Do You Like Hitchcock?

Do you like Hitchcock?

Original title: Ti piace Hitchcock?

Directed by: Dario Argento

Italy, 2005 (TV)

Thriller/Giallo, 93min

It’s fairly common for fans of Dario Argento to hear rumblings and complaints about the latter movies. On occasion it’s even the fans themselves who provide the moaning and disdain. But at the end of the day – at least mine – Dario Argento is such an important genre director in so many ways that with his legacy also comes a huge dollop of forgiveness. Yes, I can take certain lesser movies because there are some great movies in the back catalogue, and not every one can be a masterpiece. They can’t all be Suspiria 1977, Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) 1975, L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird With The Crystal Plumage) 1970, and so on, through your list of personal favourites. It’s through the lesser movies that we come to understand the greatness of the classic Argento pieces, and lesser movies should be seen in the light of their being. At least he’s still making movies and the last thing anyone would want is for the damned negativity to drive Argento into the arms of frustration, try to please a never satisfied fan base and make that damned Suspiria remake!

I’d like to say after a string of weak so-so movies, 2001’s Non ho sonno (Sleepless) seemed to be a great return form. But that would really be a load of bullshit, as you’ve got Opera 1987, Due occhi diabolici (Two Evil Eyes) 1990, the magnificent La syndrome di Stehdhal (The Stendhal Syndrome) 1996 before things really got bad… and there’s really only one movie that spoils the barrel of apples for me. Il fantasma dell’opera (The Phantom of the Opera) 1998, and only because it was the first Argento movie I showed my future wife – hey, it was new, it was Argento, so why not – but I made up for the let down by screening Profondo Rosso the first chance I got and managed to lift Dario from “that shit director” to that “pretty cool movie” director.

Which brings me to the made for TV movie, Do You Like Hitchcock? This one kind of reverberates all the traits he drew inspiration from when he defined the Giallo genre back in the seventies, and looking at the movie as a meta-homage then I find it to be a splendid thriller with an enjoyable Argento take on the works of Hitchcock.

Guilio [Elio Germano] is a young film student with an amazing apartment at the top of a block of flats. From his tower like location, he can see and watch his neighbours from his window that overlooks the square… an ideal setting for an Argento drama. Spying on neighbourhood hottie Sasha [Elisabetta Rocchetti], much to the despair of his girlfriend Arianna [Cristina Brondo], Gullio witnesses the violent murder of Sasha’s mother! His fixation with Alfred Hitchcock movies quickly lead him into suspecting that he’s actually watching Sasha and Federica [Chiara Conti] plan murder according to the murders found in the films of Hitchcock.

Do You Like Hitchcock? is a great reminder of what Argento does best, the murder mystery thriller - what we refer to as The Giallo! Classic genre traits, the amateur sleuth, the sensuous women, moral decision, red herrings, childhood traumas and a last minute twist ending are all here, and if you know your Argento you will also recognize several moments that definitely reverberate classic Argento moments from earlier movies. There's also a rather decent Pino Donaggio score to the movie too.

The movie holds several nods to Fritz Lang, F.W. Murnau and obviously Alfred Hitchcock and a bunch of narratives from his movies. You’ll recognize plotlines from Rear Window 1954, Dial M for Murder 1954, North by Northwest 1959 and Strangers on a Train 1950 is even featured in the shape of a DVD several of the lead characters rent (also the reason for the movies title being asked in dialogue by Sasha – “Do You Like Hitchcock?”

With part of the narrative taking place in a video store there several self promotion shots such as posters for Dario’s previous film Il Cartaio (The Card Player) 2004, and even Asia Argento’s Scarlet Diva 2000. I’m not going to tell you that there’s a huge standee for Josef Fares Kopps 2003, in the store, as it’s just embarrassing.

There are a couple of classic Argento gimmicks such as the extreme close-ups of items, shots from insides of locks, and solid cinematography. Although I really miss the sadistic prolonged deaths that I love about Argento’s movies. You know, first being stabbed in the leg, then falling face down onto a hard floor, only to be dragged down a flight of stairs, only to have one’s head slammed in the door before finally being stabbed repeatedly in the heart with a knife… the prolonged death that characterizes Dario Argento’s aesthetics. But being somewhat of a Hitchcock homage, it’s understandable that Dario held back on the violence, and after all there is a climactic re-working of the bath tub murder in Profondo Rosso a classic plot twist and a terrible rush of insight at the end that works for me.

Art the end of the day it’s fair to say that this is an entertaining Argento flick, it moves fast, is to the point and get’s the job done. Germano is a decent antagonist, a very typical Argento one to say the least. When it all comes around, and on second viewings, I really have to confess to liking the movies that Argento co-wrote with Franco Ferrini – and other works of his, if you still haven’t seen the magnificent Occhi di cristallo (Eyes of Crystal) 2004 he co-wrote for Eros Puglielli, then you really need to check that out. A damned fine piece of modern Giallo if there ever was one. Do you Like Hitchcock? plays by classic Giallo rules and I love the meta-gag at the end where a very Edwige Fenech looking semi nude woman walks around her apartment in skimpy underwear whilst reading a classic Giallo book. A fitting homage to the genre that the Do You Like Hitchcock? pays tribute to.

Eyes of Crystal

Eyes of Crystal
Original Title: Occhi di Cristallo
Directed by: Eros Puglielli
Italy/Spain/UK/Bulgaria, 2004,
Giallo/Thriller, 107min
Distributed by: Revolver

I try to stay away from contemporary neo-Gialli themed flicks. I find that they lack the grander of the real deal and quite often, like many other late eighties Gialli, focus more on naked chicks, sordid sexuality and predictable plots, and that I can find done better in other genres beyond the Giallo. Not that this need be a bad thing, but in my Gialli I prefer at least something that reassembles an intelligent, or enigmatic or even deceptive narrative so that I can become engaged by something that keeps me from falling asleep, or becoming offended by a predictable plot. Yes, I did seek out movies like Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s AMER 2009, Guillem Morales’ Los ojos de Julia (Julia's Eyes) 2010 or even Anthony Hickox Knife Edge 2009 (which should have been sold as a Giallo to reach a more appropriate audience, as it makes more sense being read as a Giallo.) - all reviewed or mentioned in my monthly magazine column* - so of course it does happen now and again. I also did pay attention to Kristian Petri's Gialloesque Ond Tro (Bad Faith) 2010 too, but for the most of the time, I'd rather watch something old that I've enjoyed before than go down that treacherous path of poor quality once again.

One afternoon at my resident movie mecca and cult temple of cool, Monkey Beach, the ever-present entity you may know as Ninja Dixon pulled Eyes of Crystal out from the shelves, stuck it in my hands and said - This is a movie YOU need to see. Said and done, and as I trust Ninja's recommendation it was a solid buy.

Opening with a very strong character presentation of Ispettore Amaldi [Luigi Lo Cascio] who bolts down alleyways, jumps fences and does near damned anything to catch his man; it's fair to say that this good guy cop is whom we are going to be rooting for. And who wouldn't as moments later, after a very stylish and genre typical opening montage, the villain of the piece is presented… The embalmer [Eusebio Poncela - if you figure it out from that you've seen a lot of spanish genre flicks.]. Needless to say in the polarization of the villain from the hero, nothing is spared. A young couple are having a shag as they are being watched by a pervert who starts to pleasure himself too. The embalmer is setting a trap with the intention of capturing more of the somewhat tacky specimens the titles sequence ends with, but instead the young couple, and the old geezer watching them, distract him. Producing a high calibre semi automatic weapon, the embalmer shoots not only, the wanking old bloke, but also the fornicating couple in violent and cold fashion. The corpses are left in the places they fell at the crime scene and when the police - Amaldi and Frese [José Ángel Egido] - arrive on location they pretty realize that the killer has an odd trait. He "fixes the wounds". The young woman shot so violently in the breast, left with a gaping wound, has apparently had her chest fixed and repaired as if she where an animal on display. This at first all seems like just a random oddity, but pretty soon they start to realize it's the killer’s modus operandi.

Secondary characters are introduced; Guiditta [Lucía Jiménez] and Detective Ajaccio [Símon Andreu], the plot deepens and the movie gets on the way. Bit by bit, the pieces fall into place and just as you want it the clues lead one way before flipping over and going somewhere else. Not to mention the several red herrings that Puglielli tosses at his audience. But what I found fascinating is that it's never trying to fool us, it's just keeping information in the dark that makes it such a damned fine ride. Everything chugs along fine, and the final act delivers some serious surprises and a welcome exploration of Amaldi's character that gives an insight into why he plays so hard, and is so thankfull for it. Remember that early scene where he calls up his colleague in the middle of the night just to thank him for having his back. That kind of stuff.

Throughout the piece Gialli traits are frequent and dominate the narrative style. You will be thinking of your favourite pre-eighties Giallo and then realizing that this goes beyond, it's not just a mediocre homage or pastiche, it's a full-feathered Gialli well worth checking out. There’s several moments that stand out and I'll say that my favourite passage of the movie is the entire "Dollmaker's death" segment. It's completely oozes of what this genre is all about, an unseen threat, a distraught victim, and cinematography that plays with the audience's imagination, and damn do they use all the mirrors in that location to perfection. It's THE key scene that I will base future recommendations of this film upon.

After watching Eyes of Crystal it's mesmerizingly obvious that Puglielli knows his Giallo, and Eyes of Crystal is a splendid homage to that greet genre. If not the, definitely one of the best neo-Gialli. Among the new names in the opening credits, I'm hardly surprised to find veteran, Franco Ferrini, amongst the writing team because this is a movie that breaths the same air and aura of his Dario Argento flicks Phenomena 1985, Opera 1987 and Stendhal Syndrome 1996. A powerful, potent and intriguing Giallo with all the trimmings. A killer kept outside the frame, hiding in the safety the off-screen space… and we all know what happens the moment he enters the screen space to reveal his identity now don’t we… There's a red herring in the shape of Guiditta's stalker, but perhaps most importantly and terrifically resourcefully used in Eyes of Crystal is the childhood trauma in the backstory to motivate the killer and his vile actions’. And the neat gimmick here is that they choose to tell it through a completely different character. Brilliant.

Three arcs are set in motion, the murderer mystery arc, Guiditta's stalker arc and Ajaccio's childhood flashbacks arc. They all come together neatly in the investigation plot as defined by film theorists. And it's the investigation plot that lies the closest to the Gialli as their leading character frequently are either professional or amateur detectives. In Eyes of Crystal we have a professional policeman who tries to solve the puzzle and this is well in line with many a grand old classics.


Our old friend guilt is here too, and in a big-time badass effective way too. In Amaldi's backstory lies a dark sinister tale, a tale that drives him further than the average cop. A dark tale of murder and loss that Amaldi blames himself for. So when the taxidermist murders start, the memories of that harrowing backstory resurfaces and he pushes himself harder than before - that not saying that Amaldi isn’t a hard-ass cop before, but the guilt of not being able to stop that initial killing in his backstory drives him harder as the taxidermist starts killing off his victims.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s also a childhood trauma that drives the killing spree, a trauma which all surfaces when the killer/taxidermist is offered to purchase a rare life-size mannequin, which due to the seller's relationship with the killers mother is offered at a fair price. As you may have guessed already the rather grizzly and violent murders involve the taxidermist stealing body parts from his victims and replacing them with parts of the mannequin. Sure one could perhaps have asked for more visual gore, but then at the same time it isn’t really needed and the aftermath itself is there in all it’s glory for the audience to awe over. In the last act the Guiditta stalker arc climaxes into the main narrative and we see what her purpose in the larger picture is. It sneaks in there and gives a pleasing little pay-off at the end.

Puglielli, Ferrini and the rest of the screenwriters have come up with a solid, watertight script, the cinematography of Luca Coassin – who went on to win several awards for his camera work after this movie - is awesome, and relies heavily on darkness, shadows and creative lighting. All traits we know too well from our beloved Giallo. This is a movie that contains some pretty damned impressive scenes, where many breathe old school Giallo, but at the same time live their own contemporary life. Especially when looking at things like how they ingeniously used the backstory arc, the way guilt has shaped Amaldi as a character, the triangular arcs that all come together in the final act and the last frames of the movie which present an explanation to the movies title. As you know half the fun of the really good Gialli, is figuring out what the name holds for referent in the movie.

Alan Jones’ cover quote “Watch out Dario Argento, director Eros Puglielli is after your chiller crown” still rings true. Nothing either Argento or Ferrini have come up with since Puglielli’s flick is anywhere near the brilliance of Eyes of Crystal

Nevertheless, Puglielli still has to follow Eyes of Crystal up with another feature movie, and I for one will be looking forward to it to make sure he's no one trick puppy. Now I only have to figure out how to get hold of those half dozen TV movies he’s directed since this one.

*(In forth coming issues of Cinema I gave Julia’s Eye’s 4 of 5, claiming it to be the best of the new wave of Spanish horror themed movies. AMER 5 of 5 as it’s a perfect homage. But you already read my piece here didn’t you so you know how much I like that flick.)

Image:
Widescreen

Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Italian Dialogue, optional English Subtitles

Extras:
There’s a “Making of Eyes of Crystal Documentary and “Sul set di” a short featurette.

Nothing Underneath

Nothing Underneath

[Modell morden]
Original Title: Sotto il vestito niente
Directed by: Carlo Vanzina
Italy 1985
Giallo, 90min
Distributed by: Njutafilms.

Story:
Fashion, models, drugs and murder in Milan is what brings Wyoming Ranger Bob Crane to Italy as he searches for his missing twin sister Jessica. Through telepathic visions Bob saw Jessica being murdered and with the help of aging Commissioner Dannesi he starts his own investigation into his sisters’ whereabouts. Quickly making friends with Barbara, another model living at the same hotel as he is, he finds himself in the middle of a series of murders where the friends of his sister are being killed off one by one. Everything points in the direction of the sleazy jeweler Giorgio Pelloni whose main interests are snorting cocaine, looking at photographs of himself and shagging fashion models, sometimes more than one at a time. After presenting a water tight alibi, a dark secret is revealed, and the investigation has to search for new suspects. That’s when Bob receives a strange telegram from his missing sister…

Me:
Like many of the great sub genres there comes a time when they painfully prove top have past their best before date. The Italian Giallo is no exception, and Carlo Vanzina’s Nothing Underneath, shot in 1985, is mostly a showcase of a dying genre’s last gasps. The story, un-originally enough, is set in Milan, where young photo models are being murdered one by one. As mentioned, it’s a quite used theme and definitely previously explored within the Giallo sphere, from Maria Bava’s Blood and Black Lace [Sei donne per l'assassino], 1964, to Andrea Bianchi’s Strip Nude for your Killer [Nude per l’assasino] 1975. (Although the Giallo as a genre lived on well into the early nineties presenting a few decent pieces along the way.) The gloved killer stalking fashion models getting in and out of their clothing feels quite tedious when it’s still being used some twenty years later. On top of this there’s a few quite misplaced shots’ that do more to disturb the movie than help it along. For an instance there’s a completely uncalled for crotch shot which looks more like an insert than anything else right in the start of the build towards the second killing. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against sporadic nudity as it definitely is part of the Giallo atmosphere, but this shot is just so out of place, and actually had me making a mental note that the later Gialli certainly don’t have the “kinky charm” that the early ones had. But, naked women, suave men, gloved assassins and onscreen violence are all part of the tricks of the trade so it shouldn’t distract me; rather the opposite but the unmotivated beaver shot just annoyed me. Even the sleaziest entries into the genre didn’t go that far without a very motivated reason. There’s a much classier shot a few minutes later where Carrie [Catherine Noyes] walks out on Giorgio [Cyrus Elias] after refusing to have sex with him. She runs from the suite and on her way she walks over a subway grid, and shot from beneath the grid the wind lifts her skirt in a The Seven Year Itch/Marilyn Monroe homage that is far more refined. And that’s the level it should be kept at. More of a teasing of the senses instead of a gagging close up.

Anyhow enough ranting about that because this film does have a few very interesting things going for it after all. The main plot focuses on Bob Crane [Tom Schanley] a ranger from Wyoming who travels to Milan to investigate what has happened to his twin sister Jessica [Nicola Perring] after experiencing a vision where he sees her being murdered. This twin paranormal connection is used in several occasions and works great as a bridge between moving us to the next set up and presenting new twists in the plot. Like the climax where Bob “feels” the presence of his sister and makes his way towards her location. It would have been impossible to have him find that flat with out this great device, and it works like a charm. Again it's nothing new to the Giallo sphere as premonitions of death have been used in the genre before like in Lucio Fulci's Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes to name one. The legendary Donald Pleasance (speaking with the most ridiculous fake Italian dialect) is Commissioner Daniesi who at first neglects Bob’s inquiry, but later reveals that he is going to retire in two weeks time and want s to close this case before he quits the force. Pleasance is always a joy to watch and even though he looks really old and tired he impresses like hell as they chase a suspect through the Milan Central station. But after starring in Seven movies during 1985 it’s easy to understand if he was getting tired. There are a few surprises that work really well as they are built up to through genre conventions. Towards the end of the film when most of the “red herrings” are killed off and there are only two options left to who the killer can be, the missing Jessica is reintroduced, and things take an unexpected twist just before the climactic finale where the true killer chases Bob around the apartment with a power drill. Also one of the minor details that I love about the Gialli is that the title is frequently reflected in the narrative of the movie. It almost becomes a second puzzle to solve as you watch the movie, where it the title reference hidden this time. In this case the original title Sotto il vestito niente translates more or less to “nothing underneath the clothes” which is a reference to why Giorgio likes fashion models so much.

I feel that I have to mention something about Renée Toft Simonesen here seen as she is the leading lady of this movie. She plays Barbara, Bob’s “love interest” in the movie, who not until the very end of the movie proves to have known Jessica much more intimately than she has been claiming throughout the movie. Danish “girl next door” Simonsen was one of the most successful models during the 80’s. She was the cover girl on German Vogue in March, April and September and was also featured on the cover of Roxy Music’s compilation album Atlantic Years in 1983. She only acted in two movies, one being this one and then in a second movie with Carlo Vanzina, the comedy Via Montenapoleone in 1987. Then she started to pull herself away from the fashion industry, and after turning down a role as Bond girl in 1988 she retired from the business to start studying psychology. Today she has authored two books and works as a psychologist. Now doesn’t that make you want to sit down with her and listen to her analysis of the Barbara character from a professional stance? I know I would!

In the late eighties there was a significant change in the soundtracks of most Italian genre movies, where the great collaborations with the likes of Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, Stelvio Cipriani, Bruno Nicolai and Goblin where set aside for a more modern approach. For some undeclared reason, modern pop and rock oozed it’s way into the soundtracks of several great Italian genre pieces, which just like this one, damages them now some twenty years later as what was once considered contemporary music hasn’t aged as gracefully as the jazzy scores by Ennio Morricone has, or the ferocious progressive rock of bands like Goblin have. Remember Lamberto Bava’s Demoni movies? Remember Argento’s Terror at the Opera. Remember Michele Soavi’s The Sect [La Setta]? When they first where released the new wave and hard rock music was spot on, but today those movies are almost unwatchable as the soundtracks are so outdated by their musical choices. Even with its score by Pino Donnagio, Nothing Underneath suffers from the late eighties pop music used in the fashion shows, the shoots, the parties and just annoys the crap out of me. If only they had stuck with the Donnagio score it might have had a chance to stay timeless.

But still, Nothing Underneath is after all a decent Giallo, even though it shows the flaws of being in the later period of the genre and mostly just rehashing old ideas. But there are a few interesting twists that make up for the familiarity and in my opinion rather mild approach to the onscreen violence. Compared to earlier Gialli and contemporary Italian horror of the late eighties there could have been a lot more visual carnage on screen, but here the most visual it gets, is a pair of scissors pushed into a back. And even though the spin on the almost obligatory “bath tub murder” is kept off screen only to be used by the killer to wash the blood of the scissors, there are several scenes where they could have gone so much further making a bigger imprint. The power drill fight at the end is very lame, it could have gotten much more violent and gorier with a few effects, and the girl who committed suicide could have been much more visual. One exploding head effect could have worked wonders for the movie and really have made a mark. Screenwriter Franco Ferrini shows the beginning of a great career taking off with this movie. Where he previously had been part of a larger writing staff on the likes of Michele Massimo Tarantini’s Crimebusters, and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, he moved up to being co-writer with Lamberto Bava on Demons, Dario Argento on Phenomena, Two Evil Eyes, Trauma, Stendhal Syndrome, Sleepless, The Card Player and Do You Like Hitchcock?, and not to forget Eros Pugielli’s Eyes of Crystal from 2004 the closest thing to a Giallo to hit the screens in a long time.

All in all, Sotto il vestito niente is entertaining, it has a few surprises you won’t see coming and most of all an interesting study of mid eighties music, style and fashion, not to say one of the better movies of a dying genre.

Image:
Cinemascope 2:35:1 / Anamorphic

Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 or English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or Finnish.

Extras:
Theatrical Trailer, other Gialli Trailers from Njuta Films/Another World Entertainment, trailer show for other Njuta Films/Another World Entertainment titles, a slideshow of publicity stills and director filmography.