Terms like "bizarre", "eccentric" and "convoluted" are often used too lightly in reviews for Italian gialli, but in case of "Death Laid an Egg" they are severe understatements! I'm not even sure this one qualifies as a giallo, because although the film got released before the genre properly started booming (in 1968),it's already experimenting with different plots and thinking out-of-the-box in terms of style and plot twists. Generally speaking, a giallo either handles about a masked psycho-killer with black gloves savagely butchering people - preferably pretty young models - with sharp objects, or it handles about a convoluted murder conspiracy complete with sexual intrigues, betrayal and triangular relationships. "Death Laid an Egg" primarily fits into the second category, but also somewhat in the first one, and then still even a lot more! The most intriguing aspect about the triangular relationship (between a man, his wife and her secretary) is that it takes place at the woman's family business; - a chicken far where insanely unethical experiments take place (headless/boneless poultry monstrosities will haunt your nightmares!). Furthermore, the man has a fetish for slicing up prostitutes, and the mistress may or may not have a secret agenda with a hunky marketing agent. One thing's for sure, though, all the loose ends form a compelling wholesome that keeps you gazing at the screen and - unlike many other similar films - everything nicely comes together in the end, and "Death Laid an Egg" does deliver in every department (mystery, suspense, flamboyance, ...)

Writer/director Giulio Questi was a very strange individual, to say the least. He seemingly doesn't care about traditional cinematic patterns or logical narrative structure, and many sequences/plot twists appear to be improvised on the spot. The opening credits, the soundtrack, and many camera perspectives are utterly weird! Questi also made the western-outcast "Se sei vivo spara", which is possibly the strangest Spaghetti Western ever, and the reputedly bonkers psychological horror/thriller "Arcana" (which I haven't seen yet).

Let me put it out there right now: This movie is completely insane.

Let me see if I can summarize it.

A high tech chicken farm is trying to create birds that have no heads or bones. A love triangle develops between the three people who run it: Anna (international sex symbol and the photojournalist who was one of the first to interview Fidel Castro, Gina Lollobrigida),her prostitute killing husband Marco and their secretary Gabriella (Ewa Aulin, the near goddess who appeared in films like Candy and Death Smiles on a Murderer).

Yes. Headless and boneless chickens, all inside a fashionable proto giallo filled with sex and murder. You better believe I'm all over this movie.

Director Giulio Questi was also behind Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! and Arcana, two movies that I must investigate immediately if this movie is any indication. I've seen this movie explained as a "socio-politically sophisticated avant-garde giallo," which is pretty much the best way I can think of telling you what it's all about. It's also around 40 years ahead of its time yet blissfully stuck in 1968.

Despite being Anna's cousin, Gabri hooks up with her husband and they debate running away together. However, Gabri is already married to Mondaini and their plan is to kill Anna and frame Marco. There's also the issue of Anna wanting to have something special and strange with Marco, which instead of being a child, ends up being these Eraserhead-ish chicken balls that scream and bleed worms when he kills them.

When Marco discovers his wife's body in a hotel room, he cleans the scene up and brings her body to the farm to turn it into chicken feed. That's when we learn his big secret: he doesn't really kill prostitutes, but instead role plays the murder and sends them away with plenty of cash. But then, as he tries to feed his wife into the machine, he falls in just as the police arrive to catch him disposing of the body. Gabri and Mondaini are eventually caught as we watch the chickens chow down on human food. Nothing good is gonna come out of that. I mean, poultry that feeds on human flesh seems like way worse than any steroids or hormones.

I've never seen a movie that straddles being an art film, a drug film, a murder mystery story and science fiction examination of man trying to change nature along with psychedelic film techniques and non-linear editing techniques. It's also a satire of the highest order. I have no idea why people aren't constantly discussing this movie and I'm going to do my best to drive people nuts talking about it over and over again.

DEATH LAID AN EGG is undoubtedly the weirdest giallo I've ever seen, and in fact one of the weirdest films full stop. It's not really a giallo at all, despite the crazed opening sequence and a great ending full of twists and turns; it's instead more of a satire and a polemic on various subjects including class, society, human relationships, industry, Luddites and intensive chicken farming. Overall I didn't really like this one; it drags incredibly right from the start despite the outre plot elements, and the unlikeable characters simply aren't well developed. It's a pity, as the surreal touches are quite interesting and you feel like it's a film that does have something to say; it just isn't sure how to say it. If someone like Werner Herzog had made this I'd have probably loved it.