Knife of Ice (1972)

Please don't spend money on this.

Load of rubbish!!

Lack of good storyline.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This movie is a mess. Pretentious. Overly slow. Poorly acted. And boring beyond belief.The plotAs a thirteen year old, Martha Caldwell witnessed the death of her parents in a terrible railway accident. Barely surviving the tragedy herself, Martha was struck dumb due to the shock. Now an adult, the still mute Martha lives with her uncle Ralph in the Spanish countryside. Martha's cousin Jenny arrives to be with the family but is quickly stabbed to death. It appears that a sex maniac is roaming the countryside; killing pretty young girls. The already traumatized Martha seems likely to be the next victim but the case turns out to be far more complicated than it would first seem.

Despite the fact that KNIFE OF ICE was very tame in the sex and sleaze departments (virtually no bloodshed and no nudity whatsoever...) I found this one to be a decent enough entry in the genre. Martha is a mute who became that way after a train accident killed her parents 15 years earlier. Her cousin comes to stay with her and her father, and ends up murdered. This of course leads to all the typical giallo-style investigations and 'red herrings' that most fans crave...I will say that I was disappointed in the lack of gore and nudity in this entry (especially coming from Lenzi who helmed such sleaze 'classics' as CANNIBAL FEROX and EATEN ALIVE) -but of the several giallo-films that I've seen lately-I was thankful that the pace was relatively quick, and the storyline pretty straight-forward. I tend to like gialli overall, but I find that many get caught up in such convoluted plots that they tend to weigh the film down. I will say that for me at least, I guessed the killer pretty much right off the bat- but that's not to say that the film is exactly 'predictable'. Overall a decent entry that I'd recommend to fans of the genre. 7/10

Umberto Lenzi's Giallo's weren't his strongest point, but the handful that he made was mostly decent. Knife of Ice kind of bridges a gap between the director's best Giallo's - Seven Blood Stained Orchids and Oasis of Fear and his choppier, trashy stuff with films like Spasmo and Eyeball. This film looks nice and seems like it's a high quality production, but somehow it doesn't quite wash as a completely classy thriller. A big weakness here is the plot, as while there is certainly a basis for a good thriller on show; Lenzi doesn't always handle it very well, and it comes off as overly convoluted and the wrong elements are often the ones given the most emphasis. The plot focuses on Martha; a mute woman who invites her cousin over to stay with her and her family. However, the guest soon turns up dead in the garage, and the police are quick to suspect a local hippy as the murderer as it happened at around the same time as another murder in the town. However, as the murders continue it becomes obvious that the killer isn't the hippy at all...This film is pretty typical of Lenzi's early Giallo work, as it features the lovely Miss Carroll Baker in the lead role, as well as a plot revolving around sound; as seen in the earlier Orgasmo. However, Baker's character in this film isn't entirely likable; more irritating, in fact, and the convoluted Giallo plot doesn't work as well as it does in other Giallo films as it never really feels like there's a great deal going on. Further nuisances include the fact that all of the murders happen off screen - and that's unlikely to please fans of these usually blood-soaked thrillers. However, the film certainly isn't a complete dead loss. Lenzi's direction is stylish and the foreboding mood of the film is well implemented. I've already mentioned the good production values, which work well in spite of the occasional let down with the dubbing (case in point being the accused hippy). Carroll Baker does well in her role, despite it not being a very strong character. The film boils down to the usual unlikely ending, but at least Lenzi has taken the time to explain everything so we're not left wondering. Overall, Knife of Ice isn't a brilliant Giallo - but it's decent enough and just about worth seeing in spite of its flaws.

This early 70's giallo by Umberto Lenzi is certainly among the best in his filmography and also in the whole genre. Personally I think Lenzi's best films are the funny cartoon-turned-film Kriminal, the stylish giallo Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, the explosive Napoli violenta and this. In the eighties he did plenty of film trash in form of Eaten Alive, Hitcher in the Dark or Black Demons, all of which are ripping something off and/or very dull and slow moving. Knife of Ice came when the giallo boom was at its hottest and the result is convincing.Technically the film is superb, containing great cinematography in the beginning when we learn about the main character's trauma towards trains. From this point on, Lenzi shows us his ability to benefit the widescreen and, for example, the bicycle ride near the forest is genuinely beautiful! This scene also shows Lenzi's ability to build suspense, very slowly but meaningfully. After all, there aren't so many murders in the whole film, only the suspense circulating around the murderer's identity.One suspect is a devil worshipper which brings new aspects to the mystery. Since the final scene takes place in a church, one can wonder if Lenzi wanted to comment on something, maybe the hypocritical morale of church and superstition. The main character (Carrol Baker) is mute which demands a lot from her face and eyes. The actress works very well, giving us a believable performance circulating around the emotions of fear and mental pain. The other actors are good, too. The finally, however, may not give too positive a sight about female sex since they all are expressed rather negatively in the film, one way or another. Still this is easily among the most noteworthy in the genre, not as bloody as the Argento films, for example, but equally suspenseful and visually also interesting.