Eglima sto Kavour (1976)

(AKA Death Kiss - AKA The Rape Killer) A Greek foray into the Giallo universe - let's see how they work with the genre...

CHARACTERS

• Jim (Lakis Komninos) ship captain
• Eleni (Dorothy Moore) rich lady
• Laoura (Jane Paterson) Jim's mistress
• Mike (Vagelis Seilinos) the psychopath
• 'Efi' (Efi Cosma), Mike's captive
• heiress (Leslie Bowman)

RATING: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10

REVIEW: Who knew the Greeks could do Giallo so well? The pace was relentless, the atmosphere - grim, the story - interesting at every turn. the direction - skilled and creative, the sleaze - wall to wall. I suppose it's fair to point out how complicated the plotting and scheming is - which is made even more difficult to follow by the intentional similarity in appearance between Eleni and the heiress. Kostas Karagiannis directed 165 films from 1960 to 1991, and I am sad that I've only seen two of his movies (this and Tango 2001) - It looks like I've got an automatic 163 films to put in my queue!

DOUBLE FEATURE - Intimate Crimes (1996)

SYNOPSIS

Jim (Lakis Komninos) was just a lowly captain of a freight ship, until he met the wealthy owner of the ships, Eleni (Dorothy Moore). They're now married - she has her boy toy, and he has his sugar mama. One problem - Jim is having an affair with a younger chick named Laoura (Jane Paterson). Laoura paces anxiously, full of jealous rage for her handsome captain. Allow me to introduce to you the coke-sniffing local serial killer named Mike (Vagelis Seilinos). Mike finds a woman (Efi Cosma) who he's keeping stoned and barely conscious at his place. Mike is able to carry the doped up Efi upstairs without any struggle. Mike then proceeds to rape and strangle the poor woman, but doesn't kill her. This is just how this perverted madman gets his kicks.

Meanwhile, Jim (named "Dimitris" in the original Greek version) is at Laoura's. He has a plan. He tells her that there's a serial killer around town, and he's going to get him to kill Eleni. Jim knows Mike from back when they both sold heroine together. We are treated to a dancing act at a casino. Mike is stalking a wealthy heiress (Leslie Bowman) at the casino , posing as one of the casino employees. There's a reason he's scoping her out in particular. She bears a resemblance to Eleni - and this will tie into a plan later. Mike creeps up behind the heiress and chloroforms her and takes her back to his place. He then proceeds to inject the heiress with heroine.

This is where it gets complicated - but it's important to follow since Mike does this again. He puts Efi in the heiresses' clothes and drives her to a remote location. He then lights the car on fire with her in it, then pushes it off a cliff. The police will clearly assume this is the heiress' body. (Did they not have dental records for comparison back then?) Jim brings Eleni to Mike's house. She thinks it's just a friendly dinner with one of Jim's old friends. Eleni quickly realizes she's been suckered. Mike throws her into a room and attacks her. Mike carries Eleni to the same coffin he had used for the heiress when he shot her full of heroine. Mike shoots Eleni full of heroin. Now, he takes the heiress and dresses her up to look like Eleni. (He's back to the ol' switcheroo again.) For the finishing touch, Mike takes Eleni's pearls and puts them on the heiress. The unconscious heiress (disguised as Eleni) is taken to a remote location, stripped and then murdered.

Mike also made a point to injure Jim - literally shooting him in the head. All a part of the plan to prevent suspicion coming upon Jim, but maybe a little overkill. Laoura watches the news report of "Eleni's" death and its attribution to the serial killer still at large. It won't be long before she'll have Jim to herself and enjoying Eleni's fortune. Now it's time to provide Mike his payback. When the killer takes the loot, Jim pulls a gun on him. Ah, but Mike is one step ahead of him. He informs Jim that his wife isn't really dead - he's got her drugged at his place as insurance. Mike shows Jim that he really does have Eleni drugged-out in his house. Mike, who clearly has no conscience, just leaves. Mike then picks up Eleni, presumably to carry her to his room and do more raping.

It turns out Laoura is a snitch - she stands waiting with the police outside Mike's place. Jim makes a run for it as the cops open fire. Mike is carrying Eleni when he hears the shots fired outside. He sets down Eleni, and ultimately killed by the police. The police carry Eleni to a chair and attempt to revive her. It ends with poetic justice, as Jim is finally killed on his ship. It all ends happily as Eleni gets together with a doctor (who figures into the story, but I didn't want to waste time describing his plot line), and they all toast aboard the ship formerly known as "Captain Jim". THE END