Product Description

Lisa Baumer's husband dies in a dramatic airplane crash and the widow soon collects on his million-dollar insurance policy. As a suspicious insurance agent investigates the case, the inevitable corpses start piling up.

Then, when the widow Baumer herself is found murdered, her million dollars mysteriously disappears! Smelling a hot scoop, an ambitious journalist begins to put together the pieces of an increasingly bloody puzzle.

Cleverly plotted by thriller specialist Ernesto Gastaldi (THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, THE 10th VICTIM) THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL is a true classic of the Italian Giallo.

Using the sensual score of composer Bruno Nicolai (KILL BILL: VOL.2, THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS), director Sergio Martino (THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, TORSO) magnificently exudes atmosphere and suspense with terrifying sequences worthy of genre masters Mario Bava and Dario Argento.

The high profile cast includes George Hilton (THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS, ALL THE COLORS OF DARK), Anita St

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42348 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-05-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Italian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

DVD Maniacs
A superb presentation of a fine giallo" "one of Sergio Martino's best gialli.

DVD Talk.com
Highly Recommanded!

BoxOffice.com
Collector Rating: WORTH FULL PRICE

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous and Grisly
Case of the Scorpion's tale has all the elements of a good giallo: grisly murders, inventive, eye-popping cinematography, expressive lighting, swanky interiors, a serpentine plot, and a couple of lovely actresses. While the plot does become a little convoluted, and there is too much dialogue (a lot of which is rather clunky) all of the film's minor faults can be forgiven because the movie is a spectacular visual feast that is just a lot of fun to watch. Many of the names famous to this genre are involved in this entertaining effort, the most prominent of which are, Sergio Martino, Ernesto Gastaldi, George Hilton and Bruno Nicolai.
This upcomming release, from a new company on the genre DVD scene NoShame, ranks right up there with releases from some of the more well established genre DVD companies like Blue Underground and Mondo Macabro. The image quality of the film print used for the DVD is absolutely outstanding, and there are two audio tracks, one in English and the second in Italian with optional English subtitles. Lastly, the few extras on the disc include interviews with Martino, Gastaldi and Hilton, the theatrical trailer and a poster and still gallery. If you're taking the time to read this review then this DVD probably belongs in your DVD library.

a fine giallo
The opening ten minutes are a little rough, with an overdose of crash zooms, distorting lenses, clunky dialogue and poor model work. After the first story twist, however, the film becomes a superior giallo, worthy of comparison with Bava and Argento. Director Sergio Martino stages some strong set-pieces, displaying a visual flair only hinted at in THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS WARDH. It's possible Dario Argento saw SCORPION'S TAIL before making DEEP RED, as some scenes are remarkably similar (check out the murder in the theatre). There's even a bold female reporter, who helps unmask the killer at great personal risk. While DEEP RED is the better film, Argento owes Martino a debt or two. George Hilton is a solid lead - is it his own voice on the Italian soundtrack? - and spaghetti western regular Luigi Pistilli adds a touch of class in a rare good guy role. The plot twists are satisfying, though the photo blow-up trick was well parodied by Mel Brooks in HIGH RISK.

Always Dressed In Black, Scorpion Man Stalks And Stabs His Victims Like a Super Villian
"The Case of the Scorpion's Tail" is an excellent example of the Italian giallo. It has beautiful women in peril, a killer dressed all in black, gruesome, bloody deaths, and a killer soundtrack provided by Bruno Nicolai (who composed the scores for the excellent gialli from Emilio P. Miraglia: "The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave" and "The Red Queen Kills 7 Times").

A gorgeous reporter (Anita Strindberg of Lucio Fulci's "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin") and an insurance agent (George Hilton of Sergio Martino's "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh)) investigate the slashing death of Lisa Baumer and the million dollars of insurance money that was stolen from her. Of course, as they get closer to the killer's identity, the bodies pile up. Both Strindberg and Hiton are perennial gialli actors. In this movie, they prove that not only do they look great but their acting abilities are also superb. Both give believable,, dynamic performances in this suspenseful, well-plotted thriller.

NoShame has released an excellent DVD of "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail." The audio and video are excellent. Interesting liner notes have been provided. There are interviews of the director, Sergio Martino ("Torso" and "Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key"), the producer, Luciano Martino, and George Hilton. I listened to the film in Italian; my only complaint, as far as the DVD itself, is that the English subtitles are missing from the scene where Lisa Baumer was speaking in the telephone booth. I was forced to switch to English audio in order to understand what she had said.

I would have given "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail" five stars if the killer's identity hadn't been revealed when he was standing next to a wall before entering an apartment to kill the woman who was having an affair with Lisa Baumer's husband. However, I strongly recommend this DVD for collectors of Italian gialli. I look forward to seeing more gialli with George Hilton and Anita Strindberg.