Reflections in Black

Well, it's safe to say that Reflections in Black isn't the most interesting example of the Giallo genre, but it has more than its fair share of sleaze and the short running time ensures that the film doesn't really have time to run of steam. One of the most nauseating things about this film is the cinematography. Director Tano Cimarosa doesn't really seem to care about the sets and colour schemes that set Giallo apart from the thriller genre on the whole and goes for a grisly look and feel to the film. This does, of course, blend well with the film's sleazy nature...but it's not very easy on the eyes. The sleazy plot line focuses on the brutal slashing of a number of women. After interviewing a few suspects, it soon becomes apparent that the murderer is focusing on the friends of Leonora Anselmi. Leonora is married, but that doesn't stop her from having numerous relationships with other women…

Director Tano Cimarosa seems keen to keep the focus on sleaze and savagery throughout, and if we're not witnessing a woman being slashed open with a razor blade, we're watching two of them getting it on. Normally, a film like this would get a high rating from me; but because the cinematography is so painful, none of it is pleasing to the eye and that ensures that it's all rather uninspiring. The cast features two recognisable names, those belonging to John Richardson, the star of a number of Italian films including Bava's Black Sunday and Lenzi's Eyeball, and Dagmar Lassander; who also appears on a number of cult cast lists. Neither really has room to impress here. Despite putting more focus on sleaze, the plot is actually quite complicated; and is made more so by the fact that all the characters are wafer thin and it can be difficult to work out their motives because of that. The ending doesn't come as much of a surprise, although I wasn't really expecting it to. Overall, Reflections in Black really isn't a good film; but I hesitate to completely condemn it as it's a great exercise in crappy film-making, and it does at least do some of the things that you want a Giallo to do.

This had absolutely zero atmosphere whatsoever. It felt, to me, like a made for TV film. The camera work wasn't too bad, it wasn't breathtaking but there were some very nice shots and sets/locations, so that kept me paying attention even when the story was either not keeping me interested, or just confusing me to the point that I wanted to turn off the TV. I do like that it's a mid-70s giallo rather than the more typical early 70s, because it meant that the fashion was quite fun to observe, being different from a lot of other gialli. Mid to late 70s fashion is some of the best and funnest and craziest in my opinion, but that's completely subjective. Still, it added another factor that kept me watching. Great furniture too.

Overall it's not actually bad, it's just not good either and has no atmosphere whatsoever which is unfortunate in a giallo film. But it's better than I originally thought.

Very rare but highly improbable giallo, that's about it. This movie is part of the late entries into the giallo genre and obviously hasn't much to say.

A lady in black (close shot on the black hose she wears)kills several young ladies (wearing undies, as usual) with no apparent motive (oh, really?). Except that the ladies are all related to a picture on which they appear altogether. The detective( John Richardson)penetrates the world of a very rich family where everything seems to be, well...mysterious.

Oh well, very usual indeed. Vice always finds home in the italian haute-bourgeoisie, loads of lesbian scenes & female nudity, and murders scenes piling up in a very tired way (all razors except one strangulation). The resolution is completely absurd (and the explanation of the sole survivor is utterly funny as she doesn't seem to be convinced of what she says).

The director has no sense of rythmn (essential in that genre) and lacks of strength when it comes to direct. The actors are like robots doing their thing over and over, lead by british actor John Richardson (and genre veteran)who was on the decline of his career.

The suspense does work anyway and for those who know the Giallo tricks, it's nevertheless obvious who's doing what. The director although tries to give a different tone (a comic one) with John Rochardson's sidekick, as if he wasn't interested in the suspense : that's why maybe the murders scenes are so mechanical and uninteresting.

For genre lovers only, IL VIZIO HA LE CALZE NERE has very few appeal on all levels even though the version I've seen is a 71 mn running time and appears to be heavily cut.

has been shot in Techniscope 2.35:1. Watch out for the horrible pan and scan version

Superwonderscope says : 4

Following a string of brutal murders, the police in charge find the investigation leads to a connection between a small-time hustler and a club for the city's wealthy patrons that even brings out a young lawyer to help solve the rash of bloody deaths in the city.

This here was quite the fun and enjoyable enough giallo. Like so many of the genre's efforts, what really makes this one so much fun is the rather strong mystery at the heart of the investigation which propels this one along. The quest to uncover the killers' method killing, the presence of the strange incriminating photograph working as a potential hitlist and their strange connection to the mysterious woman that they've all been in contact with, this one goes through the stages quite nicely in order to start this one off in rather fine Giallo fashion. With so much time on the investigation here going through these rather disparate clues and tying them into the main couple that gets caught up in the slayings makes for a rather strong opening start here that gives the film the groundwork needed to launch into it's proper giallo stalking that occurs in here. Starting with the opening hit on the female victim on the city street with the policemans' failure to stop it in time to the double ambush in the park and the surprise encounter in the apartment all make for a series of decent stalking scenes complete with all the usual Giallo trappings as the killer pops up out of nowhere to deliver the death-blow in rather striking fashion and brings about the kind of fun stalking in the finale where it's based upon the stalking in the apartment and how it fully leads into the big reveal of the killer and how it's all finally sorted out in here which is quite a nice time overall. Coupled together with all the fine nudity and sleaze typically associated with the genre at the time, there's quite a lot of positives here to enjoy even if there's still a few minor flaws present. One of the biggest issues is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of actual stalking action present here which really comes from the fact that there's just so much investigating with the police officers standing around debating clues and their significance. They really tend to dominate the film for the most part of the film and all they do is go over the importance of what they've found and how it's supposedly connected to what's going on, and when it's not dealing in those areas it's about the bland day-to-day lives of the couple caught up in everything alongside the police along with the few scenes of them investigating what's going on which really leaves this one with a rather low body count due to a small group of bodies to deal with as there's only so many chances here to work that when it's spending more time on those outside factors. The other big issue here is the fact that there's absolutely no surprise at all who the killer is and it's laundry list of suspects are all so obviously red-herring material that it never once hides who's doing the killer so that the main investigation is rather clumsy even with how well it's written up. These here are what hold this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, drug use and sexual situations.

Mixed bag... but mostly pretty bad.

First, this film does a couple things right. The dialogue is better than it has to be, and it mixes in moments of wit and humor throughout the script which are a nice bonus. The acting varies. Some of the actors are quite good. Some even convey appropriate grief in response to murder. However, there are other actors here that are utterly unconvincing as their "characters." It's pretty bad at times.

The film never decides on a proper protagonist. There are 3 or 4 contenders. But no central hero to root for.

In the end, the villain does not get their proper time to shine in all their madness. It felt unsatisfying. I'd skip this one.