Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (2002) from Tuna

CORNELL WOOLRICH (aka William Irish and George Hopley) 1903-1968

Despite the fact that he will probably be forever remembered only for the story behind  Rear Window, one of Alfred Hitchcock's most famous films, Cornell Woolrich will always be properly identified by mystery aficionados as an important figure in noir, possibly even the father of noir. One biographer said, "Beginning in 1940, the words 'black', 'dark', and 'death' appeared in so many of his titles that he is credited with suggesting to others the label 'film noir'" (See William Marling's article at http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/marling/hardboiled/Woolrich.HTM)

Born in 1903 in New York City, he spent most of his childhood in revolutionary Mexico with his father who was an engineer. He studied journalism at Columbia University but left rather soon when his fiction became profitable. Between 1926 and 1932, he wrote six novels in the manner of Scott Fitzgerald that met with tepid success. After a disastrous marriage (it was annulled when his bride found his secret diary of his homosexual escapades) and an unsuccessful early career as a scriptwriter, he went to live with his mother in New York, where he lived many of his remaining days in seclusion, especially after his mother died and his lag was amputated following an untreated foot infection.

In that quarter century in New York he became a mystery/suspense writer, and his first suspense novel, The Bride Wore Black (1940), is a classic noir and one of the major books of the genre. More followed - especially short stories - with the distinctive characteristic that readers were never sure if the ending was going to be a happy one or a sad one. This is probably why Alfred Hitchcock and many other film makers were so attracted to his work. Woolrich is one of the most "filmed" mystery authors, a prime example being Rear Window, which was based on Woolrich's "It Had to be Murder". In the case of the movie we are discussing here, it was Woolrich's "Rendezvous in Black" that gave Umberto Lenzi the idea for Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso. In addition to his film legacy, he was an inspiration for TV's The Twilight Zone as well.

Much of his mystery work was published in the format then called "pulp fiction", which consisted of 5 and 10 cent paperbacks printed on very cheap "pulp", the American equivalent of the cheap paper used for the Italian giallo fiction, but substituting lurid American cover art for the generic yellow Italian covers.

Woolrich died in 1968, after living as a virtual hermit for 11 years.

So, the first problem with calling this a Giallo is that it is not based on an Italian mystery, but rather on an American suspense thriller. 

The second problem is that it is a joint German/Italian production, and is not especially graphic or lurid Those familiar with Lenzi's more typical gore-fests will be amazed that he directed this well balanced thriller. Sure, there is some gore and some nudity, but neither is excessive, and in fact some of the murders actually take place off camera. Each murder is by a different method, including the first use of an electric drill as a murder weapon. Set design is very nice.

Women turn up dead, and each has an amulet placed in her hand. One of the intended victims is recently married, and her husband sets out to solve the mystery. Clearly, if he finds the connection among the murdered women, it will help him learn the identity of the murderer. As I am recommending this film highly, I won't give away any more plot, other than to say that the murders are caused by a death which happened a year and a half before the murders start, providing a logical motive for the killer, rather than the usual "it is a random insane serial killer" cliche.