‘There’s no place to hide when’
The Dead Are Alive – aka The Etruscan Kills Again – is a 1972 Italian-Yugoslavian-West German horror giallo thriller feature film directed by Armando Crispino (Autopsy) from a screenplay co-written with Lucio Battistrada and Lutz Eisholz, based on a short story by Bryan Edgar Wallace. The movie stars Alex Cord, Samantha Eggar, John Marley and Nadja Tiller.
Plot:
Two lovers are clubbed to death by an unseen figure. The positioning of the corpses in an Etruscan burial ground suggests that the crime is a macabre offering to the demon-god Tuchulcha, whose tomb “drunken archaeologist” Jason Porter has recently unearthed.
Meanwhile, Jason’s ex-wife, Myra – now involved with tyrannical orchestra conductor Nikos Samarakis – is reluctant to renew her relationship with him due to an alcohol-fuelled stabbing incident (that Jason cannot recall).
The murders continue and a number of suspects emerge: Irene, Nikos’ smouldering masochistic assistant; Leni (Nadja Tiller), his clandestine fire-scarred wife; Stephen (Horst Frank), a sneering “faggot choreographer”, and Otello (Vladan Holec), a sadistic, blackmailing site guard who sets fire to insects. Realising that he is in “a tricky situation”, Jason attempts to reveal the killer’s identity…
Reviews:
“Doesn’t the idea of an Etruscan burial ground turn you on?” queries Alex Cord’s anti-hero, in one of the film’s fittingly ridiculous. Etruscan cemeteries may not be everyone’s idea of a place to get frisky but they do offer an intriguing setting for this offbeat giallo with fake supernatural overtones.
And despite its various horror-themed alternate titles, suggestions of reincarnation and early scenes that strongly imply that the dead have indeed returned to life, it soon becomes clear that the culprit is a modern-day maniac rather than a crusty old zombie.
Perhaps unjustly dismissed out-of-hand in some quarters, Crispino’s absurd mystery is populated by an array of overexcited obsessives and misfits (even its typically ineffectual detective figure is a self-doubting alcoholic with an affinity for J&B, naturally) and has a welcome air of hysteria that distinguishes it from the more sedate thrillers from the same period.
Despite the film’s patently unconvincing narrative – and an overlong running time – it mostly succeeds in engaging its audience because the plot breezes along blithely piling one preposterous act upon another. The somewhat overwrought approach, which includes an intense car chase through the picturesque streets of Spoleto and a climactic confrontation in an ancient amphitheatre (amidst deafening renditions of Verdi’s opera ‘Requiem’), is slightly wearing and yet stubbornly effective.
Adrian J Smith, HORRORPEDIA
Other reviews:
” …the script is muddled, the characters unlikable, the dialogue quite bad at times. Though the latter is somewhat mitigated by the fact that it’s partially dubbed, this doesn’t change the fact that several of the major characters are speaking English as their native language, and their dialogue is no better. Still, it does have some effective shock moments…” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
“Though hardly an outstanding entry in the giallo sweepstakes, the proceedings are enlivened by the unusual settings, some earnest performances (with Marley in particular leaving the scenery torn to shreds), and a beautiful score by Mondo Cane‘s Riz Ortolani that’s quite a gem all by itself.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital
“In the last reel, the plot gathers them up tightly for a gripping, perfectly logical dénouement […] Samantha Eggar, Nadja Tiller, Horst Frank and Carlo De Mejo are among the glaring or hissing cast. The director stages one good brake-screeching car chase through the cobbled Spoleto streets, and his climactic showdown in a dark church is fine.” Howard Thompson, The New York Times
“Benefits from some nice bludgeoning (via a bloody excavation probe!) and another good score by Ortolani. Plot is just a wee bit draggy here and there, but on the whole recommended.” The Terror Trap
Choice dialogue:
Inspector Giuranna: “Love, naturally, maybe makes a man stab a woman. Maybe knock her around some.”
Cast and characters:
- Alex Cord … Jason Porter – Uninvited; Chosen Survivors
- Samantha Eggar … Myra Shelton – Curtains; Demonoid; The Brood
- John Marley … Nikos Samarakis – It Lives Again; The Car; Deathdream
- Nadja Tiller … Leni Samarakis
- Enzo Tarascio … Inspector Giuranna
- Horst Frank … Stephen – Eye in the Labyrinth; The Cat o’ Nine Tails; The Head; et al
- Enzo Cerusico … Alberto
- Carlo De Mejo … Igor Samarakis
- Daniela Surina … Irene
- Vladan Holec … Otello (as Vladan Milasinovic)
- Christina von Blanc … Velia (as Christiane Von Blank)
- Mario Maranzana … Sgt. Vitanza
- Wendy D’Olive … Giselle
- Pier Luigi D’Orazio … Minelli
- Ivan Pavicevac … Policeman
- Cinzia Bruno … Motorcyclist’s girlfriend
- Rodolfo Bigotti … Motorcyclist
- Carla Mancini
- Rosita Torosh … (as Rosa Toros)
- Alessandro Angeloni
- Pietro Fumelli
- Bruno Bertocci … Servant (uncredited)
- Carla Brait … Dancer (uncredited) – Torso; The Case of the Bloody Iris
- Aristide Caporale … Muratore (uncredited)
- Nestore Cavaricci … Policeman (uncredited)
Filming locations:
Centralni Filmski Studio Kosutnjak, Belgrade – studio
Spoleto, Perugia, Umbria, Italy
Technical credits:
105 minutes | 2.35:1 | mono (Westrex Recording System)
Also released as:
- Mumiens genopstandelse – Denmark
- Overtime – European title
- L’etrusco uccide ancora – Italy
- Gravkammerets gåte – Norway
- O Etrusco volta a atacar – Portugal
- El Dios de la muerte asesina otra vez – Spain
- Das Geheimnis des gelben Grabes – West Germany
- Ubice dolaze iz groba – Yugoslavia
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