Director: Dario Argento
Year: 1970
Country: Italy/West Germany
Alternate Titles: L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo; Point of Terror; The Gallery Murders
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Walking home after work, a writer witnesses an attack at a museum gallery and is taken into custody as a witness and possible suspect forcing him and his girlfriend to solve a spree of murders from a black-gloved maniac which soon puts them as a potential target on the hit list as they try to avoid becoming another victim.
Review:
This really has a lot going for it and is one of the best Italian horror films of all time. The main aspect of the film is that it lays the groundwork for all the typical motives found inside the Giallo sub-genre. There's the traumatic initial murder, the artistic outsider who feels compelled to play detective after witnessing the crime who, upon after-thought finds something is not as it seems, the blurring and confusion of gender distinctions; and the murder by a black leather-clad maniac are all present. That these would be exploited so frequently shows their resourcefulness work wonders, each being a critical reason why the film works so well.
The main three elements, the outsider happening upon the crime, the black-bestowed killer, and the traumatic opening murder all come together in the mind-blowing opening kill, where through a huge plate-glass window, a killer attempts to murder a woman on top of a stairway, and then flees the scene, leaving the attempted victim to plead for help, only for them to become trapped in the building's security devices. It's a marvelous scene that is so breathtaking in its execution and concept that it's hard to describe how well it works, and the fact that it's in the opening five minutes of the film makes it a hammer blow to the viewer even more so.
The later attempts at suspense are no less effective and are just as great. One of the murders provides a jump scene, as the victim watches through POV after they extinguish a cigarette off to the side when the killer suddenly appears in the doorway in front of them unnoticed. Even the flashy kill, where through the POV it's shown the killer using a straight razor is a nice little touch, and a chase through a darkened bus terminal is monumental for having a large variety of great mini-scenes inside of it. There's also the traditional scene where the killer violently hacks through a door to get at a victim trapped inside the room, and the fact that there's no escape possible other than stopping the killer adds to the intensity.
It's also incredibly straightforward, as the clues offered are for once useful in deducing the identity of the killer and are thoughtful on their own. The use of flashbacks as a major clue is handled the best, and the revelation of the killer is quite a shock. Even the pacing for the film is great, as it never really lets up at all and constantly keeps us involved since there are really no tangents off into something else that serves little purpose. With all the other Argento efforts in top form here, there are really very few parts in here that don't work. The one big thing against this one is that it isn't as gory as it could've been, as the murders are pretty bloodless and several aren't even shown on screen but are happened upon at a later point. Otherwise, there isn't anything else wrong with this one.
Overview: *****/5
One of the best examples of the Giallo around, this is also one of the better Italian genre films around as there's a good reason why it spawned so many imitations, and there's really nothing in it that doesn't feel wrong. Highly recommended to just about everyone, and most important of all to European horror fans and Argento disciples most of all as only those who won’t like these aspects won’t enjoy this at all.
Comments
Post a Comment