User Reviews

Lisa Baumer (Ida Galli) collects on her husband's life insurance—a cool $1m—after he is blown to smithereens in an air disaster. Several people suspect Lisa of foul play, including a junkie ex-lover who resorts to blackmail, her husband's mistress Lara (Janine Reynaud), who also feels entitled to some of the money, and insurance investigator Peter Lynch (George Hilton). But when Lisa is murdered after cashing her check, and the money goes missing, the case becomes much more complicated…

Sergio Martino's The Case of the Scorpion's Tail might not be the most innovative of giallos, but it does meet many fans' expectations of the genre, making it a very enjoyable way to waste some time.

An animal in the title: the insect of the title refers to the Scorpion-shaped cuff-link discovered at the scene of an attempted murder.

A convoluted plot: this one's got twists and turns aplenty, making it a thoroughly engrossing mystery from start to finish A character struggling to recall a vital clue: Peter Linch is convinced that he knows something that will help to solve the case.

Red herrings: there are lots of these, but to tell you about them would be to spoil the film.

Exotic locations: the film opens in London, but the action soon moves to sun-kissed Athens.

Stylish cinematography and lighting: Martino employs some crazy camera angles to help spice up proceedings, and lights certain scenes with vivid colour.

Sexy women in peril: there are several Euro-babes in this giallo, a couple of whom meet very nasty fates. Anita Strindberg as French photojournalist Cléo Dupont, Peter's love interest, provides the obligatory T&A, happily showing off her '70s silicone implants.

Creepy dolls/freaky paintings: it has absolutely nothing at all to do with the story, but there is a scene featuring several dolls with missing eyes and limbs, and a portrait of a man with bug-eyes.

Gruesome murders: Martino ensures that gore-hounds are kept happy with two bloody throat slashings, a nasty knife in the abdomen, an even nastier broken bottle in the eye, and a victim having the back of their hands slashed with a switchblade before falling from a height to their death.

A leather-gloved killer: goes without saying.

Blatant product placement: fancy a glass of J&B Scotch? You might do after watching this film.

Cops who figure out the truth in the nick of time: the law waits till the very last moment before arriving on the scene to save the heroine.

In fact, all that's missing is a haunting lullaby/nursery rhyme.

7.5/10, happily rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

After dipping his toes in the giallo pool with the masterful film "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (1971), director Sergio Martino followed up that same year with what turns out to be another twisty suspense thriller, "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail." Like his earlier effort, this one stars handsome macho dude George Hilton, who would go on to star in Martino's Satanic/giallo hybrid "All the Colors of the Dark" the following year. "Scorpion's Tail" also features the actors Luigi Pistilli and Anita Strindberg, who would go on to portray an unhappy couple (to put it mildly!) in Martino's "Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key" (1972). (I just love that title!) I suppose Edwige Fenech was busy the month they shot this! Anyway, this film boasts the stylish direction that Martino fans would expect, as well as a twisty plot, some finely done murder set pieces, and beautiful Athenian location shooting. The story this time concerns an insurance investigator (Hilton) and a journalist (Strindberg, here looking like Farrah Fawcett's prettier, smarter sister) who become embroiled in a series of grisly murders following a plane crash and the inheritance of $1 million by a beautiful widow. I really thought I had this picture figured out halfway through, but I was dead wrong. Although the plot does make perfect sense in this giallo, I may have to watch the film again to fully appreciate all its subtleties. Highlights of the picture, for me, were Anita's cat-and-mouse struggle with the killer at the end, a particularly suspenseful house break-in, and a nifty fight atop a tiled roof; lots of good action bursts in this movie! The fine folks at No Shame are to be thanked for still another great-looking DVD, with nice subtitling and interesting extras. Whotta great outfit it's turned out to be, in its ongoing quest to bring these lost Italian gems back from oblivion.

¨The Case of the Scorpion's Tail¨ begins with the mysterious death of a billionaire when a plane explodes and spirals into the killing ; as the newspapers publicize : ¨Air disaster , nor survivors¨ . As his suddenly rich wife (Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli) because he's insured for one million of dollars . Being the unfaithful spouse the beneficiary as the insurance agency arranges to pay . It draws the attention of various sleuths to sniff out suspects . A dogged and top investigator named Peter Lynch (George Hilton) , a Greek police (Luigi Pistilli), a Interpol agent ( Alberto De Mendoza ) and a journalist ( Anita Strindberg) , follow a wake of blood to the bitter final . Meanwhile Peter Lynch becomes companion and protector the widow .

Sergio Martino's great success is compellingly directed with well staged murders plenty of startling visual content , though was submitted to limited censorship in Spain . This is a customary slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . The picture packs atmospheric blending of eerie thrills and creepy chills combined with a twisted finale . It displays lots of guts and blood but it seems pretty mild compared to today's gore feasts . It's a solid movie , a thrilling story plenty of suspense and intrigue in which the victims seem to be continuous . The staged killings are the high points of the movie , they deliver the goods plenty of screams, shocks and tension . The intriguing moments are compactly made and fast moving ; as the film itself takes place from various points of sights . It packs tension, shocks , thrills, chills and lots of blood . There's plenty of moments of gore and a number of scenes that are quite thrilling , resulting to be definitely the spotlight of the film the surprising ending situation . Lousy special effects when the plane explodes , it's in made in ridiculous scale model that lookalike a little toy . Written by the usuals , Ernesto Gastaldi and Eduardo Manzanos Brochero ( also producer with his Production Company called Copercines , as he produced several Gialli and Western as ¨Apocalypse Joe , Danger Pass , Winchester one among thousand , Arrival Sartana , Djanjo the condemned ¨) . Good ambiance design and acceptable production design by Cubero and Galicia , both of whom created lots of sets in several Western filmed in the 60s and 70s . Sergio Martino's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and more inclined toward violence and lots of killings . It's a co-production Italian- Spanish , for that reason appears Spanish actors as Luis Barboo , Alberto De Mendoza , Janine Reynaud and Italian players as Luigi Pistilli and Ida Galli , among others . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Emilio Foriscot who photographed splendidly Londres , Madrid , Rome and Greece where is developed the action . However , the photography is washed-out and for that reason is necessary an urgent remastering . Very good and suspenseful score by Bruno Nicolai , known disciple of Ennio Morricone and his director of orchestra .

The picture is professionally directed by the prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, Giallo , comedy, Western, and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He especially was expert on Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨ and ¨Arizona returns¨ and Giallo as this ¨The case of scorpion's tail ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨the scorpion with two tails¨ and of course ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨. Rating: Acceptable and passable , this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills. This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to hardcore Gialli fans

Director Sergio Martino was a regular Itailan Giallo director, who brought us "They're Coming To Get You/ All The Colors Of Darkness/ Day Of The Maniac", "Next!/ The Strange Vice Of Madam Wardh", and "Torso/ The Corpses Show Evidence Of Rape (though I'm not sure why this title is relevent, because I don't remember any moments of rape from the killer?)" and a slew of other nasty little numbers. But I found "The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail" to be his most accomplished work (outside of the silly model Airplane explosion in the beginning!). The rather perplexing story weaves so many red herrings, that when the killer finally does become unmasked, you are a little surprised! Keep in mind that not all that you see, is what you may have really seen. Keeping with Giallo tradition, this film has a little nod to Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blow Up" (Dario Argento's "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage" would be the first of "Blow Up" immitators, which loved to have "I thought I saw something...if only I could recall what it was!" moments in it.) with even a moment where the investigators "blow up" a photo to find a clue in the picture. This film contains (can you believe?) actual tense moments in it. The scene where Anita Strindberg is assaulted even had me biting at my finger nails. There are two parts to this film, the first is centered on Ida Galli (Evelyn Stewart) and then a third of the way switching to Cleo Dupont (Anita Strindberg) in a "Psycho" style switch of heroines.

Both leads (genre female regulars) are interesting to follow (and sensually alluring to look at) and the film moves at an even and fast pace, keeping the viewer inticed. I have to say that after watching this film though, it was really George Hilton who won me over, and made me an instant fan. Though like the female leads, he's a genre regular, I found this to be his best role. Always smarmy and shifty, George Hilton personifies the Giallo male to perfection! I won't describe the story in any great detail, because I think it should be viewed with a virgin state of mind (also I'm too lazy to describe this convoluted story), but it does contain the usual block gloved assassin (always super human in ability) and the gratuitous killing of female characters. I can't honestly say that it's healthy to enjoy such misogynistic dementia or condone objectification of women, but Giallo Cinema is more interesting then the predictable Hollywood road that bulldozes us with the same exact car everytime. My girlfriend would accuse Giallo Cinema of a one make car as well... but for some of us...it's a Jaguar! Highly recommended (for some)!!!!

When a plane explodes in the air with no survivors, the unfaithful Lisa Baumer (Evelyn Stewart) is informed that her husband, businessman Baumer, left a one-million-dollar insurance police and she is the beneficiary. She travels from London to Athens to receive the payment in cash and then to travel to Greece to meet her lover. Meanwhile, the insurance company suspects that a bomb might be planted in the plane and assigns their investigator Peter Lynch (George Hilton) to investigate the widow in Greece. Soon she is threatened by Baumer's lover Lara Florakis (Janine Reynaud) and her bodyguard Sharif (Luis Barboo), but Peter protects and rescues her from the attackers. When the front desk calls Lisa to take the taxi to the airport, they discover that she was murdered, and the money has vanished. Soon local Police Inspector Stavros (Luigi Pistilli), Interpol Agent John Stanley (Alberto de Mendoza) and the French Investigative Reporter Cléo Dupont (Anita Strindberg), who is having an affair with Peter, investigate the case where Peter is the prime suspect.

"La coda dello scorpione", a.k.a. "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail", is an enjoyable and attractive Italian Spanish UK thriller (or giallo). The plot follows the usual formula, with a mystery, twists, sexy and beautiful actresses, a handsome male character and many crimes. The locations are wonderful, but there are also silly moments and dialogs. The special effects, specially the gore, are not good but acceptable considering it is a 1971 movie. The conclusion is weak, but the film is worthwhile watching. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Cauda do Escorpião" ("The Scorpion's Tail")

What a bloody fun experience! 'The Case of the Scorpion's Tail' is an impossible puzzle, and is so with purpose.

This film serves to take you on a violent, shocking, thrill ride.

The build to each climax is short, simple and damn effective. As is the set-up for the plot. A woman is granted one million dollars, others want that hefty sum and will do anything to get their sweaty hands on it (and probably a half-naked woman in the process).

Shown through cinematography creative as anything, lots of gratuitous unappealing sexytime and unexpected conveniences is the violent, shocking, thrill ride exactly as intended.

Filmed mostly in Greece, this is a flawed but enjoyable giallo. The editing is incredibly jerky at times, the gore effects are unconvincing (the blood looks like red paint) and the solution, while fairly unexpected, is not the most original you're ever likely to come across. But the smooth George Hilton and the voluptuous Anita Strindberg (she could have easily been one of the best Bond girls) make an attractive couple, the story dares to break some conventions (the first slashing comes when you least expect it) and mystery fans should generally be pleased. (**)

Well made and stylish while still ultimately making sense this thriller would work better for non giallo fans to get interested in the genre than the later Argento entries which go overboard in all directions.

For fans of these crazed Italian thrillers, they will appreciate George Hilton and the turns his character takes and what he's put through. The camera-work is fresh with dashes of graphic violence and odd, but appropriate choices and a good not overblown music score as well. The less you know about the story the better to make it work.

The only thing lacking in keeping this from being a great Sergio Martino directed giallo is that the story doesn't have that extra sexual or psychological, or both element to put it over the top. It's more a routine mystery, the characters are well defined but live or die according to the plot not according to their own virtues and flaws.

The recent DVD (2005) release is beautiful looking and definitely the way to see the film, unless these ever get art house screenings which seems unlikely.

Love for Giallo or thrillers or love in general that is. Maybe just the latter? Though if you don't like the genre itself, the question is why would you want to watch this anyway? But murder mystery is one thing, giving you one of the biggest red herrings with - well I won't spoilt it, suffice to say, one does not expect that character fate at all.

But it works in favor of the movie and even if maybe you can decipher and see the twist, it still works. I guess I've seen one too many (or at least quite a lot) of these types of movies to have grown a feeling of how most go down - no pun intended. Decent acting, script works the way it should and enough murder, mayhem and nudity to keep everyone occupied who is not too squeamish

Just watched The Case of the Scorpion's Tail for the first time, very impressed. Incredibly stylish, good looking cast, great locations (London and Athens), a terrific musical score by Bruno Nicolai, a few interesting plot twists and some decent murder scenes. The latter reminded me very much of Dario Argento's giallo movies, the blood does look more like red paint to be honest but the kills are pretty brutal (despite the BBFC 15 rating). I liked one scene in which the camera is angled at 90 degrees and swings between 2 people having a conversation. This movie ticks all the right giallo boxes, right down to bottles of J&B whisky everywhere, and the quote I have used for my title is one of the best lines ever! Better than director Segio Martino's later film "Torso", this is essential viewing for fans of the Giallo genre. Superb.

I've discovered that, unless you're going with the classic giallos of Argento or Bava, this Italian horror subgenre can be a bit hit and miss. The Case of the Scorpion's Tail is one of the better, more stylish ones with tons of twists and turns around every corner.

In the film, a rich woman's husband dies in a plane crash, making her the sole inheritor of his fortune, but someone has other ideas and will stop at nothing to claim the money for themselves.

The Case of the Scorpion's Tail can go from straight up Hitchcockian suspense to downright daffy in the blink of an eye and this keeps the audience on their toes. The plot is as convoluted as they come, so expect to scratch your head many times throughout.

As many of these Italian giallo films were, this film is remarkably well shot and glossy with some very interesting compositions and Bruno Nicolai's score makes for a nice earworm.

While she makes love to someone else, Lisa's husband dies in a jet crash. She stands to inherit all of his money, despite them being basically separated. An ex-lover has a confrontation with her, threatening her with blackmail. She pays up — some money now, then some when she gets the letter where she wished that her husband was dead. But a gloved hand finds the letter and kills the ex-lover!

Lisa has to go to Athens to collect the money, but runs into one of her husband's ex-lovers, Lara Florakis (Janine Reynaud, Succubus) and a knife wielding maniac. Peter Lynch (George Hilton from All the Colors of the Dark) saves her and takes her to the hotel. She asks for all of the money in cash, despite warnings to how dangerous that is.

That same maniac tries to kill Peter, then comes back to kill Lisa, sharp jazz wails staccato punctuating each stab of the knife, each rip across her body. Jump cuts and flashes and the room is covered by the police, who question him.

An INTERPOL agent, Inspector Stavros (Luigi Pistilli, The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I Have the Key), offers to help Peter with the case and the moment he goes to talk to Lara, he's attacked by the gloved man.

That brings in Cléo Dupont(Anita Strindberg, Who Saw Her Die?), a journalist who pretty much instantly falls in love with our hero. They go up to his room, but it's been turned over by the police, with even the bed sliced open looking for the million dollars that went missing when Lisa was killed.

Turns out the gloved man wasn't on Lara's side — he or she slits her throat, then runs up a spiral staircase as a guard gives chase. This reveals a room full of one eyed baby dolls and a strange oil painting. Between the woman's face against the glass with blood spraying everywhere and these reveals, this film is really tipping its hat toward Argento.

The bodyguard chases after the killer, but is knocked off the roof. One slash across the fingers and we have another dead body. It's 45 minutes in…and most of the IMDb cast is already dead!

That said — there's a stewardess that gets the gift of scorpion earrings from an unseen lover. So there's that.

Meanwhile, Peter and Cléo make love on an orange shag couch while a peeping tom watches from the window. You know how Bruce Banner always has on purple slacks and you wonder, "Who wears purple slacks?" Peter does.

Read more at http://bit.ly/2xdXawP

This is a good one. Some of the acting is excellent for this genre. There is suspense and mystery. It takes awhile to get going, but about a quarter of the way in it falls into rhythm and the pacing improves. It's def worth watching if you're a fan of giallo and maybe even if you're not yet a fan

After the death of her husband in a plane crash, a woman receives the inheritance left behind and enjoys herself but is soon under attack by a multitude of parties that want the money, and when they succeed a private investigator and journalist decide to figure out what happened only to find themselves the new targets.

This was a solid if somewhat flawed giallo. As with most entries here, this one manages to get a lot to like by weaving together a generally fun and engaging central mystery. The emergence of the monumental life-insurance police and the resulting greed by the various sundry characters wanting to get their hands on it plays a prominent role here in tying together the disparate plotlines as it switches focus. Upon realizing what's happening with the numerous deaths around them and how the clues come together, there's a great storyline here featuring the hunt for the missing money and how everyone fits together in the end. As well, the central murder scenes are impressive and just an overall blast. The initial ambush in the theater and chase through the building is quite thrilling, as is the later chase inside the victims' house while the raging thunderstorm blares outside offering fun, thrilling scenes that have plenty to like while building a fine setup for later. Featuring several fun brawls featuring the killer confronting and attacking various victims in both lethal and non-lethal confrontations have some excitement to them, and with a fun finale revealing some surprise revelations, great chasing and a fun detail to the investigation there's plenty to like with this one. There are some issues to be had with this one. One of the main flaws is how the pacing is quite disjointing, as obvious cut scenes are left in to boost up the running time. The exploits of the hotel managers calling around to find out what's happening, scenes of the investigators running around the city in an attempt to understand clues or general travelogue scenes of the city are completely unnecessary to move this along and could've been taken out without any change to the film. Contrasted with the shorter, straightforward stalking scenes this leaves an indelible and obvious mark against the film. The other problem to this one is a wholly jarring and somewhat scattershot storyline which plays out here. The initial part plays out nicely with the apparent death and struggle to reclaim the policy which is a fine storyline with the potential for quite a few scummy players, but then it shifts to the investigator and then the reporter which is somewhat chaotic. This has no real logical throughput for the rapid shift of characters being thrust into the spotlight since these two just seem dropped into the story halfway through the film with little build-up and seems to be quite confusing as to why they're both involved. It's not a big issue but does lower it somewhat.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Nudity and Language.

I can only compare this film to a person who you know is conventionally beautiful or handsome by society's standards but you personally aren't interested at all. The Case of the Scorpion's Tail isn't bad and it doesn't overplay sexploitation or gore to make up for lack of style or plot but I only found it to be meh overall.

I'm more of a Bava fan of wildly colorful gothic style and spooky atmospheric Italian stories. This flick reminded me a lot of 1970s night time soap operas popular in America in syndication in the 1980s or 90s. Seems very mainstream and uninspired somehow but I can't actually say anything bad about it, it's just not for me.

I'm really tempted to reward "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail" with a solid 10 out of 10 rating, but that would largely be because I think Italian horror cinema of the 1970's is SO much better than the cheesy crap I usually watch. But even without an extra point for nostalgia, this is STILL a genuine masterwork and earning a high rating for its excellently convoluted story, uncanny atmosphere, blood-soaked killing sequences and superb casting choices. In my humble opinion this is actually Sergio Martino's finest giallo, and that has got to mean something, as "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh", "All the Colors of the Dark", "Torso" and "Your Vice is a Locked Room and only I have the Key" are all top-notch genre achievements as well. But this film is just a tad bit superior with its ultra-compelling plot revolving on an insurance fraud gone madly out of control. Following her husband's peculiar death in a plane explosion (!), Lisa Baumer promptly becomes the suspicious owner of one million dollars and she's eager to leave the country as soon as possible. Due to the bizarre circumstances, the insurance company puts their best investigator Peter Lynch on the case and he follows her to Greece. There, Lisa becomes the target of many assaults and the case's mysteriousness increases when it turns out several people are hunting for the money. I'm always overly anxious when briefly summarizing gialli because I don't want to risk giving away essential plot elements. In "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail", the events take an abrupt and totally unexpected turn before the story is even halfway, and I certainly don't want to ruin this for you. Many red herrings follow after that, but Sergio Martino always succeeds to stay one step ahead of you and, even though not a 100% satisfying, the denouement is at least surprising. It's also a very stylish film, with imaginative camera-work and excellent music by Bruno Nicolai. Everyone' s favorite giallo muse Edwige Fenech oddly didn't make it to this cast (she stars in no less than 3 other supreme Martino gialli), but Anita Strindberg ("Lizard in a Woman's Skin", "Who Saw Her Die?") is a more than worthy replacement for her. The charismatic and hunky George Hilton is reliable as always in his role of insurance investigator and – duh – ladies' man deluxe. If you're a fan of giallo, don't wait as long as I did to WATCH THIS FILM!!!!

While the movie has some good moments, it fails to be thrilling and interesting till the end. At one point of the movie (you will know of what I'm talking about when you come to the part), you ask yourself why this movie wasn't a romantic comedy rather than a giallo. Sadly, it is what it is. Some nice looking ladies and their bodies can't really raise the movie above the bar of mediocre fun. Some effort is clearly put in the way story is presented, but it's nothing groundbreaking. And so, we have a rather uninspired piece of giallo which is good for a nice afternoon watch for the fans of the genre, but nothing more. I give it 6/10!

Terribly slow movie and I'm pretty sure there are more expressive statues of the actors in this movie. The plot is not bad but when I see the leading actress who sees the third corpse of the day and looks at it with the same emotion with which she would look at tea that has cooled, I understand that there is something wrong.

This isn't as popular as Martino's other gialli, perhaps because his regular leading lady Edwige Fenech – who was indisposed – got replaced here by Anita Strindberg (and with her entrance delayed until almost the half-hour mark); in fact, the film adopts a PSYCHO (1960)-ish gimmick by having Evelyn Stewart's character take center-stage for the first third of the narrative and then get bumped off! To make up perhaps for a fairly conventional plot – with a handful of characters after a missing $1 million in insurance money – the violence is laid on pretty thick throughout (though not so much the sex this time around); similarly, the director includes any number of preposterous camera angles to liven up proceedings and disorientate viewers. Frankly, such flamboyant measures (extending to the trailer, which absurdly likens THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL to milestones of German Expressionism, Soviet propaganda cinema and Surrealist films maudits!) weren't really needed as interest is generally maintained regardless with the sorting out of the various clues, twists and red herrings. In fact, the film keeps one guessing as to the killer's eventual identity and this certainly adds to the fun. The cast helps a lot, too: George Hilton gets one of his meatier parts, while Strindberg does well enough considering (in fact, I couldn't quite visualize Fenech in the role!); apart from the requisite figures of authority – Alberto De Mendoza as an Interpol agent lending a helping hand (who also ends up getting the girl!) and Luigi Pistilli as the local cop on the case – two Jess Franco alumni, Janine Reynaud and Luis Barboo, surprisingly feature prominently among the suspects/murder victims. Other typical assets are the exotic Mediterranean setting (mainly Greece) and yet another solid score by Bruno Nicolai (coincidentally, himself a Franco regular).