Plot
A musician is hired by a film director to write the score for a horror movie. The film studio rents a large empty villa for the pianist to create his masterpiece in. Whilst there, a number of women are killed and the pianist turns all 'Sherlock Holmes' and tries to figure out what is going on.
Analysis
Let me start this review by saying that the amount of low budget, Italian horror films that I've seen you could count on the fingers of one foot. With his in mind, I switched on the DVD player and inserted the disk with a slight sense of awe and wonder. Well actually it was more a feeling of 'what the hell am I letting myself in for?' This was spurred on by the fact that the cover of the DVD has the words: 'NOW FULLY RESTORED WITH 13 MINUTES OF PREVIOUSLY BANNED FOOTAGE!!' and the reverse with :'IF IN DOUBT DO NOT VIEW.'
So, what is the film like? Apart from the Bathroom Scene (which I assume comprises of some of the 13 removed minutes), there is not a lot going on. The film plods along at a very slow pace and does very little in between the blood splats. As a horror, it is about as pant-wetting as porridge. Actually that's not strictly true - the wallpaper in the bathroom is very scary. Don't get me wrong, Lamberto Bava has tried most of the tricks of the horror trade: quiet scenes with no noise except for a heartbeat; flashes of the murder weapon, wielded by a mysterious dark figure, but it does nothing to add to the overall boredom that is brought on by the rest of the film. The fact that the story is weak, the acting is wobbly at best and the voice over track is performed by actors who I don't believe realised that they were working on a horror film, all mean that this film is, well, poor.
One saving grace for all of you gore fans is the previously mentioned 'Bathroom Scene'. I have to admit that I was shocked to see it as the other murder scenes were quite tame. It's not that it involved guts blowing in the wind, or heads exploding, but the way the girl was killed was violent. Really violent. Without giving away what happens, let me assure you that once you've seen it you WILL be imagining what the pain that was inflicted, felt like. This is a rare thing in a film and a welcome surprise in this one.
There really isn't an awful lot more I can say about this film. It would be unfair of me to compare this film to other 'Girls-dying-in-a-scary-house-with-knife-wielding-madman' films of this type as even the really bad Hollywood versions usually have some redeeming features, even if it's just because the effects have had a little more money spent on them. I can only say that this film, shot in the 70's looks more like one of those black and white affairs from the early days of cinema. Except in colour.
| Key Area | Rating (out of 5) | Comment |
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Action
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The Bathroom Scene. Nothing else.
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Thrills/
Tension |
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All the tension of a jelly. (Apart from that bathroom scene again)
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Violence/
Gore |
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For a horror there is a little blood in all the death scenes, a lot in one. A good score here just for the shock element of THAT SCENE.
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Bare Flesh
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There was a little bare flesh in the film, most in the form of pictures. There was a quick flash however from Angela - therefore a 1.
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Plot
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I think that the bathroom scene took the entire budget for this film so they couldn't afford a plot.
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| Verdict Should you watch this film? The answer to this: 'Only if you want to'. By this I mean, you won't miss anything if you decide that you would rather spend two hours waxing the cat. But if you are a fan of Bava's work, or of this particular type of film, then give it a go. You never know you may enjoy it. |
 Arty Farty Drivel. |
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Movie Pictures
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| What other people thought of this film: - |
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