After The House with the Laughing Windows, Pupi Avati decided to make fun of the giallo while also sending out gothic horror and Agatha Christie while bringing back most of the cast from that past giallo masterwork.

The results are…mixed to say the least.

An author named Dante is trying to sell a book all about the noble families of Emilia-Romagna to the descendants of the very rich and elite he’s written about. Yet when he arrives at their castle, he learns that one of their number has already died. Seeing as how his book has a dreadful prediction that there will be nine deaths and only one of the family will survive. That survivor will gain the key to a treasure, which seems to be the reason why the killing has started.

The writers — Avati along with his brother Antonio and Gianni Cavina — and the actors were trying to outdo one another with outrageousness, but a lot of the slapstick falls flat. Maybe it was a much more fun movie to make than it is to watch.

Alternatively known as Nine Deaths a Week and All Deceased Except the Dead, this movie feels like if it had been a bit more serious, it would have been a lot better. Too bad Avati was mad about being compared to Polanski, so he decided to make his own The Fearless Vampire Killers.