THE DESIGNATED VICTIM is a giallo/crime hybrid with an off-form Tomas Milian playing before he became attached to the polizia genre. It turns out to be a straight remake of the Hitchcock classic STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, albeit with a much less interesting scenario and a rather static backdrop. The direction is strictly pedestrian and fails to build much kind of suspense at all, with the end result that this is slow-moving and stilted at times. Milian's dullish character meets a flamboyant, Freddie Mercury-lookalike count and the two agree on mutual murders, but things become complicated when he can't go through with his end of it. A police procedural sub-plot only serves to slow things down further. On the plus side, it's a classy production and the Venice locations are typically picturesque, but you're just left wanting a bit more.
Review of The Designated Victim
