Kelly WandEyes of Crystal
October 14th 2006 03:42
If you are a fan of Italian horror movies, there has not been much to cheer about of late. Of the old masters, only Dario Argento remains and even his work admits a change has come.
“Sleepless” had all the signs of classic Argento; the tracking shots, the score by Goblin, the convoluted plot, the black gloved killer. The only element that had changed was the outsider hero now failed to track the killer. The police find him through the mundane tracing of telephone calls. It was almost like saying the Giallo genre had become meaningless in an age of forensic science and DNA. Instead of being a triumphant return, it was almost a waving goodbye.
When Argento followed this with “The Card Player”, a police procedural film involving the pursuit of an internet killer, he seemed to be confirming this trajectory. That is not to say “The Card Player” is a bad film. It is just that its technical themes demand more logic than we expect from Argento.
Italian horror movies have always skirted rationality. Whilst American and British movies demanded explanation and reason, Italian movies demanded a surrender to a surrealism and nightmare. Films like Lucio Fulci’s “City of the Living Dead” and “The Beyond” or Argento’s “Inferno” collapse under any kind of analysis. That does not mean they are not amazing cinematic journeys. It merely means that they must be approached from a different angle than many viewers are used to. Instead of asking why, they are asked to enter into a state where they will accept whatever dreams may come.
Unfortunately, piss poor dubbing has never helped their case nor has the way distributors have hacked them down with complete disregard to the editor’s art. Initially snapped up for the Grindhouse market, there was no consideration made to art. The more the blood flowed, the more popcorn was sold.
If you watch the introduction sequence of Fulci’s “Zombie Flesh Eaters” on its usual video release, it is an ugly and meaningless hatchet job. Even the pan and scanning of what is left seems to miss any action that is happening on screen. Seeing it again in an uncut widescreen version, you cannot help but be impressed by the cinematography. The directors who made these things were not the incompetents many would have us believe.
These guys were good at what they did. It is just much of what they did was not very nice. A film like “New York Ripper” is difficult to defend morally but even it is not without a level of artistry. I couldn’t imagine watching it again because- for me – once was too much. Still, Italian horror is a sub-genre of extremes. It pushes itself out to the limit of what is acceptable and then it just keeps on going.
The genre is perhaps best summed up by a scene from Dario Argento’s “Opera”. A woman has needles taped to her eyelids so she cannot close her eyes as she is forced to witness a murder. A horrifying image, it’s true but also an artistic statement. The ferocity of the violence in these films doesn’t come out of a vacuum. In many ways it springs from the vivid nature of classic Italian painting and the inflated emotions of Opera itself. (Not a medium renowned for its bloodless story lines.)
But Bava and Fulci are gone and guys like Umberto Lenzi have had their job offers dry up from underneath them. Even a director like Michele Soavi, who ten years ago was described as the saviour of Italian horror, can’t get a new film up and running.
So, the arrival of a movie like “Eyes of Crystal” is certainly welcome. At least that’s what the box says. “The finest thriller since Dario Argento’s Opera”. “Unquestionably the best Italian horror thriller in years”. Whilst this is not strictly a return to the traditional Italian horror form, it does filter films like “Silence of the Lambs” and “Seven” through a knowledge of these film. The settings are baroque and the violence operatic. There is even a nod to the animals so popular in giallo titles even if they are all stuffed. It has style. It is well made. It is exciting.
Do I really have to tell you all the grizzly details? Well, no. There are only a few things you need to know. If you like this kind of thing, is this one worth seeing? Definitely. This is a top notch hunt the serial killer flick. It’s just… I don’t know. Haven’t we been here one or too many times before?
Does it mark the rebirth of the Italian horror movie? Well, the packaging seems to think so but, whilst there is an amazing visual eye at work here, this has failed to haunt to me in the way Argento’s work does. Let’s see director Eros Puglielli churn out a few more films of equal or better quality and then we can start talking about a renaissance. This merely marks an interesting start but I doubt it will bring too many converts to the cause. It is just too similar to a lot of films (particularly those coming out of France) to present a really distinctive voice.
Italian horror films have been so influential that their watered down mark can be seen everywhere. There would have been no “Halloween” if there had been no “Deep Red”. If there had been no “Halloween” then we might live in the kind of dreadful world where “Friday the Thirteenth” may have been the most influential film of its generation. Perish the thought. With “Eyes of Crystal” we see many of these cinematic ideas return home but these returns have been somewhat diminished.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a good film but there are a lot of good films coming out of Europe at the moment. There are so many good directors that Hollywood is having trouble keeping up with stealing them all for their dramatically inferior productions. The trouble with all these hot new gunslingers is that they think movie making started and ended with the title sequence of “Seven”. Hey, it was good okay, but if I see it one more time then I am just going to have to slap someone. Hard.
Sometimes an artistic movement declares year zero for political motives. Punk rock is an ideal example of striking such a posture. There are, however, too many film makers who declare year zero based on simple laziness and it shows. We live in a world where too many directors know of nothing before Spielberg or Lucas. “Eyes of Crystal” at least has a darker lineage and a director who knows some history. Puglielli needs to expand his knowledge of history into an original vision. It requires more than setting up intricate camera shots or paying homage.
I, for one, would much rather see the third instalment of “The Mothers” trilogy. Anyone who knows what I mean by that will probably concur. Part of the charm of Italian horror movies is that they were so unique. I am not looking for a world where the big difference between cultures is that they don’t call a Quarterpounder with cheese a Quarterpounder with cheese.
“Sleepless” had all the signs of classic Argento; the tracking shots, the score by Goblin, the convoluted plot, the black gloved killer. The only element that had changed was the outsider hero now failed to track the killer. The police find him through the mundane tracing of telephone calls. It was almost like saying the Giallo genre had become meaningless in an age of forensic science and DNA. Instead of being a triumphant return, it was almost a waving goodbye.
When Argento followed this with “The Card Player”, a police procedural film involving the pursuit of an internet killer, he seemed to be confirming this trajectory. That is not to say “The Card Player” is a bad film. It is just that its technical themes demand more logic than we expect from Argento.
Italian horror movies have always skirted rationality. Whilst American and British movies demanded explanation and reason, Italian movies demanded a surrender to a surrealism and nightmare. Films like Lucio Fulci’s “City of the Living Dead” and “The Beyond” or Argento’s “Inferno” collapse under any kind of analysis. That does not mean they are not amazing cinematic journeys. It merely means that they must be approached from a different angle than many viewers are used to. Instead of asking why, they are asked to enter into a state where they will accept whatever dreams may come.
Unfortunately, piss poor dubbing has never helped their case nor has the way distributors have hacked them down with complete disregard to the editor’s art. Initially snapped up for the Grindhouse market, there was no consideration made to art. The more the blood flowed, the more popcorn was sold.
If you watch the introduction sequence of Fulci’s “Zombie Flesh Eaters” on its usual video release, it is an ugly and meaningless hatchet job. Even the pan and scanning of what is left seems to miss any action that is happening on screen. Seeing it again in an uncut widescreen version, you cannot help but be impressed by the cinematography. The directors who made these things were not the incompetents many would have us believe.
These guys were good at what they did. It is just much of what they did was not very nice. A film like “New York Ripper” is difficult to defend morally but even it is not without a level of artistry. I couldn’t imagine watching it again because- for me – once was too much. Still, Italian horror is a sub-genre of extremes. It pushes itself out to the limit of what is acceptable and then it just keeps on going.
The genre is perhaps best summed up by a scene from Dario Argento’s “Opera”. A woman has needles taped to her eyelids so she cannot close her eyes as she is forced to witness a murder. A horrifying image, it’s true but also an artistic statement. The ferocity of the violence in these films doesn’t come out of a vacuum. In many ways it springs from the vivid nature of classic Italian painting and the inflated emotions of Opera itself. (Not a medium renowned for its bloodless story lines.)
But Bava and Fulci are gone and guys like Umberto Lenzi have had their job offers dry up from underneath them. Even a director like Michele Soavi, who ten years ago was described as the saviour of Italian horror, can’t get a new film up and running.
So, the arrival of a movie like “Eyes of Crystal” is certainly welcome. At least that’s what the box says. “The finest thriller since Dario Argento’s Opera”. “Unquestionably the best Italian horror thriller in years”. Whilst this is not strictly a return to the traditional Italian horror form, it does filter films like “Silence of the Lambs” and “Seven” through a knowledge of these film. The settings are baroque and the violence operatic. There is even a nod to the animals so popular in giallo titles even if they are all stuffed. It has style. It is well made. It is exciting.
Do I really have to tell you all the grizzly details? Well, no. There are only a few things you need to know. If you like this kind of thing, is this one worth seeing? Definitely. This is a top notch hunt the serial killer flick. It’s just… I don’t know. Haven’t we been here one or too many times before?
Does it mark the rebirth of the Italian horror movie? Well, the packaging seems to think so but, whilst there is an amazing visual eye at work here, this has failed to haunt to me in the way Argento’s work does. Let’s see director Eros Puglielli churn out a few more films of equal or better quality and then we can start talking about a renaissance. This merely marks an interesting start but I doubt it will bring too many converts to the cause. It is just too similar to a lot of films (particularly those coming out of France) to present a really distinctive voice.
Italian horror films have been so influential that their watered down mark can be seen everywhere. There would have been no “Halloween” if there had been no “Deep Red”. If there had been no “Halloween” then we might live in the kind of dreadful world where “Friday the Thirteenth” may have been the most influential film of its generation. Perish the thought. With “Eyes of Crystal” we see many of these cinematic ideas return home but these returns have been somewhat diminished.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a good film but there are a lot of good films coming out of Europe at the moment. There are so many good directors that Hollywood is having trouble keeping up with stealing them all for their dramatically inferior productions. The trouble with all these hot new gunslingers is that they think movie making started and ended with the title sequence of “Seven”. Hey, it was good okay, but if I see it one more time then I am just going to have to slap someone. Hard.
Sometimes an artistic movement declares year zero for political motives. Punk rock is an ideal example of striking such a posture. There are, however, too many film makers who declare year zero based on simple laziness and it shows. We live in a world where too many directors know of nothing before Spielberg or Lucas. “Eyes of Crystal” at least has a darker lineage and a director who knows some history. Puglielli needs to expand his knowledge of history into an original vision. It requires more than setting up intricate camera shots or paying homage.
I, for one, would much rather see the third instalment of “The Mothers” trilogy. Anyone who knows what I mean by that will probably concur. Part of the charm of Italian horror movies is that they were so unique. I am not looking for a world where the big difference between cultures is that they don’t call a Quarterpounder with cheese a Quarterpounder with cheese.
| 66 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog