Who Saw Her Die? (1972) A Horror Movie Review by Mark Walker
Written by Francesco Barilli, Massimo D’Avak, Aldo Lado
Directed by Aldo Lado
Between a four-year gap in the murder of a young girl, the daughter of a well-known sculptor is discovered dead, and her parents conduct an investigation, only to discover they are much out of their depth. (IMDB)
Who Saw Her Die?
A few minutes into Who Saw Her Die? and you may be forgiven for wondering when Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are going to turn up to have sex and track a murderer through the streets of Venice. There are very clear parallels between the Nicholas Roeg classic and Who Saw Her Die and they make fantastic companion pieces. However, seeing as Who Saw Her Die, was released a year before Don’t Look Now, it would be interesting to see how much the latter was influenced by the former. The cover of the new Shameless release is pretty clear what it thinks about this!
Who Saw Her Die? follows Franco (George Lazenby) after his daughter is murdered while visiting him in Venice. His estranged wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg) joins him to investigate the death of Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi) and potentially heal their marriage. The similarities are striking.
However, while Don’t Look Now is more of a psychological horror, a dreamlike exploration of love and loss with some Italian horror influences,
WSHD? Is definitely a less subtle, bright-red blood splattered Giallo.
As Franco investigates his daughter’s death, he finds himself caught up in a complex web of lies and deceit involving local businessmen, lawyers and the clergy. His wife and his lives are put at risk as he pushes further, linking his daughter’s murder with an unsolved killing from France years before. This wasn’t an opportunistic killing, there is a nutter on the loose, seemingly protected by people in high places and Franco is determined to stop them.
I am not an expert on Giallo by any stretch of the imagination, but WSHD? wears its Giallo credentials proudly with striking visuals, murderous close-ups, a dramatic score, clumsy dubbing, a twisted conspiratorial plot, and sex. Even the most casual fan with a passing knowledge of Giallo would see those hallmarks from the very beginning.
The performances are all suitably melodramatic
and the score really adds to the atmosphere, the repeated motif that accompanies the murderer whenever they are onscreen is haunting while slightly uplifting, making it all the more chilling. Of course, what else would you expect from a genius like Ennio Morricone? The direction by Lado keeps things moving along at pace and ensures the acting is just ever so slightly over the top as befits a film like WSHD? I don’t know Lazenby that well as an actor so was interested to see a post Bond role and he does a good job as the determined father of a dead child, although I almost didn’t recognise him at first, looking more gaunt and less glamorous than his earlier stint as bond.
WSHD? also plays with a typical Giallo trope of keeping the identity of the killer secret until the very end of the movie, building the mystery and suspense. The viewer is teased throughout with murders filmed from the killer’s perspective through a lacy veil. Is it a woman, as the clothing may suggest? Or is it one of the shady men who often populate films like this? I am not sure the film does a great job of tying up all the loose ends and I certainly didn’t finish it with a full appreciation of why/how everything had panned out, but perhaps this doesn’t matter when dealing with this level of melodrama?
And, at the end of the day, let’s face it –
any film that finds a way to include an almost inconsequential character throwing out a line like, “If you can’t play ping pong, don’t get mixed up in politics,” has got to be worth a view.
I suspect WSHD isn’t going to surprise many die-hard Giallo fans. It has all the necessary hallmarks of the genre but much of it felt familiar even for someone who doesn’t know the style well, but it is still a fun slasher and worth a watch, even if just to compare to Don’t Look Now.
Who Saw Her Die? is available on Blu-ray and digital on demand 26 August from Shameless Films
