recommended

Good start, but then it gets ruined

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Somewhat flighty exotic dancer Nicole (Nieves Navarro) finds herself pursued by a masked killer with unnaturally bright blue eyes. Much of this film's running time is devoted to a partially clad Nicole taking her work home with her, first with hot-headed boyfriend Michel Aumont (Simon Andreu), and then with saucy, middle-aged Dr. Robert Matthews (Frank Wolff), into whose arms she runs when she suspects Michel might be her black-clad pursuer. This latest, more mature admirer looks after her far better than Michel did.This giallo has much in common with other films of the genre – a sumptuous musical score (by Stelvio Cipriani), a lovely lady in jeopardy, and (far too) much softcore titillation which, to be honest, bungs up the plot and stifles much in the way of tension – at least in the first half. There are suspects galore – one handed Hallory (Luciano Rossi), the good doctor himself (who seems too good to be true) and silly old spurned Michel (who, if innocent, is right to feel unjustly jilted, despite his volatility). And shocks, too – main characters die when you least expect it. This causes a readjustment on behalf of the audience; when someone we have invested in from the beginning of the film, we are left with more peripheral characters who then take centre stage, and we have to reboot our interest in them. It's good to have these shocks and surprises, but it takes a special skill for the story to continue with the same amount of interest. After some shaky moments, 'Death Walks on High Heels' just about manages it.The locations, mostly set in the coast of England, are lovely. Such scenic backgrounds provide a heavy slate-grey canvas for the increasingly colourful goings-on. Things become so entangled as to threaten to topple into confusion, but a terrific twist and action-infused finale livens things up toward the end. Featuring some meticulously choreographed fight scenes and convincing gore, 'Death Walks on High Heels' is an enjoyable entry into the world of giallo.

An infamous jewel thief is brutally killed on a train, police believe the assailant was after the jewels from a recent heist and so they seek out his daughter Nicole Rochard(Susan Scott) in Paris where she works as a nightclub dancer/stripper in the hope that she might know of the jewels whereabouts, she doesn't. Nicole is then attacked by a mystery masked assailant with piercing blue eyes, Nicole soon suspects its her boyfriend Michel Aumont (Simon Andreu) who is after the jewels and so she persuades a rich English admirer of hers, a Dr Robert Matthews(Frank Wolff) to take her out of the country to safety.Following on from his excellent Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, this is another fine film from Ercoli and one is made with a lot of humour. The film itself is as confusing and convoluted as hell but it's a thrilling ride, I must say I laughed out loud at its preposterousness and just sat back and enjoyed its craziness, without ever trying to second guess it. Its beautifully filmed and Stelvio Cipriani's familiar score is just about perfect. Great fun.

Back in the early seventies, during the absolute most glorious years for the Giallo sub genre, I guess it must have been some sort of intense and obsessive competition between the eminent Italian directors to come up with the most exaggeratedly convoluted plots. These movies distinguish themselves from the other sub genres in horror by continuously misleading the audience when it comes to the revealing the identity of a sadistic and (usually) masked serial killer, who barbarically slaughters gorgeous and preferably naked ladies with sharp & shining weaponry. If the directors really did try to surpass each other with complex plot-structures and far-fetched denouements, then I bet Luciano Ercoli was one of the genuine winners of that game! He only made three Gialli and, even though they're not as famous as the works of Dario Argento or Sergio Martino, his films easily rank among the most twisted and extraordinary genre efforts I've ever seen. Ercoli's movies can be recognized by their awkward and flamboyant titles already. Fans of Italian cult-cinema from the 70's are most likely to be intrigued by titles like "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion", "Death Walks at Midnight" and – of course – "Death Walks in High Heels". Such appealing titles already hint at eventful crime-stories, and by God does Luciano Ercole ever deliver! "Death Walks in High Heels" is easily my personal favorite of his, as it's a tasteful and well-filled Giallo dish containing all the right ingredients such as graphic murders, beautiful music, suspense and copious amounts of female nudity, demented characters and crazy red herrings. The story opens with the brutal stabbing of a guy with an eye-patch who's fleeing from Paris on the night train. We quickly learn the victim was a notorious criminal who recently stole a valuable loot of diamonds from a bank safe in Paris. When his assailant can't find the diamonds in the luggage, he begins to stalk and threaten the jewel thief's beautiful daughter Nicole, who works as a popular striptease dancer in several Parisian nightclubs. Nicole suspects her drunkard boyfriend to be the culprit and she promptly flees to a little British seaside village with an eye-surgeon she hardly knows. The two enjoy a vivid and highly sexual relationship for a short while, but Nicole's aggressor followed her to England and the death toll rapidly increases. The already fascinating plot of "Death Walks on High Heels" even gets more compelling when a couple of important characters perish and the witty inspectors of Scotland Yard interfere with the investigation.What a thoroughly engaging and exhilarating crime/thriller! The script doesn't always make sense and I counted at least three major holes/errors in the plot (situations that are pretty much impossible given the explanation during the climax), but "Death Walks in High Heels" is a tremendously entertaining film that you won't mind watching several times without ever getting bored. Luciano Ercoli cleverly sustains a fast pacing as well as a high tension-level, mainly by constantly switching locations, introducing new yet fundamental supportive characters and even implementing insightful flashbacks. The film starts in Paris with only three main characters, yet during the climax in the little English village there suddenly is nearly a dozen people involved in the mystery and several others have already died. Granted, this isn't the most violent Giallo available on the market (although one particular killing sequence is effectively nauseating), but the lack in bloodshed is widely compensated by the insane number of red herrings and ingenious little details to improve the mystery. Ernesto Gastaldi, whose pen literally was a nearly inexhaustible source for Italian cult classics, largely scripted "Death Walks in High Heels" and this also partly explains the film's success. The photography is stunning and extremely stylish, Stelvio Cipriani's score is more than enchanting and – last but not least – the acting performances are very pleasing. Susan Scott is an adequate actress and, moreover, a truly ravishing woman! She's probably the only living female creature who can turn you on simply by eating raw pieces of fish. No kidding! The others (male) actors do a fine job too, including Frank Wolff, Simon Andreu and the always suspicious-looking Luciano Rossi. The absolute best role is for Carlo Gentilli, as the cynic Scotland Yard inspector Baxter. Priority-viewing for the rapidly increasing number of Giallo-fans.

Luciano Ercoli's Death Walks on High Heels is a sexy and suspenseful thriller. The convoluted plot revolves around the whereabouts of some stolen jewels and the involvement of a strip tease girl.Susan Scott (aka Nieves Navarro) plays the stripper who is central to the story. And, quite frankly, she's a revelation. Oozing sex appeal and stealing every scene she appears in, Miss Scott was one of the queens of giallo cinema. She was highly impressive in Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion but she is given a more central role here. And she delivers one of the most erotic performances in the giallo sub-genre.Other than the obvious appeal of the delicious leading lady, Ercoli's movie works as a suspenseful thriller, with some genuinely unsettling scenes. Chief amongst them being the somewhat haunting appearance of the 'high heels' killer in the opticians, whose approach is seen through through frosted glass and, also of note is an extremely brutal murder scene in the latter half of the movie, the savagery of it is definitely shocking. This murder stands out all the more as this is not exactly a body-count movie. The violence is kept to a minimum but is strong when it rears it's head.Like in Forbidden Photos, Ercoli uses another actress who looks strikingly similar to Susan Scott, in this case Claudie Lange. Simón Andreu, another Ercoli regular, puts in another sleazy performance as the chief suspect. And there is a host of other shady characters prowling about. In fact there are so many red herrings that we even have a dodgy character selling fish! In order for early 70's gialli to sell themselves to an international market they were often expected to do two things. Firstly cast leading ladies who look more Anglo-Saxon than Italian (which the Spanish but strawberry haired Miss Scott fulfilled) and secondly to incorporate locations outwith Italy (this being achieved by the French and British settings).Death Walks on High Heels is one of the most erotically charged gialli I've seen. Recommended for fans of both Italian thrillers and, of course, Susan Scott.