Yet another forgotten, but nonetheless spellbinding 70's horror, and easily among my favorites of the genre, and a very unique one indeed. On the same vein of Peter Weir's eerie "Picinc at Hanging Rock" and paying tribute to Alain Resnais's equally enigmatic "Last Year in Marienbad", the film deals with an unsolved mystery left open to interpretation, with a character from the modern world finding herself trapped in an ancient, enigmatic setting. Unlike most Italian horror films of it's time, this one has hardly any blood at all, and relies mostly on creating a claustrophobic atmosphere and the horror of the unknown prowling every corner. The suspense builds up slowly to a terrifying and ultimately saddening finale. The film has many important names in Italian cinema working on it, such Vittorio Storaro (visually, this is one of the genre's most jaw dropping works), underrated writer/director Luigi Bazzoni, composer Nicola Piovani and giallo queen Florinda Bolkan, all doing wonderfully in what they are set out to do. The latter gives a stunning performance in the lead role, and we identify with her so much that even when you know she's actually crazy, we can't help to believe what she believes, that Klaus Kinski and his assistants are using her as a guinea pig for their sadistic experiments. Another bonus are the B&W nightmare sequences of the astronaut being left to die alone on the moon, which are very disturbing and scary. These dream sequences mirrors the protagonist's desperation as she too is trapped in a setting of which she is unfamiliar with, or is she? It's these sorts of questions that Bazzoni asks the audience, without always giving as answers, something that, in my humble opinion, makes the horror of it all the more effective. Overall, 10/10.
Review of Footprints on the Moon
