Giallo (2009)

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!

Fmovies: People are naturally comparing this to the classics that Italian director Dario Argento has provided us with & sadly coming to the conclusion that this is a bad film because it's not up there with them. I enjoyed the movie. It has a reasonably thin script but is easy to follow, it's fast paced, good cast, makes good use of Italian locations, has some decent, nasty gore & does feature some nice Argento touches, such as flash backs sequences. Don't be put off by the low score, give it a go. You may be pleasantly surprised!

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.

Giallo fmovies. 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")

As a big Argento fan I was eagerly anticipating Giallo. I was disappointed then when it received some rather harsh reviews from fans and critics. Upon seeing it with rather low expectations I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Whilst it wasn't one of his best works it was a fine movie and even a second rate Argento movie is better than the vast majority of movies. If I'd have seen it with high expectations maybe I'd have been a little disappointed but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It could have done with more deaths and more twists and a better climax but the characters were interesting and it was engaging and intriguing throughout.

His unsurpassed use of camera angles and panning is still there and a joy to watch even if a little more subtle than some of his classics. A lot of people tend to overlook such things and criticise plot and acting in his movies but his use of camera is perhaps as important as plot in his movies and certainly more important than acting. You don't watch an Argento movie for acting, although the acting in this is much better than in some of his older movies. It could have done with a more memorable score but the music was still very good.

So not one of his best movies but not his worst and not deserving of the harsh criticism. Worth giving a chance; didn't blow me away but I was gripped from start to finish and I'm not going to turn my nose up at that.

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.