Eye in the Labyrinth

"A naked woman doesn't have to go into explanations, especially if she's as young and beautiful as you."

When psychiatrist Lucas (Horst Frank) goes missing, his girlfriend Julie (Rosemary Dexter) sets out to find him. With the help of a dapper stranger named Frank (Adolfo Celi), her search leads to a luxury villa owned by Gerda (Alida Vali), who surrounds herself with eccentric artists. While everyone denies ever seeing Lucas, Julie keeps finding evidence that Lucas has not only been there, but that he was murdered by one of the guests. Everyone seems to have a motive, but who really killed Lucas and why? Can Julie find the killer before he strikes again? And what clues can be discovered from a mysterious painting?

 

High on style and light on kills, Eye in the Labyrinth (not to be confused with Eyeball, a.k.a. Red Cats in a Glass Labyrinth) is a twisted thriller that takes some liberties with giallo tropes. There's no black masked killer here, but you'll find lots of gorgeous people in gorgeous locations keeping dark secrets. If you like the visual elements of giallo more than the blood and don't care if the plot makes any sense, this one is for you.

• In a title card at the beginning of the film, it's explained that a labyrinth may be a beautiful piece of architecture, but its main purpose is to confuse and trap anyone who wanders in. So the title is a metaphor for the hostile environment of Gerda's villa.

• In the checklist above, "Gay character" has been changed to "LGBT+." It's checked for the transgender character in the film.

• Composer Roberto Nicolosi turns in a wild bebop jazz score, similar to what Ennio Morricone would provide for Dario Argento's early films, Nicolosi previously worked with Mario Bava on both Black Sunday and Black Sabbath.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

One of the main clues to Lucas's death is this painting done by pervy orphan Soro (Benjamin Lev).

This whole plot point was lifted directly from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, wherein an artist witnessed and painted a murder. The painting is even done in a style similar to the one in Crystal Plumage:

Also, the title might be a metaphor, but there are some visual references to labyrinths as well. When she first arrives in town, Julie is told to look for Lucas in an abandoned villa with winding corridors and staircases that lead nowhere. As she goes deeper in, you can see that someone has written "MOSTRO" (monster) on several walls, with arrows. Perhaps warning visitors about a minotaur?

Fashion Moment:

Gerda's squad of rich artists is operating at the height of boho resort style in 1972.

And Julie fits in just fine, whether she's in sportswear, a mod print dress, crochet swimwear or a dramatic caftan.

But let's not forget about Frank - surely we can count on a former Bond villain to wear the hell out of a white suit.

The Perfect Crime

  
The Perfect Crime
  

It's so beautiful being rich. Money is everything.
  

After business tycoon Sir Ronald Selmer's plane explodes in mid-air, three Vice Presidents, Paul De Revere (Leonard Mann), Sir Arthur Dundee (Joseph Cotten) and Sir Harold Boyd (Adolfo Celi) stand to inherit his position of power. Each man's ambitions lead them to conspire against each other and it seems that nothing is off-limits - including murder. But each killing is so cleverly made to look like an accident that Inspector Hawks (Anthony Steel) finds it difficult to connect the dots. Who will be the last man standing?

  

The Perfect Crime (not to be confused with literally dozens of other movies with the same title) is a fun late-period giallo where the audience is always allowed to stay one step ahead of the police. Groovy music, fast cars and opulent settings add to the style factor and the fast-moving plot makes it a fun watch right up to the end, buttoned with a winking reveal.  The cast is a spectacular array of stars including Joseph Cotten (from nearly every major Orson Wells production), Adolfo Celi (a James Bond alum, featured in Who Saw Her Die?), Susperia's Alida Valli, Blood & Black Lace's Franco Ressel and Fulci alum Janet Agren. There's even a cameo by the great Maria Tedeschi, who seems to have made a living off her cameos in giallo movies.

• The original Italian title translates as Investigation of a Perfect Crime.
• I'm going to say that the title does make sense because, while the audience finds out the identity of the killer - spoiler alert - he doesn't get caught in the end. Also, I didn't check "Inept Police" above, because they do everything in their power to catch the killer but were simply outsmarted.
• Check out the background of Paul's office - it looks like he has a painting by Margaret Keane, as seen in Tim Burton's film Big Eyes.

 What the Hell Am I Watching?

Let's talk about the scene where Sir Harold's wife, Gloria (Janet Agren) sneaks off after a fox hunt to have some grownup time with two guys at the same time.

...Or the time Sir Arthur sends his girlfriend to seduce and murder Sir Harold.

This movie features one of the most ingenious kill scenes in recent memory. The killer slips into Sir Arthur's bedroom at night and zaps him with an electromagnet gun. When the police arrive the next morning, it looks like he had a heart attack caused by a malfunctioning pacemaker.

Fashion Moment

The clothes in The Perfect Murder are well-chosen for a cast of rich English socialites in the 1970's. Which is to say, they're expensive-looking, conservative and boring. Nothing says old money like fox hunting gear.

Except maybe a double-breasted suit.

Further proof of my theory that no one looks good in double breasted suits.

Polly (Gloria Guida) did get to glam it up (tastefully) in one scene, though, but she was hidden by the table.

 

Fatal Frames

Fatal Frames

"Christ, that woman gave me the creeps. This is a weird situation."

American film director Alex Ritt (Rick Gianasi) is mourning the death of his girlfriend, who was the third of five victims of the "Video Killer" - a serial murderer who hacked his victims with a machete, videotaped the bodies and sent the tapes to the police. Eager for a change of scenery, Alex accepts a job from his friend Daniel (Leo Daniel) to make a music video in Rome for pop singer Stefania Stella (Stefania Stella).  But old memories resurface when the women around him are brutally murdered one by one as he helplessly watches and eerie videos of the crime scenes are delivered to the police. In his anxious state, Alex is hallucinating visions and voices of the victims... or is he seeing ghosts?  Did the killer follow Alex to Rome or is a copycat murdering these women? Can he and his friends get the answers they need at a seance? And can Alex convince American investigator Professor Robinson (Donald Pleasence) that he's not the killer?

Fatal Frames (which is sometimes audaciously called Susperia 2000) is a messy, poorly-rendered homage to Dario Argento. Story elements of The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and Deep Red are crammed together and shot in a weak imitation of Susperia's color-soaked cinematography. It takes more than a couple of lens filters and a handful of gels to get Argento's look right.  You can't fault director/composer Al Festa for his ambition and his choice of inspiration, but the final product is a poorly shot, badly written, terribly-acted muddy-sounding mess.

• Fatal Frames is Donald Pleasence's last screen credit.
• Besides Donald Pleasence, you many recognize familiar faces in the smaller roles - Alida Valli (Susperia), Angus Scrimm (Phantasm), Ugo Pagliai (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times) and Geoffrey Copleston (Perversion Story) all make appearances.
• The movie does make a decent travelogue of Rome, taking us to popular tourist sites like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. I only wish the movie would ditch the characters and explore the ruins of the Forum instead.
• At the end of the movie is the security guard in the building's foyer dead or was he knocked unconscious? Based on the movie's disappointing resolution, I'm pretty sure he was just knocked out, so I didn't include him in the body count above.

What the Hell am I Watching?

 In his final scene of the movie (and his final scene ever on film), Donald Pleasence phones the police from the airport, telling them that he has to leave town because an old case has re-opened. He then walks into the distance to the theme from John Carpenter's Halloween. This is the best moment in the entire movie.

The seance scene is crazy. Alex, Daniel and Stefania go to an opulent palazo lit only by candles (for some reason) where a fancy formal party is taking place. The whole situation gives off a weird Eyes Wide Shut vibe. They meet a blind psychic Countess (Alida Valli) before winding through a maze of rooms to consult with the medium.

Let's talk about that cemetery scene. In a story thread that leads absolutely nowhere, Alex searches out the grave of a mysterious artist and meets a scowling priest (Angus Scrimm), who starts shouting and ranting... and then disappears without warning. That whole segment is bonkers.

Fashion Moment

Fatal Frames was released in 1996 but the look is pure 1988. Long ponytails, luxurious shoulder-length hairdos, loose-fitting, unbuttoned blouses billowing in the breeze, tight light-washed jeans... and that's just the guys.

Everyone looks like Fabio. Or the saxophone player in The Lost Boys.  Also, here's a shot of Stefania's costume for her music video.

Guys, can you get out of the way? You're ruining my view of the Colosseum.

Killer Nun

Killer Nun

"Sister Gertrude, it is a nun's vocation to suffer."

After her recent brain surgery, Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg) has developed serious headaches, suffers from blackouts, and has become addicted to morphine. Her violent and cruel outbursts have made her hated among the patients and staff at the hospital where she works and only the fawning young nun, Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra) takes her side. So when patients start turning up dead, Sister Gertrude is a prime suspect – even though she has no memory of committing the crimes in her drug-fueled haze. Did she really kill her patients or is someone framing her?

Killer Nun is a giallo, but it crosses over with the short-lived genre known as "Nunsploitation," wherein nuns are depicted engaging in various shocking and unholy behaviors. Here, Sister Gertrude mainlines morphine, has sloppy hallway grownup time with a random man, bullies a woman into bed, and engages in Machiavellian politics to eliminate those she deems a threat. And she still manages to function as the Nurse Rached-like taskmaster of her hospital ward.

• Director Giulio Berruti cameos as a priest during the opening credits.
•  The opening title card claims that the movie is based on a true story, which is sort of true. "Based extremely loosely" is more like it. The idea came from the case of a Belgian nun at a retirement home who killed her residents in order to steal their jewelry.
• Patient Peter (Lou Castel) spends his time drawing and is the source of the bad 1970's art.
• I actually prefer the alternate and far more witty English title, Deadly Habit.
• You may recognize Alida Valli, who plays Mother Superior, from Dario Argento's Susperia. Joe Dallesandro, who plays handsome Dr. Patrick Roland, was part of Andy Warhol's circle in the early 1970's and appeared in several of his films.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

 Sister Gertrude and Dr. Poirret (Massimo Serato) have what should be a very private conversation in the middle of the hall. They discuss the Sister's private medical history, addiction, and mental illness while surrounded by gawking nurses and patients.

During mealtime in the dining hall, Sister Gertrude reads to the patients about Catholic martyrs getting tortured in brutal and graphic ways. And then she wonders why no one is eating and why everyone hates her.

When an elderly patient dies of heart failure, her roommate has to spend the night in the room with the dead body. No one objects or even suggests other arrangements.

Two of the patients enjoy secret sexytimes in the rain. One of them is an old man who is confined to a wheelchair. The subsequent murder scene is rather well staged, though – we see it only in flashes of lightning.

Normally, a giallo movie ends with the arrest or death of the murderer but in Killer Nun, the murderer is revealed but gets to walk free.

At the convent, Sister Gertrude is kept in a prison-style cell with an iron door that locks from the outside and a tiny food-tray slot. Why would a convent have that? How frequently do they need to lock up killer nuns?

Fashion Moment

There's a lot of white in this movie. Uniforms, habits, dressing gowns, curtains, walls... everything is stark white.  So when Sister Gertrude ditches her habit and takes the train to the city to score some morphine, it's a different world. After selling the ring she stole from a dead patient, she heads to the Rainbow Brite Lounge to get her swerve on.

Dig those tulip chairs and post-modern decor. Notice that Sister Gertrude ditches her pure white vestments for a low-cut black dress when she goes on her sin binge. That's some pretty heavy-handed symbolism right there.

Here's a closer look at Sister Gertrude. Apparently, her order is the Sisters of the Clumpy Mascara.

Mother Superior (Alida Valli) seems to have a keen interest in fashion. In this scene, she appears to be looking over fashion illustrations for forward-thinking new nurse's uniforms.

 

Oh... and remember the time Peter flashed his underwear while climbing up the cellar stairs?

Suspiria

Suspiria

"Bad luck isn't brought by broken mirrors, but by broken minds."

Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) is an American dancer who has only just arrived at a prestigious European ballet academy when she notices a series strange occurrences: a recently expelled student is murdered; strange noises can be heard at night; the staff behaves in an odd manner; maggots rain down from the ceiling. Suzy's roommate, Sara (Stefania Casini) has been cataloging the clues for months and may have an explanation – but could her far-fetched, diabolical ideas about the school be correct? Or are the deaths just the accidents they appear to be?

Thanks to its popularity among mainstream horror fans, Suspiria is the most famous giallo ever made, even though it is the least-characteristic film of the entire genre. It is unquestionably Dario Argento's masterpiece and a staggering artistic achievement. It has style to burn, is quintessentially Italian, and centers around a murder mystery, but it stands apart from the rest of the genre, due to its extreme visuals and a story that hinges on the supernatural, rather than a human killer.  In fact, Suspiria has more in common with supernatural horror movies like Rosmary's Baby than it does with giallo.  Emboldened by Suspiria's success, Argento would go on to make a sequel, Inferno, which turned out to be an incoherent, candy-colored mess and can't be categorized as a giallo.  Decades later, he would complete the trilogy with Mother Of Tears, which is a flat-out horror film.

• The most impactful thing about Suspiria is its cinematography and, most notably, the intense, eyeball-searing use of wild, vibrant colors to give the ballet school an otherworldly, disorienting feeling. Argento's color sense comes from his mentor, Mario Bava, who made frequent, pioneering use of colored lighting in his giallo Blood and Black Lace and in the Gothic horror film Kill Baby... Kill! The shifting color schemes in all of these movies have also been linked to Poe's story "The Masque of the Red Death."
  
• The set designs also create a feeling of distortion and unease. They're a curious mix of Art Deco, Art Nuveau, and modernist geometry. The velvet-textured walls of the school give a sense of decadent opulence.
• Suzy is attacked by a bat in a scene which could only have been inspired by Hitchcock's The Birds. A similar scene can be found in Lucio Fulci's giallo A Lizard in Woman's Skin.
• Connections have been made between Suspiria and The Wizard of Oz: The young heroin blows in during a storm, finds herself in a land of crazy colors, takes poison that makes her sleepy, must defeat a witch, and, in the end, finds that she had the answers she was looking for all along.
• The body count is 5+ because, while we see five murders, it's unclear how many people died in the fire at the end of the film.
• The title isn't explained, but the word "suspiria" means "she who sighs" in Italian. It makes reference to the witch's distinctive snoring.
• I once met Stefania Casini at a horror movie convention. She was friendly and very generous with her time.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

The opening sequence is the most famous and it unfolds like a deadly Rube Goldberg device. Expelled student Pat (Eva Axen) runs away from school, gets attacked by a floating spirit, gets stabbed in the gut, crashes through a skylight, and gets hanged by an electrical cable.

My favorite scene is Sara's murder sequence. It starts in green in her room, shifts to red as she follows a strange sound down the hall, turns blue as she ventures into the attic and is attacked, and ends in violet when she falls into a pit of razor wire.

Did I mention maggots raining from the ceiling? Because that's a thing that happens in this movie.

Fashion Moment

Just everything. You'll find yourself slack-jawed at the grotesque beauty of the entire film. Have a look: