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7
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7 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
A
clairvoyant (Jennifer O'Neill) foresees her own demise and tries
desperately to prevent it...
After
a long tenure as a screenwriter and assistant director, principally
for the popular Italian comedy specialist Stefano Vanzia (AKA
"Steno"), Lucio Fulci started to direct films of his
own, principally in popular genres like comedies and musicals.
By the late 1960s, Fulci's interest in darker themes began to
emerge in masterful pictures like Perversion
Story (1969) and Beatrice Cenci
(1968). The controversy entailed by films like Don't
Torture A Duckling (1972) and The
Eroticist (1972) landed Fulci in hot water —
both pictures dared to incorporate none-too-subtle swipes at
the Italian government, and the commentary wasn't well received
in all quarters. The mid-'70s found the director struggling
to keep his head above water, and when the opportunity arose
to revisit the giallo with some sizable financing, he jumped
at the chance. The resulting film, known as Seven Notes In
Black in Italy and the less imaginative moniker of The
Psychic in the U.S., was not a commercial success, though
it was one of the director's personal favorites.
The story mixes Poe
motifs with elements familiar from the gialli of Dario Argento,
but Fulci resists the urge to be merely imitative. While certain
set-pieces definitely echo Argento's Deep
Red (1975) —
notably the scene of O'Neill hacking down a wall to find a woman's
skeleton, itself an Argento nod to Poe —
the film follows its theme of fate with skill and integrity.
While the screenplay is overly mechanical, Fulci compensates
for this through sheer technical elegance. The budget is healthier
than the films that the director would subsequently helm, and
it's all to be seen on the screen —
the classy locations, elegant compositions and beautiful lighting
keep things interesting throughout, even when the pacing flags
during the middle act. The film manages a few genuine surprises,
and while the ending as stipulated in the screenplay was fairly
concrete, Fulci's staging results in a level of ambiguity that
allows the viewer to make up their own minds as to what has
happened.
On the downside, Jennifer
O'Neill (The Summer Of '42) is
somewhat stiff in the central role. One can easily imagine a
more expressive actress like Florinda Bolkan (A
Lizard In A Woman's Skin) making the most of the character's
growing paranoia, but O'Neill often seems bored when she's not
over emoting in other scenes. Though undeniably beautiful, the
actress fails to really connect with the role, resulting in
a vacuum in the film's center. Fortunately the supporting cast
is more than adequate, with Gabriele Ferzetti (Once
Upon A Time In The West), Marc Porel (Don't
Torture A Duckling) and Gianni Garko (The
Cold Eyes Of Fear) all delivering top notch performances
in their respective roles. Garko is given the most to do in
terms of having a real character arc, but Porel makes for a
charming and charismatic hero in his own right. The supporting
cast also includes smaller roles for other familiar Euro-Cult
favorites, including Evelyn Stewart (The
Whip And The Body), Luigi Diberti (The
Stendhal Syndrome), Fabrizio Jovine (City
Of The Living Dead) and Bruno Corazzari (Roy
Colt & Winchester Jack).
The technical credits
are all first rate. Sergio Salvati's lighting is some of the
finest he would ever provide for Fulci, with whom he would later
work on his beloved horror films, including Zombie
(1979) and The Beyond (1981). The
art direction and costumes are also very classy, adding to the
film's gloss. The music score by Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi
and Vince Tempera includes a theme appropriated by Quentin Tarantino
for the first volume of Kill Bill,
and while the main titles song may raise a few eyebrows, it's
actually a pretty enough theme on its own terms. The special
effects work is more variable, with the opening reprise of a
bone-crunching moment from Don't Torture
A Duckling making one wish Gianetto De Rosi had been
available to lend a hand to the production.
Though weakened by
the inadequate central performance and an unduly slow midsection,
The Psychic stands as one of Fulci's
most capably crafted and intriguing productions. The director's
downbeat point of view imbues the production with an air of
fatalism, and it compares well to the other gialli flooding
the markets during this timeframe.
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The
new Severin disc presents the film fully uncut, retaining the
original Italian titles sequence (complete with Sette Note
In Nero title card) and including all the material lifted
from the American release. The 1.85/16x9 transfer looks terrific
— colors are accurately rendered, detail is sharp and the print
damage is kept to a bare minimum.
After
releasing their first batch of screeners, Severin was made aware
of a serious authoring issue involving the audio. Sooner than
let a defective product hit the streets, the company sensibly
yanked the release and delayed it for several weeks so that the
audio could be improved. The end result sounds very nice indeed
— the terrific music score has the presence it deserves, and dialogue
is clear throughout. The mono English soundtrack has no defects
to complain of; good job, Severin!
An
interesting — if visually undynamic — featurette comprised of
telephone interviews with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti (who
again shows a propensity to take credit for the things people
like in Fulci's films while washing his hands of the things people
don't seem to like), costume designer Massimo Lentini and editor
Bruno Micheli (both of whom recall the director far more fondly
than Sacchetti) sheds some light on the genesis and making of
the picture. In addition to the 27-minute featurette, a beat up
American trailer is included.
11/13/07 |
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