Giallo – Review

Dario Argento’s newest film, the aptly named Giallo, isn’t the saving grace his fans are expecting, yet it isn’t the abomination his fans were expecting. If anything, it’s a much stronger film than his recent films, in terms of plotting, but as a giallo film it doesn’t offer up much new from a genre fans have grown accustomed too after 35 years. So? Fans have been really critical of Argento in the recent later stage of his career, more so than they have against Romero and even Carpenter. Immediately, they shrug off a new film, proclaiming it’ll be no classic like Deep Red or Suspiria. But does a new Argento film need to be a classic each and every time? Have horror fans become that short-tempered and spoiled? I think so.

If we look at Argento’s output in the 2000′s, namely Sleepless, his Masters of Horror films (Jenifer and Pelts), The Card Player, Do You Like Hitchock? and Mother of Tears these handful of films have been deeply criticized for being lazy, uninspired, and just plain bad films. Well, Sleepless gets off the hook as being his last great film, but really these films are at least acceptable, passable entries into his long, luxurious horror career. I know I’ve been on record for saying Mother of Tears is a good film, even if it’s over-the-top and campy most of the time, but again, fans have felt the sting for whatever reason and believe Argento isn’t the director he once was. Well, returning to the giallo genre he made famous helps. Giallo means yellow in Italian and are the cover color of murder mystery novels, and Argento’s career blossomed by adapting these stories into his “Animal Trilogy” with Bird with the Crystal Plumage,Cat O’Nine Tails, and Four Flies on Grey Velvet all of which cemented him internationally as the next Hitchcock.

He would then go into his supernatural stage, only to return with a vengeance with another giallo film in Deep Red. Not only has Argento made a slew of these films, but also copycats added to a genre that in the 1970′s were being made more than Spaghetti Westerns, the once bread-and-butter of Italian Cinema. But films like his recent Card Player and Do You Like Hitchcock? clearly felt lazy. Now Giallo isn’t anything new in the giallo genre or even now days with stuff like CSI or Saw everywhere, but Argento’s film eye looks to have come a bit more alive here than in recent films. While there’s no shots like seen in a raven’s point-of-view as in Opera, the camera and notably Argento seem to be interested in telling a story visually, something I’ll admit in his 2000′s output, that hasn’t been the case.

Giallo is Argento doing what Argento does best. Yellow, the code name of the killer, is perhaps just another sicko, but in Argento’s oeuvre, he seems fresh and more realistic than say a killer using the internet and solitaire to lure and confuse victims and cops in The Card Player. Yellow looks strangely like Dario himself, another one of the film’s fun little subtle nods to Argento and the genre he put on the map. Look for yellow covered books on the killer’s desk by his bed. Also, interesting is that Yellow is disfiguring beautiful women, making them ugly. One of the criticisms against Argento is that he is misogynistic and if Yellow looks like Argento, it makes for some fun psycho-analysis. With that said, sickening violence returns, something than was lacking in his last two giallo films, and even his American giallo film, the limp Trauma. Now, the film also (sadly and typically) features some corny dialogue and one plot development that is incredibly laughable, but just as black gloves and killer-point-of-view are standards in the giallo films, corny dialogue and laughable plot twists are standards in most of Argento’s work.

For Argento fans, listen: Giallo isn’t Deep Red. It didn’t need to be, nor should we have had those expectations. Enjoy a new Argento while we get them, as he’s an old master that has survived many genre changes and a bad, and at times, non-existent Italian Cinema program. Giallo is sick, mean, and a welcomed late Argento film that should, under the right expectations, be a passable, enjoyable giallo for the genre’s fans. Argento hasn’t returned, he’s actually never left.

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Note: Giallo premiered here in America at the Omaha Film Festival on March 14th, 2010. That is where this review came from. Up until this review’s publication, there’s been no word on a wider American release, either theatrical or DVD. Killer Film will keep you posted on the film’s distribution.