It's of course definitely true that the earliest Giallo's are also most definitely the best ones and the same can be said for Dario Argento's movies. And this movie was not just his first Giallo but also his first movie in general! And what a great debut it was for him! This movie is definitely being one of his bests and one of the better Giallo movies out there in general.
Finally a good Giallo again! I absolutely love the genre but I have to admit that most of the movies in it are extremely mediocre. Absolutely nothing tops "Profondo rosso", which also got directed by Argento but I can at least say that this movie comes close at times and especially considering that this is one of the earliest movies out of the genre, I really have to take my hat off for this one.
Some good mystery, some good characters, some great tension and killings. In other words, plenty to enjoy for the Giallo lovers in this movie. I think that this movie did a great job with its storytelling and the way it was handling its almost constantly present tension and mystery. Also good news about all of it is that it doesn't fall flat at the end, as often is the case with these type of movies.
The movie uses some great and at times also innovative cinematography, which helps to create a certain mood and tension for the movie, which all definitely helps to make this a very effective one within its genre.
And if you still aren't convinced to watch this movie, let me throw in a couple of more names, besides Dario Argento's; Ennio Morricone and Reggie Nalder. Nalder is a great character actor, I have seen popping up in a wide variety of movies. I have even seen a skin flick with him in it, which is all the more shocking once you know how Reggie Nalder looks. Luckily he himself didn't got nude in it but I always enjoy seeing him in movies and he often plays the quiet, scary looking henchman, as he basically also does in this movie.
And then there is also still the Ennio Morricone musical score. Most people don't really know it but by far most of Morricone's musical scores are some weird ones, that still have lots of quality to them though. As does the score to this movie, which is one Ennio Morricone himself is even proud off, since he often plays it at some of his concerts.
Finally a Giallo movie again of which I can truly and honestly say it's a great one, that I absolutely enjoyed watching.
8/10
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