Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)
A deranged killer is injecting beautiful women with the poison of a rare wasp, paralyzing them and forcing them to witness their own brutal murders, as the killer slices open their stomach. Before long Inspector Tellini (Giancarlo Giannini), discovers all the victims have a connection to an exclusive spa resort.
I'm not sure how well liked or not this giallo is among genre fans. For me it is the ultimate giallo and perhaps my favourite of the genre. It has everything an Italian thriller should have. An intriguing storyline, a killer dressed head to toe in black, beautiful women, (Barbara Bouchet, Claudine Auger, Rosella Falk, Barbara Bach), a cool actor taking on the case (Giannini), sex, mystery, and horrific, graphic murder sequences.
The murders are outstanding. Each kill is preceded by a brief stalking sequence before the killer pierces the victims neck around the spine with an acupuncture style needle, although longer and more fearsome. This neautralizes the victims in a state of paralysis before the murderer strips them to the waste and cuts open their stomach. Truly macabre stuff, hard to watch in comparison with many giallo deaths and wickedly disturbing, as well as utterly fascinating.
Director Paolo Cavara keeps you gripped from the opening seconds. Immediately dragging you into the first kill, and never letting go of his tight grasp of you.
Plot of Fear(1976) is the only other film of his i've seen, and i recommend that as well. Cavara's great at building suspense and just as adept with action sequences - see the rooftop chase as a fine example and also of Cavara's photography that is also visually brilliant. The score is from genre stalwart Ennio Morricone and is outstanding. Creepy when needed and a delightful piece of the jigsaw of this superb film.
As briefly mentioned, the film has a terrific cast. Three Bond girls in the aforementioned Bach, Auger and Bouchet, all of whom are perfectly cast. Rosella Falk who i mentioned in my review of
The Fifth Cord (1971) doesn't fare much better here, but again comes to a memorably sticky end. Giancarlo Giannini who heads the film playing the inspector on the case is one of the finest actors to appear in a giallo. A career with over 150 screen credits and still going strong, he's quite rightly an international superstar.
I'd love to be critical of
Black Belly of the Tarantula to give some perspective, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with it in my eyes. It's as good a giallo as i've come across and is a brilliantly compelling piece of Italian cinema which should appeal to crime and horror fans alike.