Those familiar with foreign horror films ought to recognize the name Umberto Lenzi. Lenzi, an Italian director, became infamous in the late 1970s and early 1980s following a trilogy of absolutely brutal cannibal movies that featured some of the heaviest gore levels ever seen in feature films. Although Lenzi would achieve cult status based on these films, he was also a director who, in the early 1970s, was one of the leading directors responsible for the "giallo" genre in Italy. These "gialli" were mystery films most of the time based on a series of novels published in Italy with yellow covers; "giallo" means "yellow" in Italian. Starting with ORGASMO, Lenzi would spearhead the genre and produce several of its more interesting films, including PARANOIA, COSI DULCE COSI PERVERSA and SETTE ORCHIDEE MACCHIATE DI ROSSO, which was unreleased in the U.S. for years after its 1971 release and has recently found a home on DVD under the English title SEVEN BLOOD STAINED ORCHIDS.

Those familiar with Lenzi's more outrageous later works will probably find ORCHIDS rather tepid by comparison. It lacks the primal brutality that would find its way into Lenzi's later efforts such as CANNIBAL FEROX, but if you approach ORCHIDS with an open mind, you'll find a satisfying murder mystery that demonstrates that Lenzi was more than a trash horror film director.

ORCHIDS begins with the murder of a prostitute in Rome. The killer leaves behind a trinket, the only piece of evidence the police have to try and find the perpetrator. Meanwhile, a young newlywed is attacked and nearly killed on a train car, prompting her husband to start his own investigation and try to figure out who was after his wife. As the film goes on, we become increasingly interested in the efforts of the husband, Mario (played by Antonio Sabato), and his wife Giulia (German actress Uschi Glas) trying to find the killer.

Lenzi's story definitely throws us many potential red herrings. Nearly every character Mario encounters appears to be somewhat suspicious. Eventually, we learn that the killer is acting because of a car crash that occurred some two years previously in which an American tourist named Frank Saunders was killed in a car crash. A woman who was driving the car fled the scene and left Saunders to die without getting medical help. The killer seems to be targeting any women who potentially could have been the driver of that car and caused the death of Saunders. This motivation provides some interesting leads, especially when we meet a drugged out friend of Saunders who may have some motive for murdering the women. In any case, this motivation is definitely original in the grand scheme of murder mysteries.

SEVEN BLOOD STAINED ORCHIDS is a step above average in many ways. Director Lenzi definitely appears to be concerned more here with style and substance more than just a few moments of bloody violence. Most of the murder scenes are well staged and hint at some of the elements that would later be used by Hitchcock in FRENZY as well as extensively in the popular slasher genre in the 1980s. We have a killer's perspective view of several of the murders, including a scene where we see the killer's outstretched hands in front of the camera, thus giving us as viewers the feeling that we are in the body of the criminal committing these crimes. Lenzi's effective use of lighting techniques to provide tension in the film is also instantly noticeable in many of the key scenes in the film.

Complementing these effective visual moments in the film is a solid music score from the ever-reliable Riz Ortolani. Ortolani provided the music for several key Italian films of the era including MONDO CANE and Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. His work in ORCHIDS provides several nice themes, and ultimately makes the film seem more aesthetically pleasing.

Although ORCHIDS is nowhere near as violent as later Lenzi films, it does contain its share of carnage, and is definitely not politically correct in its depiction of a maniac who targets women only. There are several noteworthy scenes in this department among them the opening scene of the killing of the prostitute, a subsequent scene of a paranoid female mental patient being drowned in a bathtub, and a late scene wherein the killer utilizes a power drill to dispatch an unfortunate victim. This last scene is especially interesting, since it would appear to have occurred well before power tools became the hip way for killers to murder their victims. Several of these scenes are relatively violent, particularly the drill episode, but none comes close to the levels of depravity found in later Lenzi films, thus making ORCHIDS disappointing for those looking for the bloodbath typical of later Lenzi films.

Finally, ORCHIDS does create a nice atmosphere of the early 1970s based on Lenzi's choice of locations and scenarios, and topped off by Ortolani's period music score. During the course of the film, Lenzi uses locations such as trendy art exhibit frequented by upper-class art-types, a drug house featuring the stereotypical stoned crowd, and features main characters who are involved in the hip world of popular fashion. Lenzi also nicely captures locations in Italy, especially in a scene of Mario wondering through the streets of Rome looking for a potential suspect.

On the downside for the film is the rather poor acting from most of the cast. None of them are particularly effective in their respective roles, and generally, the dialog isn't great either, creating somewhat flat characterizations. The dubbing in the English version is also somewhat sub par, making the result even worse. Ultimately, though, this is just nitpicking; I think overall ORCHIDS is a pretty effective little thriller.

The DVD released by Shriek Show contains a few bonus features, including a poster gallery of art from the film, theatrical trailers from this and other Lenzi films, and interviews with one of the actresses and with Lenzi himself. This last interview is especially interesting, mostly due to Lenzi's tendency to become highly defensive of his film and art. I found this to be somewhat amusing in a sad kind of way. Lenzi isn't really known as a talented director, but instead mostly as a purveyor of sleaze and trash based on his later films like EATEN ALIVE and CANNIBAL FEROX. Based on this film and some of his other earlier efforts, one can make up their own mind that he did indeed have some sense of visual style, and didn't need his own defensive reaction to inform us of this fact. In any case, the interview does reveal some intriguing aspects about the film and what Lenzi himself thinks about it and his earlier, more stylish, film efforts.

Overall, I think SEVEN BLOOD STAINED ORCHIDS is a bit of a forgotten classic. It's not quite up to par with the best the Italian gialli had to offer and definitely not a true masterpiece, but at the same time, it's definitely a step above the average run-of-the-mill thriller. Packed with visual flair, a nifty storyline, and a period atmosphere, ORCHIDS is a film that I think would be worthwhile for genre aficionados.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age