Directed by Dario Argento from a novel by Fredric Brown
Italy/1970
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Inspector Morosini: Right! Bring in the perverts!
Dario Argento’s debut proved to be a key early work in the Giallo movement that would be popular during the 70’s. There’s oodles of style here but watching women dying in terror got old fast.
Sam Dalmas, an American journalist living in Rome, is about to return to the States when he witnesses the stabbing of a young woman. He rescues her. The police question him for a description of the assailant and get nowhere. But Sam is convinced he saw something significant that he simply can’t remember. He begins his own investigation. The would-be assassin now begins stalking him.
In the meantime, we are treated to the brutal murder and terrified screams and whimpers coming from several victims of a serial killer. I will go no further.
This is a classy movie with a score by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. Argento introduces or perfects many of the basic tropes of the genre. There are several twists in the intricate plot. You would have to like watching female terror a lot more than I do to enjoy it, I think.
Trailers from Hell
It was a fun plot with strange twists. I liked the chase among the busses for the paranoia it induced. Only the obvious dubbing was a problem.
There really are a lot of frightened girls in this movie.
There are a lot of frightened girls and their suffering is milked at every possibility. I know it’s just a movie but …
Giallo films tend to wash over me. I liked this one more than I like most, but so often, these movies feel like the director has a couple of scenes in his head that he wants to get to, and the rest of the movie is written around those scenes, figuring out a way to connect them. In that respect, this film is a masterpiece. I never felt like I didn’t know what was going on or why things were happening.
Exactly.