Movies
A pleasant rewatch, but not quite as good as the first time I watched it. It's still infinitely better than the remake, but somehow I had a bit more trouble getting past the overstated performances this time around. Goblin's score wasn't a complete success either, which made it more difficult to get wrapped up in the visual splendor on display. A young dancer (Suzy) arrives at a prestigious school. The teachers are tough on the students, but nobody dares to complain too much. When people start disappearing and even end up dead, Suzy suspects something fishy is going on. She wants to solve the mystery, but her own life is at stake too. The cinematography is the main attraction here. The sets are extravagant, the colors are insane and each shot has been carefully set up. The soundtrack is just as outrageous but more dated. The horror elements are rather minimal though and the performances are absolutely grating. Still, if you love a colorful horror flick, Argento has you covered.Read all
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Dario Argento's first is a pretty standard Giallo. For its time, it must've been quite something else, but as someone who isn't a big fan of the genre, it's hardly a film that stands out. It does have that first-time director energy that makes it a tad easier to appreciate, other than that the name and poster are by far the most beautiful things about the film. Sam is an American living in Rome. One day he wanders through an art gallery and he witnesses an attack on a young woman. She survives, but the killer can't leave Sam alone and starts stalking him and his girlfriend. The only way for Sam to be safe is to unmask the killer before he kills them. The performances aren't too great, the murders are a little clunky and the story is simple (the twist included). It's typical genre fare, and while some of it is pretty stylized in its own particular way, it just doesn't gel with me. Fans of Argento and Giallo cinema should give it a go though, it's one of the better ones I've seen so far.Read all
Not a big fan of this Argento. It's not as outrageous or extravagant as Suspiria, which leaves a somewhat tepid mystery with terrible performances, distracting dubs, and a cheesy soundtrack. 90 minutes would've been more than enough, but somehow this film ended up being stretched beyond the 2-hour mark. When a jazz pianist witnesses a murder, he wants to find the killer. He teams up with a news reporter, and together they start their little investigation. The closer they get to the real identity of the killer, the more people around end up dead. But they're so far in that turning back simply isn't an option. The cinematography is somewhat interesting, but it's not very consistent. The actors are terrible, Goblin's soundtrack is ill-fitting and I didn't really care for the giallo elements. I just wasn't invested enough in the investigation, add to that the disappointing stylistic choices, and what's left is an overly long film with too much unrealized potential.Read all
