Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Whilst enjoying an afternoon on the river, married teacher Enrico (Fabio Testi) is stoically attempting to coerce one of his young students Elizabeth (Christina Galbo) into having sex with him, when she notices on the bank, the glint of a knife in the sunshine. Dismissing this as an excuse not to give into his demands, Enrico is therefore stunned to later hear on the radio of a murder of a young girl in the area that very afternoon.Selfishly, Enrico initially forbids Elizabeth to report her suspicions to the police, for fear his liaison will be exposed. However, sympathies with Enrico begin to materialise when it seems his affair with Elizabeth isn't a whim. His wife Herta (Karin Baal) is cold hearted and unloving, and what Enrico and Elizabeth share might well be true love. As the murders continue, the film enters into proper horror territory, with nightmares and growing graphic atrocities conspiring to tighten the proverbial noose around Enrico's neck, as he appears to be the main suspect.In a further shock, Elizabeth herself is murdered, and this appears to bring Enrico and Herta closer – it is interesting that in softening her character, Herta takes to wearing make-up, as opposed to the harsh 'freshly scrubbed' appearance she had adopted earlier.(Spoiler) Solange, when at last she appears, is the character around whom the murders all centre. Her father posed as a Priest in order to obtain confessions from Solange's school-friends who arranged an illegal abortion for her against her will. The brutality destroyed her mind. The final frame of the film has her sobbing gently as her father shoots himself having at last been discovered.This has been billed as 'giallo' film, that is what Wikipedia describes as a '20th-century Italian slasher genre of literature and film, usually with mystery elements and often with either supernatural horror or crime fiction elements.' As such, it fits the description well. The flawed nature of Enrico fuels the story – he is far from perfect and a ready-made scapegoat for the murders. He is not given to passionately protesting his innocence, and it may well be that un-emotive nature that robbed his wife of her love for him; darkly poetic then, that such a harrowing tragedy should bring them back together.

One of the joys of DVD, as I've said many times before, is that it allows us all the opportunity to see movies that we would otherwise have no chance of seeing. It could be art films, independent films or even major foreign films that never make it to the states. In addition to these opportunities it is an even bigger joy when one of these films makes its way via Arrow Video. No, they aren't paying me to say this. Aside from Criterion Arrow Video releases some great movies in blu-ray format that have been cleaned to perfection with actual extras that matter and never overdo. Take for instance this film, an Italian giallo film that has all the elements and keeps you guessing until the end as to whodunit. The film stars Fabio Testi as Enrico Rosseni, a teacher at a Catholic girl's school. The film opens with Enrico lazily rowing down the river with his girlfriend Elizabeth. Out of the corner of her eye Elizabeth thinks she sees something in the woods on the bank. Enrico thinks she is just trying to put him off as she's done in the past. A short time later we discover that Elizabeth is a student of Enrico's who is going to graduate soon. Enrico has set up an apartment for the two of them, a love nest if you will. He's done so because he is still married to Herta, another teacher at the school. While the couple still live together their marriage is a shambles and a split is imminent. Herta knows something is going on but the couple's confrontations on the subject are more subdued than one would think they would be.Problems arise when girls from the school are found murdered, the first being what Elizabeth caught out of the corner of her eye. As an eye witness, the police try to press her for more information but it all comes back to her slowly. When Elizabeth is found murdered as well, Enrico become the number one suspect. With all revealed he loses his job and now has a second reason to want to find out who the killer is. We know he's innocent, having seen the killer dressed in priest's garb, but how will he change the mind of the police inspector?As the clues begin to mount and Enrico, with the help of Herta, proves his innocence, just who is responsible continues to remain a mystery. With each new death the list of suspects seems to grow rather than dwindle. The reasons why these murders are happening and the final assortment of clues come late in the film but hints were there all along. In the end it is a satisfying conclusion.The movie itself is a great mystery based on a novel by Edgar Wallace. As I said the clues are provided for the most part but the final items necessary to find the killer aren't all in place until the last portion of the film. The acting is better than many movies faced with a transition from one culture/language to another. While the differences in the way Italian films are made from how they're done in America is obvious, in this case it is never in a fashion that makes the film difficult to follow.Arrow has turned in a fantastic looking version of the movie. In addition to presenting it in a clean print it offers the following extras:-Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray) -Newly translated subtitles for the Italian soundtrack -Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack -Brand new audio commentary with critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman -Newly filmed cast interviews -Original Theatrical Trailer -A reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by MALLEUS -A booklet featuring brand new writing on the film, illustrated with original stillsIf you love giallo films, if you love Italian made movies or if you love a great mystery then this is a movie worth seeking out. For film collectors you're offered a great version of the film done with loving care. If you've never ventured into watching an Italian made film this would be a good way to start. And if you aren't familiar with Arrow Video now is your chance to see why they are one of the better DVD companies out there.

Maybe it was inevitable that the German Edgar Wallace movie series found its end in the sleazy folds of the Italian giallo. Both of these whodunit/thriller subgenres share similar trademarks, such as rampant triviality, exploitative and sexist world views, voyeuristic touches, senseless plots and barely adequate acting. The German variant wasn't nearly as explicit and rather amusingly childish, but also lacked the gialli's stylistic flourishes.Here we've got good old reliable Blacky Fuchsberger and the Italian stud Fabio Testi to find out who the brutal girls' killer is and the comparatively tame proceedings are quite entertaining in their stupid fashion. The plot's not as ridiculous as other examples of the genre, but no great shakes either.The direction is rather boring.3 out of 10 peeping school teachers

It could be that the time this movie came out that the subject was pretty shocking and disturbing. And I must admit that there are scenes that are still shocking today. The movie itself however didn't manage to thrill me all the way. Since not once did I feel dread from the killer. Although the movie offers enough suspects it is hardly surprising who the killer is especially since the movie itself rules out several of these suspects. The motivation for these killings is far more interesting anyway. The explanation that is given however to me wasn't satisfying or compelling enough. One of the reasons for this is that the title character Solange isn't long enough in the movie to express what she has been through. It would have been far more effective if scenes were shown how Solange was treated. Some of the plot points leading to the killer come out of nowhere and were far too convenient to convince me. Does this make a bad movie,not at all. But compare it to Deep Red and you will see what a true masterpiece should be like.