EYE IN THE LABRYINTH

Rosemary Dexter and Michael Maien

EYE IN THE LABRYINTH (aka L'occhio nel labirinto/1972). Director: Mario Caiano. 

Julie (Rosemary Dexter) goes in search of her missing boyfriend, Lucas (Horst Frank of So Sweet ... So Perverse), a psychiatrist who went off for a weekend and never returned. With the assistance of an old goat named Frank (Adolfo Celi of Ten Little Indians), the trail leads her to the beautiful villa of Gerda (Alida Valli), who invites her to stay but denies knowledge of Lucas. Gerda has a much younger boyfriend named Louis (Michael Maien), as well as several house guests, including Toni (Sybil Danning) and trans woman Corrine (Peter Krause). But Julie not only discovers unsavory things about Lucas -- and indeed Gerda and her guests -- but there are indications that everyone is lying about Lucas and his whereabouts. When there is more than one attempt on Julie's life, she must again rely on Frank's help, but will she be able to fight off his advances? And if somebody murdered Lucas, who was it? 

Alida Valli

Eye in the Labryinth can be confusing, but everything in this twisty thriller comes together at the end. Unlike a lot of giallo films, this is not a slasher flick with a mad killer on the loose -- at least not in the typical sense, although there are a couple of homicides. The direction and production values are nothing special, the score is pretty bad, the acting is more than acceptable. Benjamin Lev makes an impression as Saro, a horny orphan boy who comes to a very bad end. Dexter was a Pakistani actress; Austrian-born Danning had a run as a "B" movie queen without ever breaking out into mainstream success. Alida Valli was the star of Hitchcock's Paradine Case, but her American career did not last long. 

Verdict: Imperfect but interesting Italian murder mystery. **3/4.