The Evil Eye (1963) by Mario Bava

Director: Mario Bava

Year: 1963

Country: Italy

Alternate Titles: La ragazza che sapeva troppo; The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Genre: Giallo

Plot:

Arriving in Italy to visit her family, an American woman encounters a killer striking another victim only for none of the authorities to believe her story, and as she tries to get those around her to believe the strange encounter the more the killer tries to get close to silence her forever.

Review:

This was a rather enjoyable and fun start to the genre as a whole. Among the better qualities here is the very nature of this one acting very much like the predecessor to the genre it really is despite serving as the starting point for the genre as a whole. Offering up a slew of qualities that would later serve the genre as a whole, from the outsider visiting the area of a murderer's strike but being unable to convince others of the crimes, the continued criminal spree while also targeting the eyewitness, and the need for an investigation into the culprit. Those factors are driving forces of the film as this type of setup is introduced from the very start as this one utilizes those elements to bring an ordinary citizen into a puzzling murder mystery.

The ingenuity of bringing her into the story through how she witnesses the initial crime is a great touch as her mental state and the bizarre crime itself create a fine starting point. A great degree of uncertainty over what she really saw is a fun way to bring about some intrigue over the situation, and as this goes along the way her character quirk for murder mystery novels allows her to bring about some fine traps and scenarios for the supposed killer who's out to get her. The various figures that they meet along the way tend to agree with her views about the killer's rampage that she believes is coming after her due to this evidence which only confirms her growing suspicious which ends up leading her to the final clues where the killer's rampage is spelled out.

That all leads into the fantastic finale where it brings the series of clues together into a great reveal of the killer and their motivations. The confrontation here is quite shocking as everything is spelled out in a solid enough reveal that manages to provide a fine overall overall of the figure even if that motivation factor is the big part of this. If the film is let down somewhat, it's in the lighthearted atmosphere present where the preponderance of silly conversations and slapstick motivations for everything which causes quite a lot of the suspense out of the film. This one carries quite a high volume of scenes where she's never in any danger and it remains slightly underwhelming due to that, but the majority of this one works quite nicely.

Overview: ****/5

A fantastic starting point for the Giallo, this one comes off immensely well in most regards as the series of exceptional positives come together for a lot to like. Those who are hardcore Eurohorror aficionadoes, massive genre fans of the style, or appreciate the creative crew will be the biggest supporters here while only those who don't enjoy these factors should heed caution.