User reviews

Not the most shocking, nor the most bloody, nor the most stylish of giallo, but it's likable enough and is just that little bit different. Much helped by a very decent performance from Corrado Pani as the cigar chomping guy who seeks to unravel one of the most complicated of tales. Far too many characters and just a few too many red herrings and yet it does keep going and if Paola Tedesco as the female lead does not match the performance of Pani, this may be the fault of the dubbers. Not awash with killings, what there are, are very good. The first one is a bit pedestrian but the fantastic bath scene killing and the one backstage with all the costume are worth the admission price and if the ending is a bit abrupt, it is conclusive and brought a smile to my face. Effective score.

After the murder of a pharmacist, a series of follow-up murders to those around her forces a woman to turn to her boyfriend to help get her out of the situation, and when he realizes that there's a far-reaching motivation for the crime spree races to stop it in order to protect her.

This one here was a generally enjoyable genre entry. Among the film's brighter aspects is the actual mystery at play that's pretty intricate and allows for great time uncovering its purpose. From the seemingly random attack on the pharmacist followed-up by the failed attack on the witness, there's a worthwhile lead in that makes it curious about the need to decipher the recorded message left on the phone filled with dogs barking and the threatening message. Likewise, the unraveling mystery about the criminal case all the main players are involved in makes this one interesting as the film generates the kind of grand connection that's fully revealing in a shocking finale. As well, the film also manages to ge a lot to like with the stalking scenes featured throughout here. The initial attack in the store is a fine shock, as is the aborted stalking attempt in the girls' house where the killer gets scared off before doing anything are rather fun scenes that give this some enjoyable thrills. The other attacks, ranging from the stellar sequence of the girl being attacked in the wardrobe department, the bathroom ambush in the hotel or the final confrontation in the house give this some rousing action along the way as well. These here give the film a lot to like overall. This one does have a few minor flaws. The main problem is the fact that this one really feels underwhelming with a lot of the stock genre tropes that are in play. The investigation manages to forsake a lot of rational thought from the leads as the fact that bodies have been piling up with no interaction from the authorities. The attacks that happen here should warrant police protection or more of a presence here, yet it's all dismissed due to a one-line writer-off thinking the police would rather throw the party in jail rather than protect them for what they know about the crimes, a fact brought up after several bodies have turned up and one attack on their lives which is completely ridiculous to believe it would play as such. That also ties in marginally with the other flaw in that there's a pretty sluggish pace here. The central investigation here tends to rely much more on sudden realizations about clues and sheer coincidences about the various events which are told in excruciatingly long conversations. The meeting with the pharmacists' widow or the tile salesman are filled with fine informational leads that just lead to some overlong scenes, much like the final half which consists mainly of him running around the small-town by himself collecting the final pieces to the puzzle alone while she's alone at the house with no protection. This should've been carried out together instead of setting her up for the killer to attack, another feature from the earlier segment and are what holds this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Purely by coincidence, I found an old & dusty videotape in the horror closet of an acquaintance of mine and the cover displayed the bizarre title (in Dutch) "Revenge of the Cat". I had to perform a search on the actors' names in order to find out that it actually was "Watch me when I Kill" (a.k.a. "The Cat's Victims", a.k.a "The Cat with the Jade Eyes") and initially that was a pleasant surprise, since this Italian late 70's giallo has been on my purchase list for quite some time now! After seeing it, I'm even more glad that I didn't spend money on a fancy DVD-version, as it is quite a disappointing and overly confusing horror effort. Surely not the worst film of its kind, but pretty bleak compared to the works of Sergio Martino or, of course, Dario Argento. The main problem with Antonio Bido's film is that it makes absolutely no attempts to involve the viewer in the search for the maniacal killer. Someone, who stays off screen all the time and deforms his voice whenever he leaves messages to his next victims, is seemly randomly killing people and it nearly takes half of the movie before we get informed that all the victims sat in the same jury committee during a lawsuit against a criminal who recently escaped from prison. That still doesn't reveal the killer's identity, but at least you can guess along from this point. Due to the lack of background during the beginning, "Watch me when I Kill" often feels a bit slow and dull. There's not much atmosphere and ever fewer tension, and the private detective character isn't the least bit amiable. The murders, on the other hand, are lusciously gore, with a close-up slit throat, a woman suffocated in a dish of food and the must brutal strangulation I ever saw. The cinematography sadly is too dark, although that might have been due to poor videotape quality, but the score is terrific (probably the best thing about the entire film) and the climax is fairly surprising.

An enjoyable, if somewhat generic giallo here from director Antonio Bido which combines all the elements we know and love (gloved killer, convoluted plot, red herrings, smoking, moustaches), but fails to inject enough weirdness, gore or nudity to raise it up a notch. Still, for what it is, it does the job.

In Rome, a pharmacist gets his throat slashed and a lady (Mara) trying to get some aspirin almost glimpses the killer, so she becomes a target too. After a near miss, she moves in with her ex-boyfriend Luka (Corrado Pani from Matalo!) and the plot starts getting a bit overcrowded with suspects and potential victims. Where Mara works as a cabaret dancer, we have potential suitor the dancing guy, potential suitor the writer guy, and Paolo Malco...who might be the director there? We also have the pharmacist's assistant who is going to see a loan shark who is getting strange phone messages involving a recording of screaming, marching, dogs barking, Germans talking. Could that be a clue or just a recording of the It's A Knockout final 1976? The loan shark has a lover who gets her head shoved into a cooker, and they all served on jury to convict Franco Citti of murder, and he's just escaped from jail. Plus, the judge at that trial gets involved as well. And a mysterious picture, because that's standard practice in a giallo.

Phew! That's a lot of characters to introduce, and The Cat's Victims puts you through the paces in getting through them all while Luka runs around chomping cigars and trying to figure out all this for himself, a journey that leads him through Rome to Padua, where at last things get more bizarre as he traces all the victim's families. The murders are a bit few and far between, and the gore quotient low, but I think most giallo fans will not find much to complain about.

Except the lack of nudity.

I saw this for the first time recently aft reading a glowing review by Harrison. Bad decision this time or mayb i didn't pay that much attention as recommended by Harrison.

The film is very slow, it doesnt have any tension or suspense apart from the twist in the end. The kills are not violent n unnecessary footage is given to the lead actor who thinks he is James Bond cos the entire time he is in suits n boots.

This movie has a poster showing a screaming woman reflected in the mirrored sunglasses of a killer. Nothing resembling this scene actually occurs in the movie.

Coincidentally i saw Giallo in Venice just few hours before this film n Giallo in Venice has a scene where the killer is wearing sunglasses n we are shown scenes reflected in the killer's sunglasses.

A series of brutal and bizarre killings takes place.When Mara witnesses one of the murders the black-gloved killer starts terrorizing her-she turns to her boyfriend Lukas for assistance.But will he be able to uncover the culprit before his girlfriend becomes the next victim?Antonio Bido's "Watch Me When I Kill" is an enjoyable giallo,albeit heavily influenced by Dario Argento's works,especially "Deep Red".The film is an above-average effort filled with enough suspense and shocks to satisfy fans of Italian horror.Surprisingly effective murder scenes are another reason to check this film out-in particular,the muder of Fernando Cerulli in a bathtub,set to opera music,would make Dario Argento proud.The performances are pretty good and it's nice to see Fulci's veteran Paolo Malco in one of the main roles.8 out of 10.

Directorial debut for Antonio Bido and it is quite good for being that. Here in this late 70s Italian Giallo we see a pharmacist is killed, but Mara (Paola Tedesco) witnesses the murderer leaving the scene. Soon she believes she is being stalked by the murderer. Good thing her chain-smoking, cigar chomping boyfriend (well played by Corrado Pani) is there to help investigate.

I found quite early in my viewing that this was influenced heavily by Dario Argento's work from the 70s. Right down to the music is heavily influenced by Goblin (most notably the DEEP RED soundtrack). Music is done by Trans Europa Express and it is quite good. One problem I found is that it is a somewhat talky film. When there should be action happening sometimes the actors start firing out dialogue. But, in the end you do get your delicious twist to cap the film off. There is one quite interesting murder I found being committed in a bath tub. Worth seeing if you can find and if you are into giallo films chances are you will enjoy.

As a huge fan of Italian Gialli, I am rarely disappointed when seeing a particular Giallo for the first time, but I regret to say that this was the case with Antonio Bido's "Il Gatto Dagli Occhi Di Giada" aka. "Watch Me When I Kill" / "The Cat With The Jade Eyes" (1977). Maybe it was that I expected too much, because a fellow Giallo-buff had recommended this film to me as particularly great. However, I really didn't see a lot of qualities to make this film particularly recommendable, other than a brilliant score, some grisly murders, nice settings and an elegant (but in no way outstanding) photography. As opposed to most Gialli (even many of the weaker ones) "Watch Me When I Kill" isn't terribly suspenseful, I regret to say that it even gets boring throughout the middle parts. It isn't style that is the problem here. The film does feature the Genre-typical murders from the killer's perspective, and they are very well-made. The film is quite beautifully shot in nice locations in Rome. And, as stated above, the utterly fantastic score is doubtlessly the film's greatest aspect. However, none of the characters are likable or even interesting, and that makes it very hard to care about whether they're killed or not. When a pharmacist is murdered by an unknown killer, a young dancer (Paola Tedesco) hears the killer's voice. Soon thereafter, she is also being stalked by the culprit, at which point her detective boyfriend (Corrado Pani) begins to investigate... The murders are grisly, but, especially for a late 70s Giallo, not very gory, and the film doesn't feature any sleaze. The mystery is not predictable, but, apart from some genuinely creepy moments, the film still isn't very suspenseful. I would not say that "Watch Me When I Kill" is a bad film as such, but, as far as I am concerned, it is a weak one by the usually high standards of the wonderful Italian Giallo. It has its redeeming qualities, the greatest of which is doubtlessly the brilliant score. However, I do not understand how some people can compare this to Gialli by Argento or Sergio Martino. I haven't seen Bido's other Giallo, "Solamente Nero" (1978) so far, but I do expect it to be better than this one. "Watch Me When I Kill" is worth watching for my fellow Giallo-fans, but, in my humble opinion, it's in no way very memorable or recommendable.

A young woman Mara(Paola Tedesco) accidentally stumbles into a murder in progress of a pharmacist in his store, she then finds that she is now being sought be the killer. Instead of notifying the police, she intrusts the services of an old cigar chomping friend Lukas (Corrado Pani, Secrets of a Call Girl, Gambling City ) to help investigate the killing and prevent the killer from killing her. Lukas investigation gets progressively more confusing and frustrating as people he looks to for information turn up dead or are none to helpful.

Bido of The Bloodstained Shadow fame, has a reputation for approaching his films differently and here again the film hides its dark secret until the finale of the film. The film suffers a little as the print available is very dark and grainy, a fact that might lead some to believe the film has no merit, but it does and it also has a message that the past comes back to haunt everyone. There are also some gruesome killings to keep the gorehounds happy. Pani puts in a fine performance, despite some dodgy dubbing and the score by Trans Europa Express is powerful and memorable and much in the vein of a Goblin opus.

I rented this movie and was sadly disappointed. First the print of the DVD was very bad. Okay, so that's not the filmmaker's fault. Fine. Next, the characters were boring and not interesting at all! Usually in a giallo, there are sleazy and/or interesting people. Not here. Secondly, the murders were boring and lacked style. The one thing I will say is that perhaps if I saw a better print of the movie I would have had a better experience. Also, the "raspy voice" of the killer in the beginning was effective. And the whole revelation was pretty plausible for a giallo. Just wait for Blue Underground or someone to put out a better copy.

I just watched Watch Me When I Kill this evening and found it to be a very good film. This woman stops by a chemist to pick up some painkillers. she is told to come back another day by some voice she hears. the chemist is lying dead in the back of the shop. so she is now involved in a murder case. there were some quite gory senses with throat-slitting, and strangulations, apart from that i found it to be a very good storyline. I though that the director of the film, (Antonio Bido) did i very good job in making the film, i found the storyline to be quite gripping to watch as the story made sense more than some other Italian horrors that i have seen. Good Movie: Recommended

Dancer Mara (Paola Tedesco) stops off at a pharmacy, unaware that the owner has just been murdered. When Mara tries to enter the shop, the killer, still inside the premises, tells her from behind the door that the place is closed. Fearing that the woman might be able to identify him from his voice, the murderer adds Mara to his list of intended victims, all of whom share a dark secret. Meanwhile, Mara's close friend Lukas (Corrado Pani) puts his life on the line to help.

Directed by Antonio Bido, Watch Me When I Kill (AKA The Cat's Victims) is a densely plotted giallo that requires concentration, but which rewards the attentive viewer with a satisfying mystery, several well executed moments of tension and a few deftly handled death scenes. Visually, the film lacks the style of a Bava or Argento movie, but compensates somewhat with a fantastic pounding score by Trans Europa Express, who sound more than a little like Goblin in their prime and who add tremendously to the atmosphere.

Watch Me When I Kill really, desperately wants to be Deep Red. It is not. Still, few films are and Watch Me When I Kill has enough going for it to make it worth a watch. What other giallo film can claim that the killer's motivation involves their family being killed by Nazis. That's not a bad reason for a murder spree if you ask me. It does leave the film on a sour, somber note, but there's still some fun to be had before the big climax. It's never as suspenseful or brutal as some of its giallo brothers and sisters, but it tries so hard you want to give it point for trying.

One thing that does work - the score by Trans Europa Express. It has a distinct Goblin-esque feel to it that works incredibly well.

Better than your average giallo with an affable, chain-smoking lead (Pani) and a feisty female companion (Tedesco) uniting to out pace a serial killer whose daring pharmacy murder was witnessed by Tedesco and whose now become the prime target.

Despite the apparent age inappropriateness of the Pani-Tedesco duo, they make a dynamic pairing, plenty of chemistry in spite of their physical mismatch and the succession of admirers chasing her tail (alas, she only has eyes for lucky Pani). Franco Citti who appeared in "The Godfather" has a supporting role, but it's not as significant as one might expect of someone with his profile, though it does lead to one of the more memorable scenes atop a raging waterfall.

The climax is probably marginally better than I'd initially anticipated, and there's solid investigative work done by the leads to reach the conclusion (a bit like finding your way out of a maze). Overall, I found the leads very likable, the music jazzy and upbeat (kudos to Trans Europa Express) and consequently, the film was better than expected though I do think the title "Watch Me When I Kill" remains something of a misnomer with little if any relevance to the mystery. And be sure not to miss the scene when the nosy neighbour sticks her head in the oven to check the beef ragout - buon appetito.

The Cat's Victims is reputed to have 'borrowed' all of the elements that have made other Giallos successful. Things such as black gloves, stylish murders, a pumping soundtrack and a gritty look about the film are all present, but unfortunately; so are bad dubbing, terrible acting and a very incoherent plot. Basically, The Cat's Victims is successful for the same reasons that many other Giallos down the years have been successful; but it falls down on things that it could have avoided, given that writer-director Antonio Bido has obviously seen a lot of Giallos prior to writing this one. There's two types of Giallo; namely, urban and rural; and this one belongs to the urban side of the equation. The rural often gives way to more beautiful settings, but the cityscape makes for a better set-up for a mystery. The plot here is muddled, and it follows a young woman who, after witnessing the murderer leave the scene of the crime, finds herself as his next target. Her boyfriend is taking none of this lying down, however, and makes it his business to get to the bottom of the mystery.

One of the most important things about Giallo for me has to be the murder scenes. The ones featured here are very brutal and serve the film well. We get treated to scenes including someone having their face scolded on a hot oven plate, a man being strangled in the bath and a great car park scene. The death scenes are said to take influence from Argento's films, and while none of them are actually the same; the brutality is definitely there. The music for this film is a little over the top and doesn't always fit the scene, but all the same; I quite enjoyed it. It's much heavier than the usual music found in this sort of film, and it actually serves it quite well as the pumping sounds get the heart going, which is generally what you want from a thriller. As for the acting...nobody goes into a film like this expecting greatness on that front, and it's a good job because the acting here is quite rubbish. Of course, the bad dubbing doesn't help matters and it can sometimes be hard to tell which is to blame. Still, if you're a fan of Giallo; this is definitely worth seeing. I'd recommend catching the more highly rated ones first, though.

From sloppy murder scenes to dreadful dubbing on which I had to watch the movie, "Watch Me When I Kill" or Il gatto dagli ochi di giada" is a bad movie. None of it's characters are interesting, there is no tension, no cool murders, no suspense and not even some nice nudity to try and ease the pain of enduring the movie. Every minute felt as an hour while I waited for this movie to end and while the killer motives are interesting thematically, there is nothing to justify watching this movie. It isn't so bad it doesn't look like movie and that's why I give it 5/10, but it really isn't really good and I'm amazed there are people who are willing to rate this movie 7/10 and call it a good movie. I don't recommend it, not even to the genre fans.

I am subdued by the realistic darkness of this film. Giallos as a whole may have scenes of disturbing violence, including rape or murder, or other forms of torture and exploitation - but often it's presented in such a manner that it's not realistic. Giallos are either too stunningly beautiful to be scary (my personal favorites), and when they aren't stylish and fashionable or lavishly atmospheric, there's so much sex and silliness that the sub-set of giallo films are obvious predecessors to American popcorn slashers.

Not so with Watch Me When I Kill, despite the absurd title, I avoided this giallo for months because I suspected that it was one of the slapstick exploitation proto-slashers that aren't really my preferred gialli, just because of the awful stupid English title. In fact, everything about English translation is why this film only gets a 7 and not an 8 or even a 9. The dialogue is too clunky and quaint, and I would really love to find an Italian-language version of this flick. The Cat with the Jade Eyes is the literal Italian title, and that's just the tip of the iceberg in how American marketing borderline destroys some of these old Italian sleeper hits.

Unlike most giallo directors, Antonio Bido loved middle aged women. Middle aged women make appearances as real solid characters in both Il gatto dagli occhi di giada and Solamente Nero, and except for one youthful main character every other woman in this film is over 50 except the opera singer who might be 35-40ish at youngest. Bido shows their faces, shows these "invisible women" as people watching and waiting and being worthy of being part of his film.

But that's not what makes Watch Me When I Kill so extraordinary. This movie is scary. The noises on the tape in the beginning of the film are truly disturbing, some scenes are mind-bendingly surreal but are more reminiscent of Bava or even Roman Polanski than Argento, and the end is so, so, so, so dark.