My Dear Killer | |
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Directed by | Tonino Valerii |
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Music by | Ennio Morricone |
Cinematography | Manuel Rojas |
Edited by | Franco Fraticelli |
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Distributed by | Jumbo Cinematografica (Italy) |
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Running time
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102 minutes |
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Box office | ₤250 million |
My Dear Killer (Italian: Mio caro assassino) is a 1972 giallo film directed by Tonino Valerii. The film was referred as "one of the best films in the thriller genre" and as "one of the best, most vibrant and well designed products of Italian giallo". It co-starred George Hilton, Patty Shepard, William Berger and Helga Line.
Following a mysterious decapitation (via mechanical digger) of an insurance investigator, Police Inspector Peretti is put onto the case. Slowly more people are found dead - a man supposedly commits suicide, a woman is strangled, another attacked in her flat - but all the clues lead to an unsolved case of kidnapping and murder. Can Peretti find the murderer, if his major clue is a little girl's drawing?
Jose Gutierrez Maesso is credited as a screenwriter on the film, but did not actually contribute to the script of My Dear Killer. Maesso was credited for co-production reasons.
George Hilton was cast in My Dear Killer by Tonino Valerii. Valerii stated that the role was "difficult" to Hilton and that he was "told by many people that it does not suit you" Hilton considered the role to be a "challenging task" as he found Valerii a "very demanding director, and movie was filmed in English." This included the final scene where Hilton has a long monologue, that was changed only allowing Hilton half an hour to memorise the new dialogue. Hilton spoke positively about the film later, saying that of all the films he had done he would save about four of them, including Massacre Time, The Ruthless Four, The Case of the Scorpion's Tail and My Dear Killer.
My Dear Killer was released in Italy on February 3, 1972 where it was distributed by Jumbo Cinematografica. The film grossed 250 million Italian lira.