Gli occhi freddi della paura

This is an average example of the Italian Giallo, the story set in London, switching between a solicitor's office and his stately house, which is occupied by his solicitor nephew and a prostitute.

The plot is fairly good, involving an elaborate revenge on the elder solicitor for a wrongful judgement some years earlier. This film has some good twists but is tense only at times. It seems to drag and much more could have been made of the frightful atmosphere in the house. Instead, we have over-used extreme close-ups and plenty of screaming and shouting.

Not a bad film by any means, but there are plenty better examples of the genre.

Moving and bleak Italian/Spanish film with high doses of violence and a lot of dialogue . This spooky picture about some criminals holding the couple hostage at home contains shocks , suspense , grisly killings and numerous creepy scenes . It is a passable home invasion thriller with noticeable flaws . It deals with a solicitor called Peter (Gianni Garco , famous Spaghetti actor as Sartana) , son of a respectable judge (Fernando Rey) , picks up Anna (Giovanna Ralli) , a prostitute from the club in which is shown a nude spectacle (performed by Karin Schubert as Nightclub Actress) and takes her back to his father 's place . The duo soon discover they are not alone , as a mugger called Quill (Julian Mateos), is waiting for them . Subsequently , there appears Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff who ulteriorly committed suicide) , the lead maniac disguised as a bobby , and things get worse . The couple is besieged and terrorized by the psycho-killer attackers and then look for some means to getaway .

Tension , suspense , and unsettling scenes when a couple is harassed by two dangerous criminals . "Cold Eyes of Fear" provides that mindless entertainment in spades, with a few head-scratches along the way. It displays relentless thriller , intrigue , shocks , hard-edged drama , plot twists , creepy images and some violence when crimes and fights takes place . The villains in this movie are a mixed bag , each of the burglars have their own agenda that we find out over the course of the movie through the use of flashbacks . This flawed film written by Leo Anchoriz , an ordinary secondary actor , packs thrilling and hair-raising frames , twists and turns . You can attempt to put all the pieces together at the final but you'll only end up confused and disappointed , it's not worth the effort . This violent story belongs to ¨Home invasion sub-genre¨ similarly to ¨Michael Hanake's Funny Games¨, ¨William Wyler's Desperate hours¨, ¨Michael Cimino's Desperate Hours¨and recently : ¨Miguel Angel Vivas's Kidnapped¨ as well as ¨Joel Schumacher's Trespass¨. The overall result is chilling proof that E. G. Castell can take us back into a luxurious mansion while delivering a completely different scare . While the look is suitable eerie and frightening , the plot spreads to the breaking point and the ending turns out to be a little frustrating . The cast is pretty well , as Frank Wolff's eccentric performance really adds to the gravity of the situation and makes for a gripping protagonist-antagonist dynamic . Gorgeous Giovanna Ralli as an Italian woman of dubious virtue , Ralli played classic films as ¨El General De La Rovere¨ , but also acted in Spaghetti as ¨The mercenary¨ and Giallos . And Julian Mateos , a famed Spanish actor , player in US Western as well as Spaghetti as ¨Hellbenders¨ , ¨Four rode out¨ , ¨Catlow¨ , ¨Shalako¨, ¨Return of seven magnificent¨ . Special mention for Fernando Rey as a prestigious judge , Rey was Luis Buñuel's usual actor and unforgettable in ¨French Connection I and II¨. Atmospheric cinematography by Antonio L. Ballesteros shot at Cinecitta and in London . Jazzy musical score by the great Ennio Morricone , including some rare and atonal sounds.

The picture produced by Jose Frade/Atlantida Films was professionally directed by Enzo Girolami Castellari , though has some flaws and gaps . Enzo is a craftsman whose father was filmmaker Marino Girolami and his brother Ennio Girolami . He had a lot of hit-smashes in the action cinema and Spaghetti . His first film was ¨Seven Winchester for a massacre¨ ; after the movie 's success, the same producers approached Castellari again to direct a Western ¨Jonny Hamlet¨ the next year, which he accepted . Enzo usually makes experimental editing techniques such as unbroken transitions from one scene to another and a cameo appearance in his films . Castellari often works with Guido and Maurizio De Angelis and uses to do slow motion shootouts and choreographic death scenes . Enzo is a good professional working in all kind of genres , but he made Western especially . His first one was ¨Some dollars for Django¨ co-directed by Leon Klimovsky , but actually , for the most part of its filming by the disagreements arising with Klimovsky was realized by Enzo G. Castellari, which this film was his directorial debut in a sub-genre that became one of its greatest representatives ; in fact if you compare the beginning of "7 Winchester for a massacre" which would direct the next year and the end this one seem to be similar direction . After that , he went on directing ¨ Johnny Hamlet¨ , ¨Kill them everybody and came back alone¨, ¨Tedeum¨ , ¨Cipolla colt¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨, and the masterpiece : ¨Keoma¨ and finally its inferior sequel ¨Jonathan of the Bears¨ with Franco Nero . Some of them are serious , others are goofy and plenty of slapstick and slapdash . He also directed successful wartime movies as ¨Inglorious bastards ¨ , ¨Eagles over London¨ , Sci-Fi : ¨1990 : Bronx warriors¨ , "The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland" , "Escape from the Bronx" , Adventures : ¨Tuareg¨, ¨Adventures and loves of Scaramouche¨ , Simbad¨, "The Shark Hunter" and Poliziotteschi : "Day of the Cobra" , ¨Striker¨, ¨Heroin Busters¨. The pic will appeal to Eurocult fans and Italian-Spanish production enthusiasts.

'Cold Eyes of Fear' is a 1971 stylish giallo thriller directed by Enzo G. Castellari with a tense claustrophobic atmosphere, decent visual flair and an interesting set up with a few twists and turns thrown into the mix. But despite these elements the movie is a rather tepid affair with a sluggish pace and lacking in thrills. To put it mildly it's boring.

The plot begins with Peter Bedell (Gianni Garko) who picks up Anna (Giovanna Ralli) from a club and takes her back to his uncle's house. They soon discover they are not alone when Ex-Convict Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff) and his henchman Quill (Julian Mateos) are there waiting for them and takes them hostage to extract revenge on Peter's uncle Judge Bedell (Fernando Rey) for wrongfully sending one of them to jail.

What could have been a cool home invasion thriller soon becomes rather tedious with too much talking and exposition, and not enough excitement. Even when the action ramps up towards the end, with the plot twists and action, it's merely too little to late and despite some strong performances from the cast and stylish production, the movie falls flat with the director feeling confined by the limitations of the material as the concept wasn't half bad, it just could have done with better writing.

Overall 'Cold Eyes of Fear' is a rather lacklustre giallo and there's far better examples of the genre out there to enjoy. Skip this one.

I recently watched the Italian thriller 🇮🇹 Cold Eyes of Fear (1971) on Tubi. The story centers on a wealthy family led by the father, a successful lawyer. In an attempt to irritate his father, the son brings home a beautiful, ordinary woman for a weekend fling. But his plans take a dark turn when a man his father once sent to prison shows up seeking revenge.

Directed by Enzo G. Castellari (Escape from the Bronx), the film stars Giovanna Ralli (Deadfall), Frank Wolff (Once Upon a Time in the West), Fernando Rey (The French Connection), and Karin Schubert (The Panther Squad).

This film leans more toward a whodunit thriller than a traditional giallo or Italian horror. However, it incorporates familiar elements from those genres. The acting is somewhat stiff at times, and dramatic moments often feature prolonged close-ups and lingering stares, which became unintentionally funny after a while. Still, the cast interacts well, and the film offers the expected mix of attractive female leads, nudity, and sex scenes.

The action sequences, particularly for the time, are well done, with some impressive fight scenes, though there aren't enough of them to build real tension or make the stakes feel high. Unfortunately, the ending is anticlimactic and doesn't quite live up to the build-up.

Overall, Cold Eyes of Fear is unremarkable and lacks enough engaging content to recommend. I'd score it a 4/10 and suggest skipping it.

This is one of the weakest Italian thrillers I've seen. It's a giallo/house-invasion hybrid but it doesn't really succeed in either genre. The film begins like a typical giallo with an opening credit sequence following a car through the streets of London to a Morricone soundtrack; this is followed by a textbook giallo stalk scene which, somewhat bizarrely, turns out to be a stage show. Up to this point the movie is perfectly serviceable but really, this is as good as it gets. The majority of the remainder of the film is about a lawyer and a prostitute who are held captive by a couple of bad guys. And, to be perfectly honest, they don't get up to anything very interesting.

Unlike other weak giallos, like Slaughter Hotel for example, this movie neither delivers much sleaze or is photographed particularly attractively. And the score, while being a stronger aspect of the film, is basically Morricone-by-numbers. However, there is some fun to be had with the ridiculous dubbing, which makes the actors appear that they cannot act for toffee; and the guy called Quill has a very very silly accent. No one in the U.K. talks like this trust me.

Overall, I'm not sure who I can recommend this to. Fans of giallos will find it too unsuspenseful and uninvolving and those who like house invasion movies will not find it anywhere sleazy enough. At best it offers a few laughs and some semi-inventive scenes. But really, it's not very good.