This is a review of the Crazy Desires of a Murderer, a 70’s giallo that takes place in a gloomy old castle. Yes, that title is pretty strange, but the Italian version of the title gives away the plot. I’m unsure why that’s such a big deal. If you are watching this movie, you might be more interested in the many sex scenes than deciphering the plot.
Let’s turn to that plot, shall we? The Lord of the Castle (LotC for short) is an expert in Oriental antiquities. I call him the Lord of the Castle because after looking at IMDB it’s unclear to me who played which character and what their names are. The LotC has dementia and can’t recall what he ate for breakfast. His retainers are a sexy housemaid and a sinister butler. Together, they keep watch over his son, a mute lad who practices taxidermy in his palatial basement laboratory/bedroom. Yes, the LotC hides his son away in the basement.
Anyway, the LotC also has a party-girl daughter, who does not live in the basement. She comes for a visit and brings along her asshole friends, one of whom uses her as an unwitting drug mule. During the course of their raucous partying and wild fornicating, one of the friends is murdered in bed. Her eyes – a recurring image in giallo – are plucked out of her head. This is the most gruesome scene in the movie.
The Inspector arrives, as the plot morphs from rich young Europeans partying to an exciting game of Clue! He’s as sharp as a drawer of knives, that inspector. Upon questioning a male suspect, he observes that the man had sex the night of the murder. He knows that because of the condition of the male suspect’s underpants. Besides being an Inspector, perhaps he’s also an underwear fetishist?
The characters in this movie do strange, inexplicable things. One of the male guests – the men in this movie seem waaaay older than the girls – puts the drugs he’s risked his life for into a random drawer. When he comes back later, the drugs are gone. Gosh, who would have expected that? Another male guest – or it might be the same one – rufies their hostess. Meanwhile, the maid has sex with the LotC’s son in his basement taxidermy love nest. I think he’s supposed to be a minor, but who knows? I’m bad at guessing ages.
It all boils down to this: who is the killer who wears the squeaky shoes? Now that would’ve been an awesome title! Since most of the characters of this movie are utter assholes, I wasn’t exactly wringing my hands over whodunit. If you remove the plot, you’re left with a bunch of sex scenes – some of which aren’t all that sexy – and one gruesome murder.
I wouldn’t watch this unless you are a fan of obscure giallo. On second thought, just check out The House of Laughing Windows.
Abandoned Places 