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The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive

1972

L'arma, l'ora, il movente

Don Giorgio, a handsome young priest and teacher in a convent, is involved with two lovers: Orchidea and Giulia. When he repents and vows to return to the Church, he is savagely beaten to death. Not long after, Giulia has her throat slashed. Inspector Boito falls in love with and prepared to marry Orchidea, who is also the main suspect. The key to solving the case seems to lie with an inquisitive boy called Ferruccio, who is kept locked up and drugged. He witnessed one of the murders, but will anyone believe his story?

Renzo Montagnani Bedy Moratti Eva Czemerys Salvatore Puntillo Claudia Gravy Alcira Harris Arturo Trina Adolfo Belletti Arnaldo Bellofiore Francesco D'Adda Filippo Pompa Marcelli Gina Mascetti Lorenzo Piani Maurizio Bonuglia Raniero Dorascenzi

Alternative Titles

L'arma, l'ora, il movente, Die Waffe, die Stunde, das Motiv, La proie des vierges, The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive, La Proie des nonnes, 武器，时间和动机

Genres

Mystery Thriller Horror

Theatrical

23 Nov 1972

Italy

Italy

23 Nov 1972

Theatrical

105 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Ian West ★★★½ 3

Overlooked giallo with a sexed up priest dipping his toes in two relationships before getting offed in a church. There’s lots of self administered catholic guilt flogging, an unreliable orphan boy witness to murder turned mini sleuth, fortune telling, nuns showering, and two bumbling scruffball detectives.
What it lacks in high body count or stylized visuals it makes up for with a surprisingly solid cast made up of lesser knowns and an intriguing story ripe with catholic sleaze, plus the rural church setting bodes well as a nice change of pace from the city lights of Rome or Turin. It runs about ten minutes too long, but it’s still very much worth a watch, especially with that random catacomb of skeletons (!!!) beneath the church.
Quite the gem—definitely needs a restoration.
Review by Slig001 ★★★½

The Weapon, The Hour and The Motive is an interesting mix of styles - Giallo murder mystery, police procedural and even a scattering of nunsploitation thrown in for good measure. The film takes place in a church/school where an attractive young priest is the object of affection for two women. He soon finds himself with a knife in the back, and it's up to an offbeat police inspector to investigate - but not before he falls for one of the chief suspects. The film delivers an interesting mystery while also casting light on the workings of the church. The young priest flagilates himself for commiting the sin of adultery, while the nuns do the same in honour of his death.…
Review by Lou (rhymes with wow!) ★★★½

A very solid Italian mystery thriller that has just the right amount of t̶o̶p̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶n̶u̶n̶ ̶f̶l̶a̶g̶e̶l̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ sleaze and intrigue. Lots of great acting (even by the main child actor) and wonderful locations/ set pieces. It does overstay its welcome a little bit though.
Review by Branson Reese

Saw a few reviews on here that said this sexy giallo didn't move them on an emotional level. Okay? Not everything is about you?
Pushes the procedural element far enough into the foreground that all the stabs of surreal sexuality and macabre imagery really linger in the mind. The scene of the topless nuns flagellating themselves in a room so black it reads as a void is particularly striking. None of my business what was being worked through there but I'm happy to be along for the ride.
Looked up the hot nun afterwards and her last name is Gravy. And she's in a few Jesùs Franco films. Hey, alright!
Review by Gentry ★★★ 5

“You know, for a while, I thought you were the murderer.”
A murdered priest whodunit solved by marbles. A black cat. Self-flaggelating nuns. Death by air injection. A combination pizza hut and bordello. A movie that ends on a stupid dentures joke. A fascinating, if messy, boom-era giallo from one-off director Francesco Mazzei. Both he and Fuci were apparently breathing the same rural air when they came up with their respective 1972 entries in the filone. Tortured ducklings aside, this feels more in line with Pupi Avati’s other giallo taking place on the out-outskirts of town, The House of the Laughing Windows. Not as effective as either of those, mainly because of some beyond belief plot contrivances, mostly involving our…
Review by Ian Kemper ★★½ 10

Look, there are many things I could say about this giallo where a priest gets got for getting "it" from two sex-greedy church hangers-on. I could talk about all the self flagellation, by priest and naked nuns alike (so much sexy flagellation) and how it's nice that this church only recruits the hottest nuns. I could talk about how I learned that in Italy there are restaurants that you can go to where you get served food but instead of eating it you smoke a cigarette and then find an empty bedroom to fuck your side piece in. I could also talk about how the police are so silly in (gialli) Italy that they'll finger two wrong suspects then (literally…
Review by Gregor Kreyca ★★★ 2

The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive is a thematically interesting Giallo that never quite clicked with me on an emotional level. I think it has all the ingredients needed for a solid Giallo, (sex, style und bloody murder) but I think it was the lack of a strong leading character for me to guide me through the weirdness, that was missing for me. So, far from a favorite, but still absolutely worth a watch for Giallo fans. I can see myself revisiting it at one point, see if it grows on me.
Review by Taylor Heider ★★★½ 1

An obscure but fairly interesting giallo - largely investigative and light on deaths, but is has all the sleazy hallmarks you'd come to expect. The plot follows a sexually promiscuous priest, Father Giorgio, who is murdered in his church.
While it is only available in shoddy quality on youtube, there are still some great shots in this film and even better, some amazing fashion and use of color. Our main character, Orchidea, is always wearing something eye catching - pastel pinks, bright yellow, blood red under a black and white jacket. She is charming and especially near the end of the movie her character is a pleasure to watch.
We also get some interesting moments involving the convent of nuns…
Review by Gentry ★★★ 2

“Nothing is ever made in a vacuum….films that feel like they have no connection at all to the world in which they are made…can’t help but reflect, or soak up, some of the context in which they were produced.”
🗣️ Watched with audio commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.
AKA Who Killed the Horny Priest? Heller-Nicholas talks a lot about the tension between the Old Ways and the New, and how that manifested in the deeply ambivalent exploitation cinema of 1970s Italy (even detouring for a discussion about the Second Vatican Council, better known as Vatican 2, which she notes, sounds like a Lucio Fulci film).
Heller-Nicholas quotes extensively from Alexia Kannas’ book Giallo!: Genre, Modernity, and Detection in…
Review by Matt Winfield ★★★★

Not the most well known gialli to come out of a super jam-packed 1972 Italian scene, but The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive proved to be a pretty intriguing watch all the same.
A tainted priest lost in a love triangle ends up real close to god after a couple big chunks get sliced outta his back, with plenty of suspicious slayers including the two women he was bouncing between. The story is led by a charming performance from Renzo Montagnani as the inspector, tangled up in all kinds of catholic corruption, while his equally charming cop buddy is fun to watch as he bumbles over the clues. It doesn't quite have the style, surprises, or sheer excess of similar…
Review by cryptofgloom ★★★

"Forbidden things are always fascinating"
A police procedural first and a very light giallo second. The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive has a fascinating church setting and manages to combine a few different genres, incorporating a mix of cop investigating, an extremely brief dive into nunsploitation and plenty of dreary drama that's soaked up in its main murder mystery antics. Not the most thrilling when compared to a lot of others in the genre and missing a lot of murder but it has a sense of bleakness and a cold heart beating inside it that gives it a mean bite which I like, the story is fairly captivating as well.
Review by Boxhamster ★★★½ 1

꧁Dreams in Black Satin: The Giallo Review Festival 2024 ꧂
Gesichtet wurde die DVD von Koch Media.
Fassungstitel: Die Waffe, die Stunde, das Motiv.
Ein Priester will sich endgültig von den fleischlichen Lüsten lösen und beendet seine Beziehung zu zwei Frauen des Dorfes. Kurz darauf wird er erstochen in der Kirche aufgefunden und ein Kommissar und sein Kollege ermitteln.
Im Bereich des italienischen Krimikinos gibt es für mich noch viel zu entdecken und mit "Die Waffe, die Stunde, das Motiv" flimmerte nun ein mir bis dato unbekannter Giallo über den Bildschirm, der mich frohlocken ließ.
Mit dem geistlichen Umfeld und dem Gebäude mit Kirche, Kloster, Schule, Dachboden mit Guckloch und den Katakomben sowie der ländlichen Umgebung gibt es einen tollen…

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The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive

L'arma, l'ora, il movente

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Theatrical

23 Nov 1972

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Italy

23 Nov 1972

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Where to watch

The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive

L'arma, l'ora, il movente

Synopsis

Cast

Director Director

Writers Writers

Editor Editor

Cinematography Cinematography

Art Direction Art Direction

Special Effects Special Effects

Composer Composer

Studio

Country

Language

Alternative Titles

Genres

Theatrical

23 Nov 1972

Italy

23 Nov 1972

Popular reviews

Director

Writers

Editor

Cinematography

Art Direction

Special Effects

Composer