 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1972 Italian giallo film knife of ice That is this film I watched it on the Blu-ray And this is in the box set that Severin films put out for Umberto Lindsey when he worked with Carol Baker as an actress And all four of the films I thought she did quite a good job in this is it so It's a great box set. It's a lot of fun. I do think by far orgasmo is Aka paranoia is the most fun and interesting of this and I was gonna say worth the price But I mean that alone is probably not just worth the price the other three films are good enough to make up the price So just saying but anyway, so my watching of knife of ice finishes that box set Getting into Lindsey films. That's my this is my fifth Lindsey film at the moment and I want to do more I've heard spasmo is one. I definitely need to see an eyeball. I think he also did so yeah Anyway, like I said directed by Umberto Lindsey who also did seven bloodstained orchids orgasmo So sweet so perverse a quiet place to kill spasmo eyeball eaten alive I also want to watch that cannibal furrow ghost house and hitcher in the dark Written by Lindsey and also Luigi de Blaine who also wrote scripts for kill the poker player The murder mansion which that sounds fun And shoot first ask questions later amongst other films now the guy who plays uncle Ralph in this film immediately looked very Very recognizable to me and I was like, where have I seen this dude before and then it clicked in my head I was like, oh, he was in the case of the bloody iris and He was okay I'm not gonna spoil who he is in it But he was he had a decent enough role in the case of the bloody iris So I recognize him from that but I looked up what other films he's been in and I guess I should recognize him from some other ones because he was also in a woman Sorry a lizard in a woman's skin all the colors of the dark death walks on high heels and Eyeball by Umberto Lindsey. So if two of those films eyeball and death walks on high heels I haven't seen yet. I do own death walk walks on high heels It's over in this stack of movies to get to and hopefully I get to that soon The script composition and directing style of this film have been compared to that of Lucio Fulci because of a film that Fulci ended up releasing in the exact same year called non See Sevisia un Paparino. I'm sure I totally butchered that but that's my best attempt This song or this song this film my apologies. This film is also known as a dagger of ice or The ice pick. I think knife of ice sounds better than dagger of ice and the ice pick Definitely more better than the ice pick, but yeah So starting this film out with the bullfight certainly is one way to let people know that it takes place in Spain yes, that is where a lot of the filming took place in Spain So that makes sense It's a very easy way for people to tell because that's the only place that has done bullfighting for the past how many decades Maybe even a century or so. I don't even know but Anyway, so the start there obviously that becomes very important later because you get these flashes with the main character of Crap, what is her name in this? I forget what her name is Martha Martha Sorry, you get the flashes with Martha of her like remembering back to when the bull was being stabbed and killed And I think in the end that's really supposed to be kind of the flashes of kind of her Suppressing her murderous urges at times and Showing like giving that hint that she actually in the end is the killer Which I do think is quite a good twist and I'll talk about that more later But I did like that aspect of the twist for it, but the bullfight Hard for probably a bunch of people to watch including me. I don't really like seeing cruelty to animals and films Which is why I have not yet watched Cannibal Holocaust because I know there's a lot in there although I do know there's a sanitized version apparently that I might be down to watch The Edgar Allen Poe quote in the beginning about fear being a knife of ice that penetrates Is a good explanation of the title itself? That's really cool because I mean knife of ice sounds cool enough But then when you pair it with that Edgar Allen Poe quote it gives it like cool meaning like Fear is a knife of ice that penetrates like it's that's not the exact quote But it was a quote basically saying that like that makes it more cool and then makes you think of the title And you're just like, oh, yeah, that's pretty that's pretty awesome. I like that So Martha is very clearly expecting someone in the beginning at the train station it seems like she's more just like on Edge because she's waiting for someone I guess she's expecting someone and they didn't end up showing up on time necessarily but Then you kind of realize that this is a big thing for her and she gets praised for it because I guess her her Parents had died on a train and she survived because they threw her out the window which I'm sure she was injured from that but Because of that she then is traumatized and that's why she doesn't talk until the very end obviously But we'll talk about that a little bit more later But the reveal of her being mute is interesting and it adds kind of an additional Feeling of vulnerability for her character Especially when you go into the film knowing it's a giallo and knowing that there will be someone stalking and killing people Now the great thing about that is it really sets Martha up as particularly vulnerable Which is why people would not believe that she would be the killer because she's the most vulnerable there And you would think that story-wise that's setting it up for she'll be you know the main victim That that the killer is coming after within the film and you get that feeling too after she And her I think it's Jenny who she picks up her cousin after there They get in the car with Marcus and they're starting to go and then Marcus pulls over and that guy who we learn about much later in the film With the like splotchy irises in his eyes pops up and is like looking in and he's just like oh creepy dude That could be the killer is this who it's gonna be and initially that's what I thought like I thought the whole Thing with figuring out who the killer would end up being would be Who's got the splotches on their irises or I actually also thought that maybe those would end up being contacts that? Someone would put in when they went into their like murderous rage, which honestly that's not a bad idea If I do say so myself, but it ended up not being that so lots of red herrings in this for that reason Especially like people like Dr. Laurent and Marcus because both of them end up acting very very suspicious Marcus in particular comes off like a slug worth from Willy Wonka in the chocolate factory Hopefully you know that reference because if you haven't seen Willy Wonka in the chocolate factory Where have you been for your entire life? But yeah, he's so like sinister over-the-top sinister that like he oozes suspicion And that's why you would believe it's not him also with Dr. Laurent You know they work him so hard as a suspect too because he's always going somewhere You know, he's like oh well It's because I'm a doctor and then you start to think well Is he using this doctor thing as a way to cover as alibis for when he goes and murders people because they also In the story to line it up with when people end up going missing or dying is that he's he has to be somewhere You know and then at one point he comes back and he actually has blood on his pants And that's that next level of suspicion So the script is smart in the sense that it keeps suspicion on those two individuals But then has a lot of other people who could potentially be suspects as well. And I mean honestly for me Other than the kid Christina who ends up getting killed eventually. I I mean Martha was very far away from from my mind as being the killer and one of the main reasons is Most of the time when people watch movies, especially back in the 70s when this came out The narrator the main character is almost never the killer So that's why it was it was a good twist because it's very unsuspecting I love the visual when the guy initially shows up with the spotchy visuals of him just looking there And one of the things that's been talked about with this film a lot is the fact that there's a lot of focus on eyes And that's one of the other comparisons that that have been made to Lucio Fulci Because Fulci has a tendency to focus on eyes with his directing now and his Cinematography now I think it becomes less as the film goes on But in the beginning it is very eye-focused and once again I think that's mainly to kind of set up that expectation That you're looking for that person with those splotchy irises in order to solve the case and figure out who the killer is So it's well done in that sense But I like the visual of that guy Marcus has a vibe. Oh, I already talked about that There's a hopeful feeling introduced when Martha's progress of going to a train station is discussed Like I was saying she got praise for that so it gives you the idea that she'll also end up talking by the end of the film At least it did for me and obviously that ends up happening But in that but in that moment when it's giving you hope you think she's gonna end up talking by the end of the film in a Good way like she made it away from the killer and they were caught But I mean the killer does get caught but it's her so it's in a very different situation Where it's actually terrible for her and the first time she actually uses her voice again It's a scream and you think it's because she's afraid because the killer's coming But actually what it is is she's been found out and then she just starts reciting Those things that she was listening to on the recording Which I'm assuming that's just because she hadn't used her voice in so long That the only thing she knew to say were from that recording, which I believe that recording was from her youth Um, if I'm not mistaken, but you can correct me in the comments It's kind of a weird scene when Martha honks the horn like it's her scream when she finds Jenny's body under that car Obviously we found out much later that that was her who did it Um But it's a weird scene. It looks so odd when she's just like has her mouth open and and instead of a scream It's the honk of the car. It just it made me kind of laugh. I didn't think it's a good scene It's just kind of quirky and weird, but that's giallo, you know I like how people are making suspicious comments about each other while talking to the inspector Right in front of each other to like shift focus like They're all in the same room and they're talking to the inspector about you know Who committed this murder and they're literally being like well this person blah blah blah this person blah blah not like Pulling him aside like in private. It's just like in front of these people's faces like that person's suspicious that person's suspicious It's funny Of course, it's always a sex maniac that is suspected That's the first thing they talk about is it's a sex maniac out there because women are getting killed And obviously that's another device put in the story in order to kind of move your focus away from what's really going on because Um Then it makes you assume it's a guy And that takes your suspicion even further away from martha Like for that reason a lot of people probably wouldn't ever consider her just because of the sex maniac thing And once the satanic symbol is found Uncle ralph being into the occult makes sense for him being involved in this actual story within the film Now I thought for a little bit maybe uncle ralph would end up being The killer because of how into the occult he was and he was very knowledgeable But really he's in there probably one to be a red herring but two to give some information about satanic cults and everything like that because If you remember, you know, once that stuff shows up, he gets consulted about it by the by the police. So, yeah How is the town so foggy in the beginning like it's an insane amount of fog in that town Which it just doesn't look right. It doesn't look natural. It doesn't look right. It's it's at like a weird time It's like during the day like on regular streets. I don't know. I don't I don't assume that's a thing, but I don't know The necklace Christina Has looks very similar in construction to the one that had the satanic symbol that was found in the cemetery Um, and that made me just be like is there something weird going on with this child Because those things were so similar But that ended up really not amounting to anything but kind of goes to that bunch of red herrings type thing And then of course they have after that the satanic symbol starts popping up everywhere And kind of like in the film all the colors of the dark There's a very heavy focus on satanic rituals and satanic worship and a satanic cult And yet again within the context of this film That's used to take people's mind further and further away from who the actual suspect is or the actual killer is Suspicions cast on dr Laurent after he appears with the blood on his pants after mrs Britain goes missing. That's that was probably one of the strongest like suspicion moments in the film Lots of people looking around suspiciously at each other in the church. I thought that was actually pretty funny when they all go to church I think that was for uh, mrs. Britton's funeral and they're all just like suspiciously looking at each other while the funeral's going on I thought that was kind of funny, especially with the way it was shot As soon as they showed the satanist's face I knew it's a ruse to distract the audience when he was shown On the streets in the rain breaking into that. I guess it was just like a Like a shop or an apothecary or something like that because that's where he steals some morphine needles And then you realize, oh, you know, it's a Drug adult satanist who likes to hang out in the cemetery, which is literally who this guy is But there's actually a good quote about who the guy is coming up and why he should be suspicious I have it in here in a few notes, but I thought it was a well done scene when there was no music when the lights went out on martha in the house And then you're just kind of like hearing the storm and then also the noise that whatever You know, whatever martha's doing in the house like the noise from that I felt like that really helped to increase the tension of that scene and make you feel like anything could happen at any time Like a killer could jump out of nowhere and be after martha Although if you watch it on the second watch, you're like, she's not in any danger at all because she's the killer So it takes the tension out of it But it's another one of those moments of the power of not using music and allowing people to just experience Whatever they want to feel or experience the tension of quiet or just the ambient sounds of what's going on around Sure, he looks menacing But when he's caught in the cemetery the guy with the splotchy irises just seems like a drug addict He definitely just seems like that And like I said once they showed his face I knew for sure he wouldn't be the killer because they never show the face of the killer until the end in giallo films Uh, here's the quote i was telling you about all I know is that his name is rudy mason He's english and he worships the devil that made me laugh by the way And then the response to that who I think I think it was dr. Lauren who responded and said this said isn't that enough? I thought that was hilarious. They're like, uh, This is his name. He's english and he worships the devil and they're like guilty obviously I mean people did think that way Many times though. I mean there was even the the satanic panic in the 90s in the united states So it's a thing man people just assume guilt in those instances It's also funny when the maid tells martha not to let let things get her down Uh, because her cousin had just been killed and she had well at that point You think she had been strangled even though later you figure out that martha staged her being strangled which It's it's interesting because there's a little bit of a plot hole with that aspect of it Because wouldn't they look at her neck because there would be like actual marks now Unless she actually like pulled it on there and really like left a welt I would think they'd be able to look and see that it wasn't, you know Tight enough to believe that someone was actually like pulling it to try and kill her So, um, I feel like that's a little bit of a plot hole. Also when they do find her and the rope's just like laying there I think it just looks funny. I laughed at that point at that part Okay, here's a tie-in that I found to lucio folgy other than like the eye focus thing I think the donald duck toy is a nod to lucio folgy because of the role of donald duck and donald duck toys in lucio folgy's films the new york ripper and Don't torture a duckling which I have seen both of those and I have reviews for them on my channel And I actually have an entire playlist of giallo film reviews if you want to check that out But I really do think there's a lot in this film that's intentionally a nod to lucio folgy I think that's why it gets compared so much. I would be interested to see and I probably should have looked this up I would be interested to find out if there's ever been, you know, any sort of Interview with umberto lenzi asking, you know, did you intentionally put this stuff in to be a nod to lucio folgy? I find it hard to believe that with this donald duck stuff in there that it's not A nod to folgy because those things are very important For don't torture a duckling in the new york ripper. So Anyone else feel me on that? I like martha's flashbacks with bits of house. Uh, she's starting to cast some sort of suspicion on uncle ralph So it makes me wonder like in retrospect because when I was watching I was just like, oh, she's starting to piece this together Which obviously in the end she's not piecing anything together because She was the killer But do you think it's supposed to be set up that like she is the killer but she's not In control when she kills necessarily like this kind of like split personality type thing and her having those like flashbacks of the the bullfight Maybe is a way to show like to indicate that she's got kind of like this personality split Or when she goes into like the murderous rage like the bullfighter killing the bull That like that's not her that's something separate and then she just Her scream at the end maybe is the moment that she realizes she actually did it I don't know. It's just a theory. So Put it down there Let me know your thoughts or do you have any other theories on that? They do work dr. Lauren and marcus pretty hard as suspects. Like I said, always conveniently missing which lets you know It's not them. I know I talked about dr. Lauren always having like a You know a a patient or that he needed to attend to at these times, but the same thing happens with marcus It's always oh I was around the house working on this or I left to go get a part for this or I went to get New light bulbs or you know, I was going someplace to run an errand and my car broke down or there was a branch in the road You know that type of thing. So Not sure why martha didn't signal the police officer earlier when she did she just he just saluted her That was a weird thing. I mean, I guess in the end it doesn't matter that much because she wasn't really She didn't really have anyone coming after her to kill her at that point But she I think believed that at that point Because she thought in the very end when she was in like the catacomb or the mausoleum in the cemetery that like marcus was after her And that's why she tried to actually shoot him because he was coming at her and even had his hands out To you know fool the audience into thinking that he's the killer. So that was a cool quick twist in the film But when she was like signaling at that officer who was outside supposed to be watching the house She waited so long until she actually signaled and then he just like saluted even though he knows he's supposed to be watching the house It didn't make sense because I feel like he would have gone into the house to check it out at that point Anyone else feel me on that? Nice twist like I said with martha being the killer But her motives for killing jenny mrs. Britton and christina Sucked she had terrible motives. They were weak. They were so weak sauce. So I like that she was a killer I just wish There was better reasoning for why she was killing people because what what was it for jenny? I mean jenny it was that she was like jealous that she had a voice I mean come on that's lame And then she killed mrs. Britton I think because mrs. Britton was starting to get on to her and then the same thing with christina basically Because she wrote something in her diary that was incriminating. I mean, I don't know. I didn't like that Using the narrator as the killer is good because it throws audiences off The main character is seldom the killer like I've already said bears repeating um So some things to kind of wrap this up lensy and his zooming in the very beginning of the film And this is how he does it with some of these films He'll get real heavy on the zooming in and out on things But it usually doesn't stay throughout the entire film It's usually heavier in the beginning of the film for probably about the first half hour or so And then it really settles down or just stops all together and this film is one of those instances. So it's very interesting, but Like lensy does he does like to keep the camera moving a lot, but I do think that in this film he was More stationary and had less consistent moving of the camera than he does in most of the other films of his I've seen So I thought that was an interesting takeaway for me personally um So the the last thing I would say is that the extreme focus on eyes makes me think there's a component Of trying to say something about kind of like the window to the soul And especially I think when They're look they're showing martha's eyes And then they're also showing her flashbacks is kind of like the window into her soul And the flashbacks are what's going on inside her body. Basically. So Is it a stretch? Maybe I don't know you could put your comments down there But in general, I do want to hear what you have to say about this film if you've seen it Do you like it? Do you hate it? Are you in between on it? I'm more of like an in between But it's one of those things I say it all the time Even like the the lesser Geolos that I watch are still pretty solid and this one falls into that category as well So out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm giving it three stars I was between two and a half and three, but I'm gonna go three. I mean, it's enjoyable I could watch it again for sure. There are some cool things about it So had had a fun time with it. But anyway, uh, like I said, put some comments down there Not just about this film, but geolo in general, we can talk about that Do me a favor though real quick hit that subscribe button if you like this video or any video I've ever done I would appreciate that Also hit the notification bell because then that way you'll know next time I'm putting up any videos whether it's a review or unboxing or whatever But regardless, thanks for taking the time to watch this and until next time keep it brutal