6. Phantom of Death (Off Balance) (1988)
Phantom of Death (Off Balance) is a highly enjoyable little movie. It was directed by Ruggero 'Cannibal Holocaust' Deodato so you can expect it to be interesting, and it boasts a stellar cast - Michael York, Donald Pleasance and Edwige Fenech - the beautiful star of many Giallos in the 1970s - it is wonderful to see her in this movie. The plot concerns Michael York as a concert pianist who develops a condition that causes him to age prematurely. Driven bananas by this fate, he takes to slaughtering young women. The detective assigned to this case, played by Donald Pleasance, is going crazy trying to catch him, especially as the murderer has designs on his daughter. The film has many wonderfully staged murder scenes to satisfy Italian gorehounds. It is wonderful to see the mild mannered Donald Pleasance lose his cool and go running round the city screaming 'Come out! Come out you murdering bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!'. It is also demented to see a real life gentleman with the disease play with a ball and come up smiling straight at the camera. It is a film which is indeed delightfully off balance.