Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Coventry In my personal quest to track down and watch every single Italian giallo ever made, I encountered Umberto Lenzi's "An Ideal Place to Kill" (a.k.a. "Oasis of Fear") many times already, but for some inexplicable reason I always deliberately postponed my viewing of this film. I don't know why, but it always felt to me as if this wasn't a 100% genuine and full-blooded giallo, or at least that Lenzi never intended for it to be one. Along with handful of other prolific Italian genre directors, Lenzi undoubtedly was one of the masters of the giallo-sub genre and he contributed some excellent titles ("Seven Blood-Stained Orchids", "Knife of Ice", "Spasmo"…) but I'm personally persuaded that he wanted to do something more and different with this film. Rather than a giallo, I'd say this is more of a "lovers-on-the-run" thriller inspired by the huge success of Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde"; yet predating several other tremendously popular films in this theme, like "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry", "Badlands" and "The Getaway". Also, this "An Ideal Place to Kill" is reminiscent to Lenzi's own previous "Orgasmo" although that latter one qualifies as giallo a lot more. Well, I perhaps refer to the two protagonists as "lovers on the run" but admittedly they aren't dangerous criminals at all. The handsome Dick and the more than ravishing Ingrid form a wayward and indecent hippie couple from England that are traveling through prudish Italy. They try to make some extra money by selling nude pictures of the gorgeous Ingrid and committing a couple of other petty crimes, which naturally leads to a confrontation with the local police and the command to leave the country immediately. They ignore this mandate, head further south and stop at a secluded mansion to break into the garage and steal petrol. They are caught by the middle-aged lady of the house, but instead of informing the police the woman – Barbara – invites them to the house. She claims to be nervous because her husband didn't come home, but she also shows a love-interest for the much younger couple and arranges a wild night. The next morning, however, Dick and Ingrid begin to suspect that Barbara hides a few sinister secrets and that she might even try to frame them for something they haven't done. Lenzi's semi-giallo principally thrives on style, lurid atmosphere and the downright fantastic performances of the three lead players. You'd expect Caroll Baker in the role of the mysterious Barbara, but the slightly older Irene Papas does a terrific job as well. The casting of both Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti was a great idea, since they are incredibly beautiful kids that live fast and careless and absolutely don't have any moral or traditional values. There are a few intense sequences, notably the one in the birdhouse, but the overall tone of the film is lush and free-spirited (also steered by the unusually joyous pop-soundtrack). The climax, on the other hand, is cynically harsh and relentless, and it once more states clear that the "love & peace" sixties are over and gone!

clivey6 Another from the Shameless stable of exploitation films. They go on about how they've tracked down missing scenes, remastered it all and redone the soundtrack... it's like a kid telling you how they've done an amazing drawing and you then look at it... Oasis of Fear is a bit, well, rubbish.It's about a young couple who travel around Europe in a zippy yellow open top sports car flogging porn mags to locals (that dates it). But once the movie settles down it hits you that it's just not very good, a bit amateurish. The trailer is the best thing about it.It starts off okay with a George Beatle type track, but soon becomes irritating. The bloke, all 29in waist and big hair, is from the Cliff Richard school of acting. Actually Cliff was a bit more charming than this. The girl is alright in a Kate Middleton kind of way. It belongs to an age where you had to make your own entertainment, when you only had Dixon of Dock Green on the black and white telly, while going to the movies to see a big colour film - and a woman get her kit off - was a real treat, real decadence.You rent these films for a bit of sauce and unPC fun - you don't really expect to be so bored by it all. It picks up for the last half hour, but really drags until then.

unbrokenmetal Danish student Ingrid (Ornella Muti) and her English boyfriend Dick (Ray Lovelock) decide to sell pornography illegally in Italy, and at the beginning, they make a lot of money and spend a great holiday time there. Then they are arrested by the police, and their rebellious attitude (especially if you remember, this was 1970) doesn't help much. They end up on the street without a Lira in their pockets, and when a rich lady (Irene Papas) offers help, it seems a stroke of luck and they are not suspicious at all...La bella Ornella in one of her earliest movies is very playful and looks best in a kind of Indian temple dancer costume here. All in all, "Un posto ideale per uccidere" is not a particularly dark or violent film, but with enough suspense. The rapid cut by Eugenio Alabiso - who also had his hands on genre classics like "Tutti i colori del buio" and "Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh" - helps to speed it up a bit. Note: My Italian DVD is said to be transferred from the original negative with a running time of 83:49 min.

lazarillo A young Scandinavian couple are rousted by the Italian police for selling nude photos of themselves. After, some strange misadventures with some gypsies (who rob them) they try to steal some petrol from the villa of a wealthy NATO colonel and are caught in the act by his wife. They charm their way into her house and seduce and victimize the older woman, but she has a surprising agenda of her own and soon the young couple find themselves embroiled in a murder and on the run from the law.This is one of a string of superlative gialli directed by the enigmatic Umberto Lenzi starting with "Paranoia" in 1968 and ending with "Seven Bloodstained Orchids" in 1972. After that, Lenzi seemed to lose interest in the genre directing much lamer entries like "Spasmo" and "Eyeball" before moving into violent police thrillers and eventually stomach-turning third-world cannibal films. The plot of this movie somewhat resembles Lenzi's first giallo "Paranoia" with a young, free-spirited couple victimizing a wealthy, repressed older woman, but the older woman is much more than a victim here, the couple is much more sympathetic, and the story is told from a very different point of view. The ending is also similar to the ridiculous deus ex machina ending of the earlier film, but is much more believable (albeit much more cynical).As the young couple, the movie features two of the most attractive actors of 70's European exploitation films in Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti. But Lovelock, unfortunately, is dubbed and not speaking in his usual Scottish brogue and Muti was obviously too young to do the copious nude scenes that are, for once, necessary to the plot, so an obvious body double is used and every cinematic trick in the book employed (of course, this doesn't stop Lenzi from making like Jess Franco with the zoom lens every time the real actress bends over in her short-shorts). Both actors are pretty good though despite these liabilities. Special mention must go to Irene Papas though, who almost outdoes Caroll Baker herself in the Carroll Baker role. I hate too admit it, but I kind of liked to pop music soundtrack too.