Michel Antoine is a ruthless killer. While finishing up his latest deed he is seen by George Hilton who then blackmails him into another killing, that of his filthy rich wife. Antoine kills the wife and then the fun starts. He loads the wife into the trunk of his car, only the car is stolen by a teenage couple heading for the country. Antoine must now find them and retrieve his car before someone decide to take a look in the trunk.

The Killer Must Kill Again must surely be Luigi Cozzi's best film, benefitting from, among other things, some very effective casting. George Hilton may be routinely sleazy as the husband but Cristina Galbo brings substance to her car thief sought by the killer and Femi Benussi is usually pleasant as the dumb Swedish sexbomb who accidentally becomes the target instead. Though as good as they are, there's no question about the film belonging to Michel Antoine (better known as Antoine Saint-John, the scary French guy who was crucified in the beginning of The Beyond). His stonefaced killer, who just wants his car back, is one of the creepiest in memory, only surpassed in creepiness by Hilton's entirely yellow apartment which is absolutely hideous.

However, the most interesting surprise, if you have any previous Cozzi experience that is, is the nature of the production itself. The atmosphere is dark and sometimes nasty, far from the light tone often associated with the director's later work, and there's also some very black humour created from how the plot evolves. The direction and the cinematography, especially during the first half, may be a little shaky sometimes, it doesn't have much of the style of the contemporary Dario Argento movies, but all the technical imperfections are easily compensated by a simple and intelligent screenplay cleverly and confidently executed. It may not be enough to revise one's opinion of Luigi Cozzi, but it's a great Italian thriller not to be missed.

© The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.