Il terzo occhio (1966)

... aka: Das Dritte Auge
... aka: Killer with a Third Eye, The

... aka: Le froid baiser de la mort (The Cold Kiss of Death)

... aka: Third Eye, The

Directed by:
"James Warren" (Mino Guerrini)

I've seen this mentioned before as the "precursor" to, or the "inspiration behind," D'Amato's infamous bad taste gore fest BUIO OMEGA (1979). Now that I've actually seen it, I can verify without a shadow of a doubt D'Amato's film flat out copies this one, almost scene-for-scene in many instances. The storyline, the characters, the plot complications and even many of the sickest ideas were snatched wholesale from this one. And if you want to get technical, since the writers of Il terzo occhio are not really given their due in the Buio Omega credits (only Guerrini [under his real name Giacomo] is credited with "story" while the other three writers are completely ignored), D'Amato's film is actually more akin to being called a rip-off than a legit remake. But, as fate would have it, the re-do would go on to acquire a strong cult following over the years (one that's not completely undeserved), while the original has been forgotten and is nearly impossible to find. It was restored and released on DVD first in Germany (an excellent print judging by the stills I've seen), but the only place to find an English-subtitled version for the longest time was Video Search of Miami. Sadly, their VHS version is a horribly murky, dark, washed out and barely viewable print that certainly didn't help this film's reputation any over the years.

Franco (credited as "Frank") Nero, clean-cut and extremely handsome here, stars as wealthy young count Mino Alberti, who lives in a huge, four-story white mansion with his horrible mother, Countess Alberti (played by Olga "Sunbeauty" / Solbelli, from Mill of the Stone Women), and the overworked, long-suffering family maid, Marta (Gioia Pascal, which is possibly a fake name since the credits have been Anglicized, though I don't recognize this actress). Mino's father died in a tragic accident a few years back and now he's at the mercy of dear old mom, who has a sick idea of what motherhood should entail. She's miserable, controlling and has a special peephole built into her wall where she can keep an eye on her son as he entertains female guests in his bedroom.

Marta the maid, secretly pines for Mino and bitterly detests any woman striking her employer's fancy. Both women conspire to drive away Mino's beautiful fiancée Laura Campi ("Diana Sullivan" / Erika Blanc, in a blonde wig) by being unbelievably bitchy to her. When that doesn't work, they arrange for a little "accident" to occur by cutting the brake lines on Laura's car, which leads to a fatal crash over a rocky embankment into the ocean. Strangely, Laura's body is never recovered. After an altercation, the Countess fires Marta. Infuriated, Marta knocks the old crone down a flight of stairs (gouging out her eye in the process!), strangles her to death and makes it look like an accident.

Losing both his fiancée and mother in the same day, Mino returns home and starts to slowly lose his mind. Not quite right to begin with (his Norman Bates-like hobby is killing and stuffing birds in a specially built laboratory), Mino starts inviting women back to the mansion to kill. First up is "international dance star" Maria Margot (Marina Morgan), who strips down to pasties during her strip-tease in a smoky blues club. Mino lures her into his bed; the same bed where he keeps Laura's fresh corpse snugly tucked in (!), then strangles her. Marta sees it all and offers up a new arrangement. If Mino will marry her, she won't go to the cops when he gets that urge to murder and will help him dispose of the bodies. She even suggests they use hydrochloric acid so no traces are found.

Mino then murders Loredana, a prostitute, and presumably other women in the area over a long period of time. A year after the murders first began, a surprise visitor shows up; Laura's younger, red-headed, nearly identical looking sister Daniela (also played by Blanc). Mino thinks Daniela is the second coming of Laura, showering her with attention and romantic candle-lit dinners. He also starts treating his former maid / "wife" like an insignificant slave again. Marta goes into a jealous rage and heads after Daniela with a butcher knife... Those familiar with D'Amato's film know this is pretty much where Buio Omega ends, but this one still has about twenty minutes left to go as Mino forces Daniela at gunpoint into his car for a road trip of terror en route to the beach.

From a technical standpoint, this is a fairly well-done film. The direction, score, script and acting are all above average. There's plenty of suspense and some sudden bursts of violence to keep you awake. A real bird is even sliced open and gutted at one point. The subtext and implications are also extremely perverse for 1966, which may be why it didn't receive a very glowing reception back in its day nor much of a international release. Though there wasn't any full-on nudity in the version I saw, the film shows about as much flesh as possible for a mid-60s mainstream release.

Nero goes a bit over-the-top at times, but he's still effective in his role. Blanc is likewise fine, just given an uninteresting part in this early film. She'd later prove to be much more adept at playing femme fatales than virtuous heroines. The real standout performance here is from the unknown Pascal, who doesn't appear to have ever acted in anything else. I frequently see this listed as a giallo, but I don't think it really qualifies as such. It's more of a psychological horror film with Gothic undercurrents, and has more in common with films like Psycho than any of the gialli I've seen. There are no black gloved killers running amok or mysteries to solve here, folks.

★★1/2