Fragment Of Fear (1970)

A recovering ex-drug addict (David Hemmings) is in Italy with his Aunt (Flora Robson), a kind and charitable woman who is part of an organization to rehabilitate young criminals and give them a second chance in society. When she turns up strangled in the ruins of Pompeii, the Italian police don't seem overly concerned so he takes the matter into his own hands to find out who killed her. But someone or some people don't want him sticking his nose into her past. Based on the novel by John Bingham and directed by Richard C. Sarafian (THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING). This stylish thriller is all about technique rather than structure. It begins like a typical thriller but soon descends into a paranoid "is this real or is he bonkers" scenario. I didn't find the outcome satisfactory but I appreciated the journey to get there. I could have done without the jazzy underscore by Johnny Harris which doesn't give us any tension which the film could have used. With Gayle Hunnicutt, Daniel Massey, Mona Washbourne, Wilfrid Hyde White, Adolfo Celi, Roland Culver, Yootha Joyce and Patricia Hayes.