This film has near enough all the trademarks of a standard Giallo: a black gloved killer, Euro-babes, gore, red herrings, exotic locations, set-piece murders, J&B whiskey, creepy dolls, semi-effective policing. That said, it uses all these trademarks in the best way and although it starts off slowly, it very quickly becomes a standout.A thin lady (Ida Galli) is meeting her lover while her husband is boarding a plane to go on a business trip. She's in the middle of a nudie session when the plane (a cheap toy one!) explodes, and due to her husband's death she now obtains a million pounds in insurance money. Before she goes, some junky boyfriend tries blackmailing her with a letter that could suggest that she wanted to kill her husband for the money, but luckily for her someone stabs him in the guts before he can do anything.Ida heads for Greece, where the money is waiting for her, along with George Hilton, who has been hired by the insurance company to make sure everything is legit, and he's being followed by an interpol agent, plus the local police (led by Luigi Pistilli) are also involved, and if that's not enough, her husband's mistress and her thug sidekick also want a cut of the money too! That's a lot of characters – if only some insane person would simplify things by thinning out the ranks a little.The trouble with Gialli is that describing the plot kind of diminishes the impact of the film, so I won't say any more about what happens plot wise, but one character is brutally murdered, things kick into high gear and no one is safe. There's little time for dull spots in this one as the killer goes head to head with most of the characters, some of which put up a fight, including one who manages to get the knife off the killer only to receive a broken bottle to the eye for their trouble. Took me surprise, that bit. In fact, although pretty fake looking, there's plenty of gore in this film (I think the cheapness just adds to the charm to be honest). This is a solid Giallo with many twists, red herrings and quirks right up to the end, and Sergio Martino would give us other classics like The Strange Case of Mrs Wardh (also with Hilton) and Torso (not with Hilton). I have watched Your Vice is a Locked Room And Only I Have the Key yet, but it's got Edwidge Fenech in it so it's probably a safe bet.

This isn't as popular as Martino's other gialli, perhaps because his regular leading lady Edwige Fenech – who was indisposed – got replaced here by Anita Strindberg (and with her entrance delayed until almost the half-hour mark); in fact, the film adopts a PSYCHO (1960)-ish gimmick by having Evelyn Stewart's character take center-stage for the first third of the narrative and then get bumped off! To make up perhaps for a fairly conventional plot – with a handful of characters after a missing $1 million in insurance money – the violence is laid on pretty thick throughout (though not so much the sex this time around); similarly, the director includes any number of preposterous camera angles to liven up proceedings and disorientate viewers. Frankly, such flamboyant measures (extending to the trailer, which absurdly likens THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL to milestones of German Expressionism, Soviet propaganda cinema and Surrealist films maudits!) weren't really needed as interest is generally maintained regardless with the sorting out of the various clues, twists and red herrings. In fact, the film keeps one guessing as to the killer's eventual identity and this certainly adds to the fun. The cast helps a lot, too: George Hilton gets one of his meatier parts, while Strindberg does well enough considering (in fact, I couldn't quite visualize Fenech in the role!); apart from the requisite figures of authority – Alberto De Mendoza as an Interpol agent lending a helping hand (who also ends up getting the girl!) and Luigi Pistilli as the local cop on the case – two Jess Franco alumni, Janine Reynaud and Luis Barboo, surprisingly feature prominently among the suspects/murder victims. Other typical assets are the exotic Mediterranean setting (mainly Greece) and yet another solid score by Bruno Nicolai (coincidentally, himself a Franco regular).

I'm American so when dealing with foreign films, I'm willing to accept it when not all of the pieces fall exactly into place (especially in light that some things can become lost in translation from the original script to the English dubbing and/or subtitles), but this film leaves so many loose ends behind that it's difficult not to be feel a bit cheated at the end. However, it does provide giallo fans with exactly what they want and expect to see, so it's not exactly a total washout, either. After an (obvious toy) airplane explosion kills her husband Kurt, London socialite Lisa Baumer ("Evelyn Stewart"/Ida Galli, who was used to much better effect in the underrated MURDER MANSION) is set to inherit one million dollars from an insurance policy. Not an ideal wife to begin with (she's in bed with one of her many lovers when she hears the "bad" news), we get the strong feeling that Lisa's days are seriously numbered and get an even stronger impression of this when an ex-lover who tries to blackmail her is knifed to death inside her apartment. Lisa flees to Athens, Greece to both escape the killer and cash in the policy but is trailed by several characters; including Interpol agent Stavros (Luigi Pistilli) and insurance investigator Peter Lynch (George Hilton), both of whom seem to think that Lisa was somehow involved with planting explosives on the airplane. While in Greece, Lisa also meets up with her hubby's obnoxious short-fused mistress Lara (Janine Reynaud), who demands half the money... or else. Lara sends her "lawyer" Sharif (Luis Barboo) after Lisa with a switchblade, but Peter shows up just in time to save. A bit flustered, Lisa goes ahead and cashes the policy in, books an evening flight out to Tokyo and decides to spend her few hours left in Greece all alone in her hotel room. Big mistake. Someone dressed in the standard mad killer outfit (black outfit, leather gloves and mask), sneaks in, slashes her throat, guts her and walks away with her bag of money.  A few more characters are introduced (including blonde Anita Strinberg as a journalist who hooks up with Peter), there are several more murders (including a memorable close-up eyeball gouging with a shard of glass) and the plot twists are laid on thick and heavy (handed). And, oh yeah... the scorpion of the title refers to a cuff-link left behind at the scene of an attack, which seems to have belonged to Lisa's (dead?) husband.In all honesty, I had a difficult time dealing with some of the plot holes and multiple loose ends in the story. Some of the twists (particularly the identity of the mystery killer) are in annoying defiance to what we've already seen and don't make much sense. But as expected, the murder scenes are directed, lit and photographed with some style. The occasional cool green and red lighting brightens things up considerably. There's also one scene that Argento lifted wholesale for SUSPIRIA, as the killer teasingly tries to open a lock from between a crack in the door with a knife blade. Gore-wise, it is barely sufficient if you don't mind bright red blood. The cast is decent, with Hilton and Strindberg very attractive leads, though there's far less nudity here than in similar movies, with only Anita providing some brief topless nudity. Good score by Bruno Nicolai. Overall it's about average from what I've seen in the genre.

Sergio Martino has impressed me recently with his Giallo classics 'The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh' and the unforgettably titled, 'Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key' - but even so, I wasn't expecting too much from this film. The Case of the Scorpion's Tail doesn't get mentioned as much as the aforementioned titles when it comes to classic Giallo discussion - but I don't know why, because this is at least as good as those two! Dario Argento may be the 'king' of Giallo, but with the five films that he made - Sergio Martino surely isn't too far behind. In some ways, he even surpasses the master. All of Martino's films were released prior to the jewel in Argento's crown, the magnificent Profondo Rosso, so back in the early seventies - Martino was the king! The plot here follows the idea of murder for profit, and follows the insurance payout of a wealthy man. His wife inherits $1 million, and it isn't long before there's people out for her blood! When she turns up dead shortly thereafter, an insurance investigator and a plucky, attractive young journalist follow up the case.The Case of the Scorpion's Tail may not benefit from the beautiful Edwige Fenech, but it does have two of Martino's collaborators on board. Most famous is George Hilton, who worked with Marino on The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colors of the Dark, along with a number of other Giallos. Hilton has a great screen presence, and every time I see him in an Italian thriller; it becomes obvious why he is repeatedly cast. The beautiful Anita Strindberg, who will be remembered from Your Vice is a Locked Room, stars alongside Hilton and excellently provides the classic Giallo female lead. Sergio Martino does a good job in the director's chair once again, with several beautiful scenes - the best of which taking place in a room bathed with green lighting! The score by Bruno Nicolai (Wardh) excellently sets the mood, but it is the script that, once again, is the driving force behind Martino's success. Ernesto Gastaldi, the writer for Martino's other four Giallo, has put together a script that is thrilling while staying away from the common Giallo pitfall of not making sense; thus liberating this film from the rest of the illogical genre. The Case of the Scorpion's Tail is a quality Giallo film, and yet another success for the great Sergio Martino. If you like Giallo, you'll love this!