For reasons I cannot fully articulate, even to myself, one of my favorite things ever in life is the little known 1965 Italian film, The Tenth Victim starring Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni. I have movie posters, lobby cards and various pulp paperback books with different great covers.

The plot (clearly the “inspiration” for The Running Man) revolves around the reality show assassins of “The Big Hunt,” a wildly popular futuristic TV spectacle sponsored by the Ming Tea Company of Japan. For five hunts you are the killer, for five hunts the victim.

To win the tournament, the assassins must complete ten kills, but they never know if they are the hunter or the victim. The Andress character’s kills are spectacular (one of them was even ripped off for an Austin Powers movie) and she becomes the most popular of the contestants. Next up is Mastroianni’s character, Polletti… or is he? You can’t kill the wrong victim, you see, or else you lose.

Or is she his tenth victim? Neither of them know. So of course they have an affair!

It’s not even that it’s that good (it’s not) but man does it LOOK great and the soundtrack was one of my “Holy Grail” records for years and years before I was generously gifted with a copy by Pizzicato 5‘s Yasuharu Konishi when I was visiting Tokyo in 1994. The soundtrack by Piero Piccioni is one of my favorite film scores of all time, consisting as it does of a single, incessantly repeated loopy organ motif and la la la la scat singing. Piccioni thought this would sound like jazz in the future. I think he was kinda right!

That soundtrack was clearly created by the Dirty Projectors. You can’t fool me.

Right on Richard. This is one of many great films that used to play on WPIX channel 11 film festival Sat & Sun nights 11pm. It’s where I saw my first international films. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiI9h1jez4M

My fave film as well! I write about it often on my website and blog-site, Spy Vibe. I think you’ll enjoy checking it out. Today’s post is, in fact, another nod to the costumes of The 10th Victim. Just found your post as I was inspired to look for more 10th Victim posters and stills Best,
-Jason (Spy Vibe)