''Phantom of Death'' () is a 1988 Italian ''

giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

'' film directed by

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (; 7 May 1939 – 29 December 2022) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. His career spanned a wide-range of genres including Sword-and-sandal, peplum, Comedy film, comedy, Drama (film and television), drama, P ...

. It starred

Michael York Michael York (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television, and stage actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Romeo ...

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

and

Edwige Fenech Edwige Fenech (, ; born 24 December 1948) is a French-Italian actress and film producer. She is mostly known as the star of a series of ''commedia sexy all'italiana'' and ''giallo'' films released predominantly through her 20 year career in the ...

Plot

Robert Dominici is a pianist who suffers from a genetic condition that causes him to physically age at a rapid pace and also to go mad. Distraught by his condition, Dominici goes on a killing spree. Inspector Datti sets off to catch him. Meanwhile, Dominici targets the Inspector's daughter, Gloria.

Cast

Production

''Phantom of Death'' had a script developed in the early 1980s by

Gianfranco Clerici Gianfranco Clerici (; born 29 July 1941) is an Italian writer of numerous screenplays for Italian film and television productions. He has collaborated with several directors of exploitation cinema, including Lucio Fulci and Ruggero Deodato. Many ...

and Vincenzo Mannino which later became the basis for the script for

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...

's '' The New York Ripper'' (1982). According to Clerici, the two were offended by how their script was changed and continued to edit it before giving it to director

. Parts of the story that were used in ''The New York Ripper'' remain in the film, such as the killer who disguises their voice and taunts the police. Deodato has stated that "I did ''Phantom of Death'' because it was based on a true element – the idea of growing old ..And I got to work with

and

." On the film as a whole, he commented that "some parts look like an 'A' production. But it seemed too long in the final part." He added that

was miscast, and was only included because the producer wanted her in the film.

Release

The film was released in 1988. According to film critic and historian Roberto Curti, the film has "passable box-office" results. The film was released in Germany on home video as ''Off Balance - Der Tod wartest in Venedig'' and in Holland and Belgium as an English-language version as ''Off Balance''. In the United States, it was released by Vidmark as ''Phantom of Death''. It has received further DVD releases on home video by Shameless as ''Phantom of Death''.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, "Lor." of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' commented that the film had "little suspense". The review noted that York had "solid thesping which engenders some pathos for the central figure" and added that

Pino Donaggio Giuseppe "Pino" Donaggio (born 24 November 1941) is an Italian musician, singer, and composer of film and television scores. A classically-trained violinist, Donaggio is known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, and for his work i ...

's score was "lush". In his book ''Blood & Black Lace'' (1999), dedicated to Italian horror and sex films, Adrian Luther Smith described the film as an "unexpectedly thoughtful production", and a "austere horror/''giallo'' hybrid", finding it having a strong cast and "some choice moments of gore." Curti wrote in his book ''Italian Giallo in Film and Television'' that the film was "somewhat slow" but was "graced by the director's capable technique".

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

* * Films directed by Ruggero Deodato Films scored by Pino Donaggio 1988 horror films 1988 films Italian horror films English-language Italian films Giallo films 1980s Italian films {{1980s-Italy-film-stub