Some Japanese girls visit an Opera in Italy. Afterward, one of them hails a cab. The cab driver takes her through unexpected streets and when she protests, he abducts her.
Later, a beautiful model hails the same cab and the same thing happens to her. The cabbie takes her to some basement. The Japanese girl is also there. But she is in bad shape, covered in blood and agonizing. The cabbie tortures her some more and then dumps her body.
The model's sister contacts the police and meets some reluctant and rude detective. There's been a string of these crimes and he's tasked with the investigation. He also has flashbacks of when he was a child and saw his mother brutally killed by some guy. The sister basically gets to shadow him as the investigation proceeds. And we do learn more about the killer and the cop as well.
When the body of Japanese woman is found they arrive in time. She's barely alive and utters some words which the cop records. It's a Buddhist prayer and also the word "yellow." The woman concludes that "yellow" could be a reference to the killer. He's yellow, he's got jaundice. Off they go to a clinic to demand to see patient files. That's when they see him running away. He escapes. The cop gets his address and goes to the killer's house and finds evidence, but no girls.
The model in the meantime has escaped, but she doesn't make it far. The killer visits her sister and she tries to help him in exchange for the model but then the cop shows up and a shootout ensues. But the girl is still missing.
Giallo, as other Argento and Italian movies made for the international market, doesn't convince. The movie looks like they're using 80s equipment. Audio, dubbing, are a disaster. The script is full of goofy lines, and acting overall doesn't convince. It does have some of the Giallo style, especially the beginning and the end. Elsa Pataky is lovely of course and the only thing truly enjoyable about Giallo. There's a bit of violence, a bit of gore, but not enough. We needed more victims and a stronger movie overall. There's no sense of dread. It's not the same to grab a girl that's already in a cab as opposed to seeing the villain stalk her, chase her, etc. Still, Giallo could have been worse. As always with Argento's recent movies, they don't fulfill one's unrealistic expectations but it's still worth a watch.
