Good concept, poorly executed.

good back-story, and good acting

Best movie ever!

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

Despite its interesting premise, Black Belly of the Tarantula is a low quality foreign slasher type film, that at times is quite laughable.The idea of using a paralysing agent and murdering someone is quite terrifying, but there isn't anything terrifying in this film. The killer simply punctures them with a needle and then stabs them in the stomach and cuts a bit, there was no torturous behaviour. Also, you don't even know who these people are that are being killed, so you can't really feel anything. Why does the woman that works in the clothing store or whatever see the reflection of the killer then fumble around a bunch of mannequins and not try to leave, she works there she knows what is where, I don't get it. That wasp/tarantula part was pretty sweet, shame about the rest of the film.

This movie essentially begins with an attractive blonde by the name of "Maria Zani" (Barbara Bouchet) being accused by her husband "Paolo Zani" (Silvano Tranquilli) of having an affair. Not long afterward she is stabbed in the back of the neck with an acupuncture needle and while totally paralyzed is forced to watch as her assailant plunges a knife into her stomach. The scene then shifts to another attractive woman named "Mirta Ricci" (Annabella Incontrera) preparing to close the store where she works and being attacked by the same assailant and killed in a similar manner. At first the police detective in charge of the case named "Inspector Tellini" (Giancarlo Giannini) suspects Paolo of committing these crimes but it soon becomes known that both victims were being blackmailed and Paolo is just as intent on finding the killer as Inspector Tellini. In the meantime the killings continue with Inspector Tellini becoming more and more convinced that he is not capable of solving the case. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie as it contained a decent mixture of mystery and suspense that managed to keep my interest for the most part. Likewise, the presence of several beautiful actresses like Claudine Auger (as "Laura"), Stefania Sandrelli ("Anna Tellini") along with the aforementioned Barbara Bouchet and Annabella Incontrera certainly didn't hurt either. In any case, I thought that this film was worth the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

One of the best early Gialli that offers the elements all we love from this sub-.genre in all of its glorious fashion. The atmosphere is fantastic and the script keeps you intrigued since the sexy opening. The death sequences are brutal and insane (all about the acupuncture technique to paralyze victims), and the dark tone of the film is perfectly displayed on screen. The fantastic performance of the Inspector, played by a very well known actor in this sub-genre, totally carries the weight of the film on his back. The only problem I find with the movie is the middle section of it, where it gets redundant and almost boring. However, it recovers near the climax.Die hard fans of the sub-genre will find amusing to notice "someone" really important from another fantastic Giallo, "The House of the Laughing Windows" (1978).

With having found director Paolo Cavara second (and final) title in the Giallo Sub-genre, Plot of Fear,to be an extremely distinctive film,I was happily caught by surprise,when a very kind IMDb'er sent me a DVD of Cavara's Giallo debut,which led to me getting ready to find out how deadly Cavara's tarantula really is.The plot:Living on her own ever since a photo got secretly sent to her husband,that exposed his wife to be a nymphomaniac,Maria Zani is gripped in her apartment by a stranger who wears a long dark coat,and black gloves.Pinning Zani down to the ground as she tries to fight back in desperation,the stranger stabs Zani in the back of the neck with a needle,which contains a sedative that causes Zani to become paralysed whilst still being fully conscious.Carefully placing Zani so that she can see everything take place that she is unable to stop,the stranger kills Zani by slowly dissecting her abdomen.Arriving to the murder scene of Maria Zani,Inspector Tellini interviews Zani's ex-husband,who tells Tellini that he had not spoken to his ex-wife for 10 days.Initially suspecting the ex-husband on being the murderer,Tellini begins to fear that Zani's death was committed by a serial killer,when a woman (who like Maria Zani,was also a regular customer of an expensive bathing/massage parlour) is found murdered with her abdomen dissected,and half of a broken needle lodged in her neck.View on the film:Featuring not 1,but 3 Bond Girls in the gorgeous trio of Claudine Auger,Barbara Bouchet (who appears completely naked within the first minute of the movie) and Barbara Bach,director Paolo Cavara surprisingly keeps away from making the film look overly glamorous,by allowing this Giallo to soak up a huge amount of Film Noir atmosphere.Along with cinematography Marcello Gatti, ( and backed by a breathy score from Ennio Morricone) Cavara fully shows the poisonous world that this deadly tarantula inhabits,with all of the male characters in the film wearing post-industrial,dour grey and brown suits,with the backdrop of the city allowing for the characters lives to be filled with murky drug and sex dealings,thank to Cavara and Gatti revealing the city to be one that is rusting away and decaying at ever level,which allows for "hole's" to appear that the ruthless killer can use to their advantage.Whilst Paolo Cavara's excellent stylish directing give this Giallo a strong Film Noir foundation,the screenplay by Marcello Danon and Lucile Laks disappointingly stops this tarantula from using its killer move. With the potentially tense investigation of Inspector Tellini,the writer's make the mystery one which feels like it is building to a shocking revelation that it never quite reaches,thanks to the moments when Tellini starts to dig up the murky past of Maria Zani and the fellow guests of the bathing/massage parlour feeling surprisingly stilted,which leads to this Giallo tarantula sadly not having the full deadly bite,that it easily could have had.