Over the last two weeks,I have started to develop an interest into looking for murky,hard-bitten film Noirs.When a friend asked me if I could help him to order some films,one of the first ones that he went for was this.After having brought the film,I went looking round on sites to read about it,and I discovered that it was being under a genre that I have not heard about before called "Giallo".As I started to read up more about the genre,my eagerness to view a Giallo film highly increased.Luckaly for me,my friend kindly gave me the chance to watch the film. The plot:
During a relaxed scroll on the beach,a couple (named Christian and Clayen) spot a girl laying face-down dead at the side of the beach.As they get closer,they realise that the girl is thankfully alive.As Christian helps the girl (Barbara) up,he takes his attention off her for a moment,and in almost an instant,she has disappeared!,and possibly is even driving away.Determined to not let this event fade away Christian looks round the area of the beach that Barbara was at,and he finds a flask that has the name of a ship that is in a near by boat yard.From the moment that he finds the flask,Christian starts a one man mission into finding the girl.When he arrives at the boat yard,he finds out that there is a party on the boat,and although the party host first refuses him access to the party,Christian is able to push himself into the party,where he at last finds Barbara.Due to being completely enchanted to her,Christian instantly accepts her invitation of him going round to her place.And whilst the night starts off well enough,when Christian goes to the bath room,he discovers that there is a hit man there,waiting to kill him.As he battles it out with the hit man,Christian ends up shooting him.With both of them fearing that they will end up in jail over the murder (although when Christian goes to look back at the murder scene,the body has oddly "disappeared")Barbara suggestes that they stay at a lavish empty country house that a friend of hers has lived at.When they get inside the house,they find out that it is actually being rented out by two tenets,who tell them that they are fine with both of them living in the place as well.Although as there time in the house grows,Christian starts to think that the tenets,and maybe even Barbara seem to be acting very strangely.And although Christian thinks that it may have something to do with the hit-man,he does not realise that he is far more involved in the disturbing going ons on the island,then he could ever imagine.. View on the film:
Although the score does not have a strong metallic tone that he would become legendary for,the score by Ennio Morricone is still very engaging.With my favourite track being the one used in the opening credits,which features a light jazz sound,and a Spanish guitar having excellent ghostly voices whispering over the track,which creates a very haunting feel. For this being my first ever Giallo film,I feel that writer-director Umberto Lenzi has made a film that welcomes me with open arms to the genre.With the screenplay,Lenzi (who wrote the screenplay with four other people) does very well at making the film a very atmospheric paranoid mystreey film,with a film noir undertone that becomes more noticeable as the story progresses.And whilst I feel that the girlfriend at the start of the film could have been used a little bit more,the film is that jammed packed with other deeply engrossing plot elements that it is very easy to overlook this.With Umbertos directing matching the terrific frantic feel of the story. (which includes someone "murdering" plastic dolls,a gradual mental breakdown and the last fifteen minutes of the film,which are extremely gripping,although they completely turn the film upside down,in a way that rewards repeated viewings.)Lenzi also does lots of excellent shots,with the section of the film where Christian starts to think that everyone around him seem to be hiding something from him,being shown with some very fast-edited close ups of the things that are making the character very nervous.
Final view on the film: A fantastic Giallo-Noir mystreey film,with excellent writing and some very clever directing by Umberto Lenzi.
During a relaxed scroll on the beach,a couple (named Christian and Clayen) spot a girl laying face-down dead at the side of the beach.As they get closer,they realise that the girl is thankfully alive.As Christian helps the girl (Barbara) up,he takes his attention off her for a moment,and in almost an instant,she has disappeared!,and possibly is even driving away.Determined to not let this event fade away Christian looks round the area of the beach that Barbara was at,and he finds a flask that has the name of a ship that is in a near by boat yard.From the moment that he finds the flask,Christian starts a one man mission into finding the girl.When he arrives at the boat yard,he finds out that there is a party on the boat,and although the party host first refuses him access to the party,Christian is able to push himself into the party,where he at last finds Barbara.Due to being completely enchanted to her,Christian instantly accepts her invitation of him going round to her place.And whilst the night starts off well enough,when Christian goes to the bath room,he discovers that there is a hit man there,waiting to kill him.As he battles it out with the hit man,Christian ends up shooting him.With both of them fearing that they will end up in jail over the murder (although when Christian goes to look back at the murder scene,the body has oddly "disappeared")Barbara suggestes that they stay at a lavish empty country house that a friend of hers has lived at.When they get inside the house,they find out that it is actually being rented out by two tenets,who tell them that they are fine with both of them living in the place as well.Although as there time in the house grows,Christian starts to think that the tenets,and maybe even Barbara seem to be acting very strangely.And although Christian thinks that it may have something to do with the hit-man,he does not realise that he is far more involved in the disturbing going ons on the island,then he could ever imagine.. View on the film:
Although the score does not have a strong metallic tone that he would become legendary for,the score by Ennio Morricone is still very engaging.With my favourite track being the one used in the opening credits,which features a light jazz sound,and a Spanish guitar having excellent ghostly voices whispering over the track,which creates a very haunting feel. For this being my first ever Giallo film,I feel that writer-director Umberto Lenzi has made a film that welcomes me with open arms to the genre.With the screenplay,Lenzi (who wrote the screenplay with four other people) does very well at making the film a very atmospheric paranoid mystreey film,with a film noir undertone that becomes more noticeable as the story progresses.And whilst I feel that the girlfriend at the start of the film could have been used a little bit more,the film is that jammed packed with other deeply engrossing plot elements that it is very easy to overlook this.With Umbertos directing matching the terrific frantic feel of the story. (which includes someone "murdering" plastic dolls,a gradual mental breakdown and the last fifteen minutes of the film,which are extremely gripping,although they completely turn the film upside down,in a way that rewards repeated viewings.)Lenzi also does lots of excellent shots,with the section of the film where Christian starts to think that everyone around him seem to be hiding something from him,being shown with some very fast-edited close ups of the things that are making the character very nervous.
Final view on the film: A fantastic Giallo-Noir mystreey film,with excellent writing and some very clever directing by Umberto Lenzi.