The colors are gorgeous and the influence on slashers is apparent, but the story and acting is pretty clunky.

Incredibly fun, suspenseful, and more intelligent than 98% of present-day horror films. Excellent.

Where's a good place to hold a slasher film? How about a modeling agency? Yes. Yes, please.

Good Movie

76.375

Giallo with all the usual trimmings. Technically efficient but not terribly interesting.

It's well-shot but it's really, really formulaic. Gruesome murders, suspects, alibis, a generic and uninteresting twist ending...

In technical terms, Bava certainly knows his stuff: There's alot of tasty compositions, well-timed close-ups and some grandiose use of colour in this baby, just to mention a few things.

I really enjoyed this. Although the dialog was cheesy at times (which wasn't helped by the poor audio syncing problems), the movie was beautifully shot. I loved the use of colors and the confident camera movements. The story was pretty decent too. Things really clicked along smoothly without ever hitting a lull (like many Italian horror movies). I was also pleasently surprised at how violent the movie was. I guess I was expecting it to be pretty bloodless considering it was released in 1964.

Sets the groundwork for decades of future Giallo.

An elegant, expertly paced and tension filled classic that helped to redefine and further influence the "Slasher" subgenre of horror. One of Bava's best movies, fuled by its jazzy score and utilizing its handful of kills to craft something creepy and entertaining. Even though its as much a mystery film as it is a giallo/horror movie.

Visceral, brutal, and genuinely suspenseful. The storyline and performances never really catch up with the vibrant visuals, but as the countless scores of movies inspired by Bava's work would prove, that stuff was never the point.

Sei done per l'assassino: 9 // 7 // 7 // 8 // 10 // 9 // 8

Out of the Bava films I've seen, this one is probably the closest to my understanding of what giallo is... kind of a whodunit thriller/slasher flick (often with a killer who wears black gloves) with a sense of grand guignol. I thought all the elements were well done, especially the score, and the movie was a bit of fun. But it didn't really push any of my buttons. My favorite is definitely still Black Sunday.