EVIL EYE
LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO
1963,
NAOR World Media Films,
86 min,
Italy,
Dir: Mario Bava
Director Mario Bava pioneered the giallo genre with this Hitchcockian suspenser (aka THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH) about a young American chased across Rome by "the Alphabet Murderer." Tourist Leticia Roman visits her aunt, only to have the old woman die of a heart attack on her first night there – just as the electricity goes out! In quick succession, Roman runs out into the stormy night, gets knocked down by a purse snatcher and witnesses a brutal murder. But when she awakens in the hospital, no one believes her. She is befriended by a smitten young doctor (John Saxon), who begrudgingly helps her try to find the key to the mystery. Look for Italian-American actor Dante DiPaolo as the tormented reporter who may know the killer’s identity (DiPaolo later became George Clooney’s uncle by marriage to George’s aunt Rosemary).