Seven Bloodstained Orchids
                                  (PAL VHS)
                                      (1972) 
                                         review by Monkeyman

Umberto Lenzi is a director who most people describe as a hack,but all his films display a certain technical profiency and this one is no exception.

A number of brutal murders occur,each of the victims found in possesion of a silver half-moon medallion.The murders are seemingly linked to Giulia(Uschi Glass) who, along with her boyfriend Mario(Antonio Sabato),sets about trying to uncover the identity of the black gloved killer who is working his way through the cast with suitably grisly aplomb.

Marisa Mell receives a particularly nasty demise on the receiving end of a power drill
A superb first half,and a reasonably suspenseful finale mean that this film is well worth tracking down,but it does tend to drag in the middle. Antonio Sabato is an actor who is routinely criticised for his lack of screen presence,but I feel that in this case his character is pretty dull due to the script rather than any shortfall on Sabatos part. Still,its a pretty bloody film,is a good whodunnit and with drownings, stabbings, stranglings as well as a pretty brutal beating to death it certainly keeps you interested to the end.

Ortolanis score is reminiscent of Morricone,which is no bad thing,and wraps up a pretty slick package quite nicely. The story is based on Edgar Wallaces "The Puzzle of the Silver Half moons",but doesnt really fit in as a "krimi"film,as it is pretty much a blueprint giallo.

I would probably recommend that if you were to track down just one Lenzi giallo,then go for So Sweet ,So Perverse rather than this one, but I can think of many worse ways to spend a couple of hours than watching Seven Bloodstained Orchids