Director: Francesco Barilli
Year: 1974
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Il profumo della signora in nero; Cult of the Damned
Genre: Psychological
Plot:
Obsessed with her job, a woman tries to make her strained personal life succeed while trying to keep a handle on the series of psychological issues stemming from the hallucinations she has of the past tragedy that’s affecting her and sending her into a psychotic spiral of madness.
Review:
This was a fairly intriguing and generally enjoyable genre effort. One of the brighter features here is the rather intriguing amount of setup required to help make the story come together at such a bizarre turn of events. With the main storyline delving as deeply into the psychosis and eventual mental unraveling that takes place here, this one manages to come together with the kind of viewpoint and insight into her mindset that makes everything revealed here feel that much more likely and earned. From her strained relationship to the maddening obsession with flowers and desire to stay more invested in her photography than with her boyfriend, this delves pretty deeply into her already fragile mental state brought about by her upbringing and general state of being.
The influx of different stimuli around her that dives into this facet of her mindset helps this one as well, providing a series of somewhat chilling visuals to help the film along. With the constant visions and hallucinations of the little girl in the dress following her or the amount of times spent wandering around the apartment finding new ways to spy on the neighbor who resorts to committing a series of bizarre activity for the sake of being mysterious, offer up several chilling moments as we get to see the kind of deranged and fragile mental state she’s become over the incidents in her past. When the reveal comes and it starts to make sense how she’s become this kind of figure who’s unable to distinguish reality from the tricks of her mind, it’s all rather fun and has quite a lot to like about it.
There are some issues here that drag this down. The main issue on display with the film is the immensely difficult time it has getting us on her side as she gradually becomes less likable over the course of the film. As there’s a great time here spent building up the idea of what went on in her past as the catalyst for why she behaves the way she does and genuinely comes together into a coherent conclusion, this doesn’t make her any more sympathetic or endearing with the rapid mood swings and outbursts where it’s hard to get a handle on whether we’re supposed to care. Given that this is all pretty much handled at such a lethargic and generally bland tempo, where very little happens for so long as we deal with these factors rather than the more overt genre elements.
The other big factor here is the bizarre and rather confusing finale that tends to go for over-the-top ideas without much sense in any form. The whole descent into madness and murder that comes off from out of nowhere, with very little reason to come together, which is quite difficult to understand, as that’s where it goes for the psychotic, unhinged serial killer route that comes out of nowhere, based on the kind of build-up to that point. Moreover, the whole final moments presented here, with the drastic hallucinations and eventual cannibal revelation that is so bonkers that it is unbelievable and illogical to the point that it breaks incredulity at the wrong point in the film. Overall, these are what manage to hold this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
An intriguing if somewhat flawed genre effort, there’s enough to like here that it manages to be wholly enjoyable for what it is, even with some big issues that bring this one down in the end. Those with an interest in the subject matter, who enjoy psychological genre fare, or are general fans of offbeat European cinema will have a lot to like, while others turned off by these factors should heed caution.
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