Leave it to Helmut Ashley to spin the krimi on its head again! After his comedic take on the genre with THE BLACK SHEEP, he's back with MURDER PARTY (released October 19, 1961). This one was so Hitchcockian, so noir, so thrilling. We don't wonder who the killer is—we know. After all, the film starts with a creepy extended POV sequence from the killer's perspective. We get some flatly affected, narrated thoughts from him too. Then he steps outside and the camera pulls away and we truly meet him. From here the tension keeps on building, much like Hitchcock's ROPE, and our killer ends up at a dinner party. Absolutely loved this movie! Could certainly see it being influential on Mario Bava....