BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA (1971)
Every now and then a Giallo film hits the spot. I don't think I could watch them too closely together, though, it would be like eating too much rich desert at once. These movies are so lush visually, with their bright saturated colors (mostly red and blue), the lingering looks at mansions and beautiful buildings in Rome, all the lavish furniture and fashions that the camera studies. There are always several gorgeous women (this film in particular has Barbara Bouchet, Claudine Auger and a very young Barbara Bach) in various stages of nudity. Everything is glossy and stylish, you don't see Giallo films about a bunch of middle-aged waitresses from a seedy diner in a small town.
But the flip side to all the upper class beauty is that Giallo movies always center around a series of murders. These are not sedate Agathie Christie-style poisonings in the vicarage either, but brutal killings that are more violent than they really need to be. The splashing of blood and gasping and desperate cries for help are kind of punishing to watch. Often the killer is a sort of mystery man figure in a trenchcoat, with a fedora, gloves and a full-face mask to conceal his (or often her) identity.
BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA was directed by Paolo Cavara, not by Mario Bava or Dario Argento (the two artists whose work I'm most familiar with), and it has some unexpected humanizing touches. We spend more time than usual getting to know Police Inspector Tellini (Giancarlo Giannini), who is becoming burned out by his job and ready to resign because he feels he's just not tough enough emotionally to handle it. At first, I wondered why we see him so much of him at home with his wife, and it does lead up to the climax of the film, but mostly it's so we get to know him better. Most of the characters in Giallo films are (let's face it) just good-looking cardboard figures set up for the slaughter, but Tellini is someone with feelings and doubts. Giancarlo Giannini does a nice understated portrayal here. I last saw him in CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and it's a jolt that he's so young and vulnerable looking here. He goes through the investigation rather depressed and unsure of himself, quite a change from the usual hard-boiled tough detectives in films.
The title of the movie comes from the way the killer has an unusual technique. He inserts an acupunture needle in a specific spot in the back of the neck. The needle is coated with wasp venom extract so that the victim is instantly paralyzed, still conscious but unable to move. Then, while the victim is fully aware of what's happening, the killers cuts open her abdomen. Ack. That's about as gruesome as it gets. This is based on the way a real species of wasp preys on tarantulas and normally tarantulas don't get much sympathy but you have to feel bad for them the way Nature has set them up for the benefit of wasps. (We get to see some footage of a wasp and spider to illustrate the point, thanks fellas.)
The murders involve a posh spa and seem to be motivated by blackmail or someone trying to stop a blackmailer. The exact plots in these movies are often a little murky and convoluted, so it's best to just go along for the ride. The place where I think BLACK BELLY falls short a little is the ending. Usually there's a big surprising revelation about the killer's identity or motives and we really don't have that here. I was also uncertain whether the final victim survived or not, although a doctor does come into the hospital waiting room to say she's going to be fine, so it's as close to a happy ending as one of the flicks can have. Also, and this is just my reaction, the score by Ennio Morricone is too slack and the constant sighing as part of the music seems silly instead of sensual (as I guess it's supposed to be). So that takes away from the mood of the film for me.
We should mention the James Bond connection. The star himself was in the first two Daniel Craig 007 movies (where he added a lot to the world-weary atmosphere), Barbara Bouchet was in the 1967 CASINO ROYALE, Claudine Auger was in THUNDERBALL and Barbara Bach in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, so this movie gives you a little Cinema Trivia question. I have to wonder why Claudine Auger doesn't look her best here or in TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVES. Maybe it was the lighting or the make-up on the Bond films that brought out her best, but in the two European films I've seen her in, Auger looks beaky and rather plain. The barely visible eyebrows don't help. Maybe the fact that she's playing cold, distant characters is part of it.