Terror infinito

Finally, a so-called "giallo" that's working vs. the formula. Corinne Cléry makes it quite clear when the Commissario (Michele Placido) asks her for a dance: "Recite an Apollinaire poem for me." De facto, the shadow of the famous French proto-surrealist is lurking everywhere in Paolo Cavara's tongue-in-cheek, poptastic homage to Heinrich Hoffmann's gruesome cautionary tales, published as "Struwwelpeter" in 1845. At first sight the usual psycho killer rubbish, E Tanta Paura is brimming with bizarre surprises, as in the orgy flashback sequence in the Fauna Lovers Group Sex Club (including a porn cartoon by Italian animatore Gibba) or the acidly humorous slaughterhouse scene, and you won't get much better dialogue for your money ("She cheated on me with a white guy." "But you're white as well." "I'm Neapolitan, that's different"). The denouement might be a bit underwhelming, but Cavara's elegant direction, Franco di Giacomo's skillful cinematography, Daniele Patucchi's versatile soundtrack and the splendid cast – special jury prize for the sardonic John Steiner – add up to an intertextual fun(house) ride breaking it down light-handedly that "giallo" can be a whole lot more than those bland Argento bummers: in this case, a vitriolic grotesque bowing its serpent's head in reverence to the origins of the Grand Guignol.