Load of rubbish!!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This one starts out originally enough. You don't usually see someone getting murdered by being decapitated by the jaws of a hydraulic digger. The dead guy was some sort of insurance investigator (yet again), but why he wished to dredge up a water filled quarry, and why anyone wanted to kill him, is a mystery only George Hilton can solve.Yep - George Hilton's back in yet another giallo, only this time he has a moustache! Plus, he's playing this one ultra-serious too. First off, he tracks down the driver of the digger only to find he's hanged himself...except he hasn't, as George proves using the actual corpse of the driver to demonstrate! George has a quarry-sized mystery on his hands here which seems to be tied in with the kidnap and subsequent murder of a little girl some eighteen months prior, and it seems that the killer is trying to rub out all of the people involved. And some that aren't really that involved, for good measure. George has to retrace what happened back then to find out what's happening right now, and you know what means, right? Suspects!Suspects! include shifty businessman William Berger, his sister, who is married to the one handed guy, and then there's the staff (especially the driver), and there's the guy who likes to paint nude children (can't see that scene occurring these days!) and also has a bunch of statues in his cupboard, similar to the one that the killer used. Patty Shepherd appears as a teacher, but isn't a suspect, so of course the killer cuts her up with a bandsaw in a rather gory scene - while she's watching Django.The film veers wildly from gory scenes like that to drawn out scenes of policemen standing around, but, although lacking in the usual craziness, still manages to be a decent giallo due to George Hilton (and William Berger), a nice Ennio Morricone soundtrack, and taking the unusual step of having all the suspects gathered in a room for the reveal of the killer. What - no rooftop chase?

By-the-numbers giallo with a stronger grip on investigative methods and less on lurid moments than what we're used to in this sub-genre, though the comparatively coherent storyline and some effective set-pieces cannot save this unremarkable pic from sinking.The sleazy and/or freaked-out characters are as randomly portrayed as ever, so that the culprit's identity leaves one rather cold, despite a nicely handled denouement.And a short scene with a nude young girl just underlines the movie's ruthlessly exploitative nature.3 out of 10 telltale drawings

Laid-back in terms of investigating goings-on, but otherwise a decent textbook giallo. Once again a bit more unsettling then others because it involves the death of a child. All ingredients are present (exept for the foreigner doing the investigating): a few bloody killings, a black-gloved killer, a decent whodunit/investigation-plot, a bit of occasional female nudity,... Of course, the re-dubbing isn't the best and the acting is fairly wooden, but we forgive any giallo for that, don't we? Good thing was that this time I didn't guess who the killer was. In fact, I wasn't really looking for the killer along with the detective. I was way too amused for that, with seeing how one clue lead to another several times. I did think that the killer's motivations were a bit weak though. But at any rate, if you're a fan of gialli, this should be another one worth seeing.

Anyone who ever saw "My Dear Killer" is most likely to agree when I claim that it's nearly impossible to find another horror film with a more convoluted plot! I never thought I'd say this, but this movie almost exaggerates with the constant adding of new twists and complexity! "My Dear Killer", which is a giallo in the purest definition of the term, features nearly a dozen murder victims and an equal amount of suspects. Paying close attention to the development of the plot is difficult enough already, so guessing along for the killer's identity is pretty much out of the question. And yet, it's another wondrous example of Italy's finest horror sub genre, with brutal slaughters, controversial themes and great music! Giallo-regular George Hilton ("All the Colors of the Dark", "Case of the Bloody Iris") plays Peretti, a police detective charged with investigating the eerie murder of an insurance inspector. He was obviously getting too close to someone's dark secrets and, in order to solve the case; Peretti has carry on with the decapitated victim's research. All traces lead to the unsolved kidnapping and eventual murder of a young girl in the area. The killer clearly doesn't know how he is to getting caught, as he precautionary starts to eliminate everyone close to the case. Be advised that the above is a very vague description of the plot, as a more detailed summary would cover several pages. Apart from a few minor holes in the plot and a handful of illogicalness, "My Dear Killer" is a hugely compelling and intense murder-mystery. Especially the violence will appeal to hardcore horror fans, as the killer even uses circular saws and construction machinery! Tonino Valerii is not a very eminent Italian horror filmmaker (or at least not as eminent as, say, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci or Sergio Martino), but his directing is truly stylish and he obviously read the "big book of giallo-guidelines" carefully before he started making this movie. Highly recommended!