Giallo (2009) User Reviews

Kiss kiss no more

[whiggles · 5/10 · 26 June 2009]

If a single trait characterizes Dario Argento's 21st century output, it's its self-referentiality. Always a cine-literate filmmaker, his recent material has verged almost on self-parody. Amid all this, a generation of filmmakers have grown up with his films and been influenced by them, some more profoundly than others. Some, like Tim Burton, have assimilated his visual style into their own. Others have been more flippant in their appropriation of Argentoisms, with Quentin Tarantino lifting the music from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage for use in Death Proof, and Diablo Cody including a conversation debating the merits of Argento relative to H.G. Lewis in Juno. In effect, "Argento" has become something of a buzzword for a certain type of movie brat: a slightly edgy (but not too edgy) name they can mention to show that they're a little off the beaten track (but not too far off).

Oddly enough, Giallo represents something of a hybridization of the director's self-referentiality and the sort of fan idolatry that champions his films for their more superficial elements while ignoring the qualities that truly mark them out. Although the first credit at the end of the film reads "written and directed by Dario Argento", the original script in fact originated from two American fans, Jim Agnew and Sean Keller, with Argento essentially being brought on as a director for hire. This is not the first time this has happened: the two episodes he directed for the largely disappointing Masters of Horror series also originated from other writers, much to their detriment. (If Pelts had been directed by Eli Roth, I doubt it would have been appreciably different.) While Giallo's script is nothing remarkable, the overall execution is handled with considerably more flair than Jenifer or Pelts. This may be because Argento is on familiar stomping ground, with the Italian locations lending an air of natural class. Giallo is far from the bland, anonymous piece of work for hire that many feared it would be. While Frederic Fasano's cinematography lacks the verve of a Tovoli or even a Debie, and Marco Werba's Herrmannesque score alternates between effective and intrusive, there are little Argentoisms throughout, mainly in the lightly humorous moments. Likewise, an early sequence at an opera recalls Argento's 1987 masterpiece of the same name, while the oddly ambiguous final frame is reminiscent of The Cat O' Nine Tails.

That said, Giallo's most direct counterpart is The Card Player, and it's tempting to see them as two sides of the same coin. However, while The Card Player was clinical, high-tech and almost bloodless, Giallo goes in the opposite direction. Its set design hearkens back to the past, from Avolfi's dingy basement office to the foregrounding of Turin's picturesque monuments and buildings. The violence is also ramped up a notch, and it's tempting to view the film as Argento's reaction to the recent spate of so-called "torture porn" movies. The director has made conflicting statements as to his opinion of these films, but the lengthy scenes of Elsa Pataky being menaced and tortured in the killer's grimy underground lair are more reminiscent of Saw or Hostel than anything in Argento's past filmography.

And there's the rub: despite being marketed as a return to the genre that made a name for Argento in the 1970s, Giallo... well, isn't actually a giallo. The plot operates more as a cross between a cop thriller and a gore-soaked torture flick, the title referring solely to the killer's jaundiced skin. His face is seen almost from the start and his identity is ultimately not hugely important. Far more interesting is the way in which he and Avolfi are constructed as two sides of the same coin, both pariahs who operate in dark underground lairs and have suffered violent, traumatic pasts. As with much of his past work, Argento seems to be actively encouraging a Jungian reading. At times, this becomes a little too on the nose, with the casting of the killer... well, it's an intriguing choice but ultimately one that will either baffle people or have them slapping their foreheads at its obviousness.

With one notable exception, the cast acquit themselves reasonably well. The elephant in the room is Adrien Brody, who not only receives top billing but also an executive producer credit, performing uncredited script doctoring duties and making key decisions about the score (including nixing Argento's regular collaborator Claudio Simonetti). His role is an odd one, and it's far from the vanity project I expected. Avolfi is not particularly pleasant: he's distant, smarmy and reckless, and an act he committed in the past further blurs the line between him and the killer. Unfortunately, the specifics of this event, revealed around two-third of the way through the film, sent the audience at the screening I attended into fits of hysterics. More problematic in my mind, however, is Brody's performance. He seems to be imitating any number of 40s film noir detectives, but comes across as a mumbling buffoon whose reactions and line delivery always seem to be at odds with what's actually happening. He's not the first Oscar-winning actor to work with Argento, but he IS one of Argento's least convincing protagonists.

Giallo is a decent offering from a director whose work of late has been decidedly patchy. While I'm sure the usual battle lines will be drawn, with fans alternating between branding it a return to form and proclaiming it to be proof that he is a has-been, the truth is somewhere in the middle. No, it's not the next Profondo Rosso, but anyone who expected otherwise would simply be deluding themselves. It's substantially better than either of Argento's Masters of Horror outings, a step up from Mother of Tears, and a superior thriller to Do You Like Hitchcock? It's also more engaging than the overrated Sleepless and about on par with the underrated The Card Player, a film that for me improves with each subsequent viewing. Problems aside, Giallo is surprisingly good fun.

Not quite what you might expect...

[Red-Barracuda · 4/10 · 29 June 2009]

The latest movie from Dario Argento, the master of the giallo film, is called, perhaps unsurprisingly, Giallo. Perhaps influenced by the self-referential Tarantino/Rodriguez movie Grindhouse, Giallo is another film named after an exploitation genre. What IS somewhat surprising, however, is that Giallo isn't really a giallo at all. Argento seems to have instead opted to have a go at the sub-genre known as torture porn. This is a bit perverse from a man whose output has been made up almost exclusively of gialli, or at the very least non-giallo movies that retain many of the conventions of the genre, i.e. the mystery killer attacks of the supernatural horror films Suspiria and Inferno. So it may seem like a joke on the director's part that Giallo isn't a giallo. Why doesn't it fit into the genre? Well, the main reason is the fact that the killer's identity is revealed early in the film; gialli can vary greatly in content and style but the one thing they must retain is an element of mystery and this film abandons that early on. Instead the film adopts the approach of the torture porn sub-genre, of films like Hostel, dwelling as it does in scenes of torture rather than murder set-pieces. This extends to the grungy and grimy look and colour scheme; we don't have the rich, vibrant colours of Argento of old, or the inventive camera-work that he was once famous for. Giallo is quite an ugly looking film, fitting perhaps as the title villain (Yellow/Giallo) is one ugly dude; he looks a bit like the bastard child of Carlos Puyol and Mark Knopfler, only much, much worse. He is very repellent but I, for one, much prefer Argento's androgynous black leather clad maniacs of old. I also preferred their HINT of sexual deviancy, as opposed to the spectacle of Yellow masturbating in front of his laptop to images of bloodied women. Too much Dario, too much...

For those of you hoping for a homage to Argento's gialli classics of old, I have to sadly say this is not it. I have read that Argento was actually a director for hire in this movie and that would not surprise me as the feeling I had watching this was that the director wasn't entirely giving his all in this film. It all seems a bit half-hearted. And that extends to the acting performances too, which are a bit stiff throughout. Although I don't see much point in saying too much about this as its par for the course with Argento movies, his scripts and direction of actors have been notoriously uneven throughout his career. However, the same cannot be said of the soundtracks in his previous films, the music from the likes of Deep Red and Suspiria is legendary. Here, sadly, the score is a bit uninspired. Not bad exactly, just unmemorable and workmanlike. The look of the film too is very pedestrian. Sadly, not very Italian looking.

On the plus side it's briskly paced and is never actually boring. And some of the unintentional silliness is really quite enjoyable if you approach it with the right frame of mind. The flash-back scene near the end of the film had some people in the audience at the screening I attended in absolute hysterics, although, in fairness, this is not something that will necessarily surprise Argentophiles, as much of his output does contain a fair bit of daftness. It has to be said that Adrien Brody does put in a very hammy performance as the cop, which is almost in Frank Drebin territory. Although some of the humour was surely intentional too, the scene where the coroner and Brody light up cigarettes over the corpse was hysterical. I suspect there cannot be a smoking ban in effect in Italy. Of additional note is the rather strange ending. I won't describe it but it does seem really wrong, and dare I say it, pointless, I will leave you to be the judge of this for yourself though.

Sadly, I don't think Giallo is going to kick-start the moribund Italian film industry into producing superior horror and thriller films. It isn't really a return to form for the director either. But, ultimately, perhaps last night's audience reaction wasn't too far off the mark. There was quite a bit of laughter at some of the sillier scenes, however, at the end there was a round of applause. And I must admit I joined in too because despite the myriad of faults in this latest Argento offering, I did quite enjoy myself.

Not worth your time!

[chrichtonsworld · 4/10 · 7 March 2010]

When a director distances himself from a movie that is never a good sign. And after watching this movie I have to say that he is right to do so if there is truth to this claim. There was a time Dario Argento could do no wrong. So what exactly happened? Maybe we will never find out. But for now I understand very much that this isn't a movie to be proud of. There is not one scene that shows the master's brilliance. It does make me wonder what the movie could have been without the interference of the producers. It also doesn't help that the story is quite weak. There are no twists and turns. Well, maybe a very little one. None concerning the Killer. But the biggest flaw of "Giallo" is the lack of real tension and suspense. Even when the killer is known a giallo movie should provide thrills. Otherwise what would be the point of this movie. (Thinking about it, this movie can be seen as a bad parody about the giallo genre.) Adrian Brody and the beautiful women are the only things that stand out in this below average product. Avoid big time!

An Almost Great Project from Argento

[bababear · 22 September 2011]

I've been a fan of Argento's work since discovering THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE in the early 1970's, back when his films actually played in theaters. It set the standard for works in the genre with great photography and music and a plot that kept the viewer guessing. More than that, it was legitimately a mystery and not a horror movie trying to be legit. They way it played with the viewers perception and preconceived ideas was brilliant.

Since then it's been up and down. GIALLO is, sadly, sort of a down.

The elements are there. The protagonist, Enzo, is a damaged soul. He's become a policeman as a way to handle the trauma of seeing his mother murdered when he was a child. He can track these warped beings because he thinks the way they do. The killer in this instance is known as Giallo because health issues cause his skin to look jaundiced and he's not far from death's door (although I couldn't help noticing that he could run up and down stairs when being pursued by Enzo as if he were in perfect health).

Adrian Brody plays both Enzo and Giallo. Anyone looking for a deep subtext tied to that can just stop right there. This seems to be a stunt to allow Brody to play with characterization.

There are two women primary to the story. Celine, a fashion model, has been kidnapped by Giallo and is held captive throughout the narrative. Her sister, Linda, is obsessed with finding Celine and forms an alliance with Enzo.

The script is what undoes the project. Every other element works: camera work, lighting, atmosphere, costumes, music. But there's no narrative drive to the story. Celine, who spends the bulk of the narrative tied up in a basement, is never developed as a character. Linda spends the bulk of the narrative simply tagging along after Enzo.

The narrative ends in an sadly conventional scene in which Giallo dies before revealing where Celine is. Linda is furious at Enzo, and he walks off with her screaming curses at him. We don't see them together again.

An awkwardly tacked on postlude hints that Celine will be discovered in a parking garage, but we don't have the satisfaction of seeing Celine safe and receiving medical care and Linda realizing just how much Enzo has done for her and her sister.

Someone will now come to the lectern and speak of 21st century audiences and their expectations, film in the post 9/11 world, etc. Bull. This isn't graduate school. Audiences in 2011 want what audiences in 1911 were coming to expect: a sense of completion in a film, a resolution to what has happened and the situations that have affected the characters' lives. The film doesn't end; it stops.

Another three minutes could have shown us Linda and Celine reunited and Lino taking steps toward entering the mainstream of the human race. If you invest $14 million producing a film, don't try to get all artsy fartsy in the resolution of the story, or lack thereof.

My methods aren't exactly by the book

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 16 December 2012]

***SPOILERS*** Uneven and confusing slasher movie taking place in Milan Italy involving this deformed, from a severe case of hepatitis, and mentally challenged taxi driver, no not Travis Bickel, Midori played by Stato Oi. It's Midori who has a habit of kidnapping his pretty women costumers and then mutating and murdering them. It's when Midori kidnaps his latest victim Amercan fashion model Celine, Eisa Patsky, who for some strange reason has an Italian accent that her concerned sister who's also beautiful Linda, Emmanulla Seigner, gets into the act in trying to find her before she ends up as dead meat.

So far so good and it's gets even better or worse in how you look at it. That's with transplanted New york homicide detective Italian American Inspector Enzo Audifi, Adrin Brody, getting on the case. He's been involved in tracking down serial & slasher killers since he was a little boy, in Italy, and saw his mom murdered by one of them. Working as a team both Audifi & Linda track down the killer kidnapper but for some strange reason he seems to slip away from them despite his being denied, by being on the run, the medication that he so desperately needs to keep him normal. Still he's able to kidnap Linda and hold her hostage even though she has many chance's to escape from him. That's by Midori claiming that he knows where her sister is being hidden and she'll never find her alive if she doesn't go along with his wishes. Which God only knows what they are since he keeps changing them at every twist and turn in the movie.

****SPOILERS**** It's Audifi who finally gets an important lead on the killer, his doctor & hospital appointments, only to have Linda screw everything up by trying to have him get away from him and the perusing police! That's in Linda feeling that he's the only person, by knowing where she is, who save her sister Celine's life. The ending sequence has the killer meet his end by falling through a sky window and crashing to the ground ending up in a bloody mess: Just like the movie! But wait there's a big big surprise at the very end that has to do with Celine's whereabouts. But we never really get to see it in that the movie ends before she's found if she's found at all!

Director Dairo Argento's least effective Giallo movie that ironically is entitled "Giallo". Despite the blood and gore in it that's so common in Argento movies there's no suspense or sudden horror jump shots to make it effective. It just plods along to its eventual and somewhat confusing ending. As for Inspector Audifi the hero in the movie he seems to check out before the movie, and it's surprise ending, came to its conclusion. Maybe he knew that the film was a turkey and wanted out of it as soon as possible!

Banal and TOTALLY unbelievable

[pepita-bellisima · 1/10 · 11 August 2013]

I can find nothing to recommend in this movie. Filmed in Italy? Everyone speaks in differently accented English!! Except the serial kidnapper/killer. He has perhaps 5 lines in the entire film and his English us the worst caricature of an Italian accent I've ever heard in a film. The script is absolutely not believable in terms of how police conduct an investigation of any crime, but most especially that of a serial killer. The biggest disappointment is Adrian Brody's performance. But really all the performances are not true to character, they are either over or under acted. The worst performance is the main female protagonist (sister of the most recent kidnap victim). She displays all the wrong affect in almost every scene. How did the director not intervene? Or perhaps it is indeed the worst directorial job I've ever seen. The musical score contributes nothing to the pace, the suspense, the climax, or any other part of the film. Don't spent even $2 on a rental. Watch any episode of CSI. And you'll be better off.

A travesty from a once-great visionary

[tomgillespie2002 · 2/10 · 27 October 2012]

In Turin, Italy, beautiful young model Celine (Elsa Pataky) is kidnapped by a taxi driver, who takes her to his torture chamber where a previous victim still lies half-dead. Celine was on her way to meet her sister Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner), who eventually suspects foul play. With the police unwilling to help, she turns to Italian-American detective Enzo (Adrien Brody), who is deep into an investigation that stretches way back, involving many missing girls who turn up tortured and murdered at seemingly random spots.

Former master of horror Dario Argento has been in deep decline since his 1970's heyday. Even his own fanboys admit that the visionary has lost his touch, and his films no longer have the gliding beauty he injected into the likes of Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977) and Inferno (1980). Thankfully (or should I say hopefully?), it would seem that Argento must be on the ascension, as Giallo, his homage to the sub-genre that prevailed in the 60's and 70's, must surely signal rock-bottom. He surely cannot produce anything so confusingly dire, or he should simply pack his bags and stop making movies. It beggars belief how the man that created some of the most elegant horror movies ever made can fail to raise even a moment of inspiration, and at times seems to parody the genre rather than showing any real love for it.

After being promoted as being something of a return to form for the auteur and a return to director's roots, Giallo was given a very limited release (I believe it went straight-to-DVD here in the UK) after a verbal slamming from audiences and critics alike. The most famous thing to come out of it was Adrien Brody's law-suit against the producers, claiming he had yet to be paid, and tried to halt any releases of the film until he was given what he was owed. Well, judging from his performance here, the Oscar-winner doesn't deserve a dime, sleep-walking through his role and bringing no life to his thinly-written, cliché- ridden character. Any attempts to blur the lines between his miserable detective and the sadistic killer comes across as laughable, and the 'big reveal' that explains his back-story is just plain silly.

For a film marketing itself as a giallo, the film lacks anything resembling the visual class or the sleazy atmosphere of the best of the genre, with Argento's camera glides feeling more like the director's futile attempts to polish a turd. It instead has more in common with that popular, ugly sub-genre of the modern age - torture porn. We see a girl's lips cut off with scissors, and a particularly nasty hammer-to- the-skull moment, cheap tricks that are more akin to the likes of Eli Roth's Hostel (2005) and its countless imitators. The killer looks like he's wandered in from the set of Joe D'Amato's Anthropophagus (1980), and is one of many plot devices that confuse and defy logic. Depressing then, seeing a once-great director stoop so low, but maybe his ambitious Dracula 3D (2012) will see a return to form.

www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Rusty Argento

[petra_ste · 3/10 · 2 July 2014]

Funny how the reputation of Dario Argento - one of Seventies' masters of horror - keeps attracting respectable actors like Max Von Sydow, Thomas Kretschmann, Liam Cunningham and Rutger Hauer, no matter how atrocious the director's late-career efforts have been.

Here the one badly slumming is Adrien Brody in a double role as both a veteran detective and the serial killer he is hunting down, the titular Giallo. It's the kind of performance which should balance out his magnificent turn in the Pianist and make the Academy retire his Best Actor Award.

The movie is embarrassing, worthless, hilarious. It's Uwe Boll bad - except from Boll himself that would be legitimate; from someone like Argento, it's tragic. People snipe at John Carpenter, another titan of the Seventies, for The Ward, Vampires and Ghosts of Mars... but, compared to Argento, Carpenter is aging like fine wine.

If you admired the cinematic craft displayed in Deep Red and Suspiria, do yourself a favour: avoid this movie and everything else made by Argento in the last years (actually, I'd argue he hasn't made anything of value after Inferno, and that was in 1980). It's the cinematic equivalent of watching your favorite soccer player try to take a penalty kick, only to trip over and break his leg.

3/10

Waste of time

[george8808 · 1/10 · 17 March 2012]

I have NEVER reviewed a film here, and am the easiest-to-please film watcher you ever saw - I like just about everything. But this was the worst piece of crap I've ever seen, and I feel duty-bound to warn my fellow viewers.

The ending was so bad, it was as though it was a joke, or a farce - but it wasn't. We are supposed to be fooled by makeup into not knowing who a certain character is, but a child could see it.

If you watch the whole film, as I did, hoping Adrian Brody would make it at least OK, you'll be bitterly disappointed. He was wretched - hard to believe such a good actor could stoop this low - and he's a producer! It's no wonder it seems to have never been released. How this film got an average of 4.5 is beyond my understanding.

Eerie film about an Inspector and a woman who join forces to rescue her sister from an ominous killer

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 4 March 2012]

Acceptable gory killing film in which Dario Argento demonstrates his penchant for original ideas and creative directing . In Torino, Celine ,Italy, a woman named Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner , Roman Polanski's wife) fears her sister , a fashion model girl named Celine (Elsa Pataky, at that time Brody's girlfriend) , may have been abducted . Obstinate Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Adrien Brody, also producer) gets some clues and fears it's worse . When a Japanese young girl is found at nearby a fountain, Enzo and Linda along with Chief Inspector named Mori (Robert Miano) find that the woman is calling the sadistic kidnapper's skin is "Yellow" . Both of whom team up to rescue her from a sadistic murderous known only as Yellow, or Giallo . The Inspector along with Linda start following the tracks that lead a cab man who might have jaundice and they go to a hospital.

Classic though average Gialli with imaginatively staged gory killings by the master of horror, the talented writer/director Dario Argento . Italian cult director Dario Argento, master of arty gore, brings this eerie and stylish story plagued with depraved gore murders . Exciting film with stylish , effective aesthetic that packs lots of gore , guts , chilling assassinations and twists plots . This is a trademark terror work for the Horrormeister Argento with high tension quotient and equally elevated suspense by means of an ever-fluid camera that achieves colorful shots well photographed by the cameraman Frederic Fasano. Noteworthy for intelligent edition work that tightens the mystery , glimmer use of color and distinctive utilization of shock images . Sometimes weak screenplay is added to nice but gory special effects . Thrilling musical score by Marco Weba with suspenseful whispers combining to fortissimo soundtrack which help achieve incredible creepy moments . The terror pieces are well staged with eye-opening flair-play and contain obscure tracks to the denouement of the script .

This scary motion picture is professionally directed by Dario Argento , though uninspired and with no too much originality. Argento is one of those film-makers (other examples are Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda ) who set off simple for frightening us to death . His period of biggest hits were the 70s when he directed the animals trilogy : ¨Four flies over gray velvet¨, ¨The cat of nine tails¨, ¨Bird with the crystal plumage¨, after he directed some masterpieces as ¨Suspiria¨, ¨Inferno¨ , ¨Tenebre¨ and of course ¨Deep red¨ , one of the best ¨Giallo . In 1995 Argento made a comeback to the horror genre with ¨La Sindrome Di Stendhal (1996)¨ and then by another version of ¨The phantom of the Opera¨ (1998) both of which starred by his daughter Asia Argento . Most recently, Argento directed a number of 'giallo' mystery thrillers which include Insomnio (2001), ¨Il Cartaio (2004)¨, and ¨Ti Piace Hitchcock?¨ (2005), as well as two creepy , supernatural-themed episodes of the USA TV cable anthology series "Masters of Horror". Furthermore , to his Gothic and violent style of storytelling , ¨La Terza Madre (2007)¨ has a lot of references to the previous two movies as 'Suspiria and Inferno' which is a must for fans of the trilogy . And finally directed this so-so film called ¨Giallo¨ . This bloody fun plenty of graphic gore and weirdness may not be for all tastes but to be liked for Argento connoisseurs especially .

Argento, how deep can you fall?

[rolf_denny · 1/10 · 26 March 2010]

Argento, in my opinion, it's one of the greatest directors of all movie history. Unknown for many, he directed/written great gems that deserve a special place in the of everyone who loves movies. His stylish way of directing hallucinates who watches his movies. Resuming: undoubtedly, he's a genius. But, unfortunately, seems that Argento has forgotten how to make great movies. It's pretty sad to know a movie like "Giallo" was directed by Argento. First of all: it's NOT a giallo! If Argeto wanted to pay a kind of homage to the style that he helped to create, sorry, but he couldn't. The story is awful, Brody's and Seigner's acting is horrible, and seems that Argento wanted to make a movie like the crap called Hostel, because there's only gratuitous violence, not the 'beautiful' violence that Argento used to show in his early movies. If you really want to see an authentic Argento's homage to the giallo genre, watch his 2001 "Sleepless" or in his original title, "No Ho Sonno". This is what you can call a great giallo! Please, Argento, stop doing craps like "The Card Player", "La Terza Madre" and "Giallo" and bring us gems like "Deep Red", "Tenebre" and "The Bird with Crystal Plummage"!

Good if not great Dario Argento movie.

[hu675 · 8/10 · 3 November 2010]

Celine (Elsa Pataky) is a beautiful model, who was supposed to meet her older sister Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner) at Celine's apartment. Since Linda is on vacation to see her younger sister. When Celine takes an Taxi to her apartment, she takes the wrong taxi. She is stalked and kidnapped by a deranged killer (Byron Diedra). Which this killer enjoys to mutilate them and murder them. Also he loves to photographed his victims that gives him sexual pleasure. Linda meets an Inspector Ezno Abolfi (Oscar-Winner:Adrien Brody), which this Inspector is on the murder case. Now Enzo is forced to work with Linda to find her sister before Celine gets killed by the psychopath.

Directed by Dario Argento (Opera, Phenomena, Trauma) made an straightforward thriller with some elements of horror and an few moments of black comedy. Although Argento's latest film is less stylized than usual and the movie is more suspenseful than gory. Oscar-Winner:Brody does an good job with his very low-key performance. Seigner does well in her role. Pataky plays the victim fine. Diedra, who is actually Oscar-Winner actor Brody, who is nearly unrecognizable in his role. Which it is anagram of his name.

DVD has an fine if sometimes grainy anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD's only extra is the original theatrical trailer. "Giallo" is a pretty good thriller that could have been better, especially during the third act. Although Argento disowned this movie, since he couldn't cut the movie, he way, he wanted the picture to be. Oscar-Winner:Brody has filed an suit against the filmmaker, since he claimed he wasn't paid for the movie and he tried to prevent the film's release on DVD and he recently won the lawsuit. Brody gives two different performance, he is good as the Inspector and he is so-so as the killer. Die-Hard fans of Argento's work might like this best. Screenwriters:Jim Agnew (Game of Death) and Sean Keller's original screenplay was heavily re-written by the director. Although the script was written for the director. (*** ½/*****).

commercially a perfect title but it isn't a Giallo

[trashgang · 6/10 · 9 May 2012]

On the part of promotion this title couldn't been better. Dario Argento, the master of old school giallo's made a flick called, Giallo. For all those who think that he isn't softened they will be disappointed by this thriller, Yes, this is definitely not a giallo.

"Giallo" films are characterized by extended murder sequences featuring excessive bloodletting, stylish camera-work and unusual musical arrangements. The literary whodunit element is retained, but combined with modern slasher horror, while being filtered through Italy's longstanding tradition of opera and staged grand guignol drama. They also generally include liberal amounts of nudity and sex.

None of this is included here. Why it is called Giallo, which means yellow is because once the killer is revealed, in the first part, you can see that his face is yellow due hepatitis.

I didn't had any difficulty with the flick itself which do has a few typical gory Argento shots but the acting of Emmanuelle Seigner (Linda) couldn't convince me. Adrian Brody (Inspector Enzo Avolfi) did look like those typical smoking Italian detectives and reminded me of a Tom Savini look-a-like.

I understand that Argento geeks will hate this but it's worth watching. A mediocre flick.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

A Master Turned In To A Laughing Stock

[stuartrwood · 1/10 · 26 June 2009]

The UK premiere of this took place in Edinburgh last night.

Quite what anyone involved was thinking on this project is a mystery. For the first two thirds it's hard to work out whether Argento is actually being serious or is serving up some pastiche of his former work. Then about two-thirds of the way in there is an absurd flashback sequence during which the entire project derails completely and the movie starts to freefall towards an utterly laughable climax.

Don't believe the Argento apologists. This is shot with little style, acted with various degrees of failure and with a script worthy of a junior high writing competition, Giallo is an embarrassing failure on every level.

Routine slasher affair not worthy of the master's name and I say this with the affection of a longtime fan

[chaos-rampant · 7 October 2009]

The high point in the film comes midway in the form of Adrian Brody's childhood flashback: the camera heaves this side and that inside an amber-lit room as though floating in the air while a music box lullaby that brings back memories of Goblin's School at Night theme from Profondo Rosso chimes in the background. Other than that, the movie might as well have been called "Routine Slasher" because there's nothing that recalls the glorious days of the Italian giallo here, no wink or homage or black-gloved killer stalking distraught heroines in kitsch/chic Rome apartments, countryside villas, and medieval architecture and certainly none of the Technicolor phantasmagoria Argento and his peers conjured on celluloid 30 years ago because anyone who has followed Argento's career knows he has been working in dark muted DV canvases for the past 10 years, this absence of style flooded with wooden acting, bad English from non-English speaking actors, and a script the sum of plot contrivance happenstance and logic jumps. Some will argue these have been staples of Argento's career and I will disagree because their place has always been peripheral to a certain grand guignol aesthetic by whose outrageousness, stylistic or otherwise, not only have they been relegated to the margins but they have made perfect "sense" there in the margins as part of Argento's style (or Italian horror film-making in general). If Mother of Tears was a bold step in the direction of Phenomena's schizophrenic conclusion, this is a step backwards to the undistinguished workmanlike nature of Il Cartaio and Ti Piace Hitchcock. Everything here is generic. The score sounds like Batman Returns throwaways (Claudio Simonetti's absence is sorely felt), the villain is a curious mixture of pathetic and creepy, Argento's stylized violence is conspicuously absent. This is a serial killer movie trying to balance between crime procedural and slasher such as one may find in Lionsgate's STD catalogue. If you're looking for the giallo homage the title promises, you'll find it in Sleepless. This is a routine affair not worthy of the master's name or his fans' time and money.

Terrible

[Londonx54 · 1/10 · 30 July 2011]

This film is awe-inspiringly terrible. A lone detective hunting for a serial killer with the sister of the kidnap-victim in tow. What is this, 1930s policing? How are we possibly meant to buy into this? Is this seriously how the director thinks that murder investigations are conducted in 2009? Please note the great scene where they are sitting in a car chatting whilst she, a member of the public, flicks through the detective's case files checking out photos of victims. Is this considered good police procedure in film world?

The female kidnap-victim makes no attempt to escape from her loosely tied bindings. She lies on the floor of a locked room with her feet and hands tied. In front of her we see a table of torture devices including surgical knives. Why didn't she just stand up, hop over to the table and cut through her ropes? One can only assume that she couldn't really be bothered. Maybe she realised how terrible the film was and wished death upon herself? Anything to release herself from this drivel. I have to say that there were moments as a viewer when I considered plunging a fork into my retinas to rid myself of this film.

Emmanuelle Seigner is a terrible terrible actress. She has been time-warped straight from a bad 1980s TV movie. In fact, remove Adrien Brody from this film and thats what you are left with - a bad 80s TV movie.

And the music. Please! I get it. A low cello sound means bad things might happen. The whole film has been machine-gunned with nondescript classical music.

Adrien. Adrien. What hast thou done. We used to respect the Brody brand. We used to enjoy your films. We used to think you had taste. Now I fear with Giallo and Predator we have lost you forever. What happened Adrien? Trouble paying the mortgage perhaps?

Yellow Shower

[Jonny_Numb · 3/10 · 15 December 2010]

Since the late 1990s, Dario Argento has been a director in a state of serious decline, a development made even more crippling due to the fact that, at one time, this now-elderly filmmaker played a highly influential role in mapping out the cinematic landscape of Italian horror and mystery (dubbed "giallo" after its roots in seedy paperback crime novels). It has been 15 years since his most noteworthy feature, 1995's underrated "Stendhal Syndrome," and up until now, he has been frantically trying to recapture the flavor of his celebrated early works ("Suspiria"; "Profondo Rosso"; "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage"); problem is, the more frantically he tries, the more pathetic his efforts become. Despite its ironic title, "Giallo" owes less to the heyday of seedy Spaghetti Thrillers and more to Argento's listless, lethargic latter-day efforts: an amalgam of poor script translation (and subsequent dubbing and sound sync), awkward performances, tortoise-paced exposition, and unimpressive gore. There are threads of backstory that go maddeningly unexplored (instead of connecting the traumatic upbringings of the cop and killer, these are instead turned into throwaway details left to flit in the wind), and the film ends with an intended ambiguity that comes off (quite disastrously) as an apathetic, pseudo-art house shrug. Even the presence of the usually-reliable Adrien Brody cannot bring "Giallo" up from its low-rent depths; his performance a monosyllabic sleepwalk that, like Argento, never seems more than half-conscious.

Press Delete Now !!

[Schuriken · 1/10 · 2 October 2012]

Worst movie I've seen in years. When I die i will ask God for forgiveness for the time I spent watching this piece of crap. Maybe I will ask God to delete my memory of ever sitting & watching the entire Giallo movie so I do not carry this with me in Heaven.

A small advice to the ones still interested in watching this "movie". Do not ever tell your girlfriend that you have watched this or that you want to watch this or ever suggesting this to watch together on a movie night.

Maybe there could be a good sequel to this with a serial killer strapping his victims on a chair and make them watch this film twice and then let them go....it could not get any worse than that.

Run of the mill modern thriller, from the Master of Giallo

[The_Void · 4/10 · 8 January 2010]

Probably one of the reasons why Dario Argento is still making films today while many of his counterparts are not (aside from the fact that Argento is still alive, obviously) is because the director moves with the times. In the seventies, he made stylish seventies films; in the eighties, he made trashy eighties films, in the nineties he made over-complex nineties thrillers; and in the decade just gone, he made soulless genre films (the fantastic Sleepless being the exception). It would appear that Argento was trying to hark back to the good old days with this film - which takes the genre name as its own title - but unfortunately he's missed the mark rather badly. The plot is pure Giallo, however. Several women in the city of Milan have disappeared; only to turn up dead some days later. When Linda's sister is abducted, she goes to the cops and is put in touch with FBI agent Enzo Avolfi, who immediately jumps to the conclusion that Linda's sister has been abducted by the killer and proceeds to let Linda help him in every area of the investigation.

The trailer got my hopes up with its line "the city of Milan is known for its beautiful women, but someone is preying on them" - of course, the fashion house is the iconic setting of genre favourites such as Blood and Black Lace; but Argento is keen to skip over this and get straight to the killer, which is a massive shame. Atmosphere is one of the major things that separates the Giallo from the run of the mill thriller - and this one has none. The title "Giallo" - the Italian word for yellow, is used farcically as a description of the killer; who has yellow skin as a result of a medical condition. Of course, Dario Argento is no stranger to grotesquely disfigured killers - having featured one in his earlier masterpiece Phenomena, but while it fit the film in Phenomena, here it just comes off as comical and difficult to buy into. The film is not overly violent, although Argento does delight in showing us some gore. The gore scenes are not particularly well directed, however and overall the film lacks tension; which means the graphic scenes don't pack much of a punch. The cast was chopped and changed several times and the lead role eventually went to Adrien Brody; who is basically wasted. The script is really weak to the point where it does actually affect the film (Giallo isn't known for great writing, but in the best examples, it isn't a problem). The basis of the investigation is silly also; I have to admit that I don't know much about how crimes are investigated in Italy, but I'm just going to assume that the general public isn't usually given almost as much authority in investigations as police officers are! As a film in its own right, this one is pretty poor and as an Argento film; it's downright disappointing. However, since I'm such a shameless fan of the director; I can't bring myself to truly hate it.

92 Minutes Out Of My Life I Can't Get Back

[acidjazz99 · 1/10 · 23 March 2013]

I won't bother with a plot summary since it has been done before.

Bad writing! Bad chemistry! Did not care for any of the characters! So-so beginning, crappy middle, AND crappy ending!

WTF was Adrian Brody thinking?! I guess he got a few good articles of clothing (shoes, suits, etc.) judging by the end credits. But, seriously, did he even read the script before he agreed to this drek?! And, are there any idiots out there who did not know that Adrian was playing a dual role as the killer and the FBI agent? Kind of hard to camouflage that nose! He is not credited as the killer but COME ON!

I feel I should receive a check just for sticking out to the end of this crapola!

I demand reparations!

Not as bad as I had heard.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 4 October 2011]

When the man responsible for some of the best giallos ever made directs a movie simply titled Giallo, then I suppose one might reasonably expect him to fully embrace the conventions of the genre (many of which he was instrumental in establishing). Instead, Argento only loosely follows the giallo format, the grimy approach he adopts being more akin to the recent US 'torture porn' trend, a fact that has unsurprisingly caused something of a critical backlash from fans of Italian horror.

But although Giallo clearly doesn't warrant its title, and, devoid of his usual visual flair and labyrinthine storytelling, is far from the director's best work, neither is it totally deserving of the drubbing it has received.

The film moves along briskly enough, switching regularly between crime and police procedure to ensure that boredom never sets in; the hero cop-with-a-dark-past, Enzo Avolfi, is played with conviction by Adrien Brody; Emmanuelle Seigner makes for a decent enough side-kick; the rather lovely Elsa Pataky is required only to look scared and beautiful, but does so convincingly; and the strangely familiar killer is delightfully daft—an ugly, dummy-sucking, bandana-wearing taxi-driver with yellow skin (caused by a dose of Hepatitis C, inherited from his junkie mother) and a hatred of all things beautiful.

Argento also finds time for a few seriously nasty moments, including a graphic hammer to the skull scene, a nasty bit of finger pruning (resulting in plenty of pumping blood), and a wince-inducing moment involving shards of broken glass.

Whilst it is true that Argento's typical sense of style might be lacking on this occasion, there is still enough to enjoy about this film to make it worth a go—after all, even Argento at his worst is better than many other directors at their best.

Mediocre is a sin ... And this goes straight to hell

[boydwalters · 5/10 · 25 September 2009]

Well its not as bad as I was expecting ... But the fact is it is just like a TV movie ... Its coherent, but thats about all ... There is absolutely no tension ... The visuals are bland ... There is only one scene involving Brody's back story that shows any of the old Argento flair and imagination Brody's performance stinks ... How anyone can employ this man is beyond me... He can't act ... And he's annoying to have to watch ... And in this he is particularly simpering Its better than The Card Player ... But then what isn't ... And at least we haven't got to put up with bloody Asia again ... OK she's sexy ... So what ... She is crap in her fathers films ... She works better with others When "mediocre" comes into play with an Argento film you know things aren't good ... The fact is "Sleepless" has been his only good film in the last 20 years Unfortunately it is becoming more and more obvious that the guy is an old hippie ... And completely unable to develop out of that ... Its so bloody obvious with his embarrassingly awful scenes in clubs, which he obviously knows nothing about ... And his completely daft view of the internet Argento's big problem these days is he tries to be modern ... If he just got on with making a film like he used to he'd have much more success ... Cos this sort of stuff just isn't interesting. gory or strange enough for todays audiences and doesn't have any of the dreamlike quality and beauty and startling visuals of his classic work to satisfy the old fans Really " Dario "Stop trying to be modern " is all one can say

FRIGHTFEST London 2009 - REVIEW - "a fabulous kick in the teeth to convention"

[markgordonpalmer · 10/10 · 30 August 2009]

Well, I was so excited about this movie! Last year, meeting Argento at the premier of Mother of Tears was amazing; the film was fantastic; loud, quirky, stylish, random, violent, erotic, dreamlike, - perfect. That was Mother of Tears. Giallo ....was.......just as brilliant, just as devil-may-care, just as funny, frightening, fantastic and two fingers in the air fabulous as Mother of Tears! I really enjoyed this, and yes, I count myself as a huge fan of the earlier movies - Suspiria of course, Sleepless, Phenomena (possibly my favourite), and I loved La Cinque Giornate, also Masters of Horror. As much as I worship films such as Suspiria, I don't think Argento should be trying to mimic such films, in 2009, - Suspiria for instance, is very much a 70s movie; it couldn't be remade today, at least not in the same way (I hope the remake doesn't try, but is along the vibe of Mother of Tears or Giallo). The fact is, like the films of Jess Franco, you either 'get' Argento - or you don't. To 'expect' another Deep Red or Suspiria is to deny the auteur his creative freedom. I don't want a retread or a rehash. To do that would kill the man and his movies. The fact that he is reinventing the genre and having fun (yes - very probably at the expense of his many fans!) is a fabulous kick in the teeth to convention, and the predictability of some horror films, especially once great directors trying to recapture their past glories by cloning their talents. Giallo made me jump twice. It made me cringe a few times. It made the two girls sitting next to me walk out when the lip-cutting scene came in (a masterstroke - so gruesome, yet you don't see a thing. Another kick in the teeth from Argento. Fabulous!). I thought, the make-up of our friend Yellow, was over the top, but I think, deliberately so. Argento isn't a fool - he knows the look he wants. For me, it's a nightmarish, trashy, unreal look, in the same way the entire movie (and Movie of Tears) has an unreal feel, as if inner demons in the mind of the director have become real, have risen up past barriers to creative freedom, and stuck that one finger up high in the air - a perfect "f*ck you" to the critics. Because, for a movie that references the genre that puts the killer to the fore, to relegate the villain to a level of quite perfect ridiculousness, is a wonderful and confrontational idea. To mix up scenes of extreme brutality, with a villain who comes across as just, well - weird! Is fun and frightening at the same time. Enough with the black leather clad knife wielding maniacs in the shadows (as much as I love 'em...) this villain is no more believable than Jigsaw, but exists at the same level - a random villain, a caricature, a nightmarish man made blood red cartoon, a dreamlike protagonist; the killer doesn't matter; the killer is a nightmarish, sick-minded, visualisation of unreality, and sick bloody fear, from Inspector Enzo's past. Yellow could be anyone. Anyone to Enzo. Anyone to Argento. Yes, there's a hint of film caricatures in this movie, from great American movies; in both Yellow and Enzo; it's like a dream of American cinema mixed up in one big bloody pulp. The fact Enzo talks, acts and doesn't take the world so seriously; in fact, acts like the world has nothing left to shock or surprise him, to me sums up the thoughts of a man traumatised by his past, seeing even killers as some kind of bizarre childlike nightmare, that he is trying to suppress - with humour, with sometimes unbelievable comments - "he understood" but in context, just the perfect response. Yellow is Enzo's past and his nightmares made real; but not in the reality you might expect; a kind of horrible visceral vision, bloodily childlike, this is a man who doesn't want to live in convention, wants to stick two fingers up to the world, wants to skulk in the basement shadows like a captured beast with beauty never too close, for fear she shall get her wings burnt (Yellow can do that, Yellow, although hidden, is not so hidden away as Enzo) ... you know, Enzo isn't so far removed from Argento himself. Or as he may like us to view him. Who knows? It's that stubbornness, that off-handedness, that meanness, that makes Argento such a masterful director and such a master of horror. Thank you Dario. There are fans out here that still "get" you. What a fabulous horror movie Giallo is. And thank you FrightFest for showing it.

damatotomato, London

Stylish, but Unoriginal and Predictable

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 10 October 2009]

In Torino, the American model Celine (Elsa Pataky) is abducted by a taxi driver while driving home in Piazza Victoria to meet her sister Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner) that has just arrived in her apartment to visit her. On the next morning, Linda reports in the precinct that Celine is missing and the sergeant in charge asks her to go to the basement to meet F.B.I. Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Adrien Brody) from the Special New York City Department that is investigating a serial-killer that kidnaps foreigners to destroy their beauty. When a Japanese woman is found moribund nearby a fountain, Enzo and Linda find that the girl is calling the abductor "Yellow" (Byron Dreida) and Linda concludes that the guy might have jaundice. They go to the Policlinic di Torino where they disclose that Flavio Volpe might be the sought killer.

"Giallo" is a stylish but unoriginal and predictable thriller of Dario Argento. I am a big fan of this Italian director, therefore I can not agree with reviews that evaluate his work as mediocre. However, I would expect much more from Mr. Argento that uses a story that gives the sensation of déjà vu to the viewer without any surprise. I love also to see the gorgeous Emmanuelle Seigner and she never disappoints in the role of a desperate woman seeking out her sister that is missing in a foreign country. Adrien Brody is restraint and quite bureaucratic in the role of an inspector with a traumatic past. The powerful soundtrack is another good attraction of this movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Giallo – Reféns do Medo" ("Giallo – Hostages of the Fear")

One of the master's all-time greatest mistakes

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 2/10 · 3 December 2012]

When her sister goes missing, a woman and a detective team up to find her and realize she's part of the latest round of victims by a deranged serial killer and race to get her back before he eventually kills her.

This was just an abysmal effort that really has nothing going for it at all. Normally an area right up his alley, he decides to exclude the killer's previous rampage that's only alluded to in the dialogue rather than showcase it visually, meaning it's all crime-scene photos of what happened with him looking on in disgust at them, and the one flashback to a previous victim that could've lifted it out of it's potential to shine is hazy, stutters and just falls flat on it's face. The motive for the killer is so lame it's hard to believe anyone would launch a massive campaign of violence using that as a reason, he's not threatening in the slightest and really does nothing to generate any fear beyond abducting a person, while the one brief torture scene is so fake it comes off as amateurish and totally unconvincing, yet another area where he normally shines bright in here. The fact that it's a cop thriller rather than a slasher clearly shows he's lost his touch and really ought to retire since this one was flat-out terrible with little redeeming factors.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and Brief Nudity.