Cold Eyes of Fear
| Cold Eyes of Fear | |
|---|---|
 Italian film poster for Cold Eyes of Fear | |
| Directed by | Enzo G. Castellari |
| Produced by | José Frade[1] |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone |
| Cinematography | Antonio Lopez Ballesteros[1] |
| Edited by | Vincenzo Tomassi |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Cineraid |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes[1] |
| Country |
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| Box office | ₤197 million |
Cold Eyes of Fear (Italian: Gli occhi freddi della paura) is a 1971 Italian-Spanish thriller film directed by Enzo G. Castellari.
Cast
- Giovanna Ralli: Anna
- Frank Wolff: Arthur Welt
- Fernando Rey: Juez Flower
- Gianni Garko: Peter Flower
- Julián Mateos: Quill
- Karin Schubert: Nightclub Actress
Production
The film was written by Enzo G. Castellari and Tito Carpi.[1] Although Leo Anchóriz of Spain is credited as a co-writer, he didn't have anything to do with the script.[2] His name appears solely for co-production laws that were required to establish the film as a dual-nationality production.[2] Capri and Castellari wrote a film based on the idea of the entire film being set in an apartment, an idea influenced by the film Wait Until Dark.[2] Casterllari was also influenced by William Friedkin's The Boys in the Band (1970) and borrowed plot elements from William Wyler's The Desperate Hours (1955).[2] The film was originally intended for foreign audiences so Castellari and Carpi had their script translated into English by actor Frank Wolff's wife Alice.[2]
The film was shot at Cinecittà in Rome and on location in London.[1] Castellari shot the film in sequence.[2] During filming, Alice left Wolff.[2] Wolff committed suicide a few months after production in December 1971 in his hotel room in Rome.[2]
Release
Cold Eyes of Fear was released in Italy on April 6, 1971 where it was distributed by Cineraid.[1] It grossed a total of 197,089,000 lira domestically.[1] It was released in Madrid Spain on May 21, 1972.[1]
Reception
AllMovie described the film as a "cleverly crafted giallo-thriller", noting that the film appropriates "some of the form's penchant for cool production design and bizarre cinematography (one scene is shot through ice cubes in a glass)" and that a "kinky S&M stage show which, despite occurring at the start of the film, remains its most memorable sequence."[3] The review concluded that "The rest of this loopy Italian-Spanish co-production isn't bad, however, crisply edited by Vincenzo Tomassi (who went on to edit many of Lucio Fulci's most popular horror films) and well scored by Ennio Morricone"[3] Danny Shipka, author of Perverse Titilation a book about European exploitation films stated that the film appeared to be "designed to be a thriller that incorporated some giallo constructs when the subgenre became lucrative."[4] The review concluded that audiences of either thrillers or gialli were probably disappointed with Cold Eyes of Fear and that "there are plenty of action-packed, gore-soaked gialli to watch, but this is not one of them."[4]