The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974)

- L'assassino ha riservato nove poltrone
These have to be some of the dumbest people ever assembled, 21 May 2006

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats is the Italian/Giallo take on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. A group of people are gathered together and one by one murdered. In this case, nine people find themselves locked inside an large, old theater with a masked killer on the loose. Each person comes under suspicion as each seems to have had some sort of motive for the killings. While some of the bloody mayhem occurs off-screen, the murder scenes are the highlight of the movie.

Unfortunately, the rest of The Killer Reserved Nine Seats isn't nearly as good as the murder scenes. There's far too much talk. These people spend an inordinate amount of time discussing things which have no bearing on the film. And these have to be some of the dumbest people ever assembled. One at a time, they seem determined to investigate the dark passageways and poorly lit rooms of the theater, making themselves easy prey for the killer. Searching the theater might seem like a good idea, but how about taking someone with you? After a while, it just becomes tedious waiting for the next victim to go off alone. The plot also includes some supernatural elements that are out of place for this kind of movie. It just doesn't fit. Finally, the ending is a mess. Maybe it was just the cut of the film I saw, but nothing was made clear in the end. A woman thought to be dead wakes up, realizes she's okay, and walks out of the theater. Uh, whatever!

I'm a Giallo junkie. I've seen the best and the worst that the genre has to offer. I had been looking forward to seeing The Killer Reserves Nine Seats, so it pains me to place this one near the bottom of the heap.

4/10