I have watched Umberto Lenzi's 1974 offering, "Spasmo," twice during the last week, and still find myself perplexed as to that peculiar title...unless, of course, it refers to the brain spasms the picture is likely to induce in the unsuspecting viewer! In this truly disorienting experience, hunky dude Christian, well played by Robert Hoffman, picks up a woman named Barbara (Suzy Kendall, looking for all the world here like a poor man's Julie Christie) and goes back to her motel. A gunman barges in, Christian kills him, the body disappears, and the bewildered couple embarks on an increasingly loopy, borderline surreal adventure peopled with ambiguously motivated characters and filled with bizarre locations and non sequitur lines of dialogue. (And just what the heck is the deal with all those mutilated and strung-up mannequins littering the countryside?) As the excellent film reference book "DVD Delirium 2" puts it, the picture has an "increasing atmosphere of mental disintegration, creating the feeling that the viewer himself is losing his mind." So true. And yet, miraculously, by the film's end, and with its chilling final shot, all the preceding zaniness suddenly makes perfect sense. Whereas on my initial viewing I thought "Spasmo" an entertaining hoot, a second look revealed it to be quite ingenious; a small masterpiece, in fact. Lenzi's direction is both assured and impeccable, the performances across the board are splendid (including, of course, that of fan favorite Ivan Rassimov), and the score by the maestro, Ennio Morricone, is both eerie and suspenseful. I don't know if I'd term "Spasmo" a giallo--the film is almost wholly bloodless, with no real murderous set pieces per se--a mind-warping mystery might be more appropriate. Whatever you call it, though, I have a feeling it is one film you won't soon forget. Highly recommended, especially when viewed on this great-looking Shriek Show DVD.
Spasmo
(1974)
"I Have A Razor In My Room...Big, Sharp And Sexy...."
9 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers