The Killer Reserved Nine Seats
aka L'assassino ha riservato nove poltrone
Cinenove/Overseas Film Company 1974
Directed by Giuseppe Bennati
Starring Rosanna Schiaffino, Chris Avram, Eva Czemerys, Lucretia Love, Paola Senatore
A wealthy socialite invites a group of acquaintances away from a party and back to his country villa, within the confines of which is a grand theatre. It soon becomes apparent that the theatre is not a safe place to be, as the guests are killed off one-by-one.
A film often tagged as a giallo, and there is certainly enough of that genre's ingredients here to keep fans occupied, but as things progress its premise (clearly indebted to Agatha Christie) takes a sharp turn into more supernatural territory.
It's an enjoyable enough effort, marred slightly by some sexual violence which adds nothing to proceedings, a curious addition since the film seems somewhat generally coy about depicting the actual murders in any detail. Additionally hampering things is a hamfistedly talky screenplay, and an overly stretched final act which aims for atmosphere but leaves the remaining cast effectively wading through treacle to get to the end.
For all that, the setting is very effective and fans of the "Ten Little Indians" style of thriller will find plenty to enjoy. Sure, characters act illogically throughout, but that's nothing unusual in a film of this ilk. Good soundtrack work adds to things considerably, and there's certainly enough good set pieces to make The Killer Reserved Nine Seats worth tracking down.
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