A Blade in the Dark

Frequently vicious with some excellent set pieces, A Blade in the Dark must be one of the better non-Argento giallos from the 80's. The story follows a young horror film composer who becomes a target for a deranged serial killer who doesn't want this film to come out. This killer also finds time to hack up anyone who comes to the house where the composer is working on the music, so there's plenty of fresh blood to be spilled.

The pace ebbs and flows here and there and it's hard to judge the acting since it's been dubbed into English, but A Blade in the Dark is worth watching for it's insane murder set pieces, including one particularly grisly hairwashing sequence that involves a hand and a very sharp kitchen knife.

A Blade in the Dark exists somewhere between the giallos on the 70's and the slashers of the 80's, but manages to find its sweet spot more often than not. I think Lamberto's father, Mario, would be very proud of his work in this.

Boasting a steady throttle of well-orchestrated suspense, some solid jump-scares, one whopper of a gore set-piece, and a fantastic musical score, this Lamberto Bava vehicle is an uneven but satisfying offering.

The film is centered around a composer who moves into an opulent villa to record the soundtrack for a horror film. He quickly finds himself living one when a series of strange events plunges him into a macabre mystery centered around the house's previous tenant, Linda. A series of female acquaintances of his predecessor begin showing up to provide him tantalizing clues, but then disappear just as suddenly when they are targeted and slayed by a deranged killer with a fondness for sharp objects. As he delves deeper into the cryptic saga of Linda's "secret," he learns that the movie he's working on may hold the key to discovering the dark, hidden truth.

The classic Giallo whodunnit formula is firmly in place, and Bava wisely provides enough suspects, both male and female, to keep things intriguing. We're left to puzzle over the potentiality of the lurking handyman who decorates his walls with pornographic pictures, the slightly batty film director who we imagine may be crafting her own real-life slasher movie, and the jealous girlfriend who bristles at the idea of other women setting foot anywhere near the house. This guessing game isn't stymied until the climax, when our possibilities start getting offed one by one, so the film maintains its mystique throughout.

The opening scene, in which two young boys dare their friend to descend into a creepy, shadow-strewn cellar and a grisly artifact plunges out of the darkness to announce his fate, gets the film off to a rousing start. From there, Bava sets a leisurely but effective pace, unfurling a piece at a time of the overarching enigma and punctuating each act with displays of the killer's prowess for carnage. Genre aficionados may find themselves disappointed by the meager body count leading into the finale, but the engrossing storyline renders this a minor complaint, and as the final act plays out, Bava makes up for lost time by whittling away his remaining cast in quick fashion.

The most gruesome and memorable scene in the film, a deliriously blood-soaked rendezvous in a bathroom, is constructed with a meticulous Hitchcock-ian flair for tension, and the end result is one of the most harrowing clips in the Giallo canon. Bava never quite reached the Grand Guignol via art-house heights of his brilliant countryman Dario Argento, but as evidenced by this particularly stunning segment of Blade, it wasn't because he didn't try.

Granted, there's plenty of silliness on display here, most of it a result of the dubbed dialogue, which at times clearly demonstrates some glaringly awkward translation ("Is it possible you're such a vacant nerd? Your satisfaction is to sit like a frog in the sun?"). Likewise, the concluding summation of the murderer's motivation is so rushed and dicey that the film ends on a fairly humorous note.

The final twist works well enough, but Bava falters a bit there by trying to keep the audience guessing for too long at a point when the solution to the riddle is plainly obvious. By the time we find out who's been holding the titular Blade, there are are only a couple of characters left, so knowing who the killer ISN'T strips the reveal of its big "a-ha" moment.

However, despite its flaws, A Blade In The Dark is an entertaining and cohesive thriller that delivers everything its premise promises. I'll let horror scholars debate whether this is Bava's best film or not; as for myself, I liked it a hell of a lot, and that's more than good enough for me.

This film is why I worship and adore Italian Giallo films. For one, it has beautiful women in the cast. It is shot with a love for the film art, and is filled with evil and graphic violence that caused it to be censored in many countries. The violence is never ending, with fountains and fountains of the red stuff. The knife attacks are brutal, pull no punches-style of showing the knife entering the flesh. The shock ending will have your blood pumping and adrenaline going. Don't buy the over-hyped commercial garbage out there. Grab the UNCUT Anchor Bay DVD of this awesome display of Italian-made carnage. You will NOT be disappointed!

Rated: 9.5/10 because of the cool plot, the shock ending, and the bloody and graphic murder scenes.

If giallo works for you, this movie is a riot. If not, you may find it somewhat disappointing. But for me, it hit all the right notes.

The writing and acting was absurd, filled to the brim with dialogue that is either some of the most on-the-nose stuff I have ever heard, or complete nonsense. The acting is generally fully over-the-top or simply terribly performed. Either way, it's all wildly amusing. Not all the deaths are up to snuff with the best of giallo, but there are a couple that will leave imprints in your mind, specifically one in a bathroom involving a plastic bag. The women are quite intoxicating, the lead actor quite pretty as well, and it's always fun seeing the legend Michele Soavi in any role. The cinematography is a lot of fun, the pacing and editing is disjointed and awkward as is the case with most giallo, and the story makes very little sense.

All in all, it's a pretty terrible movie, but a wonderful giallo! Lamberto Bava certainly got his game locked in a few years later by the time he made his masterpiece, Demons!

I do like a good Giallo film and this is one of those.

The writers, Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti, do a great job of weaving the elements of this story into an interesting and eerie dark thriller. There are a couple of supernatural factors thrown in so it just makes it into the horror genre also.

Though it's Lamberto Bava's direction which steers it in the horror genre route the most. What Bava brings to the table is the atmosphere. He is adept at using everything to build an uneasiness for the viewers. Lighting effects, musical interludes, and camera angles. These are the main ingredients he adds. Shame some of today's directors can't cook up a film so good.

It also helps to have the opening sequence where you should recognise one of the kids in the daring trio. Giovanni Frezza who has appeared in nine films of the genre from 1980 to 85. But you should know him from Lucio Fulci's classic horror, The House By The Cemetery. Though it's a very minor part he still does a good job.

I find with the foreign dubbed films it's difficult to fairly rate the acting ability as you're not hearing their voices. You can only go on what you see and hear. Sight-wise the acting isn't superb but it is above average. Sound-wise the vocals could have been a little better. I do wish that the vocal talent scouts would match the voices and characters better. As always this is where it falls - but only a little. There are a couple of translation mishaps and the voice actors and actresses could have studied the script a bit more, to get the emotional elements correct.

Though, if you're a watcher of dubbed films then you'll take this with a pinch of salt - you'll be used to these little niggles. They don't detract from the enjoyment of the story and film.

The special effects are incredible. The bathroom sequence is horrific and I still cannot figure out how they managed to make it look so realistic. This is one of my favourite effects scenes. I hope other filmmakers take note. If you're doing gruesome effects then wetwork is the only way to go. And remember to keep the atmosphere going.

Not an exact tour-de-force but both the writers and director should be happy to have this one in their portfolio - I would be.

The only thing letting the film down is the ending. It's been done a lot. Even when this came out it had started to become old hat. Since then it's become a staple twist of the genre and greatly overused.

If you like gruesome eerie mysteries, then this film is for you. I would even recommend watching the film if you have a passing interest in the genre or want to try something new. Check out my thriller and horror lists, The Game Is Afoot and Absolute Horror, to see where this film sits in my rankings.