Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Bezenby The Etruscans seem to have existed in Italy before the Romans, or at the same time - I can't be bothered checking. In this overlong but entertaining Giallo, alcoholic archaeologist Alex Cord finds a buried tomb and starts taking pictures of it using a probe. One sudden rainstorm later, the probe has gone missing and two teenagers have their faces graphically smashed in with that very probe!As usual, the suspects are numerous. Alex is in Italy for this dig, but he's also hanging around with his ex-partner Myra, who is now married to John Marley, a jerk composer who is prone to having tantrums and taking out his rage on his assistant Irene. John lives in a huge mansion (do I even have to mention that bit?) with his son Igor, his girlfriend and others. Also, Horst Frank puts in a hilarious over the top performance as the 'faggot' choreographer, who even performs a little pirouette when Alex starts chasing him!Someone keeps stealing shows from this show they're all putting on and leaving them with the corpses, but blame naturally falls on Alex, as due to the boozing, he keeps having blackouts. It doesn't help that the security guard on site loves killing insects, is selling the artefacts, and is now blackmailing Alex.At first we're led to believe that an Etruscan demon has risen from the dead and is killing folk, but then would a demon announce its presence by playing a Dictaphone of classical music? Someone is a serial killer, but there's a lot of digging to do before Alex can clear his name. This is a solid giallo but just a wee bit too long, what with Alex and Myra and John Marley's love triangle thing, and a few of the characters are a bit bland. The blunt trauma killings are a bit shocking, and Horst Frank, with his orange afro(!), helps proceedings.The Etruscans would return in more genuinely undead form in Andrea Biachni's Burial Ground!

Red-Barracuda A group of archaeologists work on excavating Etruscan tombs. A series of murders start and they seem to be connected to these ancient ruins in some way. Is this the work of the vengeful god Tuchulka? The Dead Are Alive is a giallo/horror hybrid. It follows the conventions of the former but it also incorporates a supernatural horror angle. Like many similar Italian films from the time it's a pretty convoluted affair. Its central story isn't always very well presented and the film meanders a lot of the time. Things aren't helped all that much by an uncharismatic male lead actor who doesn't exactly elicit much sympathy. His character seems to be a bit of a sex pest in fairness. There are better actors in the support roles such as Samantha Eggar - who later starred in David Cronenberg's The Brood - and Horst Frank who plays a slightly sinister homosexual eccentric similar to the role he had in Dario Argento's Cat o' Nine Tails. There is a smattering of bloody violence throughout. And the supernatural angle does offer something different for this type of picture. But overall it's doesn't make very much of a connection.Its director Armando Crispino also contributed the later Autopsy, which was another unconventional giallo. Both films deserve some credit for at least trying to bring in different things to the sub-genre but truthfully neither of them are very good. Riz Ortolani contributes another lush score that tries its best to enliven events.

Prof-Hieronymos-Grost Jason Porter (Alex Cord) is an alcoholic photographer working on an archaeological dig in an Etruscan tomb from the 5th century bc, he has a history of mental illness and violence which seen him locked up in a New York mental hospital, but now he's trying to get some normality back in his life, so when after a rainstorm at the dig he discovers the mutilated bodies of an amorous couple, the police naturally regard him as the main suspect. Some articles recently stolen from the site are found beside the bodies of the victims the only clue to who might be the killer. Porter has his suspicions as to who that might be, but the police interference is hampering his own investigation, added to that, Porter is also distracted by the fact that his former lover Myra Shelton (Samantha Eggar)is now married to a sadistic older man, Nikos, a sadistic old man and music conductor for a local theatre, where there are a number of suspicious characters.Right from the start this plays like a horror film, we the viewer are led to believe that the killings are being done as an act of vengeance from a recently disturbed demon god with breathing difficulties, There is some great location work within the Etruscan tombs that adds to the atmosphere, the murals on the walls of the tombs showing the depictions of the actual murders before they happened, but Giallo experts will soon see that there are no supernatural forces behind these atrocities. The film also plays like a classic slasher in that sexual liaisons seem to herald the death of those involved, this is an unusual plot point for a giallo but then this is an unusual film. Riz ortolani provides a decent operatic score, the dubbing on the film is a real low point though, not the actual voices but the editing of them is beyond abysmal, this is still a film I believe would benefit immensely from an official release, considering the settings within the film a glossy new print would certainly bring this to a new audience

dbborroughs This is a good but poorly paced Italian thriller from the 1970's. The plot concerns a series or murders occurring to people connected to a recently discovered Etruscan burial sight. One of the repeated shots is the face of the Etruscan demon god that was found on the wall of the tomb. As the police investigate the lives of everyone involved are revealed and wee see that not everyone is as innocent they would like us to believe.A good, but not great mystery with supernatural overtones this movie is graced with good performances across the board. Better is the fact that the characters are very complex with no real clichés in the bunch. The film also keeps you off balance with some interesting camera work and music. The only thing that I'm not a fan of is the fact that the pacing is a bit to slack. There are several times when I would have liked them to move things on and not take a quiet contemplative moment. I'm probably over reacting but the desire to speed things up knocked down the rating a couple of points on this good thriller.