Peur sur la ville (Fear over the City, sometimes also translated as The Night Caller) is a 1975 French film directed by Henri Verneuil, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.
A woman who complained about receiving telephone threats is found dead. The next day, the police receives a Cut-and-Paste Note in which someone claims responsibility for the murder. Jean Letellier (Belmondo), a Cowboy Cop, investigates the case. In the same time, he tries to arrest Marcucci, a gangster that he let escape after a violent bank heist.
Peur sur la ville provides examples of:
- Buddy Cop Show: The protagonist is Jean Letellier, a policeman. He always work with his colleague Charles Moissac. Letellier is Cowboy Cop. Moissac is wiser, but he never criticizes Letellier's methods.
- Chase Scene:
- In a Flashback, Letellier chases Marcucci after a bank heist.
- After the murder of Germaine Doizon, Letellier chases Minos across Paris. At the same time, other policemen chase Marcucci. Letellier finally decides to give up chasing Minos to chase Marcucci.
- Da Chief: Inspector Sabin, Letellier's superior, constantly berates Letellier because he is not motivated enough to investigate the Minos case.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- A random guy rings Nora Elmer's bell by mistake just when Minos is harassing her by telephone and telling her that he is coming to her flat.
- Nora Elmer's lover happens to be a drug dealer and he is hiding drug in a suitcase just as Letellier and Moissac come to his flat to question him about Nora's death.
- Letellier and Moissac arrive to Germaine Doizon's flat to question her just after Minos has murdered her. Minos is still hiding in the flat when Letellier enters.
- Marcucci shows up at Cacahuète's bar at the same time as Letellier is chasing Minos across Paris.
- Cowboy Cop: Jean Letellier. In his Establishing Character Moment, he fabricates evidence to frame a barman up for assaulting his colleague, in order to force the barman to work as a police informant.
- Cut-and-Paste Note: Minos sends such letters to the police and the press after every murder.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: Many monuments of Paris are showed in the film (in particular during the Chase Scene, when Letellier chases Minos then Marcucci): the Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Cœur Basilica, the Opera, the Luxor Obelisk...
- "Eureka!" Moment: Letellier hears that Minos has a glass eye. Just a moment before, Letellier met Valdeck and he noticed that Valdeck did not immediately see Moissac's lighter when Moissac lit Valdeck's cigarette. So Letellier realizes that Valdeck is Minos.
- Fingertip Drug Analysis: Moissac does this when he finds drugs in a suitcase in Julio Cortes's flat.
- Flashback: There is one to show how Letellier failed to arrest Marcucci after a bank heist.
- Freudian Excuse: On the radio, a psychologist explains why Minos became a Serial Killer. According to him, this is because the society represses his biological urges.
- Glass Eye: Minos, the serial killer, has a highly visible glass eye.
- Harassing Phone Call: Minos harasses his victims by telephone before murdering them.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Nora Elmer has got one when a random guy rings her bell by mistake.
- Homage: The film poster is very similar to the one of Bullitt, another movie about a Cowboy Cop.
- Hostage Situation: In the end, Minos takes Pamela Sweet and her family hostage. He asks for an airplane to escape.
- Impersonating an Officer: Minos pretends to be a police officer to get into Germaine Doizon's flat.
- Ironic Echo: When Sabin berates Letellier, he criticizes his subordinate for having a lot of muscles, but a little head. In the end, Sabin congratulates Letellier for catching Minos. Letellier tells him that sometimes it is useful to have a lot of muscles and a little head.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Julio Cortes was hit by a bullet. He is bleeding out. Letellier refuses to call an ambulance as long as Cortes does not talk. So, Cortes tells him where is the drug, how his relationship with Nora Elmer was and finally who provided the drug.
- Knight Templar: Minos is convinced that his crimes are the right thing to do to bring more morality in a depraved society.
- Low Clearance: When Letellier is on the top of a moving underground train, he has to duck several times when the train enters tunnels.
- The Mistress: Hélène Grammont is the mistress of a doctor who she works with at the hospital.
- My Greatest Second Chance: In the past, Letellier let Marcucci escape after a bank heist. During the chase, a pedestrian was killed by a stray bullet. Marcucci comes to Paris and so Letellier has a new opportunity to arrest him. When he is chasing Minos, his colleagues tell him that they have located Marcucci. Letellier stops chasing Minos to chase Marcucci.
- Newscaster Cameo: Jacques Paoli, a real-life journalist, plays a journalist.
- Porn Names: A porn actress is named Pamela Sweet.
- The Precarious Ledge: Happens to Letellier when he chases Minos over the rooftops of Paris after the murder of Germaine Doizon.
- Red Right Hand: Minos, the serial killer, has a highly visible glass eye.
- Roof Hopping: When he chases Minos over the rooftops of Paris, Letellier jumps from one roof to another.
- Rooftop Confrontation: Between Letellier and Minos after Minos murders Germaine Doizon and escapes from her flat.
- Serial Killer: Minos murders three women in separate incidents: Nora Elmer, Germaine Doizon and Hélène Grammont. He plans to murder Pamela Sweet too, but Letellier prevents him from committing a fourth murder.
- Sex Signals Death: Invoked by Minos, who targets women who have a depraved life according to him. Nora Elmer and Germaine Doizon were widows who had lovers. Hélène Grammont was the mistress of a married man.
- ShoutOut: Minos is inspired by The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. His pseudonym is taken from that book. He even gives Letellier a copy of the book.
- Sinister Shades: Minos, the serial killer, always wears sunglasses to hide a highly visible glass eye.
- Soft Glass:
- When he chases Minos over the rooftops of Paris, Letellier falls though a window into a flat where a couple is in bed. He is not injured.
- In the end, Letellier crashes through the window of Pamela Sweet's flat. He is not injured.
- That One Case: In the past, Letellier let Marcucci escape after a bank heist. During the chase, a pedestrian was killed by a stray bullet. Letellier was demoted because of this. Even if he is not officially in charge of the case any more, he will still work secretly on it.
- Train Escape: Type 2. Marcucci is chased by Letellier. He hops onto an underground train. Letellier has to jump on the roof of the train to follow him.
- Wicked Cultured: Minos likes The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Moissac notices that this book is difficult to read.
