The Case of the Scorpion's Tail

Did You Know?

• The film's bombastic trailer begins with brightly colored stills from four classics of European cinema, which the voiceover attempts to conflate with Martino's film into a single artistic lineage.
• The main theme from the film opens and is featured in the 2009 Franco-Belgian film Amer by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani.

Plot

Lisa Baumer, having an extramarital affair with George Barnet, learns that her husband Kurt died in a plane explosion en route to Tokyo. She is to receive a $1 million life insurance payout in Athens. Her former lover Philip threatens to expose a compromising letter unless she pays him. A man murders Philip and steals the letter before Lisa arrives. In Athens, insurance investigator Peter Lynch follows Lisa. She tells Peter she knows who he is and that she did not kill Kurt. Lisa meets Lara, Kurt's mistress, and her hitman Sharif, who killed Philip and took the letter. Lara claims Kurt planned to divorce Lisa and make Lara his beneficiary, and threatens blackmail or death unless Lisa signs over half the payout. Lisa escapes with Peter's help. After cashing the check, Lisa plans to fly to Tokyo to meet Barnet. Peter is nearly run over by Sharif. Lisa is murdered in her hotel room and the money stolen. Inspector Stavros and Interpol agent Stanley tell Peter he is a suspect and take his passport. Peter follows Stanley to Lara's apartment. Lara denies killing Lisa. Sharif nearly kills Peter and flees. Peter meets journalist Cléo; they begin a romantic affair and investigate together. Sharif ransacks Peter's room. Lara and Sharif are later murdered. Stanley tells Cléo about the killings. A figure tries to murder Cléo but flees when Peter returns for his keys. Stanley finds a scorpion-shaped cufflink. Barnet is murdered in his mistress's hotel room; they are revealed to be flight attendants. Peter obtains a photo of Kurt wearing a scorpion cufflink. The group theorizes that Kurt faked his death with Barnet's help, then killed Lisa, Lara, Sharif, and Barnet to claim the insurance and frame Peter.

Production

The film was Sergio Martino's second giallo, following The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh. It was a 70/30 co-production between Devon Film of Rome and Copercines of Madrid. Edwige Fenech, star of the previous film, was pregnant and could not appear. George Hilton returned and considered this his best giallo alongside My Dear Killer. The project was sometimes called The Golden Scorpion. Production began in early April 1971 in Greece, chosen for financial incentives. Aegian Film of Athens organized the Greek shoot; Costas Roussos was hired as assistant director. Martino found formal inspiration in Costa-Gavras' Z, leading to a leaner style. Most filming took place in the Athens area, with the climax on Vráchos Pondikóniso. Interiors were shot at Elios Studios in Rome. Luis Barboo played the stalker; Martino stood in for him in a few brief shots.

Reception

Achille Valdata of La Stampa called it an imitative thriller designed at the desk, but noted efficient narrative tension and actors suited to their roles. L'Unità found it indistinguishable from other genre films due to a gratuitous plot open to all solutions, mentioning a callback to Blow Up via the scorpion cufflink revealed by photographic enlargement. Segnalazioni cinematografiche deemed the characters inconsistent mechanisms in a paradoxical and implausible story. A.M.T. of La Vanguardia española wrote that Martino skillfully combined elements into a top-notch thriller, with unsettling questions and every character a possible criminal, though many episodes would not withstand close scrutiny. R. Capilla in Marca assessed that Martino offered interesting suspense through the continuous appearance and disappearance of suspects, clues, and corpses, with Greek landmarks as an alluring backdrop and George Hilton managing the expressions his double-dealing role demanded. Donald Guarisco of AllMovie found the film free of baroque stylistic eccentricities, with genuine suspense and solid performances, making it good entry-level fare for Italian thriller newcomers. Adrian Luther Smith in Blood & Black Lace called it one of Martino's best thrillers, with a jigsaw puzzle plot, energy, exotic locations, and a cast of shady characters, with graphically presented gory carnage.

Post-release

The film received photonovel adaptations in Italian magazine Cinesex Attualità and Spanish counterpart Big Film. A domestic VHS was released by Videogram Italia around 1991. DVD releases followed in 2005 from Alan Young Pictures in Italy and NoShame Films in the U.S. A 2014 Spanish DVD from Regia Films' Cinema Giallo collection features a Catalan-language track. Arrow Video released the film on Blu-ray in the U.K. and U.S. in 2018. In 1982, Gastaldi and the Martinos made The Scorpion with Two Tails, which revolves around a scorpion-shaped piece of jewelry but is entirely disconnected from the older film and leans more into fantasy.