''Red Rings of Fear'' ( it, Enigma rosso, german: Orgie des Todes, es, Tráfico de menores) is a 1978

giallo film 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, l ...

directed by

Alberto Negrin Alberto Negrin (born 2 January 1940) is an Italian film director and screenwriter, known for his historical, nostalgic and political films. Negrin started his career as a fine art photographer. In 1962 he debuted as an assistant stage director, c ...

Plot

A detective investigates the killing of a teenage girl and turns his suspicions on three girlfriends of the victim, who dub themselves "The Inseparables."

Production

''Red Rings of Fear'' is the third entry in a loosely linked series of film called the ''Schoolgirls in Peril'' trilogy, Mackenzie 2015 (0:07:35) a series of films based on the sexual exploits of young girls and their reaction to the adults. By 1974, audiences began to grow tired of the ''

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, a ...

'' genre and began having interest in other European genres such as the ''

poliziotteschi Poliziotteschi (; singular ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ' ...

'', urban cop thrillers that were influenced by American films such as ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) ...

'' and '' The French Connection''. Mackenzie 2015 (0:18:05) Dallamano's second film in the ''Schoolgirls in Peril'' trilogy was ''

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? ''What Have They Done to Your Daughters?'' ( it, La polizia chiede aiuto , lit=The police ask for help) is a 1974 Italian ''giallo'' and ''poliziotteschi'' film directed by Massimo Dallamano. Plot Police officers investigated the death of 14-yea ...

'', a film with similar themes to the first film ''

What Have You Done to Solange? ''What Have You Done to Solange?'' ( it, Cosa avete fatto a Solange?) is a 1972 ''giallo'' film directed by Massimo Dallamano and starring Fabio Testi, Karin Baal, Joachim Fuchsberger, Cristina Galbó, and Camille Keaton. The plot follows a seri ...

''. Mackenzie 2015 (0:19:05) ''Red Rings of Fear'' has Dallamano credited as a screenwriter on the film, and was intended to direct the film, but he died before the film began production. Mackenzie 2015 (0:24:00)

Cast

Fabio Testi Fabio Testi (born 2 August 1941) is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on ''The Good, ...

: Inspector Di Salvo *

Christine Kaufmann Christine Maria Kaufmann (; 11 January 1945 – 28 March 2017) was a German-Austrian actress, author, and businesswoman. The daughter of a German father and a French mother, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress f ...

: Christina *

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitskij; 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a Chinese-born actor of Russian descent. Early life Desny was born in Peking, China. Career Desny was a film actor. Bilingual in French and German, he acte ...

: Inspector Roccaglio * Jack Taylor: Parravicino *

Fausta Avelli Flavia Maxima Fausta ''Augusta'' (289–326 AD) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of Maximian and second wife of Constantine the Great, who had her executed and excluded from all official accounts for unknown reasons. Historians Zosim ...

: Emilia *

Helga Liné Helga Liné (; born Helga Lina Stern on 14 July 1932) is a German-born Portuguese-Spanish-American film actress and circus acrobat best known for her work in the horror genre of film. She made 132 appearances mostly in film between 1941 and 20 ...

: Miss Russo

Release

''Red Rings of Fear'' was released in Italy on 19 August 1978.

Reception

In a contemporary review, Paul Taylor (''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'') gave the film a negative review, calling it "a wholly inane and incoherent thriller, which scarcely seems to have benefited form the attentions of no less than six credited screenwriters." and that it featured a "bored-looking Fabio Testi, when not shooting gratuitous fill-ins (schoolgirls in the showers; an abortion sequence) from silly angles, Negrin peppers the proceedings with would-be enigmatic close-ups of car radiator grilles, a madonna statue and a watching eye, plus titillating flashbacks to the fatal party"

References

Works cited

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0077505
''Red Rings of Fear''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film p ...

1978 films 1970s crime thriller films Giallo films Spanish crime thriller films West German films Films directed by Alberto Negrin Films scored by Riz Ortolani Films set in Italy 1970s Italian films