Made in the wake of the frenzied giallo boom that reached its apex in 1972, Death Carries a Cane feels a lot like a game of mad libs with the conventions of the subgenre by this point. Spanish actress and onetime spaghetti western staple Nieves Navarro, credited as usual as Susan Scott, capped off her busy three-year giallo star run with this film after a solid track record with Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Death Walks on High Heels, All the Colors of the Dark, So Sweet, So Dead, and Death Walks at Midnight, and she's charming as usual here with frequent co-star Simón Andreu also on board for a smaller role than usual. Unremarkable gun-for-hire director Maurizio Pradeaux doesn't add anything new here, but if you love that '70s giallo vibe with lots of crazy twists, black gloves, and a dash of titillation, this one delivers in spades.

While hanging around with sightseers in Rome and waiting for her boyfriend, Alberto (Spasmo's Hoffmann), Kitty (Scott) decides to scope out the area with some coin-operated binoculars and ends up witnessing what seems to be the murder of a woman by a black-clad killer. The paid timer runs out at a key moment and leaves only a handful of clues, including the address, the killer's apparent reliance on a cane, and a couple of possible witnesses. She and Alberto end up going to the police and find themselves caught in a string of killers, often committed with a razor, with two of the witnesses soon among the next victims. The limping Alberto is just one of many possible suspects according to the police inspector in charge (Martin), which means Kitty has to put her life on the line to unmask the maniac who seems to be connected to a local dance school.

Focusing far more on violent thrills and the mechanics of its plot than any stylish flourishes, Death Carries a Cane feels very much like the later earthy gialli of Antonio Bido (Watch Me When I Kill) and has an interesting playful streak with our sleuthing couple skulking around looking for clues. That includes an amusing bit with Kitty posing as a streetwalker (another opportunity for Scott to try out a crazy wig and outfit), and now and then you get a brutal murder with more senior victims than usual getting slashed or throttled. The greenhouse finale is also handled with some respectable tension and allows Scott to do some fine scream queening, while Robert Pregadio (coming off of his infectious work on Smile Before Death) delivers a solid score that still hasn't been released in any format yet for some reason. Adding to the fun are small roles for giallo staples like Salvatore Borgese and Luciano Rossi, who are always welcome presences.

Given a belated and very minor U.S. theatrical release in 1976, Death Carries a Cane headed over to VHS from Wizard Video in 1985 under the title Tormentor (which Full Moon is still out there reissuing today somehow and was also used as the source for an unlicensed DVD). It looked terrible and didn't make much of a ripple at the time for good reason. A DVD from X-Rated Kult featured the English and German audio tracks (no subs) in a mediocre flat, interlaced letterboxed presentation from a very brown-looking German print, though it did feature the wild opening German title card with a little rolling cartoon skull. A puzzling Austrian DVD from Copernicus had another bad flat letterboxed transfer plus a bonus disc with an anamorphic scan of an Italian film source, but it became tough to find fairly quickly.

The film made its HD debut from Vinegar Syndrome as part of its Forgotten Gialli: Volume Six set in 2024 along with Naked You Die and The Bloodstained Shadow, a very solid trifecta. The new restoration looks excellent and features Italian credits, with the English and Italian tracks (the latter works better but the English dub has its charms) with optional English subtitles. Extras include a commentary with Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth and yours truly, so no comments on that. In "A Life in the Suite" (21m19s), editor Eugenio Alabiso covers his entire career with his work under Sergio Leone, Mino Loy, Luciano Martino, the "tough" Sergio Corbucci, and others, including work across multiple genres (including baiting the censors with Slave of the Cannibal God) and sharing positive memories of actors like Edwige Fenech. A promotional still gallery is also included.

The following year, Indicator brought the film to U.K. UHD and Blu-ray as separate editions with a significantly more vibrant restoration on the first format (HDR-compatible Dolby Vision) making it a real treat for the eyes. The audio sounds great and sounds like it's undergone some additional restoration as well. The film can be played in its English or Italian-language versions with their respective credit sequences, and it's great to finally have the real Death Carries a Cane titles here at last. Improved English-translated and SDH subtitles are included for their respective versions. The audio commentary and the Alabiso interview are ported over, and in the new "The Devil Wears Pradeaux" (15m8s), Ercolani examines the film in the wake of Dario Argento's big breakthrough and its ties to Luciano Ercoli's Susan Scott gialli, as well as the contributions of composer Roberto Pregadio and writer-director Maurizio Pradeaux’s fairly limited career in general including his other giallo, Death Steps in the Dark. In "Symphonies of Sleaze" (16m43s), Four Flies Records' Pierpaolo De Sanctis covers Sicilian-born Pregadio and his scores including this one as well as the postwar, jazz-heavy idiom that inspired him and his eventual fame on Italian comedy TV. Also included are the U.S. home video Tormentor opening, the wild German trailer (with more animated skulls), and a 54-image gallery of promotional and publicity material including some cool German and Spanish rarities. The limited edition also comes with an 80-page book with a new essay by Roberto Curti plus archival interviews with Scott, Hoffmann, and Martin.

Indicator (UHD)

Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)

X-Rated Kult (DVD)

Reviewed on October 14, 2025