BA_Harrison Archaeologist Jason Porter (Alex Cord) becomes the prime suspect after a series of brutal murders at the site of an ancient Etruscan tomb.The first double murder in director Armando Crispino's giallo The Etruscan Kills Again is sufficiently bloody, a couple beaten to death with a big metal probe (a piece of Porter's archaeological equipment); however, the scene is shot with little of the pizazz one expects from the genre.Subsequent deaths only disappoint further, the actual acts mostly occurring off-screen, the victims' bodies discovered once the killer has left the scene. The Etruscan Kills Again also suffers from an overly complex and dialogue heavy script that is difficult to unravel and features a rather unlikeable protagonist (a sexually aggressive alcoholic).A well executed car chase adds a much needed jolt of life to proceedings, the lovely Christina von Blanc delivers the requisite gratuitous nudity, and the final fight scene between hero and killer is well handled, but there's way too much drudgery involved to qualify this as an essential giallo.

t_atzmueller The reason this being one of the more obscure Giallos (or as purist would say: Gialli), can be blamed on "clever" promoters, who had hoped to cover more bases than were available. In the US they tried to market this off as a Living Dead flick. Needless to say that those expecting zombies were none too happy when no walking corpses appeared in the film. In Germany on the other hand, the film was marketed under the Titel "Das Geheimnis des Gelben Grabes" ("Secret of the Yellow Grave") as a Edgar Wallace movie. True, this novel was written by AN Edgar Wallace but not THE Edgar Wallace, and similarly, the fans of "Kraut Krimis" were disappointed, even though the film counts as final Edgar Wallace flick that was produced by veteran Artur Brauner.So we better stick with the alternative English-title, "Etruscan lives again", and yes, the film has all the hallmarks of a Giallo: a mix of Psycho-Thriller, Who-dunnit, mix with gratuitous nudity, sex and violence.The story itself is rather simple: An archaeologist Jason Porter discovers an ancient Etruscan grave in Tuscany. The grave features frightening wall-painting to Tuchulcha, an Etruscan demon of death and destruction. The excavation-sight happens to be under the property of the despotic musical-director Samarakis. This creates a great deal of tension, since Samarakis is married to Porters Ex-wife Myra. But jealousy and sexual tension takes a back-step, when a mysterious killer stalks the area, killing couples whom he catches in the process of love-making and disposes his victims with an Etruscan mallet. Soon everybody finds himself on the list of suspects and everyone seems to have their own skeletons in the closet: Jason, who still battles with the demons of alcoholism and having been confined to a mental-ward, the shady Samarakis, the gay Theatre-director Stephen and many other, all who seem to share some seedy background.Like with most Gialli, "seedy" is one of the keywords. The Gialli was always considered the dirty cousin of the squeaky clean Kraut-Krimi, laden with lurid psycho-sexual images and sadistic violence, that's constantly pending between art and Slasher. "Etruscan lives again" makes no exception. The cast is well picked, all do a fine job and, as suitable, the viewer is never quiet sure if and which figure deserves any sympathy at all. That includes protagonist Alex Cord, whom the American audience will likely best remember for his role as one-eyed Michael in "Airwolf". Horst Frank, although only having a relatively minor role, steals the show as we had often done in this type of movie. Despite his character being a homosexual, Frank with his burning glare comes across as menacing and threatening as ever. Wonderful soundtrack, as is to be expected from veteran Riz Ortolani (though his sometimes schmaltzy sound isn't everybody's cup of Chianti) and Crispino does an admirable job, despite not counting among the big Giallo-directors like Bava or Argento. Crispino utilizes the wonderful landscape of Tuscany almost like a second actor, making the best of the locations (again, another trademark of any good Giallo).Within the confines of it's genre, I'd give it a well-meaning 7/10, as a pure Psycho-Thriller perhaps a little less, since not everybody is comfortable with the Giallo-style, lurid storytelling and choppy structure. Again, I'd like to point out to whoever added the line "The first zombie movie to be filmed in anamorphic wide screen" in the trivia-section, I assure you: there are no Undead to be seen and those who get killed in "Etruscan lives again", stay as dead as a corpse can be.

The_Void I'm a big fan of Giallo, and The Dead Are Alive has been one of my main targets for some time now. With that in mind, I've got to say that the film is something of a disappointment; but there's more than enough good elements to ensure that Armando Crispino's film is a more than passable Giallo attempt, and it's certainly one of the more unique entries in the genre. The film forsakes many of the common Giallo trademarks such as a black gloved killer and numerous sex scenes in favour of a supernatural angle and a plot that focuses on mystery rather than murder; although the convoluted plot that makes some Giallo and ruins others is very much in place. The central character is Jason; an alcoholic archaeologist forced to turn detective when he discovers an ancient Etruscan tomb and two people are murdered in the same way that is depicted on some ancient drawings inside the tomb, which haven't been seen by human eyes in over two thousand years. The line-up of red herrings is vast, and includes a composer, his fire-scarred wife, a sadistic torturer of insects and a homosexual choreographer. But of course, Jason is the prime suspect...I've seen a lot of Giallo's that are happy to merely wallow in the common genre elements, so it is very much to director Armando Crispino's credit that this Giallo breaks rules and develops it's own personality resulting from that. The burial ground central locale provides a good setting for this film, as it's dirty and gritty and suits the mysterious atmosphere. The plot does get a little too convoluted at times, and the film suffers from a few instances where there isn't a lot going on. The first murder takes place only minutes into the film; and it's a brutal affair as a couple are clubbed to death. However, there's not a lot in the way of bloodshed after that first murder; and the mystery plot isn't always enough of a distraction. The acting is a little flat, with Alex Cord not really convincing as an archaeologist, and the fact that the film lacks an established Giallo heroine is a negative point. The supernatural elements are well implemented at first, and it soon becomes obvious the killer is flesh and blood. The fact that the most obvious red herring is the murderer means that the ending isn't a surprise; but as far as atmosphere and absurdity are concerned, The Dead Are Alive is definitely a Giallo highlight.

Coventry "The Etruscan Kills Again" is a truly odd and extremely rare Italian horror film and, when you do eventually obtain that long-awaited copy, the sound & picture quality are terribly poor and the editing looks unfinished. Nonetheless, I'd still encourage all avid cult-collector and fans of Italian horror to purchase this baby, as the story is really unique and the atmosphere is very compelling. My expectations were already quite high, since the man in the director's chair – Armando Crispino – is the same talented filmmaker who did the 1975 semi-classic "Autopsy", and that is one of the most ambitious and convoluted Italian gialli ever made. "The Etruscan Kills Again" is a giallo as well, but it takes quite some time before you figure that out, as the story presents itself as a murder mystery with historical culprits (the Etruscans) and one of the alternate titles ("The Dead Are Alive") even suggests that there are zombies involved! Right from the start, however, Crispino puts a lot of time & effort into the drawing of the characters and their mutual relationships, so any viewer with a bit of giallo-experience knows to start looking for a killer of flesh and blood. The plot revolves on archaeologist Jason Porter and his crew, who just discovered an ancient Etruscan tomb complete with authentic wall paintings and relics. Immediately after his valuable discovery, the heavily mutilated corpses of a young couple are found inside the tomb, indicating the resurrection of a vengeful Etruscan God. In the meantime, Jason struggles with personal problems (alcoholism, a history of violence…) and becomes the police's prime suspect for the increasing amount of bloody murders. There are a lot of complex characters in this film and the red herrings are numerous, so the story demands your full attention and even then it'll sometimes feel confusing. The background story about Etruscan Gods and buried cemeteries is truly fascinating, as it provides the film with a unique sub theme. The body count is reasonably low but the make-up effects are gruesome and rather convincing, as the killer's victims are sadistically clubbed to death. The music, by no less than Mr. Riz Ortolani ("Cannibal Holocaust"), is astonishing and effectively increases the creepiness of the film. And, for the true fans of Italian cinema, there also is the obligatory car chase (sublimely choreographed, I may add) and a fair portion of sleaze. Warmly recommended, if you can find it.