Watch Me When I Kill

source: Watch Me When I Kill

Watch Me When I Kill really, desperately wants to be Deep Red. It is not. Still, few films are and Watch Me When I Kill has enough going for it to make it worth a watch. What other giallo film can claim that the killer's motivation involves their family being killed by Nazis. That's not a bad reason for a murder spree if you ask me. It does leave the film on a sour, somber note, but there's still some fun to be had before the big climax. It's never as suspenseful or brutal as some of its giallo brothers and sisters, but it tries so hard you want to give it point for trying. One thing that does work - the score by Trans Europa Express. It has a distinct Goblin-esque feel to it that works incredibly well.

Those familiar with Antonio Bido anyway, the director of WHO SAW HER DIE? & THE BLOOD STAINED SHADOW, understand that his giallo thrillers are always leisurely paced(..to say the least)with LOTS of plot. And, there's always a sense of real sadness behind the plot, real tragedy often motivates the story with characters uncovering horrible truths. And, WATCH ME WHEN I KILL is no different, it is insanely convoluted yielding such a melancholy conclusion when our detective hero finally figures out the painful reasons behind a series of murders in(..and outside of) Rome. Three characters share a secret involving the Nazis and a family they betray and this fuels the killer who hunts each down, waiting for the right time, when they are most vulnerable, slaying them from behind. The first is a pharmacist stabbed in the back, the killer slicing his throat. The second, a female character named Esmeralda(Bianca Toccafaondi), who is friends with Giovanni Bozzi(Fernando Cerulli), a businessman with corrupt lending practices, she has a history with. Bozzi seeks aid from neighbor, Lukas(Corrado Pani) regarding disturbing phone calls featuring a collage of loud, random sounds which mean little to him, yet are enough to cause concern. Lukas is also assigned to protect his actress girlfriend, Mara(Paola Tedesco)who came across a crime in progress(..the pharmacy as the killer escaped quickly)and has been targeted for possibly seeing too much. Lukas begins his own investigation into the murders, and soon realizes that his girlfriend's pursuer and the killer behind the others are related. Soon, a judge(Giuseppe Addobbati), a wrongfully accused escaped con(Franco Citti), and a screenplay writer(Paolo Malco)all have their own part within the convoluted story. I will admit that I labored through WATCH ME WHEN I KILL, even though I respect director Bido for the ambitious story and it's chilling finale when we get all the facts after a lot exposition. I thought the score, supplied to us by Trans Europa Express was fabulous, good mixture of styles which often provide the film with a texture complimenting the shifts in tone(..while also making the long haul a little more bearable). I wasn't as critical of the acting and think the important characters were handled reasonably well. I agree with others that the dubbing and dialogue effects the impact of the film because characters are often saddled with cringe-worthy words that were perhaps more articulate in the Italian language. I for one liked Pani as the lead detective..he had the look down, and the cigar was a nice touch, and he never, to me anyway, ever committed a dopey characterization which would make him unsympathetic or unworthy of interest. The trademark giallo POV shot for the killer is often relied upon, and there's really nothing particularly stylish or fresh..that could be looked at as perhaps a positive for Bido, his conscious decision to bare more emphasis on the story, not dependent upon certain camera angles or imaginative methods at keeping our attention. The murders themselves are vicious affairs(..especially the final strangulation using a shower head's extension cord)which correspond with what their past mistake resulted in..the savagery with which the killer conducts his work(..such as the grisly sequence where Esmeralda's face is buried in a beef stew she was preparing on a skillet)correlates with how certain family members fell to the Nazis. Also important is a family photo with faces cut representing lost lives.

Watch Me When I Kill / The Cat's Victim's is a fairly routine giallo. It's about a woman who is witness to a murder and then becomes embroiled in a series of killings. Her partner sets about investigating the mystery. This isn't an especially original film. In some ways it recalls Dario Argento's Deep Red, especially with its prog-rock soundtrack. Indeed, the score from Trans Europa Express is a definite strong point. It's pulse-pounding and adds well to the overall tension. Director Antonio Bido has went on record to say that he was more of a fan of art films and did not actually watch genre pictures at the time he made this. It's possible I suppose but the movie overall certainly feels like many others in the giallo genre. There aren't too many murders and the ones that are here aren't especially violent; the most memorable of which is a bathtub killing. There is an interesting visual flourish though where we see the flash of cat's eyes at the point of the victim's death. There is no logical narrative reason for this other than to represent the presence of a predator in a stylistic way. But little details like this are always welcome. The film does differ from most in the genre in one way though and that is that it's distinctly non-sleazy. There's no sex or nudity, nor are there any half-naked Euro babes being terrorised by the killer. In this one the victims are all middle aged characters. The reason for this of course is because of the back-story where the source of the trauma can be traced back thirty years to the time of the Nazi occupation of Europe. It's certainly one of the more intriguing back-stories to be found in these types of films. It was seemingly this part that Bido was most passionate about, indeed he had apparently written a screenplay based on this idea alone but the producers demanded that he work it into the framework of a more commercial giallo thriller. But as it is, it means that this movie has a more interesting mystery than usual, one that considers issues of guilt and betrayal; and one where the killer is almost a sympathetic character. I must say that overall I like this one. It isn't amongst the top table of the genre but it does have a compelling mystery and on the whole it holds together pretty well.

Better than your average giallo with an affable, chain-smoking lead (Pani) and a feisty female companion (Tedesco) uniting to out pace a serial killer whose daring pharmacy murder was witnessed by Tedesco and whose now become the prime target. Despite the apparent age inappropriateness of the Pani-Tedesco duo, they make a dynamic pairing, plenty of chemistry in spite of their physical mismatch and the succession of admirers chasing her tail (alas, she only has eyes for lucky Pani). Franco Citti who appeared in "The Godfather" has a supporting role, but it's not as significant as one might expect of someone with his profile, though it does lead to one of the more memorable scenes atop a raging waterfall. The climax is probably marginally better than I'd initially anticipated, and there's solid investigative work done by the leads to reach the conclusion (a bit like finding your way out of a maze). Overall, I found the leads very likable, the music jazzy and upbeat (kudos to Trans Europa Express) and consequently, the film was better than expected though I do think the title "Watch Me When I Kill" remains something of a misnomer with little if any relevance to the mystery. And be sure not to miss the scene when the nosy neighbour sticks her head in the oven to check the beef ragout - buon appetito.

"Watch Me When I Sleep" would be a more fitting English title for this second-rate giallo, made during the declining years of the genre (the "cat" in the original Italian title has absolutely nothing to do with the story either, it just seems that it was a fashionable word to use in the title of many gialli). The story sort-of makes sense, if you're OK with the fact that the killer appears in about 2 scenes in total. The killings are few, and sometimes more comical than shocking (a woman has her face pressed on....hot meat and potatoes!). The male lead does not have enough charisma to be a lead. The strongest asset of the film is the weird, discordant score. It's still somewhat of an ordeal to watch - it took me two separate sittings to make it. *1/2 out of 4.

Good Cinematography and Music. The Story, Acting, Dubbing, Pace, etc, not so good. As I was watching this, I thought, OK, this is not very good, but the cinematography and music was good, so I was thinking about 5 stars, then 4, and when the ending unfolded it clearly was a 3 star movie, only for the camera work and music. The actors are just there, no charisma. The best was probably the main female. The boyfriend, zero charisma, zero. Who is this guy, the girls boyfriend, what does he do, he's got all the time in the world and becomes and amateur detective. There's a scene when this guy calls the girl and tells her that the neighbor died. He says it like a matter of fact, like he's reporting to his newspaper editor about a story. No shock, that hey the guy I just traveled to another town to meet was killed before I got here. NONSENSE! All the other actors are just as bland or worse than this character. Just crap. The dubbing didn't help either. The beginning was interesting, with the pharmacist (decent acting) getting killed. It goes down hill from here. Something about revenge against Nazi concentration kills and revenge. The girl is a dancer, but we never get to see any skin. The boyfriend, as mentioned, takes it upon himself to solve the crime. Real macho. This actor had zero charisma. Maybe they were thinking he was like a Charles Bronson type. I don't know. I did not work. We have bunch of characters and actors, poorly written, and poorly acted. We get the revelation in the last 10 minutes, where the judge's family was killed, and wanted to scare the victims, and his surviving son goes further and kills them. Best part, when the father realizes that the son was the killer and wanted to kill more, he shoots his son. Then off camera shoots himself in the head and he crashes his head on the desk with a bullet to the head. And the movie ends. The best, that it ENDS. 3 stars for Cinematography and Music. There were no actors in this movie. There was no Screenwriter for this movie. There was no direction for this movie. Some reviewer mentioned that the movie was as good as Goblin (from Suspiria, I assume). I do not agree at all. The music in this movie was good, not something I would go and buy the cd for. The Goblin music in Suspria and Dawn of the Dead is garbage. Also, I would rather watch this movie 10 more times than watch Suspira again. Suspiria is a truly amateur film, garbage in all aspects, story, acting, dubbing, cinematography, music, editing, etc. And what is completely incomprehensible is that so many people love this pile of garbage. Argento must have spent most of his film budget on publicity. I have seen Four Flies and Plumage. These are almost as bad as Suspiria. Argento has a cult following, maybe they are all part of the same witch cult in Suspiria. I suggest fans of Argento go join that idiot ballet school in Germany and meet up with that witch.

(aka: WATCH ME WHEN I KILL) Much better than Antonio Bido's other giallo, SOLAMENTE NERO (THE BLOOD STAINED SHADOW) Pharmacist in Rome is murdered. A woman who saw the killer leave is then stalked by the killer. Her boyfriend tries to find out why, and stop him. Three more murders follow. They are murdered because they are all tied to the betrayal of a Jewish family to the nazis during WWII. The killings are gruesome but not particularly bloody. In fact Bido goes out of his way to tone down the blood and not look too Argento-ish, imo. This is an excellent non-Argento giallo, one of the best of the 1970s. The plot flows pretty smoothly and it has an element of mystery and surprise at who the killer is. That's a nice touch considering that many Italian giallos reveal too many clues ahead of time, making the killer's identity a foregone conclusion. The music's ok, too. The only big negative is at the very end where the film wraps itself up way too fast, not leaving much for the viewer after the climax takes place. The VCI DVD print is kinda grainy and scratchy, not up to the usual standards Anchor Bay and Synapse have with their releases. Not many extras other than a bio of Bido along with some trailers to some other VCI DVD releases. I'll give it a 6 out of 10 for being better than a lot of the other films of the giallo genre...

I just watched Watch Me When I Kill this evening and found it to be a very good film. This woman stops by a chemist to pick up some painkillers. she is told to come back another day by some voice she hears. the chemist is lying dead in the back of the shop. so she is now involved in a murder case. there were some quite gory senses with throat-slitting, and strangulations, apart from that i found it to be a very good storyline. I though that the director of the film, (Antonio Bido) did i very good job in making the film, i found the storyline to be quite gripping to watch as the story made sense more than some other Italian horrors that i have seen. Good Movie: Recommended

Dancer Mara (Paola Tedesco) stops off at a pharmacy, unaware that the owner has just been murdered. When Mara tries to enter the shop, the killer, still inside the premises, tells her from behind the door that the place is closed. Fearing that the woman might be able to identify him from his voice, the murderer adds Mara to his list of intended victims, all of whom share a dark secret. Meanwhile, Mara's close friend Lukas (Corrado Pani) puts his life on the line to help. Directed by Antonio Bido, Watch Me When I Kill (AKA The Cat's Victims) is a densely plotted giallo that requires concentration, but which rewards the attentive viewer with a satisfying mystery, several well executed moments of tension and a few deftly handled death scenes. Visually, the film lacks the style of a Bava or Argento movie, but compensates somewhat with a fantastic pounding score by Trans Europa Express, who sound more than a little like Goblin in their prime and who add tremendously to the atmosphere.