himself. Luciano (and Ingrid) will live many adventures and so will the killer (someone - maybe more than one person - is trying to blackmail him/her!). But beware! The film has many surprises in store."Death steps in the dark" was shot in Athens - It's very colourful and it has, as it's usual in many gialli, pretty girls (and some nice lesbian touches), stylish camera work and editing, very well-staged killing scenes and a wonderful soundtrack. It also features a very beautiful romantic scene. All in all, "Death steps in the dark" is full of "joie de vivre" - the actors are very natural and seem to be enjoying themselves.The comic moments are provided mostly by Luciano and his naive and beautiful girlfriend Ingrid, and also by the Detective Inspector in charge of the case (Robert Webber), with his eternal stomach problems.If you don't take the film too seriously you might enjoy it like I did.I've seen the film twice already.