The title 'Clap, You're Dead' refers to the clapperboard used by the film industry, the world of movie-making the setting for this obscure semi-comedic giallo from director Mario Moroni. A maniac is killing the cast of the latest opus by eccentric film maker Benner (Antonio Pierfederici), suspicion falling on fired electrician Richard Hanson (Ivano Staccioli). The sacked sparky is blatantly a red herring, the real culprit glaringly obvious from the first moment he appears on screen, although Police Inspector Menzel (George Ardisson) remains oblivious to the very end.
This minor giallo lacks panache and looks as though it was made on a very meagre budget, with ugly cinematography throughout. The potential for a cool meta-slasher that plays with the 'movie in a movie' setup is squandered by Moroni who seems more intent on getting as much T&A on screen than actually doing anything remotely interesting with the story: the plot is extremely basic, lacking the clever twists and turns one usually expects from the genre, and the death scenes are uninspired. Only the last act shows any degree of ingenuity, a Hitchcockian finale in which the killer dons a Danger Diabolik-style costume (black body-suit and balaclava/hood) in order to sneak up on his next victim during the shooting of Benner's ultimate scene, the twist being that numerous extras are wearing identical costumes. It's too little too late to save the film.
3/10. There's a very good reason why this one is so obscure.
