The Suspicious Death Of A Minor (1975) **1/2
With The Suspicious Death Of A Minor (1975), Sergio Martino and prolific screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi attempt to blend a poliziottesco (Italian crime film) with a giallo (murder mystery) but the comedic overtones ultimately undo it. I just couldn't get into this one, despite appreciating the valiant effort by Martino/Gastaldi to create a mashup of genres—they just never gel right and the tone suffers big time.
Not to mention that the protagonist is pretty much a creep (picture Dirty Harry but skeevy to boot). I have no issues with unsympathetic leads, even ones that do terrible things, but the comedy elements only serve to undermine the serious ones in the case of this particular film. On top of that, this isn't even a terribly shocking film; it's kind of a snoozer. And while Italian films of the 70s and 80s were known to borrow liberally (i.e. rip-off) from both American films and their own productions, the theme song for TSDOAM hews a little too closely to that of Deep Red, released earlier the same year.
You can find my Sergio Martino Feature Films Ranked list here.
Not to mention that the protagonist is pretty much a creep (picture Dirty Harry but skeevy to boot). I have no issues with unsympathetic leads, even ones that do terrible things, but the comedy elements only serve to undermine the serious ones in the case of this particular film. On top of that, this isn't even a terribly shocking film; it's kind of a snoozer. And while Italian films of the 70s and 80s were known to borrow liberally (i.e. rip-off) from both American films and their own productions, the theme song for TSDOAM hews a little too closely to that of Deep Red, released earlier the same year.
You can find my Sergio Martino Feature Films Ranked list here.
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