This movie is a mess. Pretentious. Overly slow. Poorly acted. And boring beyond belief.The plotAs a thirteen year old, Martha Caldwell witnessed the death of her parents in a terrible railway accident. Barely surviving the tragedy herself, Martha was struck dumb due to the shock. Now an adult, the still mute Martha lives with her uncle Ralph in the Spanish countryside. Martha's cousin Jenny arrives to be with the family but is quickly stabbed to death. It appears that a sex maniac is roaming the countryside; killing pretty young girls. The already traumatized Martha seems likely to be the next victim but the case turns out to be far more complicated than it would first seem.

I agree that "Knife of Ice" is one of director Umberto Lenzi's classier movies, but I didn't find it one of his more interesting ones (it's certainly one of his least sexy). The mystery is well conceived, the editing well done, and Carroll Baker turns in a good performance, no doubt aided by the fact that since her character is a mute she's spared the stilted post dubbing suffered by the other actors. But the pacing is a bit sluggish and some of the devil worship symbols laughable (dig the cartoon goat head "medallion" found by the police). Personally, I found other Lenzi-Baker thrillers like "Paranoia" (a.k.a. "Orgasmo") and "A Quiet Place to Kill" (a.k.a. "Paranoia"--confused yet?) a lot more hopping. Guess I prefer my giallos on the trashy side. Still, for fans of the genre, "Knife of Ice" is worth a look.

Umberto Lenzi was a prolific director making more than some 70 films throughout his career. I guess he could be described as part of the B-grade Italian tradition where they would make numerous films in many different genres (Western, Horror, Giallo, Crime and even Cannibal films) with low budgets and heavy time constraints. Other than a couple of his Euro-Crime films (like 'Almost Human'), this is the best film of his I've seen.This film relies totally on its central mystery to keep you involved and intrigued....and what an excellent mystery it was. It certainly kept me guessing through the whole film. Basically, Carroll Baker place a mute women who suffered an horrific trauma in the past (the death of her parents). She now lives in Spain with her grandfather. Her sister comes to visit and dies at the hand of what the Police believe to be a sex maniac. Or is it? Lots of red herrings are thrown in along the way to help keep you guessing as well as numerous plot twists. The film is also helped by an unusual but effective score and some beautiful cinematography as well as a fine central performance by Baker.Those who are familiar with the 'giallo' genre should be warned that this film doesn't contain some of the more lurid trappings of the genre (nudity and violence) that other films like 'Torso' for example have. This film lives and dies solely on the central mystery and Baker's performance.I saw the film on the expensive but quite nice Japanese DVD which is the only official release I know of worldwide. If you are a 'giallo' fan then this one is definitely worth a look.

Don't hesitate to pick this one up, It might not be gory or filled with naked women but it's got a pretty damned fine central mystery. I don't think it's available in a letter boxed form on video, which is a real shame because Lenzi do have a way with pictures and this one is no exception. Also there are some really cool editing tricks, especially in the first half of the film. Over all it's a rather convincing story with some really original moments and fine acting. Bar the dubbing of course (as always!). 8/10 if you are a genre fan. 6/10 if you are a new arrival. You know what I mean...