The Fifth Cord

The Fifth Cord (Italian: Giornata nera per l'ariete, lit. 'Black Day for the Ram', also released as Evil Fingers) is a 1971 Italian giallo film directed and co-written by Luigi Bazzoni, and starring Franco Nero, Silvia Monti, Pamela Tiffin, Wolfgang Preiss, Ira von Fürstenberg, Edmund Purdom and Rossella Falk. It is based on a 1965 novel by Scottish author D.M. Devine.

The film's Italian title reprises Dario Argento's practice of using animals in the titles of his gialli. It was released in Italy by Jumbo Cinematografica on August 17, 1971.

Andrea Bild, a washed-up alcoholic, attends a New Year’s party along with some friends and acquaintances. Among them is John Lubbock, who has just witnessed his best friend and fellow teacher, Edouard Vermont propose to Isabel Lancia, whom John is in love with. There is also a doctor and his wife, Riccardo and Sofia Bini. Sofia, being crippled, seems to not be having the best time. The party also includes Helene, who was at one point romantically involved with Andrea, but could not continue due to his drinking problem. All of them seem to have a ride home, except for John who prefers to walk. Whilst walking, he is attacked and nearly killed by an unseen assailant in the tunnel. A nearby couple by the names of Walter Auer and Giulia Soavi come to John’s aid. It is implied that Walter catches a glimpse of the attacker but does not go to the police immediately.

Andrea wakes up the next morning to his girlfriend, Lu, informing him that the telephone has been ringing off the hook. When he finally answers, he hears about John’s attack, as he is a reporter. Andrea wants to get information out of John about his attacker but is stopped due to the hospital’s strict visiting rules. He learns about the two witnesses and visits Giulia, who wants nothing to do with the case and threatens to call her father. After this, Andrea returns home to find that Lu has gone out.

Not being able to get information from John Lubbock himself, Andrea pays his former lover Helene a visit. She tells him everything she knows about John, including his apparent attraction towards Isabel, which could lead to a motive for his attack. John is then shown to be escorted by Dr. Richard Bini a week after his attack. After a while, Richard checks in on Sofia at home, though he cannot stay, due to his work. As Sofia lies in bed, a record of sorts starts blasting outside her room. She crawls over to her wheelchair to investigate the noise. After finding that it has been moved away from its original place, she crawls over to the top of the stairs where she is grabbed from behind by a gloved assailant. She is strangled and thrown down the stairs.

Thinking John’s attack and Sofia’s murder might be connected, Andrea attempts to recall who could have known John was walking home that night. He states Helene, Edouard, Isabel, and Richard were the only ones he could remember. A detective informs Andrea that Richard does in fact have an alibi for when his wife was killed. He was visiting a friend, who just so happens to be Edouard. It is confirmed that the two cases are connected when they realize that a glove was found at both the John Lubbock crime scene and Sofia Bini’s. However, at Sofia’s, the glove seemed to be missing one of the spots a finger would go. They suspect that this could mean that there are four more victims on the way.

Andrea talks to Richard about the case. He claims that they had received a suspicious phone call prior to Sofia’s death, though he could not tell if it was a man or a woman. Andre gets suspicious of Richard when he later follows him. He finds him paying a large sum of cash to Walter, the witness of the John Lubbock attack. He then starts following Walter and witnesses him get in a car with Lu, his very own girlfriend. Outraged, he confronts her later that night. He learns that Walter is her brother and not in fact a lover. The next day, he finds Walter racing, as he is a professional racer. Walter keeps quiet about who he saw attack John in the tunnel and later is shown calling Richard.

Andrea finally pays John a visit. He is back at work, finishing a day of teaching his class. Though he is well enough to return to work, he still must wear a neck brace. Right as they begin talking, they are interrupted by Edouard, who teaches at the same school as John. Whilst Andrea gives John a ride home, he learns that he too had gotten a mysterious phone call, but unlike Sofia’s, he claims that there seemed to be nobody on the other end. That night while doing some work, Andrea receives a threatening call from who he presumes is the killer. The voice on the other end warns Andrea to stop pushing to solve the case.