A carriage overturns in front of the home of Dr. von Ravensbruck (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) and his wife Eva (Angela Bo), leaving the driver dead and the sole passenger, Greta (Ewa Aulin from Candy) with a bump on the head. She winds up with amnesia and the couple, feeling sorry for her, take her in. Before long, Greta is seducing not only the man of the house, but his wife too. Meanwhile, visitors to the castle wind up getting bumped off by a mysterious killer.
Death Smiles on a Murderer was directed by the legendary Italian exploitation maverick, Joe D’Amato. Unlike a lot of his sleazier efforts, this one is a lot artier than you might expect as there are passages that have an otherworldly dreamlike quality. He even manages to give us a few shocks that feels like something out of a waking nightmare. While some of these moments are effective (like the scene where the maid keeps seeing a strange man in her room), or at the very least, interesting, they never really gel into a cohesive whole.
The plot jumps around a lot too, which some will find frustrating. However, if you surrender yourself to the dreamlike logic of the film, it will make for a rewarding (although quite possibly baffling) experience. Some of D’Amato’s extreme close-ups, odd angles, and deliberately off-kilter camerawork can get a little annoying, but the eerie score is often effective.
There are stretches of the film that feel like D’Amato riffing on a Jess Franco movie, while others play out like his version of a Jean Rollin flick. After a strong first act involving the strange love triangle between the couple and their uninvited houseguest, the second act turns into a hodgepodge of Poe-influenced cliches. (Think The Masque of the Red Death Meets the Black Cat.) From there, things sort of morph into a macabre ghost story by the final third.
With such distinct and disparate sequences, Death Smiles on a Murderer kind of resembles an anthology film that has intertwining characters and plotlines. Although it might not have been intended as such, the movie might play better for you if you view it with that in mind. It doesn’t quite excuse the unevenness of the overall picture, but it may be the key to enjoying it.
Aulin is lovely and gets naked quite a bit. Her scenes with Bo are especially memorable. It’s Klaus Kinski who leaves the biggest impression as the doctor who makes a house call to Aulin’s character. Unfortunately, like most of the cast members, he doesn’t stick around for very long.
AKA: Death Smiles on Murder.
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