Bava pays explicit homage to Hitchcock in this fun, mostly light hearted black and white mystery.
An American girl vacationing in Rome witnesses what might be a murder (or is it her overactive imagination, spurred on by her love of cheap mystery novels?). And before you know it, she's the possible target of a serial killer.
The black and white photography is beautiful, but Bava tones his style down just a bit, and it works; the photography compliments the story, without swamping it,.
There are weak spots, like an annoying voice over that insists on explaining what the images are making very clear by themselves, and performances that are uneven (especially in supporting roles). But, the bottom line is, if it wasn't in Italian, one could even believe this was a Hitchcock film, which is a pretty high compliment...
An American girl vacationing in Rome witnesses what might be a murder (or is it her overactive imagination, spurred on by her love of cheap mystery novels?). And before you know it, she's the possible target of a serial killer.
The black and white photography is beautiful, but Bava tones his style down just a bit, and it works; the photography compliments the story, without swamping it,.
There are weak spots, like an annoying voice over that insists on explaining what the images are making very clear by themselves, and performances that are uneven (especially in supporting roles). But, the bottom line is, if it wasn't in Italian, one could even believe this was a Hitchcock film, which is a pretty high compliment...