FilmPsychological Slasher Survival

Rings of Fear1978

Name: Rings of Fear
Genre: Psychological, Slasher, Survival
Released: 1978-08-19
Rating: 5.9

“Sweet sixteen ... they'll lose more than just their lives.”

Directed by Alberto Negrin

5.9

Crypt Score

Blended from 2 sources

IMDb 5.6TMDB 5.3

✍ Review

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Year

1978

Runtime

85 min

The premise

Angela Russo, a sixteen-year-old girl, is found dead in a river, having been fatally violated with a large blunt instrument. Inspector Di Salvo is assigned to the case and focuses his investigations on St. Theresa's, the exclusive school where Angela boarded. Three of the murdered girl's classmates, Franca, Paola and Virginia (who call themselves "The Inseparables"), receive threatening poems from an individual using the name "Nemesis." Bizarre "accidents" start to befall the girls: Franca is injured when someone causes her horse to bolt and Virginia nearly breaks her neck on marbles left at the top of a staircase. But Di Salvo is determined to find the killer, even if it means using unorthodox methods. He is aided by Angela Russo's little sister Emily, whose helpful clues lead to a boutique owned by a dubious character and a vice ring where "rich influential men pay well for teenage favours..."

Horror Vault's take

When a teenage girl is found brutally murdered, a tenacious inspector turns his attention to her elite boarding school — and the secrets its polished walls are hiding. As a trio of her closest friends begin receiving cryptic threatening verses signed 'Nemesis,' a pattern of suspicious 'accidents' makes clear that the killer is far from finished. Inspector Di Salvo digs deeper into a world of wealth, privilege, and hidden vice that powerful people will do anything to protect. This late-70s Italian thriller weaves giallo atmosphere with procedural grit in a story that grows steadily darker the further it unravels.

Content: Sexual Violence Against A Minor (Referenced), Depictions Of Exploitation And Abuse Of Minors, Murder, Violence Against Women, Disturbing Thematic Content Involving Underage Victims