Night Killer

Last updated
Night Killer
Non-aprite-quella-porta-3-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg
Directed by Claudio Fragasso
Screenplay by
  • Claudio Fragasso
  • Rosella Drudi [1] [2]
Story byClaudio Fragasso [3]
Produced byFranco Gaudenzi [3]
Starring
CinematographyAntonio Maccoppi [3]
Edited byGiovan Battista Mattei [3]
Production
company
Flora Film [3]
Distributed byC.R.C. Cin.ca Romana Cineproduzioni [1]
Release date
  • August 1990 (1990-08)
Running time
85 minutes [3]
CountryItaly [4]

Night Killer (Italian : Non aprite quella porta 3) is a 1990 Italian slasher film directed by Claudio Fragasso. On its release in Italy, it was promoted as being part of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . The film is not part of the series and bears little content from the previously released films.

Contents

Plot

A psychopathic maniac costumed in a grotesque hood matched with a sharp-clawed glove is stalking the women of Virginia Beach, killing them in a violent spree of misogynistic murders that terrorize the city. Melanie Beck, a devoted mother and wife, narrowly survives a violent kidnapping, rape. and attempt on her life by the same murderer, but once she's recovered battered but alive, she doesn't recall the maniac's identity due to her amnesia from the violence. Her husband, a police detective, is assigned to the case and vows to make sure she's kept safe, lest the maniac tries again to slaughter her. As the killings don't stop, Melanie must try and protect herself and the people and life she loves, by confronting the terrifying truth that the sick murderer has always been targeting her, and that the threat to her safety and very livelihood is much closer than anyone would dare to accept. Can she break from the killer's sights while fighting to keep her trust in everyone around her, or will the psychopath successfully take everything away from her as revenge for her evasion and defiance, before hunting Melanie down in a last ditch effort to claim her as the most coveted victim?

Cast

Production

Night Killer was shot in the United States. [5] After Fragsso finished the film, the producers hired Bruno Mattei to shoot additional scenes of graphic gore before the film's release in Italy. [6]

Style

Paul Zachary of Bloody Disgusting stated that the film combined elements of giallo and more straightforward slasher films. [2] Zachary described it as a "Franken-film" combining several bit and pieces of other related work. [2]

Release

Night Killer was first released in Italy in August 1990. [3] The film was released the same year that Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III was distributed in Italy and was promoted unofficially as a sequel in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise despite the plot not bearing any relation to the rest of the series. [2] [7] The films Italian title, Non aprite quella porta 3 riffs on the Italian title for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. [7] The film was released on DVD and blu ray by Severin Films on June 25, 2019. [8]

Reception

From retrospective reviews, Jason Shawhan of Nashville Scene compared it to Bad Dreams and The Invasion stating it did not reach those levels of "ripoff and quilt cinema" comparing it to Night Porter and A Nightmare on Elm Street , concluding that it was a "trashy film that wants to provoke every possible emotion, and the fact that it manages to find genuine empathy amid the chest wounds and obscene phone calls and sexualized capers makes for an experience that just doesn't happen very often in movies anymore". [4]

Related Research Articles

Claudio Fragasso is a film director and screenwriter. Fragasso first attempted to make art films in the early 1970s, then became a screenwriter in the Italian film industry in the mid-1970s. Fragasso met director Bruno Mattei, which led to a ten-year partnership from 1980 to 1990 during which the two worked together closely on films, with Fragasso's contributions often going uncredited. Fragasso's wife Rossella Drudi was also a screenwriter and collaborated with him on a number of projects. Fragasso would later go on to write and direct his own films in the 1980s, including Monster Dog with rock musician Alice Cooper and After Death. Fragasso directed Troll 2 in 1989, which was later the topic of Best Worst Movie, a documentary film that discussed Troll 2's fandom.

<i>Night of Violence</i> 1965 Italian film

Night of Violence is a 1965 Italian film directed by Roberto Mauri and starring Helene Chanel and Marilu Tolo. It was initially banned in Italy on the time of its release, and released in France first as Call Girls 66. It was released later in Italy heavily edited and with some re-dubbed dialogue.

<i>Delirium</i> (1987 film) 1987 film

Delirium is a 1987 Italian giallo film directed by Lamberto Bava and starring Serena Grandi, David Brandon, George Eastman and Daria Nicolodi. The film is about Gioia, a centerfold model for the adult Pussycat magazine. She is harassed by a killer who sends her photos of her co-workers with her own erotic photography in the background.

<i>Execution Squad</i> 1972 film

Execution Squad is a 1972 crime film directed by Steno and starring Enrico Maria Salerno. Set during Italy's tumultuous anni di piombo, the film obtained a great commercial success.

<i>Il coltello di ghiaccio</i> 1972 film

Il coltello di ghiaccio is a 1972 giallo film directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring Carroll Baker, Evelyn Stewart, and George Rigaud. Both Baker and Stewart featured in several other films helmed by Lenzi. The film follows a mute woman who finds herself in danger when a serial killer begins stalking the Spanish countryside. The title takes its name from a quote attributed to Edgar Allan Poe, in which he refers to fear as a "knife of ice which penetrates the senses down to the depth of conscience"; the quote, however, was a fabrication by the filmmakers.

<i>The Warning</i> (1980 film) 1980 film

The Warning is a 1980 Italian crime-giallo film directed by Damiano Damiani.

<i>La morte risale a ieri sera</i> 1970 film

La morte risale a ieri sera is a 1970 crime film directed by Duccio Tessari. The film was written by Tessari and Biagio Proietti and based on the novel I milanesi ammazzano al sabato by Giorgio Scerbanenco.

<i>Seven Deaths in the Cats Eye</i> 1973 film

Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye is a 1973 Gothic horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti.

<i>The Killer Is on the Phone</i> 1972 film

The Killer Is on the Phone is a 1972 giallo film directed by Alberto De Martino. It was released in the U.S. in July, 1975. The film is set in Bruges, Belgium, and stars Telly Savalas and Anne Heywood. The story follows an attractive actress who suffers from amnesia and paranoia triggered by a chance encounter with a professional assassin, who in turn begins to follow her with his knife.

<i>The Suspicious Death of a Minor</i> 1975 film

The Suspicious Death of a Minor, a.k.a. Too Young to Die, is a 1975 Italian giallo film directed by Sergio Martino.

<i>Amuck!</i> 1971 film by Silvio Amadio

Amuck! is an Italian giallo film written and directed by Silvio Amadio.

<i>So Sweet, So Dead</i> 1972 Italian film

So Sweet, So Dead is a 1972 Italian giallo film directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero.

<i>Pensione paura</i> 1978 film

Pensione paura is a 1978 film directed by Francesco Barilli.

<i>Manhunt in the City</i> 1975 film

Manhunt in the City, also known as The Manhunt, is a 1975 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Umberto Lenzi. It was co-written by Dardano Sacchetti and has a score by Bruno Nicolai.

<i>Counselor at Crime</i> 1973 film

Counselor at Crime is a 1973 Italian-Spanish crime film directed by Alberto De Martino and starring Tomas Milian, Martin Balsam and Francisco Rabal.

<i>Spirits of Death</i> 1972 film

Spirits of Death is a 1972 Italian film directed by Romano Scavolini and starring Ida Galli, Ivan Rassimov and Luigi Pistilli. The film was also released as Exorcisme Tragique.

<i>Something Creeping in The Dark</i> 1971 Italian film

Something Creeping in The Dark is a 1971 Italian horror film directed by Mario Colucci and starring Farley Granger and Lucia Bosè.

<i>White Apache</i> 1986 film

White Apache is a 1986 Western film directed by Bruno Mattei. The film was an Italian and Spanish co-production between Beatrice Films and Multivideo.

<i>Midnight Killer</i> 1986 film

Midnight Killer is a 1986 Italian giallo film starring Valeria D'Obici and Leonardo Treviglio, and directed by Lamberto Bava.

Francesco Bertuccioli is an Italian editor. He has worked in Quello strano desiderio (1979), by Enzo Milioni; in gothic films such as L'amante del demonio, by Paolo Lombardo; and Un bianco vestito per Marialé (1972), by Romano Scavolini; and in crime films such as La belva col mitra (1977) along Adalberto Ceccarelli and Armando Bertuccioli.

References

  1. 1 2 "Non aprite quella porta 3 (1990)" (in Italian). Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Paul 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chiti & Poppi 2000, p. 70.
  4. 1 2 Shawhan 2019.
  5. ↑ Curti 2022, p. 402.
  6. ↑ "Night Killer [Blu-ray]". Severin Films . Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Newman 2011, p. 268.
  8. ↑ "Night Killer (1989)". AllMovie . Retrieved April 18, 2020.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.