Death Walks On High Heels

Death Walks on High Heels (La Morte Cammina I Tacchi Alti) (1971)

Runtime: 108 minutes

Directed by: Luciano Ercoli

Starring: Frank Wolff, Nieves Navarro, Simon Andreu, Carlo Gentili, George Rigaud

From: Atlantida Films/Cinecompany

 

I usually don't watch something for the purpose of appealing to all the followers I have (almost 1800! The high amount will never not be a surprise to me and thank you to everyone that does follow) but the warm reception that my take on the giallo-influenced The Corruption of Chris Miller made me think that I should see that niche at least once in awhile. For years now I've heard good things about director Luciano Ercoli's pair of giallo movies, this and Death Walks at Midnight. Death Walks on High Heels worked even better for me than expected.

The plot: there is an “exotic dancer” named Nicole who performs in Paris, has a drunken douche of a lover and an older English man has the hots for her. Oh, and her father is a master thief who is killed by a black gloved killer on a train in the opening. As Nicole was played by the fetching Nieves Navarro, multiple men drooling over her isn't so hard to understand. Definitely, all her assets were on display; this (unfortunately) includes an early scene where she's dancing while covered w/ what might as well be shoe polish to “play an exotic character”. That was regrettable... otherwise I have no major complaints. Anyhow, the older man has a wife and well, this dude definitely has a type.

Anyhow, this killer goes after Nicole as he believes she has diamonds that her father nabbed soon before his death. Not even fleeing Paris for England stops this menace. Now, the movie has plenty of sleaze, whether it be abusive men, voyeurism, copious amounts of nudity or bloody moments. While there aren't that many deaths, I was still greatly entertained. It was a mystery that had various surprises and certainly had many twists, yet was not so convoluted or muddled that it was impossible to follow along-or care. There were some rather colorful characters-my favorite being a droll police inspector-a few darkly comic bits and a score that I adored from Stelvio Cipriani. It may be what I think is the best, and I've heard seven other scores from him through the years.

For certain, I'll be viewing other movies that director Ercoli has done, especially Death Walks at Midnight. He was also a fan of Navarro; they married soon thereafter and remained so until he passed away in 2015. As she's in Midnight...