Excellent giallo, with just a touch more of the thriller about it than is usual. Direction is assured, camera-work innovative and exciting with all the performances solid, especially the charismatic Mr Nero. The killer does not restrict themselves to women here, for a change, and has a go at men women and children. Fast moving and most entertaining with no pause for any ponderous detective work. Super stylish with amazingly spacious apartments, swirling staircases and contemporary concrete and glass splendour of late 60's Italian architecture. Last but by no means least a lovely understated but truly effective and sparingly used Morricone soundtrack. It's not a lot more than the same enigmatic theme repeated with various orchestrations but it helps the work enormously, as does the splattering of what sound like industrial music and also the silences, especially for the murders, no crashing crescendo, simply unnerving silence. A fave.

Charismatic international star Franco Nero makes all the difference in this well plotted Giallo co-written by director Luigi Bazzoni, based on a novel by David McDonald Devine. As fans of this genre come to expect, it's a good looking film made with some style by Bazzoni. There's no shortage of red herrings, and the story does keep you guessing - and on your toes. It's got some standout sequences, such as a paraplegic murder victim trying to get to a phone without the aid of a wheelchair, the stalking of an innocent child, and the final chase / fight scene between protagonist and killer. This last bit is very atmospheric. Overall the film does move somewhat slowly, and the script is talky, but it resolves itself in a neat enough way.

Nero is well cast as an alcoholic reporter named Andrea Bild. After a young man named Lubbock (Maurizio Bonuglia) is assaulted, this serves as a sign of further violence: a murderer will soon target specific people, and all of them are people whom Andrea knows. Naturally, the police, led by an inspector played by Wolfgang Preiss, are suspicious of Andrea and *he* suspects that they're tailing him. In order to clear his name, he plays detective on his own.

That aspect of the story is certainly very familiar, but in general "The Fifth Cord" is enjoyable if not the most exciting film of its kind. The cast is good: also appearing are Silvia Monti, Ira von Furstenberg, Edmund Purdom (always nice to see this guy in anything),Rossella Falk, Renato Romano, and Luciano Bartoli. Luscious blonde American actress Pamela Tiffin shows off the goods in one scene. Talented and prolific legendary composer Ennio Morricone does typically solid work in terms of the score.

If the viewer is an aficionado of the Giallo, they should find this to their liking.

Seven out of 10.

Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage has scores of imitators that rose in the wake of its success. There were scores of gorgeous women being murdered, jazzy soundtracks blaring and movies with animals in their titles. And then, every once in a while, there's a giallo that rises beyond the pack and asserts itself as a true work of art.

Giornata Nera per L'Ariete, or Black Day for the Ram, may appear to be an animal title, but it really refers to astrology (which kind of gives away some of the film). It's better known as The Fifth Cord.

Director Luigi Bazzoni doesn't have a huge list of films to his credit, but between this film, The Possessed and Footprints on the Moon, his take on the giallo form is unlike anyone else's. This is more than a murder mystery. It's a complex take on alienation and isolation at the end of the last century.

Based on David McDonald Devine's novel - but based in Italy, not Scotland as in the book - The Fifth Cord starts with a man barely surviving a vicious attack on the way home from a New Year's Eve party. We even get to hear the words of the killer:

"I am going to commit murder. I am going to kill another human being. How easy it is to say, already I feel like a criminal. I've been thinking it over for weeks, but now that I've giving voice to my evil intention I feel comfortably relaxed. Perhaps the deed itself will be an anti-climax, but I think not."

Writer Andrea Bild (Franco Nero!) is assigned to report on the case and to put it bluntly, he's a mess. Ever since his separation, he's been drowning his life in whiskey and women.

Soon, the attacker strikes again and this time, whomever it is succeeds and leaves behind a black glove with a finger missing (Evil FIngers is an alternate title). That one finger missing turns into two, then three and comes with evil phone calls. Andrea has to take on the giallo role of the investigator before he becomes either the fifth victim or is arrested by the police - it turns out that he was at that very same New Year's party, as was every single one of the victims.

The story itself is rather basic, but the way that it's told is anything but. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography places The Fifth Cord in an industrialized Rome that's rarely seen in giallo, eschewing the historic architecture we're used to seeing. I'd compare it to a less flashy Tenebrae, but this was made a decade before that movie.

If you come to these movies for the fashions, well, you may be slightly disappointed. But if you love the decor, look out. I've never seen more spiral staircases in one movie ever before. The house with the giant fireplace was also used for Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet, but looks so much more impressive here. And I loved how the modern architecture gives little room to run in the closing moments.

This movie has never looked better than on its recent Arrow Video release. It's jaw-dropping how gorgeous the film appears and the Ennio Morricone soundtrack positively emerges from the speakers. I expect great things from this company, but they continually surprise and delight me at every turn.