Midnight Killer

Midnight Killer (Italian: Morirai a mezzanotte, lit. 'To Die at Midnight') is a 1986 Italian giallo film starring Valeria D'Obici and Leonardo Treviglio, and directed by Lamberto Bava.[3]

Midnight Killer
Italian theatrical release poster by Enzo Sciotti[1]
Directed byLamberto Bava
Screenplay by
  • Lamberto Bava
  • Dardano Sacchetti[2]
Story byDardano Sacchetti[3]
Produced by
  • Lamberto Bava
  • Massimo Manasse
  • Marco Grillo Spina[2]
Starring
CinematographyGianlorenzo Battaglia[2]
Edited byLamberto Bava[2]
Music byClaudio Simonetti[2]
Production
companies
  • Dania Film
  • Reteitalia[3]
Distributed byMedusa[4]
Release date
1986
Running time
88 minutes[3]
CountryItaly[2]

Plot

A mysterious serial killer murders the wife of a police officer, and the officer is suspected of the murder. Anna, a criminologist who is investigating the case of the legendary "Midnight Ripper" (a sex maniac who died years earlier) believes the policeman is innocent and suspects that the Ripper is still alive.

Cast
  • Valeria D'Obici as Anna Berardi
  • Leonardo Treviglio as Nicola Levi
  • Paolo Malco as Inspector Piero Terzi
  • Lara Wendel as Carol Terzi
  • Lea Martino as Gioia
  • Eliana Miglio as Monica (as Eliana Hoppe)
  • Barbara Scoppa as Sara Levi
  • Massimiliano Baratta as (as Massimo Baratta)
  • Loredana Romito as Nurse
  • Dino Conti as Terzi's Assistant
  • Marcello Modugno as Alberto
  • Loredana Guerra as Lingerie Saleslady
  • Gianpaolo Saccarola as Theater Watchman
  • Peter Pitsch as Franco Tribbo

Production

Midnight Killer was Lamberto Bava's second giallo film and was initially developed as a television film.[2][4] Bava later stated he was uneasy making these types of films, stating that "I find doing scenes where women get stabbed to death repugnant. Dario Argento does it so well, but I feel sick as soon as I see the knife in the murderer's hand"[2]

Release

Midnight Killer was released in 1986.[4][5] It was released on home video in Denmark as You'll Die at Midnight and in France as Midnight Horror.[3]

Reception

From retrospective reviews, Italian film critic and historian Roberto Curti declared the film as "drab and hardly engrossing, with only sequences set in a hotel standing by the sea standing out."[4] Adrian Luther-Smith in his book Blood & Black Lace found the film to be "hardly a ground-breaking genre entry" while it still had enough style and imagery to make it a must-see for giallo regulars.[3]


References
  1. "Midnight Killer - art by Enzo Sciotti". www.emovieposter.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  2. Howarth 2015, p. 124.
  3. Luther-Smith 1999, p. 133.
  4. Curti 2022, p. 365.
  5. Curti 2022, p. 9.

Bibliography
  • Curti, Roberto (2022). Italian Giallo in Film and Television. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8248-8.
  • Howarth, Troy (2015). So Deadly, So Perverse. Vol. 2. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1936168583.
  • Luther-Smith, Adrian (1999). Blood & Black Lace. Stray Cat Publishing. ISBN 0-9533261-1-X.


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