La bestia uccide a sangue freddo AKA Slaughter Hotel (Fernando Di Leo, 1971)
A Place Where Nothing Is Forbidden!
La bestia uccide a sangue freddo translates more or less as the beast kills in cold blood, which is a more fitting title for this curious Giallo/Porno flick from 1971. A no-doubt heavily cut version was released in the UK as... (drum roll) Asylum Erotica! Phhht! Silly bastards!
The story is a classic giallo template: A remote castle that's now a weird kind of rehab clinic is littered with beautiful glamourous ladies, has a masked killer on the loose. The killer is slaughtering these busty, lusty, oh-so lovely ladies using weapons from a -erm, display, actually in the, erm, clinic. Preposterous, right?!
Director Fernando Di Leo is more known for his Italian Poliziotteschi flicks, and Slaughter Hotel represents his only Giallo. It's certainly handsomely-made, but Slaughter Hotel really is all over the shop! To be honest, not a great deal happens in this 'Hotel'. Di Leo seems more intent on throwing up as many red herrings as possible, and mixes this with many scenes of naked ladies and big bushy beavers. More Explicit scenes of vulvas were added into the movie for the French release (ohhh you naughty, naughty French!) And this Raro release represents that very version!
Despite all the lesbotic lustiness and preposterous porno moments, the film has an undercurrent of misogyny that's rife in all of Di Leo's films. This one is strictly men only. Sinsationally seductive siren Rosalba Neri is very sultry in the role of Nymphomaniac Anna: she has her walk and she knows how to use it! Klaus Kinski has a fairly small role as Dr Clay, which he pretty much sleepwalks through. The rest of the cast are all pretty good, some of the ladies are there only for the porno moments, and some of the chaps are only there as red herrings. Silvano Spadaccino's 'muzak' is sloppy and occasionally irritating. Quite ill-fitting for a film like this. But, it never truly detracts from the entertainment factor, which -given the random bloody madness of the film- is actually very high! I was surprised how much I enjoyed this sleazy trash!
This Blu-ray looks amazing, especially considering the low budget/high sleaze factor. But do watch the Italian version with English subtitles, as the English dub has bits of audio missing (lost? Never recorded??)
Slaughter hotel is pure pornographic sexploitation. Surely the one thing the Italians were masters of back in the 1970s. Highly recommended for gimps everywhere!
