NINE GUESTS FOR A CRIME (1977) Review by Steve Kirkham

NINE GUESTS FOR A CRIME (1977)
3 stars
88 Films. Blu Ray. 12th May

Italian title: Novo ospiti per un delitto

Several armed men approach a couple making love on a beach – you cannot see their faces. The man tries to run but is blasted with the shotguns and then buried in a shallow grave. This sequence has a weird haze on it, to depict it is a flashback.

We cut to members of a rich family on board a yacht, heading to a remote Mediterranean island for their annual getaway. One them hears “voices” warning that something terrible will happen to them – death beckons! It is clear that there are tensions within the group.

It isn’t long before we get the first killing. Someone in a diving suit clambers on to the anchored boat and kills the two men on-board. The plot starts to set up red herrings early on as to who might be the murderer among them. They all seem a ‘lovely’ bunch and any one of them could easily be responsible.

After the initial burst of violence we get lots of them interacting and bitching at each other – when they are not having sex, walking around naked or drinking (J&B of course). They finds themselves trapped on the island and being picked off one by one.

This is a by the numbers giallo clearly patterned after Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”, to give it it’s more politically correct title, with the murders somehow linked to the opening sequence. It’s nicely shot, making good use of the sunny location in Palau in Sardinia. Great cast includes Arthur Kennedy, John Richardson and Massimo Foschi. Directed by Ferdinando Baldi, whose career stretched back to the early 50s. Cinematographer Sergio Rubini seems to have a predilection for shooting scenes through things like shelf units and grills. Groovy music by Carlo Savina.

Part of 88 Films ongoing Italian Collection – you get a choice of English audio or Italian with English subtitles.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS
3 stars
Audio Commentary with Italian cinema experts Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani

Interviews with Massimo Foschi (26 mins), production designers Giovanni Licheri and Alida Cappellini (36 mins), cinematographer Sergio Rubini (23 mins) and an archive interview with Massimo Foschi (27 mins)

Original Trailer