review for Cold Eyes of Fear on AllMovie

Italian filmmaker Enzo G. Castellari is perhaps best known for a series of violent spaghetti Westerns and post-nuclear action films, so this cleverly crafted giallo-thriller may come as something of a surprise to cult audiences and genre followers. Appropriating some of the form's penchant for cool production design and bizarre cinematography (one scene is shot through ice cubes in a glass), Castellari's film tells the tale of Judge Horatio Badell (Fernando Rey, also in the director's La Polizia Incrimina: la Legge Assolve), whose son, Peter (Gianni Garko), is abducted while trysting with a hooker (Giovanna Ralli). It's all the handiwork of Arthur Welt (Frank Wolff), an ex-convict who wants revenge on the judge for his prison sentence and another, deeper betrayal. The situation eventually leads to bomb threats, scuffles in darkened rooms, and sexy cult actress Karin Schubert being threatened at knifepoint in a kinky S&M stage show which, despite occurring at the start of the film, remains its most memorable sequence. The rest of this loopy Italian-Spanish co-production isn't bad, however, crisply edited by Vincenzo Tomassi (who went on to edit many of Lucio Fulci's most popular horror films) and well scored by Ennio Morricone. Leonardo Scavino (appearing as Leon Lenoir) and Julian Mateos co-star.