The Case of the Scorpion's Tail
The Case of the Scorpion's Tail is a 1971 film from Spain and Italy, directed by Sergio Martino, running 95 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1971 · 1970s films
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Director
- Sergio Martino
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (39/100)
- Also known as
- The Scorpion Code
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
Martino at his most efficient. Nobody wastes a frame.
Martino at his most efficient. An insurance investigation into a suspicious death turns into a body count across a Greek island, and the plot is unusually coherent for a giallo, which some people count against it.
What it has is craft: clean widescreen compositions, a strong Bruno Nicolai score, and George Hilton doing the handsome-cad routine he did in half these films. The kills are staged with real care rather than flash.
A model of the form doing exactly what the form does, with no wasted motion.
Trailer
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Where to watch
No legal stream, rental or purchase that we could find in the usual regions. For films this obscure that is common, and availability changes, so it is worth checking again later.
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Written about
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
Filed alongside
The College Girl Murders
The point where the black-and-white krimi tips over into full-colour giallo delirium.
Short Night of Glass Dolls
Narrated by a paralysed man presumed dead. Unusual and very good.
Pieces
Spanish, incoherent, and gleefully stupid. 'Bastard! Bastard!'
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
A family curse, a killer in a red cloak, and a legend that kills every hundred years.
The Black Belly of the Tarantula
The killer paralyses you first so you feel it. A first-rank giallo nobody name-checks.
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key
Best title in the genre. Poe adaptation with Edwige Fenech and a black cat.
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
A bridal-couture killer who narrates his own psychosis, and the best ghost gag Bava ever staged.
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
The Martino/Fenech formula, arriving fully formed. Cut and retitled Blade of the Ripper in the US.
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave
A widower lures redheads to his castle to get over his dead wife. Nonsense plot, glorious mood.
Death Walks on High Heels
Ercoli's best. Structurally cleverer than most of the cycle.
StageFright
A killer in a giant owl mask, a locked theatre, and Soavi announcing himself.
The House with Laughing Windows
A rural giallo with no gloss and a deep, patient dread. Often voted the best one going.