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Film Details:
Directed by Dario Argento Written by Dario Argento (screenplay) and Carlo Lucarelli Starring Review: by Don (e-mail your faithful reviewer) Dario Argento's latest offering stars the wonderful Max Von Sydow and is scored by the wonderful band, The Goblin, as many of Argento's films are. The rest of the film however, is not so wonderful. The film opens with a scene in which an English horn was used in the homicidal equivalent of an American Pie joke. In 1983, young Giacomo watches as his mother is brutally killed with an English horn to the face. Max Von Sydow, as the Chief Inspector, vows to the boy that he will find the killer if it takes the rest of his life. In an unsatisfying segment sometime later we find that the case had apparently been solved, but that it seems the murders have started up again in 2000. Ol' Max is retired, but starts showing up at the crime scenes after some officers visit him about the case. Young Giacomo, now 17 years or so older and played by Stefano Dionisi, begins to hunt for the killer along with Von Sydow. A number of lame red herrings are set up and quickly dismissed, and the only person in the entire film who can possibly act is Von Sydow. The rest of the cast is just awful and in several cases badly dubbed. Most Argento films are shot so that individual actors usually just speak in their native language, and dubbed over in whatever language necessary. Much of the acting is stiff and most is just plain awful. One character in particular has such an annoying voice that you just want to smack him. The supposedly dead killer was apparently a little person, and when the new killings crop up, the police start interviewing various little people based on whatever criteria they set. This was not explained. During one particularly irritating scene several short people are in the waiting room at the police department, and as another comes in some very cheesy almost circus-like music begins to play. It's very upbeat and out of place in the film, and just seems to be used almost mockingly. I can only chalk it up to cultural differences. I'm not the most PC guy on the planet, but even I found that distasteful. In any case, as the movie progresses, the script remains poor and there are several pretty women who are brutally murdered in several ways. Argento seems to have forsaken the mood and atmosphere of his earlier works (Suspiria being the greatest example of this) and just gone for the jugular, in some cases literally. Several of the murders are brutally nasty and fun to watch, but if you are like me and you are a fan of Argento's Suspiria, Opera, Deep Red, or even Stendahl Sydrome, you're liable to be disappointed. If you have yet to be introduced to the works of the Italian Hitchcock, start with one of the above titles. Anchor Bay put out a wonderful limited edition DVD of Suspiria that comes with the beautifully warped soundtrack by The Goblin. For that Matter pick up just about any of the Argento Collection DVDs from Anchor Bay, even the worst of them (Demons/Demons 2) aren't bad. And pick up the Lucio Fulci collection and the Giallo box set while your at it. DVD Details: The transfer looks pretty good, considering Artisan did not put very much into making this DVD. It is sharp with good color and the sound is excellent. It is, however, a Pan & Scan transfer only Audio: English Surround Subtitles: English Further Information: Official Site (in Italian) |
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