Movie Review: Plot of Fear (1976)

Raro Video has unearthed yet another giallo unreleased in the United States from the director of the excellent Black Belly of the Tarantula, Paolo Cavara. Cavara’s 1976 thriller Plot of Fear boasts a cast of some fine Euro cult regulars such as John Steiner(Tenebre, Shock)  and even successful American actors like Tom Skerritt(Picket Fences) and Eli Wallach (The Good The Bad and The Ugly), so from an outsiders viewpoint it has to be somewhat decent.

Michele Placido plays Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo, a policeman investigating a series of violent murders that seem to be baffling the authorities. This particular killer also seems to get a kick out of leaving pictures on each victim from a story book.  Red herrings are sprinkled throughout, mainly that of some very horny, cartoon porn-loving guests at a really perverse party. This particular bash gets out of hand and a young woman is accidentally killed. It doesn't sop there,  even Wallach’s character Pietro Riccio is under the suspicion of investigators.