URSA LLUNA

I really like the Shameless releases, they have introduced me to a lot of films I woulds otherwise have not encountered.

My Dear Killer, however was not one of my preferred titles. Being very good in it’s own right, it’s a very slow burn after a quite sensational decapitation scene in the very beginning of the film. (The angle grinder/circular saw scenes are not as impressive IMHO.)

Thematically, the film visits some very dark concepts. As with most of the films I’ve seen released by shameless, under the ‘Giallo’ banner, the primary subject is murder, (Giallo being a genre for crime fiction and mystery,) normally followed by/entwined with some kind of sexual deviancy.

There are dark allusions to sexualization of underage girls in some corners of ‘My Dear Killer’ that truly made my flesh creep and pose some interesting questions when you consider the vunerabillity of the character involved in this (can’t remember his name, don’t care enough to look it up now). Conversely another character is accused of consorting with an underaged girl, who’s character you would more readily associate with such activities (being more aggressive, so maybe more domineering - preferring the role of an adult over a child?) , yet this is offered a pardon by the Inspector as a bargaining tool for information. Worrying dismissal of a serious allegation? Ah well, rule one… It’s a <Horror/Genre> film… (Nothing is supposed to add up logically.)

The plot for me felt quite thick and required more patience than I had at the time.

Interstingly the central piece of evidence hinged on a mirror, I felt this echoed from ‘Deep Red’ which, consequently was released in 1975, 3 years after ‘My Dear Killer.’ I felt a similarity in pace… However I’m an uneducated heathen in terms of film analysis, so I wouldn’t know, on the record. Also, I have a memory like sieve. Anyway, Did Argento take anything from Tonino Valerii here?

To surmise, I’ve done a crap job of saying anything useful about this film… If you liked Deep Red (tenuous connection) or What Have They Done To Your Daughters (About a Child Prostitution ring/ very stylishly done film!), or Don’t torture A Duckling (Again concerned with murdered children) You may dig this.

Just on a side note I remember reading about a piece of legislation that made it Illegal to show any footage of children subject to adult nudity in films (quite rightly so.) This is why Andrea Bianchi used Peter Bark, a midget to play the part of Michael in the film, who is turned into a Zombie and bites off his mothers nipple during an Oedipul breast feeding scene… Thank you once again ‘Book of the Dead’ for that excellent fact. I need to get some new books to be a nerd with.

It’s late, I’m waffling and trying to pretend I know what the fuck I’m talking about… I don’t, it doesn’t matter, I just like the sound of my voice in my head as I write.

Good night.