Giallo (2009)
I honestly don't have the dislike for this film that others have. Yes, it's nowhere near as good as Dario Argento's directorial canon up as far as 1987's Opera but on the whole it isn't a bad little horror thriller.
At times the film is deliriously seedy and borders on torture porn, but performances are fine and one or two of the set pieces quite gripping.
Argento is nowhere near as creative as he used to be with his directorial flourishes and roaming camera work, but is this criticism necessary or would the film also be panned if he'd used well worn tracking shots from the past? Yet having said that, Giallo is still a nicely photographed film with impressive Rome location work and features some suitably grisly, graphic gory sequences.
I can accept the film isn't inspired in comparison to Dario's past movies, nor does it have a memorable score, in fact i can't even remember it the day after, but viewed in the cold light of day as a Rome set horror thriller, a modern take on the seventies Giallo film, i'd watch this over copycats like Amer or The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears any day of the week.
|