Murder by Music (aka The Trumpets of the Apocalypse) is an obscure and overlooked Giallo by Spanish director Julio Buchs. The currently circulating version is low res, grainy, and dark. But I’m glad I gave the film a chance because after a couple viewings Murder by Music is one of the most entertaining Gialli from the proto period.

Set in 1969 “swinging” London, the complex and somewhat preposterous plot centers around off-duty sailor Richard Milford who arrives to find his sister has committed suicide under suspicious circumstances. The police close the case, forcing Richard to launch his own investigation with the help of his sister’s roommate, Helen.

What follows is a barrage of hippie nightclub scenes, shifty characters, and drug induced mayhem. The local thugs seem to be at war with the counterculture hippies and Richard is caught in the middle. Eventually this subplot falls away and the true murderer is revealed; the psychadelic drug Ibogaine and a 19th century musical manuscript that induces suicidal madness if heard while high on the drug! But this isn’t REALLY a spoiler, because in true Giallo fashion the individual connected with this method of murder is eventually revealed at the end of the film.

Now there’s more to unpack here if you want to go deeper. The obvious subtext is the struggle between the conventional norms of society and the burgeoning counterculture of the late 1960s. The straight-laced civil servant Richard eventually triumphs over the amoral and possibly devil worshiping hippies. And yet, it’s the conventional “high art” classical music that ends up being the most dangerous character in the film.

The film scored a 55 with most of the missing points attributed to director Julio Buchs’ non-Italian origin and “one and done” Giallo contribution. But the film is an entertaining example of where the genre was headed with its complex plot and hybrid of themes, and it definitely falls into the rewatchable category for me. And although a full resolution restoration of this film might reveal some flaws, I would welcome the effort.