Despite being one of the first Gialli titles that I heard of,I somehow have never got round to seeing this mid-80's Giallo fashion show. Finally getting round to watching the very good Spaghetti Western Don't Turn the Other Cheek on video last night,it felt like the perfect time to find out what is underneath.
View on the film:
One of only a few Gialli to have most of the soundtrack be recorded on set instead of looped, Carlo and Enrico Vanzina's team up with Franco Ferrini in (to quote the credits) "freely adapting" Marco Parma's novel is helped by the mix of real and snippets of looped dialogue giving Crane's telekinetic ability the impression of there not being one lone voice in his head. Dressing Crane with a deep telekinetic connection to his sister in the opening, the writers take an oddly casual approach to Crane's desire to find the killer, as his liaisons in the drug & sex fuelled fashion industry cool the mystery down,until a a fading flashback and a shattering final gets underneath the identity of the murderer.
Dicing away from from the traditional,extended first person tracking shots of the killer, co-writer/director Carlo Vanzina & cinematographer Giuseppe Maccari find the ultra-stylised atmosphere of the Giallo in pristine match cuts by editor Raimondo Crociani,who makes the impact from well done (non-rubbery) practical effects strike with clean cuts unveiling the aftermath from each murder scene. Using Commissioner Danesi (played with a very good edge of suspicion of Donald Pleasence) and Pino Donaggio's moody synch score to cast uncertainty over the killer identity, Vanzina threads the mystery of the Giallo with the pristine glamour of the Erotic Thriller, via Crane joining models in glossy sex scenes,which get wonderfully broken by Vanzina in a reflecting final revealing nothing underneath.
View on the film:
One of only a few Gialli to have most of the soundtrack be recorded on set instead of looped, Carlo and Enrico Vanzina's team up with Franco Ferrini in (to quote the credits) "freely adapting" Marco Parma's novel is helped by the mix of real and snippets of looped dialogue giving Crane's telekinetic ability the impression of there not being one lone voice in his head. Dressing Crane with a deep telekinetic connection to his sister in the opening, the writers take an oddly casual approach to Crane's desire to find the killer, as his liaisons in the drug & sex fuelled fashion industry cool the mystery down,until a a fading flashback and a shattering final gets underneath the identity of the murderer.
Dicing away from from the traditional,extended first person tracking shots of the killer, co-writer/director Carlo Vanzina & cinematographer Giuseppe Maccari find the ultra-stylised atmosphere of the Giallo in pristine match cuts by editor Raimondo Crociani,who makes the impact from well done (non-rubbery) practical effects strike with clean cuts unveiling the aftermath from each murder scene. Using Commissioner Danesi (played with a very good edge of suspicion of Donald Pleasence) and Pino Donaggio's moody synch score to cast uncertainty over the killer identity, Vanzina threads the mystery of the Giallo with the pristine glamour of the Erotic Thriller, via Crane joining models in glossy sex scenes,which get wonderfully broken by Vanzina in a reflecting final revealing nothing underneath.