Knife of Ice

1972
6| 1h31m| en
Details

A mute woman, traumatized by her parents' death, faces new horrors when her cousin is murdered by a suspected killer. As danger looms, the truth proves far more complex.

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Reviews

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment
Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall
ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Bezenby What's with the bullfighting footage, Umberto? Even when not making cannibal films, he throws in some real animal violence. What did he have against animals? This giallo has a few different twists on the formula, and although it's okay, it doesn't quite have enough insanity in it either. It involves Ida Galli returning to the family home to meet her family, including a mute Carroll Baker (nice turn from her in this film). Everyone's happy to see her, but this also seems to trigger a series of killings which may or may not have something to do with a local Satanic cult.Knife of Ice looks great and sounds great, but it's also kind of tame and treading the same ground at the same time. It's almost as if Umberto is kind of stuck in the late sixties way of making gialli.
Coventry Umberto Lenzi was a more than prolific giallo director during the late sixties/early seventies and he undoubtedly delivered great contributions to this wondrous sub-genre, with legendary titles like "Paranoia", "Orgasmo", "So Sweet, So Perverse", "Oasis of Fear", "Eyeball" and "Spasmo". His finest giallo accomplishment – in my humble opinion, at least – was "Seven Blood-stained Orchids" in 1972, and in that same glorious year he also made the lesser known but definitely worthwhile "Knife of Ice". This film describes itself pretty much as a textbook giallo, meaning it features a typical heroine in distress (Lenzi regular Caroll Baker), a few vicious knife murders (although less than usual), several conspicuous male suspects, misleading clues and red herrings all around and a far- fetched twist ending that is simultaneously preposterous and ingenious. When she was only a young teenager, Martha Caldwell lost both her parents in a disastrous train accident and witnessing this tragedy caused her to be mute ever since. She's now a gorgeous woman in her mid-twenties living with her uncle Ralph and awaiting the arrival of her successful niece Jenny, who coming over to visit her. On her first night already, though, Jenny is murdered in the garage. The police discover the lair of a satanic cult in the area, so maybe the killer is a devil worshiper, but also Martha's creepy chauffeur Marcos behaves increasingly suspicious. When the housemaid Annie also gets murdered in the area, it becomes clear that the killer is targeting Martha as the next victim. "Knife of Ice", which is – by the way – a fairly irrelevant title taken from a quote by Edgar Allen Poe, benefices from a steady pacing and a solidly written screenplay with a few bright ideas. The lead actress being mute isn't exactly new, but it provides an additional dimension for suspense, since she can't scream for help or testify to the police. The satanic cult aspect is relatively new for a giallo-thriller, which to me proves all the more that Lenzi is one of the principal founders of the sub genre. The low body count and the quasi gore- free depiction of the murders are rather disappointing, especially since we all know that Lenzi made several of the goriest Italian horror films in history. The most gruesome and shocking footage is actually during the opening credits, which is set in Spanish bull- fighting arena. Animal rights activists should probably fast-forward the opening credits, since the fate of the poor bull is illustrated quite graphically and mercilessly.
EVOL666 Despite the fact that KNIFE OF ICE was very tame in the sex and sleaze departments (virtually no bloodshed and no nudity whatsoever...) I found this one to be a decent enough entry in the genre. Martha is a mute who became that way after a train accident killed her parents 15 years earlier. Her cousin comes to stay with her and her father, and ends up murdered. This of course leads to all the typical giallo-style investigations and 'red herrings' that most fans crave...I will say that I was disappointed in the lack of gore and nudity in this entry (especially coming from Lenzi who helmed such sleaze 'classics' as CANNIBAL FEROX and EATEN ALIVE) -but of the several giallo-films that I've seen lately-I was thankful that the pace was relatively quick, and the storyline pretty straight-forward. I tend to like gialli overall, but I find that many get caught up in such convoluted plots that they tend to weigh the film down. I will say that for me at least, I guessed the killer pretty much right off the bat- but that's not to say that the film is exactly 'predictable'. Overall a decent entry that I'd recommend to fans of the genre. 7/10
The_Void Umberto Lenzi's Giallo's weren't his strongest point, but the handful that he made was mostly decent. Knife of Ice kind of bridges a gap between the director's best Giallo's - Seven Blood Stained Orchids and Oasis of Fear and his choppier, trashy stuff with films like Spasmo and Eyeball. This film looks nice and seems like it's a high quality production, but somehow it doesn't quite wash as a completely classy thriller. A big weakness here is the plot, as while there is certainly a basis for a good thriller on show; Lenzi doesn't always handle it very well, and it comes off as overly convoluted and the wrong elements are often the ones given the most emphasis. The plot focuses on Martha; a mute woman who invites her cousin over to stay with her and her family. However, the guest soon turns up dead in the garage, and the police are quick to suspect a local hippy as the murderer as it happened at around the same time as another murder in the town. However, as the murders continue it becomes obvious that the killer isn't the hippy at all...This film is pretty typical of Lenzi's early Giallo work, as it features the lovely Miss Carroll Baker in the lead role, as well as a plot revolving around sound; as seen in the earlier Orgasmo. However, Baker's character in this film isn't entirely likable; more irritating, in fact, and the convoluted Giallo plot doesn't work as well as it does in other Giallo films as it never really feels like there's a great deal going on. Further nuisances include the fact that all of the murders happen off screen - and that's unlikely to please fans of these usually blood-soaked thrillers. However, the film certainly isn't a complete dead loss. Lenzi's direction is stylish and the foreboding mood of the film is well implemented. I've already mentioned the good production values, which work well in spite of the occasional let down with the dubbing (case in point being the accused hippy). Carroll Baker does well in her role, despite it not being a very strong character. The film boils down to the usual unlikely ending, but at least Lenzi has taken the time to explain everything so we're not left wondering. Overall, Knife of Ice isn't a brilliant Giallo - but it's decent enough and just about worth seeing in spite of its flaws.