Although commonly referred to as a giallo, Alberto De Martino’s The Man with Icy Eyes would have to be
a rather atypical example of the genre, if not an ostensible one. It is set and
filmed in a southwestern desert city called Albuquerque, NM (where I’m from,
but we’ll get to that later). It doesn’t follow the violent murder mystery plot
set forth by Mario Bava and
popularized by Dario Argento, nor
does it have any of the attractive gothic horror crossovers with ultramodern
psychedelic fashions or drug-induced delirium. If anything, the film is more of
a rustic detective story with a smattering of the crime thriller and a climax
not entirely unlike that of Lucio Fulci’s One On Top of the Other (1969). Given the
film’s mystery element, tense soundtrack, and early ‘70s era, and considering the
presence of key players like Antonio
Sabato (Seven Blood Stained Orchids
1972) and Barbara Bouchet (Don’t Torture a Duckling 1972), I can
still dig the giallo tag. It also flirts with the supernatural, just a little,
and there’s a colorful nude photography scene with Bouchet to give the film a minimally erotic edge.
