Once upon a time, the Giallo as a sub-genre was primarily lost to obscurity – available only to those engaged in the tape trading scene. Even during the DVD boom era, this ever-sleazy wave of Italian murder mysteries never managed to break through. It has only been during the blu-ray era that they have become accessible on either side of the Atlantic. How this is relevant comes down to the phrasing Arrow Video chose for this latest Giallo set of films, “Giallo Essentials (Black Edition)”. Once upon a time, that statement would be reserved for Martino, Bava, Argento, Fulci, Aldo Lado and Lenzi. Access to these titles has been so transformative that such a title as Essentials can adorn something as rare as Francesco Mazzei’s sole directorial charge, 1972’s ‘The Weapon The Hour the Motive’.
Don Giorgio (Maurizio Bonuglia) is a beautiful priest at a provincial convent, beloved by the community. Perhaps a little too loved as he is having affairs with two married women (Orchidea Durantini (Bedy Moratti) and Giulia Pisani (Eva Czemerys), simultaneously. Being a Giallo, it’s only a matter of time until he ends up dead – stabbed and left for the nuns to find. Eventually, a pair of investigators turn up – played by genre mainstays Renzo Montagnani (Boito)& Salvatore Puntillo (Moriconi) – to find out what happened that fateful night and what the orphan child adopted by the convent may or may not have seen. Mazzei’s film is untypical in the sense that a member of the public usually solves the murders instead of the police. However, like the police in any Italian film of the 1970s – these investigators are inept, only solving the murders by complete accident.
A few things make any given Giallo tick. Over-sexed with lots of female flesh on display? Check, including a shower scene with the nuns. A series of escalating murders? Yes. Beautiful cinematography, with murder sequences that would influence the American slasher movie? No. Each murder happens in a blink & you’ll miss it a moment. There is no choreography between murder and camera, no black gloves, and no point-of-view cinematography. Mazzei opted for surprisingly few Giallo tropes. In many ways, ‘the weapon, the hour, and the motive’ remind of fellow arrow release (now long OOP) and outlier, The Bloodstained Butterfly. That Duccio Tessari effort erred closer to straight murder mystery than Giallo until the final moments when it unveils its hand. Something that doesn’t happen here, this is 100% a murder mystery, albeit with more flesh on display.
You could make a case for it being a fine entry point, but with the violence inherent in these movies largely absent, serving this as an introduction is too large a leap. And those looking for that Giallo riddled with catholic guilt, you’ll have to keep on hunting.
Curious that I should make this point as it brings me back to the phrasing that Arrow Video chose for a boxset completed by The Killer Reserved Nine Seats and Smile Before Death – Giallo Essentials. There are two ways to interpret that phrasing. The first is that these are rare films that hardcore collectors of the sub-genre have been clamouring for-for years. The second is that – especially in the case of the Weapon the Hour the Motive – it eases a new viewer into the over-the-top sensibilities of an exceptionally sleazy sub-genre. It’s certainly the case I am making.
When discussing Sergio Martino in the past, I’ve remarked that his quality as a director of Giallo comes from the ways he deviates from the tired formula these movies wholeheartedly subscribed to. And on that same basis, there is value in Mazzei’s film. It’s sleazy without hitting Lizard in a Woman’s Skin or Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh levels. The mystery would take five minutes to solve if the investigators paid attention; when everything is resolved there are still copious plot holes. It’s the Giallo way. In a rare move, the script values its characters, using them as more than meat puppets with the narrative unfolding like an inappropriately timed, aloof romantic thriller with clue-hunting interludes.
Ultimately, ‘The Weapon The Hour the Motive’ falls between the cracks. The deviations from genre norms aren’t satisfying enough to recommend it to many beyond the completists. You could make a case for it being a fine entry point, but with the violence inherent in these movies largely absent, serving this as an introduction is too large a leap. And those looking for that Giallo riddled with catholic guilt, you’ll have to keep on hunting.
THE WEAPON THE HOUR THE MOTIVE IS PART OF THE GIALLO ESSENTIALS (BLACK EDITION) BOXSET
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