Cold Eyes of Fear (AKA Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura/Desperate Measures) – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

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Its a strange thing to be glad at being bored by a movie, but considering that the alternative is to watch ninety some-odd minutes of women being violently, sexually tortured Ill take boring any day of the week.

Of course, Im writing about one of this months Redemption releases. For those of you who dont know—Go back! Run away and never ever ever allow your eyes and soul to be sullied by the filth that is Redemption!—Redemption is a company specializing in sado-masochistic cabarets and re-releasing some of the vilest, disturbing exploitation movies from Europe. Supposedly the company is officially sanctioned by the Church of Satan, which is about the lamest thing Ive ever heard of, but I suppose thats beside the point.

Someone in Redemptions quality control department must have been sleeping on the job, because there is hardly any nudity or overt violence against women. Not that Im complaining, mind you, but Im sure somebody was fired over that.

Cold Eyes of Fear tells the story of the son of a judge and his Italian girlfriend being held hostage by an ex-con wanting revenge on the judge. There are the standard number of plot twists and betrayals, but honestly the movie fails in every attempt to create tension. The acting, dialogue, blocking, and pacing do nothing to create any kind of sense of danger or—for that matter—empathy for the characters. This movie is a shrine to banality, but as I said, given the alternative Im quite happy with that.


The movie was presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with the sound in Mono. It was filmed in 1971 and probably not with the best equipment given the quality. However, there were no problems with either the audio or video which made this difficult to watch, unfortunately.


Trailer (3:07)

Stills Gallery

Redemption PromosSatanic Sluts II; Justine; Nature More


I only had to drink one rum and Coke to get through this movie, which is high compliments for a Redemption flick. Given the dearth of nudity and misogyny, Im not quite sure who this will appeal to, though. As a movie its boring, and as a Redemption release it has almost nothing which the typical Redemption viewer will want to see. Not recommended even to Redemption fans.

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Redemption presents Cold Eyes of Fear. Directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Starring Giovanna Ralli, Frank Wolff, Fernando Rey, Julian Mateos, Karin Schubert, Leonardo Scavino, Franco Marietta, Gianni Garko. Running time: 91 minutes. Rated NR. Released on DVD: April 28, 2009. Available at Amazon.