Review of The Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971) by Adam M — 03 Aug 2010

The everyman as a smart but ineffectual professional? ...Giannini plays a detective always two steps behind the killer as beautiful ladies disappear from the cast before any female character development is allowed to occur .

.. The hero's personality is likable but he's hard to sympathize with as he mopes around, making mistakes. Some good shots and a lot of wasted ones. There's a treacherous rooftop chase. Much less treacherous is the tilting and panning from a lampshade in the killer's apartment, which is supposed to be a pre-murder leitmotiv -- it's the lamp shade of death.