The first Giallo?

ODDBear

I read somewhere that this movie, directed by the famed Mario Bava, was the first Giallo. I found it to be a fairly suspenseful, highly stylish, little film.  A young woman believes she witnessed a murder but when there's no evidence to support it she begins to doubt what she saw.  Lucky for her she´s got Detective John Saxon to help her get to the bottom of it.

Bava is said to have influenced Dario Argento with his filmmaking techniques and it shows here.  He makes great use of location shooting, set pieces and lighting to create a chilling athmosphere.  There's also a solid story here and a clever mystery which unfolds in a memorable fashion.

The actors are quite good, it's always nice to see John Saxon, even if he's dubbed in italian.  

All in all a good film from the old italian maestro. 7 out of 10.

score 7/10

ODDBear 11 May 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0083342/