''Formula for a Murder'' ( it, 7, Hyden Park – La casa maledetta, lit=7 Hyde Park – The Cursed House) is a 1985 Italian ''giallo'' film co-written and directed by

Alberto De Martino Alberto De Martino (12 June 1929 – 2 June 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, De Martino started as a child actor and later returned to the cinema where worked as a screenwriter, director and dubbing supervis ...

. The film was shot in Boston and Italy, and was one of the last films directed by De Martino. When it was released in Italy, it war marketed as a more traditional horror film, while retrospective analysis compared it to 1960s thrillers such as ''

Taste of Fear ''Taste of Fear'' is a 1961 British thriller film directed by Seth Holt. The film stars Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis, Ann Todd, and Christopher Lee in a supporting role. It was released in the United States as ''Scream of Fear''. Plot After ...

'' (1961).

Plot

A handsome teacher named Craig marries a wealthy, wheelchair-using woman named Joanna who suffers from PTSD and is tormented by a traumatic event that happened in her past. As a child, she was raped by a psychotic priest and thrown down a flight of stairs. The priest used a doll to lure her to the crime scene. Her attractive female caretaker Ruth has a lesbian attraction to her and tries to stop the marriage. As if Joanna doesn't have enough problems, her husband only married her to steal her money. He is trying to stop her from donating one-half of her wealth to a church project to which her deceased father committed her while upon his deathbed. One by one, priests start turning up dead, as the murder plot unfolds. One priest has his throat cut while in a confession booth, another has his head bashed in with a heavy blunt object. Joanna's doctor warns her that she has a bad heart and that she shouldn't allow herself to get overly agitated nor too aroused during sex. Joanna begins to experience hallucinations in which she sees a leering priest stalking her while holding a bloody doll in his hands.

Cast

David Warbeck David Warbeck (born David Mitchell; 17 November 1941 – 23 July 1997) was a New Zealand actor and model best known for his roles in European exploitation and horror films. A native of Christchurch, New Zealand, Warbeck became involved in local ...

as Craig * Christina Nagy as Joanna * Carroll Blumenberg as Ruth *

Rossano Brazzi Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor. Biography Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Ve ...

as Doctor Sernich * Andrea Bosic as Father Peter Farlow * as Father Davis * Daniela De Carolis * Rodolfo Ruzza *

Adriana Giuffrè Adriana Giuffrè (born 9 March 1939) is an Italian actress. She appeared in more than fifty films since 1961. Filmography References External links * 1939 births Living people Italian film actresses People of Calabrian descent

Production

''Formula for a Murder'' was filmed under the title ''Formula per un delitto''. It was shot in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

with interiors scenes done in Italy. Director

stated he initially wanted to cast two young Italian actors:

Valeria Golino Valeria Golino (born 22 October 1965) is an Italian actress and film director. She is best known to English-language audiences for her roles in '' Rain Man'', ''Big Top Pee-wee'' and the two '' Hot Shots!'' films, particularly the olive-in-the-be ...

and Nancy Brilli, but his casting choices were rejected by producer

Fabrizio De Angelis Fabrizio De Angelis is an Italian director, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Fabrizio De Angelis was born in Rome, Italy on November 15, 1940. De Angelis would produced a number of genre films for other directors such as those of Joe ...

. Both were replaced with American actors while the Golino and Brilli went on to have prominent careers in Italy. De Martino described the film as his own variation on the film '' The Postman Always Rings Twice''. Historians and critics Adrian Luther-Smith and Roberto Curti both pointed out that the film closer resembled the Hammer production ''

'' (1961) more. Historian Troy Howarth echoed this statement saying that the film "harkens back to the "women in peril" thrillers of the 1960s" and "does not enter into the excessive spirit of the other ''gialli'' of the period." The film was one of De Martino's final productions, as he retired from directing in the mid-1980s.

Release

''Formula for a Murder'' was released in 1985. In Italy, it was released as ''7, Hyden Park – La casa maledetta''. Film critic and historian Roberto Curti stated this title was more akin to being an "out-and-out horror film" like '' The Evil Dead'' (1981) which was released in Italy as ''La casa''. De Martino was reportedly unhappy with the film, being constrained by a eighteen day shooting schedule. The film was released in Greece on home video as ''Formula For a Murder''. It was released on DVD by Shameless Screen Entertainment.

Reception

In a contemporary review from '' Corriere della Sera'', the film is praised for its well conceived screenplay, but the second part of the film is criticized for its descent into ''

grand guignol ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' (: "The Theatre of the Great Puppet")—known as the Grand Guignol–was a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialised in natura ...

'' and its loss of tension, which reduces the film to a duel/game between victim and murderer. From retrospective reviews, in his book about Italian thriller films, ''Blood & Black Lace'', Adrian Luther-Smith found the film to be an "enjoyably over-the-top exercise in grand guignol" and compared it to 's ', stating that the film "demonstrates how similarly themed material can be ruined by a static attitude." Curti stated in his book on Italian ''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

'' that the film exposes his it's villain early at the half an hour mark and that

"hams it up shamelessly" towards the third act, resembling a "

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

-wannabe". In his book ''So Deadly, So Perverse'' on giallo, Troy Howarth stated that the film "not exactly loaded with surprises" while stating that the "murders are surprisingly brutal and bloody"

References

Sources

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External links

* {{Alberto De Martino 1985 thriller films English-language Italian films 1985 films Films directed by Alberto De Martino Films scored by Francesco De Masi 1980s English-language films 1980s Italian films Films shot in Boston Giallo films