'I don't understand. None of this makes any sense!', exclaims one exasperated character towards the end of Death Smiles at Murder. Having just sat through this thoroughly confusing mess of a movie, I know exactly how he feels. The story, by the film's director Aristide Massacessi (good old Joe D'amato using his real name for a change), is a clumsy mix of the supernatural, murder/mystery, and pretentious arty rubbish, the likes of which will probably appeal to those who admire trippy 70s garbage such as Jess Franco's more bizarre efforts, but which had me struggling to remain conscious.Opening with a hunchback mourning the death of his beautiful sister (with whom he had been having an incestuous affair, before eventually losing her to a dashing doctor), Death Smiles at Murder soon becomes very confusing when the very same woman (played by Ewa Aulin, who stars in the equally strange 'Death Laid an Egg') is seen alive and kicking, the sole survivor of a coach accident that occurs outside the estate of Walter and Eva von Ravensbrück. After being invited to stay and recuperate in their home, where she is tended to by creepy Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski in a throwaway role), the comely lass begins love affairs with both Mr. and Mrs. Ravensbrück (meaning that viewers are treated to some brief but welcome scenes of nookie and lesbian lovin').'So far, so good', I thought to myself at this point, 'we've had hunchbacks, incest, some blood and guts, and gratuitous female nudity'—all ingredients of a great trashy Euro-horror; what follows, however, is a lame attempt by Massacessi to combine giallo style killings, ghostly goings on, and even elements from Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat', to tell a very silly, utterly bewildering, and ultimately extremely boring tale of revenge from beyond the grave.This film seems to have quite few admirers here on IMDb, but given the choice, I would much rather watch one of the director's sleazier movies from later in his career; I guess incomprehensible, meandering, surreal 70s Gothic horror just ain't my thing! 2.5 out of 10 (purely for the cheesy gore and nekkidness), rounded up to 3 for IMDb.

Death Smiled at Murder (1973) ** (out of 4) Joe D'Amato directed this extremely bizarre and downright confusing film that tries to mix Gothic horror with the giallo. I'm not exactly sure what the hell the film is about but it goes something like this. After a carriage wreck, a young woman (Ewa Aulin) is left without her memory so she stays with a husband and wife who both take a sexual liking to her. There's also a strange murderer going around and there's also a weird doctor (Klaus Kinski) who is trying to create a formula that will bring the dead back to life. Before long, the wife kills the young woman but soon she reappears. Is it a ghost or something else? As I said, this film makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There are several other story lines that I could have included in the plot but I'm not exactly sure what they had to do with anything either. D'Amato does a good job with the cinematography, which added with the music score makes for some nice atmosphere. Aulin is easy on the eyes and delivers the best performance in the film but overall this thing it too much of a mess to really enjoy. The film's pace, although gets quite tiresome after a while.

1906 - Greta (Ewa Aulin) is raped by her brother, the hunchback Franz (Luciano Rossi). They become lovers. One day she meets Dr. von Ravensbrück - it's love at first sight. Her brother Franz sees it all with bitter eyes. Greta gets pregnant from Dr. von Ravensbrück. Greta and her son die during childbirth to Franz's great grief.Three years later Walter von Ravensbrück (son of Dr. von Ravensbrück) and his wife Eva are drinking tea in the garden of their mansion. A black carriage led by black horses driven by a black-clad coachman is arriving - it is going very fast. Accident! The carriage flips over and the driver dies impaled on the wheel axle almost in front of their eyes. They discover an unconscious girl inside the carriage. She doesn't remember anything from the past, she doesn't even know her own name.This girl is, of course, Greta. Is she alive? Is she dead? What is clear is that she came like an angel of death. Her arrival will unleash a death carnival.There are other characters in this film - Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski) is making a research on resurrection. Inspector Dannick (Attilio Dottesio) is trying in vain to make sense of what is happening. There's a prying servant maid - Franz or Franz's ghost (Greta's brother) is haunting her. She will be the first to suffer a horrible death. Other deaths will follow and in-between a lesbian affair (one woman tries to kill another and then they both laugh and make love to each other - oh me oh my!), ménage-à-trois, parties, dancing , masks and deaths. The film ends with a Mona Lisa smile and a puzzled look.If Joe D'Amato tried at all to tell a story, he must certainly have forgotten all about it during the process of writing and filming. Anyway "La morte ha sorriso al assassino" is very stylishly filmed, excellent decor and costumes. The camera and editing are very awake and the film's colors are beautiful and soft as the countryside surrounding the mansion. The soundtrack enhances the mystery and mellow beauty of some scenes. Ewa Aulin is surrealistically unconvincing and sweet as the avenging angel that raises havoc all around.The hype is right: The film is really addictive. See the film and don't try to make sense out of the story, or rather, see and understand the film your own way.

'Death Smiles At Murder' is an intriguing and interesting film for those who like cinema of the strange and bizarre. If anything, it reminds me of Mario Bava's equally strange 'Lisa And The Devil' with its dreamlike plot and sinister and foreboding atmosphere. Beautifully shot by the director himself Ariste Massacessi- (usually known under the pseudonym Joe D'Amato) and featuring a weird and convoluted plot, you will be tempted to re-watch the film to get your head around what indeed the film was about.This is not to say that the film will be for all tastes. If your one who likes films to follow logic and have carefully spelled out plots then you might give this a miss. The best way to describe it is as a period 'giallo' with the usual beautiful and sometimes naked protagonists thrown in. It's a shame that the director later ended up making hard core pornography because he really was a talented director and cinematographer on the evidence of this film.I saw it on a Dutch DVD that I picked up from a European export company.Highly recommended for lovers of strange film or Euro-Cult buffs.