One of the lesser seen of Lamberto Bava's gialli, Midnight Killer is a nifty little affair that won't rock any worlds but does deliver rather nicely. The plot begins with a drunk and jealous policeman fighting with his wife after suspecting her of infidelity. She is soon killed and suspicion falls on him, but things are a little more complicated and the bodies mount up. And what does a deceased serial killer have to do with it? Things are evenly paced and pretty engaging, though they don't really sparkle until the intense finale. The main problem is that there isn't really a clear hero, there are three nominal main characters and screen time is spread fairly evenly between them without letting any grow to a truly sympathetic level. The writing is light on characterization so the film bowls along rather than truly hooking, and worse there isn't much in the way of detective work or intrigue (though there are a few red herrings). Fortunately the mystery at hand is fairly interesting and the killings deliver, though not especially gory they're handled with flair and pack a decent vicious punch, we may not see gruesome detail but there's vigorous stabbing with a bit of blood and a nice nod to Tenebrae, all nicely edited for sharp and shocking punch (by Bava credited as John Old Jr.). Backed up with a cool pulsing score from Claudio Simonetti and making good use of some cool locations Bava makes each one count, though he lacks the genius of his father or the flowing technical prowess of the best in the genre he skillfully builds suspense and gets in some cool shots, like a top down view from the heights of a theatre. The underwritten cast do their best, with Valeria D'Obici coming off best as a committed criminal psychologist, edgy but likable she makes the strongest impression. Paolo Malco is dour inspector, stolidly by the book and watchable if a little dull. Leonardo Treviglio is a decent suspect with a shifty, unwholesome air about him and things are mostly rounded out by various young lovelies including Lara Wendell who brighten the screen with looks if not much in the way of presence. No nudity, a shame because it probably would have pushed things up a notch. Like I mentioned though the finale rocks, suspenseful stalking in a hotel with a couple of decent shocks leading to a decidedly silly reveal that doesn't really make sense in the context but is ludicrous enough to please. Altogether this is pretty cool stuff and worth your time, though only truly recommended to giallo aficionados

Even with the inclusion of several red herrings and an implausible motive, I still managed to guess the identity of the murderer in Lamberto Bava's The Midnight Killer way before the end of the movie. Maybe I've just seen too many giallos and have come to expect the unexpected, but I figure that the reality is that this just isn't a great example of the genre.Nicola, a policeman who discovers his wife is having an affair, is suspected of murder after his adulterous spouse turns up dead in her shower, having been stabbed with an icepick. After another victim turns up, killed with the same weapon, things do not look good for the poor copper, and he goes to his colleague Anna, a criminologist, for help. Anna believes Nicola to be innocent and suspects that the man really responsible is in fact Franco Tribbo, a murderer who supposedly died in a fire several years before...Despite some great cinematography, a fabulous pulsing score courtesy of Claudio Simonetti, and an attractive selection of young women destined to die nasty deaths, The Midnight Killer still manages to be something of a disappointment. For a giallo, the death scenes are relatively free of gore, the story is not nearly as complex or as clever as it might be, and there is a distinct lack of nudity.Worst of all, the film attempts (very poorly) to cheat its audience: at the end of the movie, the killer is revealed to be wearing a rubber mask in order to hide their true identity—despite the fact that their face is visible earlier on in the film and is clearly flesh and blood, even scowling and grimacing during one frenzied attack.The Midnight Killer is a decidedly average effort that will be of little interest to anyone but the most ardent fan of Italian horror cinema.

Lamberto Bava's films may not have the cutting edge that many of his father's did, but the good thing about it is that you can always count on a decent thrill ride, and while You'll Die at Midnight doesn't set the genre on fire; it's a more than decent Giallo and I'm pretty certain that regular viewers will get a lot out of it. Being released in 1986, this one comes very late in the Giallo cycle although it recaptures that mysterious feel of the classic Giallo's well and the cinematography is good despite the fact that this obviously wasn't an A-class production. The plot is pure Giallo, and focuses on a murderer. We start by focusing on Nicola; a man who spots his wife buying lingerie and notices she has an affair. After arguing and almost killing her, he visits his colleague Anna, but shortly after he leaves the house; someone breaks in and murders his wife! Naturally, Nicola is the main suspect, but Anna, a psychologist, sees signs that the murder may have been committed by the so-called "Midnight Ripper". The only problem is that The Midnight Ripper has been dead for several years...The film features lots of scenes reminiscent of classic Giallo's, and many of the murders are memorable. The kitchen scene is probably my favourite, but the murder scene inside a lingerie store has a more nasty edge. There isn't a great deal of variety with the weapons, but at least Lamberto ensures that the imagery is good and the film is always at least interesting. You'll Die at Midnight is pretty short, running at around 85 minutes and this is a good thing as it means that there is little filler and the film doesn't really have time to become boring. You'll Die at Midnight has more of a range of central victim characters than many other Giallo's too, and this makes the film more interesting as the killer appears to be after each one for different reasons. Naturally, it all builds into a final twist; which although somewhat silly (as the climaxes in these films often are), it's interesting enough and somehow (almost) makes sense in the context of the film. Overall, I can't say that this is a classic example of the genre; but like Lamberto's other Giallo attempts; it's certainly worth watching!

A police officer, Nicola, violently argues with his rich wife, Sarah, because of her affair with a man, and goes to his female friend, Anne, a psychologist/ professor. But Sarah was murdered in the bathroom of the house, and most parts of the police think Nicola is the primary suspect, except Piero, an inspector of the case, who realises that what the still-unknown-murderer really wants is his daughter, Carol who is one of the students of Anne... If one expect something cinematically new in this film, (s)he will be disappointed strictly because there is almost nothing new. But (s)he is a fun of Giallo films, I think (s)he can love this because whole the film consisted of selective elements of Giallo films, notably of Dario Argento's TENEBRE and FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. For instance, the music composer of this film is Claudio Simonetti of the GOBLIN (and he does an excellent job here), and Lara Wendel of TENEBRE's youngest victim, Maria, plays the short-haired fair heroine, Carol (and her boyish attractiveness adds a fresh atmosphere to the film). But above all, particularly with the regard to the plot, the influence of FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET is much stronger, and one can even say this film is a post-TENEBRE remake of it.