 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1975 Italian giallo film The police are blundering in the dark. That's not the original title though The original title was the salad garden and apparently this film was made much earlier, but I'm gonna talk about that and We'll get into it. This this is an interesting one I will tell you up front that this is one of the films that I'm gonna have to rate it two separate ways because It's not a good film, but I enjoy it for how bad it is basically and how funny the bad stuff is So, yeah Written and directed by Halea Colombo That's it. Halea Colombo's only done this film and that's a pseudonym. That's not the actual person's name The actual person's name is Elio Palumbo Who was an Italian pop music producer and songwriter of the time and apparently was best known for writing the song It's a love ballad called Tornaro Haven't heard it. I plan to look it up at some point Interesting this film was actually shot in 1972 three years prior to its release date And that's when it was titled salad the salad garden Then it ended up being retitled and released in 1975 now It's obviously it is a giallo film But when it was put out when it was retitled and put out in 1975 They change it to the police are blundering in the dark Which a lot of people are like why the police don't even show up until the last 10 minutes, which is accurate but there's that title or the title of a Article in a newspaper that says that the police are blundering in the dark that kind of just references that the overall case Is not being handled well. So I see where they get the title And I'm glad that they changed it from the salad garden for a few reasons one the salad garden sounds super stupid and two it Tells you something about what's actually going on because as we know by the end of this film That's where the bodies are going. They're going in in dr. Dala's salad garden So yeah, so I'm glad they changed the title because it just it just says too much. It just does So anyway, the opening credits next to the bloody scissors in the grass is actually a very cool visual and the image class Clashes with the very cheerful music that's playing I kind of like that and when I first saw that I was like, oh, you know This might be a really good film because I watched it on the forgotten Jolly from vinegar syndrome volume one and This was for for trauma, which I already have a review for on my channel, which I didn't really like that much It's not even like a so good. It's bad film. This is for the police are blundering in the dark this one Thankfully, I actually like it from the standpoint of so bad. It's good. So But I was thinking maybe this is like a legitimate good Jala film, but it's not it's not it was it was a setup in the Beginning plus the bloody scissors in the end don't even really mean anything because I don't think anyone got stabbed with scissors at any point So it's just like it was just for the visual and that's the thing with this film is there's a lot of just because stuff This is a very out of left field film in my opinion Not well done, but I'm glad it exists and I will watch it again for sure Uh, she almost makes it to the road before being killed in a horribly bad looking kill scene The very first opening kill where the woman is by the side of the road and she's talking to the person who you can't see which Um as soon as you see that She's talking to someone and it's you as the audience basically the camera and you can't see you know She's gonna die like that's how giallo works. And if you've seen enough, you just know what's coming She gets chased. She gets killed as she's so close to the road so close to getting help But the kills look terrible like that kill looks terrible And usually your setup kill is going to be like what establishes everything Um, it just all the kills they they look bad in this. It's just fake blood. That's it. There's no prosthetics or anything. It just Looks bad. So you can tell it was low budget low budget The uh, they throw a lot of characters at you kind of fast I was kind of scrambling to like get everyone straight in my head Immediately in the film because they do throw a lot of characters at you There's a woman who died who you never end up hearing what her name is and I guess you don't really care about her anymore then there's um, you know, erica and georgio and The family in the big house was like sarah and All these people it's I was just like they're coming at me so fast I was like, oh my gosh, I gotta keep these straight. But over time they showed up enough. That was I got them straight So erica really doesn't want to be in the small town that she ends up stopping in but georgio is too busy getting a piece To help now. I'm not quite sure was that his wife I think I may have missed their relationship there with his girlfriend his wife. I don't know either way he was cheating Um, because she calls and she's like, can you come get me? I'm my car's broken down in this random town And he's just like no, I'm that into work. I'm doing work stuff for for work Meanwhile naked lady in bed with him. So not doing work unless her name's work in which case he is doing work It's it really did sound like erica was gonna end up dying at that point Which obviously she does end up getting killed because How what why else are they setting up the fact that she's stranded there and then has to get a room from this Like bodega, I guess is what it is that she's kind of stopped at Not quite sure like a small town convenience store. I don't know all I know all I could see there is that they were selling cigarettes That's the only thing I really remember or could see and they're weird and it was the family who was running that That had the son who was the simpleton Who ends up showing up in a very weird way at the end of the film? We'll talk about that when I get there The son holding the cat must be the prime red herring. Yes the simpleton son I think he was set up to be a prime red herring in this film at least initially because He acts creepy. He looks creepy. He is creepy. All he does is like kind of carries around the cat and pets it It makes these kind of like guttural grunting Weird kind of animal-ish noises And then you have the scene where he shows up in Erica's room and she's not fully clothed I think she only has underwear on at this point and he just comes over is making weird noises And just starts like touching her body all over and she doesn't really do anything about it Like I would have screamed I would have yelled if I were her just saying but That's the charm of this film things don't make sense. They're not going to so you get some really weird scenes And for like for all these weird scenes. I was laughing out loud Like I was literally watching this by myself And it takes a lot to get me to laugh out loud when I'm by myself But I was doing that because it's so ridiculous But I love it. I love it It's such an awkward scene with the sun feeling Erica up. I already talked about that And also what was with the really long scene? The naked ham sandwich eating that Erica was doing like and this is what I'm talking about there are a lot of kind of Scenes of things going on way too long that aren't even interesting and on top of that There's usually no music going on either. So like Not using music at times is good for when there's like a tense moment or something with gravity that people need to like Struggle with feelings to see how they feel about it. Not someone standing there eating a ham sandwich with no clothing on that's Not the time to not have music Actually, that's not a scene to have in the film at all But that's not the time to not have music because it's boring And then not having music makes it more boring And it was just I mean I assumed that they had that scene and for how long it was to just kind of Lull you into this sense of nothing's happening. And then that's when she gets attacked and killed So like I get that but it was just weird So when georgia shows up, uh in in town and he's looking for Erica, which he's looking for her for like just a portion of a day and then he forgets because Women that I want to bang is basically what he's thinking. He's like, oh, I was I was here doing something No, my my penis said it's something different. Let's go over here um So he meets pericy the the guy who owns who in the wheelchair who owns the house Uh, who have it has his photographing machine, which we'll talk about later and He when he meets pericy, he says he's a journalist, which I don't Well, I guess maybe he is because he doesn't make a comment later in the film About, you know, this might end up being the story that kind of like breaks everything. So I guess he is a journalist initially I thought it was a lie So he meets pericy and pericy's Initial thing when he meets him is like, I hate journalists basically So like first of all weird way to greet someone who you know is a journalist So yeah, um I did think for how much I'm dogging on this film I did think that the scene where they're having the dinner when georgio's Invited to stay for dinner with them Which they're eating salad during that dinner by the way notice that and that's where the bodies are buried. So it's kind of gross um The scene that scene where they're sitting there eating like the camera work How it kind of like moves all the way around the table as the conversations going on that was pretty cool That actually looked pretty good But then they did it like two more times and I was just like, okay The first time you did it it was cool and it looked good the second time I was like Okay, I mean it still kind of looks good, but yeah, and then the third time I was like, okay We we've been doing this enough So it was just kind of funny at that point. It was kind of like motion sickness going on yeah Eleonora and pericy shoot each other a look when dr. Dalla says he has a very impulsive temperament This is kind of meant to be a hint of what's going on and at that time He's I think I'm not sure if it's when he's saying this at the table But at that time he's eating they make a point of showing him eating the lettuce So that's like kind of hint of what's going on here and then he's talking about his Impulsive temperament and then the look look is shot between Eleonora and pericy And that's to me seemed like an indicator That Dalla Was the killer now by the end of the film Them shooting the look doesn't make sense from the standpoint of them having any inkling or knowing That he was the killer because nothing like nothing about like that comes out like they don't say oh, I knew it was you or anything but It's not great writing. So yeah, just saying Uh, Giorgio certainly doesn't waste any time forgetting about Erica He sees sara and he's just like Or his penis is like And then he sees luchia and actually luchia sees him first I think she's the one who kind of initiates the eye contact and the um, I want to bone you eyes And then it just becomes like a sexcapade basically like the movie derails from what it actually should be which is solving this case and finding Erica and figuring out who the killer is It eventually comes back to it but the majority of the film is just like a sexcapade in essence and then some people do died but It's just funny to me like all the creeping around that giorgio does, you know, he Eventually has sex with sara. He gets close to having sex with luchia. Uh, yeah What the hell? The camera in the statue was an interesting little thing to introduce. That's the whole uh, pericy's thought capturing camera, which I didn't really understand Um, it's very once again very left field like a lot of the stuff in this film But when it was first introduced and they don't tell you what it is It was interesting because I thought oh, he's taking pictures of people. He's kind of surveilling what's going on He's he's one of these people who just likes to take pictures of people when they don't know what's going on And and that could be like an interesting character aspect But no, it wasn't that it was something way weirder and didn't make sense Wow, luchia's throwing herself at giorgio too. This guy crushes ass. Yes, he does But shouldn't he be looking for erica? Yes, that is something I was wondering the whole time as you can tell by my notes I laughed when giorgio went looking for luchia and alberto Creepily walks out of the shadows in that one room that he assumed was luchia's room He just like it's like he was waiting for me and I think he was I think he was waiting for him because he was trying to Break it up Now what's really unclear is you know, we know and I'll talk about it later what who alberto really was in the end So the question is Who was luchia? Was luchia just an actual Made or was she in league with alberto? I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out But maybe there's not an answer. It doesn't seem like it What a long awkward sex scene between giorgio and luchia. Oh, yeah, he did have sex with her. That's right. He did Yep So much went on. Um, yeah, this is a long awkward sex scene that went on really really You know, and I I think that that was the same in trauma as well that film Just the same weird sex So the whole luchia or i'm sorry pericy photographing people's thoughts I love the fact that it's in this film because it's so ridiculous What I like most though is how crazy his little room with all the equipment is when he's developing the thought photos Um, like the flashing different colored lights going on the weird noises and kind of like other worldly music That's being played him like toiling and looking so serious and like almost mad scientists like Um, I like that aspect of it. I think it's kind of funny Cool shot when it shows alberto driving and luchia running on separate levels when alberto went to take off I think he was going to see about like someone's Mental state it must have been dr. Dala But then I don't think they tell you at that point and luchia is running after him went outside And he's in the car and it's kind of like on this lower level driving under that bridge that we See later and she's like on the grass on that higher level and they're kind of going at the same time It just looked cool. Like it was a inspired good-looking camera shot Um luchia just wants penis any penis really and that's what we end up seeing when the Simpleton shows up randomly outside and then she's just like, oh, well, let's just get it on behind this bush Then when she's done getting it on with him She's like getting dressed and she like shoes him away until get out of here You beast like she refers to him as a beast as like not even Saying that he's like a real person It's interesting The scene of parisi with his machine seems like he's making music. That's another thing to point out But I liked the look of it During luchia's death scene there are some real weird cuts And luchia's acting is not good Which makes it funny which adds to the charm of how bad this film is But there were some really rough like weird cuts during that scene if you go back and watch there's like two of them Where it's like something's going on and then it's like there's a jump in time And things just like definitely look different, but shouldn't there's It's real rough in my opinion But what do you expect With the amount of time hearing the noise while the thought camera is working I actually thought I was going to lose it that does go on too long I know I said I kind of like that but the aspect I didn't like was how Long that noise slash music was going on that Kind of gets to you over time I love the scene of parisi frantically wheeling around yelling for alberto When he's figured it out that it's dr. Dalla, which I guess this is brother or brother in law I don't know And he's like frantically wheeling around like yelling for alberto. He's like And then he eventually finds dr. Dalla over luchia's body And I guess he was planning on carving it up and then just burying pieces in his salad garden I don't know Um, what a series of events with alberto chasing and shooting dala Then he falls off the bridge and under a tractor or tractor type thing I'm just gonna call it a tractor But the timing of that was impeccable. Am I right the fact that he was running gets shot Gets onto the bridge at the right time and then falls off it Just in time to get right under that tractor Convenient writing Not a surprise It was funny But there was this moment too like when when uh parisi initially finds dala over luchia's body It was really weird because there was this dialogue where dala like says to parisi No, you killed her and it's like he's trying to convince him that he's the killer Which is just this kind of like weird moment Once again, I like it. I like how weird Alberto revealing himself as a private investigator is hilarious This is the moment I probably laughed at the most because it's unbelievably absurd This whole thing where he's like, I'm not a butler. I'm a private investigator and I've been on to this case for months I was just like what? And then that's when I was thinking well, what about luchia because it seems like there was some sort of like Something that luchia and alberto were talking about during the film that they didn't specifically say what it is It was just like a between them Conversations that the audience is left out of so was she working with him or not? And in which case if she was working with him Why was she so focused on just boning everyone because she should have been doing her job Doesn't make sense. That's fine. We don't need that So the quote at the very end of the film that moment where they are showing Dala's salad garden and The simpleton is there like crouching over it then they he starts he's laughing and they pop up this quote This is the quote mankind differs from beasts for an incurable evil Intelligence Is this to say the only non-evil character is the simpleton's son? Since he's a simpleton and is actually called a beast at one point by luchia So within the quote referencing beast, which is probably why luchia called him a beast Basically trying to say everyone has problems. Everyone's kind of bad to some degree except this dude I don't know. I don't know if they were trying to say that or not And is it saying that being too intelligent can drive one to madness I think it probably is a quote just kind of saying that as human beings because we have higher Intellects than animals There's a tendency for us to become so intelligent that it drives us to insanity and then we become evil brutes Like dr. Dala. Obviously. He's very intelligent because he's a doctor But he You know his his level of intelligence just drives him over the edge and then he becomes this murdering maniac I kind of feel like that's the point of it Okay Note there was a bit of a hint at dinner table with them focusing on the lettuce Yes, those are they're a little kind of laugh at you audience because you don't know where the bodies are A bunch of shots of actors when they aren't delivering lines look like they're being held as hostages Yeah, there's some really terrible moments of like the camera focusing on the face Of an actor or actress when they're not delivering lines and the way they were like looking was like literally like this was like It was just total like what do I do now type thing? Really weird just really weird, but it adds to the charm of how bad it is Lots of scenes uh that are overly long with not much going on and no music like I already talked about And obviously the main purpose of this film is nudity as we can see because there's a lot of nudity Just shoehorn in and that's why you have the majority of the film being georgio's Intended sexual conquests basically no plot to get in the way of the nudity in essence so That's my assessment of the police are blundering in the dark I'm very interested to get to the last film in here the killer is one of 13 And see how that kind of rounds out the volume and then obviously back here Right here. I have volume two So we'll see how those stack up against volume one Now I said I need to rate this two different ways. So in the pantheon of films as a Overall film, I'm going to give this One out of five stars. This is not a good film at all. It is not good I mean, there are a few kind of nice moments, but not a good film now as a so bad. It's good film I'm going to give it a pretty solid Three star rating. Uh, it was between three and three and a half on the so bad. It's good But I'm gonna go three. It's not I don't think it's quite to the three and a half So if you have seen this film, I would love to hear your thoughts on this film Do you actually like it as a film? Do you think it's so bad? It's good your thoughts put them in the comments Uh, yeah, let's talk about it. I'd be excited to and just giallo in general if you want to but Do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button That is your best way to repay me if you like this video or any video I've ever done Because that's what motivates me. That's what keeps me going when I see people subscribing I know that you are actually appreciating what I'm doing and that further motivates me to do more Because I'm not, you know, this isn't a job for me or anything. It's it's a hobby. Just doing it for fun But anyway, oh also hit the notification bell button because then you'll know when I put up new videos blah blah blah Regardless, thank you for checking this out taking your time to do that. I do appreciate that big time Uh, and until next time keep it brutal