Another obsure cult giallo unearthed by the ever reliable Shamless Screen Entertainment. Who saw her die? was made in 1972, a year before Nicolas Roeg's classic Don't look now, but bears such an uncanny resemblance most viewers will probably think this is an obvious ripoff of the bigger budget Roeg film. Interestingly not so.
As with the later and far more unsettling Night Train Murders (also available through Shameless)Aldo Lado at once draws the viewer in with a fog of unease made all the more memorable by the haunting Ennio Moriconne score. A mysterious child killer in a black veil is on the loose in Venice and targets the daughter of the emotional trainwreck Franco(played admirably by temporary Sean Connery James Bond replacement George Lazenby)who takes it upon himself (and his moustache) to solve the crime. What follows is fairly standard Euro-thriller fare and revolves almost entirely around Franco searching for his child, however Who saw her die? is rarely dull and works on quite a few different levels other than straight forward horror. The acting in this film is also unusually good for its type and the creepy locations captured beautifully by scope master Franco Di Giacomo lend the film a poignant air of despair not dissimilar to Edward Woodwards lost at sea panic in Wicker Man.
So, another stellar release from Shameless. One of my favourites of theirs since Torso and a rather haunting little film. Now if I could only shake that slightly over-used Morricone theme song...
