Within a Scientific Institute coordinated by Eng. Terzi, studies are being carried out aimed at analyzing the XXY chromosome triad... Recent analyses indicate that those with such a structure are, by nature, prone to aggressive attitudes bordering on murder.
Dr. Calabresi (Carlo Alighiero), in agreement with his mistress Bianca Merusi (Rada Rassimov), and an advocate of blackmail since he knows of a "secret" related to the Terzi Institute, is pushed under a train. However, the intention to pass the murder off as an accident fails, due to the presence of a photographer, on the scene waiting for the arrival of a model. Involved in the accident case will be first journalist Giordani (James Franciscus) who is interested in the case, then an elderly blind riddler (Karl Malden) who had previously witnessed, along with his little niece, an ambiguous dialogue between the victim and another person.
The start of the investigation, which now points to murder, unleashes a mysterious killer who, intending to block its continuation, sows a long trail of death, beginning with photographer Righetto (Vittorio Congia)...
All the clues lead the journalist, supported by the enigmist's intuitions, inside the Terzi Institute: it is hidden in here, in fact, the motive of the murderer who, discovered by Dr. Calabresi to be "marked" by the xxy triad, risks being expelled from the Institute...
In the second giallo, with zoonomic titling, Argento takes a small step backward both in narrative terms (due, perhaps, to an overly rational type of story) and in technical terms. Some good sequences are not lacking (it will suffice to mention the one set in the cemetery), but the whole thing flows with a decidedly "slow" pace compared to that which (later) the director imposes on his films.
However, success with audiences, decreed (erroneously) Argento as an ideal successor to Hitchcock and brought the director closer to the world of television as host-and director of the film The Streetcar series The Door on Darkness.
Excellent performances by the actors, including a very young Cinzia De Carolis (as Lory) and a jaw-dropping Karl Malden (the blind riddler, Franco Arnò)...
Argento appears to have been inspired by a real-life news story related to theories (cutting edge at the time) about hereditary gene-related behaviors.
Impressive is the "verisimilitude" of the murder of Dr. Calabresi (played by Carlo Alighiero), crushed by the train under the eyes of petrified witnesses.
Also worth mentioning is the painstaking sequence on which the credits close the film: the murderer trying, by grasping the metal rails, not to fall from the top floor of the building (cited by the same author in Brad Dourif's "decapitation" sequence in Trauma)...
The only collaboration on a subject by Dario Argento for Dardano Sacchetti, who for inexplicable reasons (but perhaps the whole thing can be attributed to the bond established between Fulci and the screenwriter), would not be called upon to collaborate with the director ever since (except for the productions Dèmoni, Dèmoni 2 and the third chapter that later became La Chiesa).
A curious note on the attribution (also by IMDB) of the subject to a certain Luigi Collo which, in fact is somewhat uncertain: it should be Luigi Cozzi, Argento's regular collaborator at the time.
Review by undying1
