| Review | Nine Guests for a Crime (1977) | Director | Ferdinando Baldi |
|---|---|
| Writer | Fabio Pittorru |
| Cast | Arthur Kenndy, John Richardson, Caroline Laurence, Massimo Foschi, Loretta Persichetti, Flavia Fabiani, Dana Ghia, Rita Silva, Venantino Venantini and Giancarlo Prete |
“There’s almost a presence of evil on this island” – Patrizia
Nine members of an extremely rich and spiteful family spend an annual vacation on a small, and very rocky, Mediterranean island. Family patriarch Uberto (Kennedy), who has a young wife in Guilia (Laurence), brings his three children Lorenzo (Richardson), Michele (Foschi) and Patrizia (Persichetti) and their spouses Greta (Silva), Carla (Fabiani) and Walter (Venantini). The ninth member is Elisabetta (Ghia), Uberto’s sister. There they indulge in adultery, binge drinking, bickering and general belittling towards each other.
Among them is someone with devilish designs; beginning with killing the two crew members on board the boat that brought them there and letting it loose. Then one by one the family members start perishing and an old family secret rears in head as the possible clue to the happenings.
I’m a Giallo nut and every plot synopsis that has an isolated setting and dwindling numbers of people falling prey to a killer immediately interests me. “Nine Guests for a Crime” is a Giallo that came pretty late in the game with the genre’s maestros (Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino and Mario Bava among them) and others having all but abandoned this type of film and moved on to other things. There were an awful lot a Giallo’s made in the 70’s and Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians” scenario was used quite a bit.
“Nine Guests for a Crime” is a very agreeable mystery that draws much inspiration from Christie’s set up for the influential novel. But it also follows the trend of Italian Giallo’s by populating the film with less than desirable individuals who, more or less, all have selfish desires. There really isn’t a leading man or woman in “Nine Guests for a Crime” as every character has either something to hide, or some ulterior motive for being in the relationship they’re in and that makes everyone just as likely to be the next one killed.
The film starts with a cold-blooded murder of a young sailor who pays dearly for having fooled around with a girl. It isn’t exactly a shock when the perpetrators are revealed halfway through the film but the reveal puts a potentially different spin on the proceedings and the film plays in some atmospheric ways with the possibility. Once the family members start perishing one by one things pick up considerably tension wise and the performers sell it quite well the situation they find themselves in. Not that the first half is in any way boring with watching these lotharios treat each other badly and carrying on with other spouses; one time even in the same bedroom while the wife is asleep.
The murder sequences are fairly well pulled off. We have a drowning, a falling off a cliff, strangulation, a setting on fire and a spear through the neck to name some so that’s a thing that “Nine Guests for a Crime” does well. The writing is solid and the mystery fun to watch unfold but this is one of those times that I actually figured out the plot. But the end revelation is something that makes good sense (so to speak) and the denouement does well in keeping with the gritty 70’s endings that are quite memorable.
It’s also quite picturesque with a lovely setting on that rocky island located somewhere in Sardinia. The surroundings are attractive to look at and really hammer home the isolation facing the characters once they’re stranded there. The music score by Carlo Savina isn’t among the genre’s best but it’s quite good and off-kilter enough to be noticeable.
It’s hard to point out one performer doing better than the other but suffice it to say that the whole ensemble does well together. I’ve watched the film twice; first with it’s original Italian dubbing and then with the English one and overall I’d have to say I prefer the latter. Although Venantini, as Walter, comes off rather clumsily with the voice dub there I simply find the English dub more preferable.
Overall; “Nine Guests for a Crime” satisfies well a Giallo fix and does nicely with Christie’s immortal set-up.
Physical Copy
My copy of “Nine Guests for a Crime” is the region free Blu-ray issued by Vinegar Syndrome in 2022. It’s part of an ongoing collection by the label titled “Forgotten Gialli” and this is part of volume number 5 which also includes “A White Dress For Marialé” (1972) and “Tropic of Cancer” (1972). The A/V quality is superb and extras include an audio essay and a terrific interview with star Moschi. I have all six volumes of Vinegar Syndrome’s “Forgotten Gialli” packages and can easily recommend them for genre fans.
Why physical copy?
I always encourage the acquisition of physical copies as I dread the day when films will only exist as files on computers and through streaming services. The companies that put the effort into making the discs, create new artwork or reproduce the originals, issue booklets and much more deserve all the financial support they can. Therefore I will always mention the Blu-rays or DVD’s (and yes; also if I review something streamed through Netflix or the like) even though I gain nothing from it personally.
