Cold Eyes of Fear

Cold Eyes of Fear

Italian film poster for Cold Eyes of Fear
Directed by Enzo G. Castellari
Produced by José Frade[1]
Screenplay by
  • Tito Carpi
  • Enzo G. Castellari
Story by
  • Tito Carpi
  • Enzo G. Castellari[1]
Starring
Music by Ennio Morricone
Cinematography Antonio Lopez Ballesteros[1]
Edited by Vincenzo Tomassi
Production
companies
  • Cinemar
  • Atlántida Films[1]
Distributed by Cineraid
Release dates
  • April 6, 1971 (1971-04-06) (Italy)
  • May 21, 1972 (1972-05-21) (Madrid)
Running time
 95 minutes[1]
Country
Box office ₤197 million

Cold Eyes of Fear (Italian: Gli occhi freddi della paura) is a 1971 Italian-Spanish thriller film directed by Enzo G. Castellari.

Cast

Production

The film was written by Enzo G. Castellari and Tito Carpi.[1] Although Leo Anchóriz of Spain is credited as a co-writer, he didn't have anything to do with the script.[2] His name appears solely for co-production laws that were required to establish the film as a dual-nationality production.[2] Capri and Castellari wrote a film based on the idea of the entire film being set in an apartment, an idea influenced by the film Wait Until Dark.[2] Casterllari was also influenced by William Friedkin's The Boys in the Band (1970) and borrowed plot elements from William Wyler's The Desperate Hours (1955).[2] The film was originally intended for foreign audiences so Castellari and Carpi had their script translated into English by actor Frank Wolff's wife Alice.[2]

The film was shot at Cinecittà in Rome and on location in London.[1] Castellari shot the film in sequence.[2] During filming, Alice left Wolff.[2] Wolff committed suicide a few months after production in December 1971 in his hotel room in Rome.[2]

Release

Cold Eyes of Fear was released in Italy on April 6, 1971 where it was distributed by Cineraid.[1] It grossed a total of 197,089,000 lira domestically.[1] It was released in Madrid Spain on May 21, 1972.[1]

Reception

AllMovie described the film as a "cleverly crafted giallo-thriller", noting that the film appropriates "some of the form's penchant for cool production design and bizarre cinematography (one scene is shot through ice cubes in a glass)" and that a "kinky S&M stage show which, despite occurring at the start of the film, remains its most memorable sequence."[3] The review concluded that "The rest of this loopy Italian-Spanish co-production isn't bad, however, crisply edited by Vincenzo Tomassi (who went on to edit many of Lucio Fulci's most popular horror films) and well scored by Ennio Morricone"[3] Danny Shipka, author of Perverse Titilation a book about European exploitation films stated that the film appeared to be "designed to be a thriller that incorporated some giallo constructs when the subgenre became lucrative."[4] The review concluded that audiences of either thrillers or gialli were probably disappointed with Cold Eyes of Fear and that "there are plenty of action-packed, gore-soaked gialli to watch, but this is not one of them."[4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Curti 2013, p. 46.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Curti 2013, p. 47.
  3. 1 2 Firsching, Robert. "Cold Eyes of Fear". AllMovie. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Shipka, p. 103.

References

  • Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. McFarland. ISBN 0786469765. 
  • Shipka, Danny. Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980. McFarland, 2011. ISBN 0786448881. 

See also

External links

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