''The Case of the Scorpion's Tail'' (Italian: ''La coda dello scorpione'' / ''Tail of the Scorpion'') is a 1971 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, ...

film directed by

Sergio Martino Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre. Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...

, produced by

Luciano Martino Luciano Martino (22 December 1933 – 14 August 2013) was an Italian film producer, director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, the brother of the director and screenwriter Sergio Martino, he was active in the cinema industry since the ...

and co-written by

Ernesto Gastaldi Ernesto Gastaldi (born 10 September 1934) is an Italian screenwriter. Film historian and critic Tim Lucas described Gastaldi as the first Italian screenwriter to specialize in horror and thriller films. Gastaldi worked within several popular gen ...

and Eduardo Maria Brochero. It starred George Hilton, Anita Strindberg, Ida Galli and Janine Reynaud, and the music soundtrack was by

Bruno Nicolai Bruno Nicolai (20 May 1926 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film music composer, orchestra director and musical editor most active in the 1960s through the 1980s. While studying piano and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, ...

Plot

A widow named Lisa (

Ida Galli Ida Galli is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in Spaghetti Western and giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon. Extremely prolific, som ...

) inherits a small fortune when her husband dies in a freak jet crash. However, before she can escape to a retreat with her secret lover, the widow is brutally slashed to death and the money stolen. Now an insurance investigator ( George Hilton) and his journalist love interest (

Anita Strindberg Anita Strindberg (born 19 June 1937) is a Swedish former actress who appeared in numerous Italian ''giallo'' films in the 1970s. Strindberg appeared as Anita Edberg in two Swedish films in the late 1950s. She started her career in gialli with Luc ...

) must figure out exactly who is murdering anyone involved with the late widow, and why. A strange gold cufflink holds the key to the mystery.

Cast

* George Hilton as Peter Lynch *

as Cléo Dupont *

Alberto de Mendoza Alberto Manuel Rodríguez-Gallego González de Mendoza (21 January 1923 – 12 December 2011) was an Argentine film actor who appeared in some 114 films between 1930 and 2005, spanning eight decades. A lifelong figure in Argentine films, De Mendo ...

as John Stanley *

as Lisa Baumer * Janine Reynaud as Lara Florakis *

Luigi Pistilli Luigi Pistilli (19 July 192921 April 1996) was an Italian actor of stage, screen, and television. At one time Pistilli was one of Italy's most respected actors of stage, screen, and television. In theater, he was considered one of the country's ...

as Inspector Stavros *

Tom Felleghy Tom Felleghy (born Tamás Fellegi; 26 November 1921) is a Hungarian-born Italian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films since 1958. Filmography References External links * 1921 births Possibly living people Hungarian ma ...

as Mr. Brenton *

Luis Barboo Luis Barboo (20 March 1927 – 30 September 2001) was a Spanish actor. He played Baxter Gunman in '' Per un pugno di dollari'' (1964). He played Truto in ''The Demons'' (1973), and Caronte in ''La Maldición de Frankenstein'' (1973), both direct ...

as Sharif * Lisa Leonardi as Hostess *

Tomás Picó Tomás Picó Hormeño (16 January 1940 – 29 March 2013) was a Spanish actor and theater director known for '' La gran familia'' and ''Canción de juventud'' (1962). Son of an architect, he was born on 16 January 1940 in Cáceres and began hi ...

as George Barnet

Critical reception

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

called it a "devilishly entertaining giallo thriller". Adrian Luther Smith wrote "....one of the best of Sergio Martino's impressive batch of thrillers. It has considerable energy, some pleasing exotic locations and is crammed with a great cast of shady characters.....The resulting gory carnage is graphically presented."Luther-Smith,Adrian (1999). ''Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies''. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd. p. 20

References

External links

* 1971 films 1970s psychological thriller films Spanish thriller films Films directed by Sergio Martino Films shot in Athens Films shot in Madrid Giallo films Italian thriller films Films set in Greece Films produced by Luciano Martino Films scored by Bruno Nicolai 1970s Italian films {{psychological-thriller-film-stub