Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972)

Strong and Moving!

hyped garbage

A different way of telling a story

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Deluxe giallo from writer-director Dario Argento, with a presentation so stylish it threatens to overwhelm the plot. Dedicated husband and drummer for a rock band angrily confronts a mysterious man who's been following him; they scuffle and the stranger ends up stabbed with his own knife. No one is around to help the shaken musician, but there is one witness: a person in costume with a camera. This isn't a blackmailer--they don't want money--but the musician is quickly taunted with photos and notes...and soon, the people closest to him start dropping like flies. Argento shows an uncanny grasp of character here, and his roster of victims and suspects is delicious (there's also a scripture-quoting con-man who acts as a lookout, a terrified postman afraid of delivering the mail and a gay gumshoe hired by the protagonist who hasn't solved one case in his last 87!). Argento is a cinematic madman; his screenplay might not hold up under close scrutiny, but it's hard to nitpick with the small details when the end results are this tantalizing. *** from ****

A musician (Michael Brandon) is stalked by an unknown killer who's blackmailing him for an accidental killing of another stalker. But is everything what it appears to be? The film opens with a great shot of drums from overhead and a beating heart, knowing that Argento is in the middle of his most stylistic period. Even the man with white gloves and disturbingly childish mask taking photographs is classic Argento.I liked the concept of the images burned on to the retina, and I enjoyed the humor of having a character named "God" and the "Hallelujah" chorus. This being the last Ennio Morricone score in an Argento film was not lost on me, as the musical style shifted greatly after this one. (Not necessarily in a bad way -- Goblin and Simonetti are incredible.) I was surprised to see homosexuality being so openly discussed in a film from this year. Maybe in Italy it was more acceptable than in America? Either way, an interesting addition.

It is rare that this flick was until a few years ago almost know as the lost flick of director Dario Argento. There were a lot of VHS available but most of them were Italian spoken and didn't had any subtitles. Another problem was that most copies were too dark, that was meant to be that way. Still, a lot of DVD's that came out later were cut. Now 40 years after it's release it is available on Blu Ray. And what a great release it is. It's available in English and it's full uncut. You can choose between the normal version or the full uncut which has a few scene's that are in VHS quality and others that are spoken in Italian. All with English subtitles.Was it worth the wait? Well, it's one of his earlier flicks and if you know Dario then you might be disappointed by the fact that there's almost no blood or gore in it. On the other hand it is still watchable due the many first person shots involved and the score by Morricone. Also to see is the acting by Michael Brandon in one of his first roles before he became famous in Dempsey and Makepeace (1985 1986). The story itself isn't that god sometimes but it is really the way of filming that let you keep watching it. The acting is by some a bit laughable (the postman) so don't watch it for that reason. Funny is that Dario made an ode to Sergio Leone by adding the fly scene at the beginning, remember Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) were he was involved by watching Sergio.I liked it for the reasons mentioned before, and for the use of special camera's to film the bullet and the end scene. It's not a Deep Red (1975) or Suspiria (1977) but it's a straight Giallo that is a must have for the Dario fans. Pick it up, it's on Shameless label. And for the pervs, Francine Racette (Dalia) go naked. Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

A twenty-something rock musician named Roberto (Michael Brandon) finds himself being stalked by an old man. The two end up on-stage in an empty and very creepy theater at night. "What are you after man, what's your trip", asks Roberto. But unknown to Roberto, someone wearing a strange mask watches the drama from the balcony.And so begins another Dario Argento Italian whodunit, the plot of which includes a blackmailer, a cat, a gay private detective, and a slow-motion car crash. The film certainly looks good visually but suffers from a somewhat murky, hard to grasp story.The script's premise is weak, and the muddled plot structure helps not at all, possibly the result of poor editing. Some characters are really not needed. And the film's ending is disappointingly weak. In addition, the lab experiment using four flies is tenuous at best, but included I suppose in an effort to mesh the story with an animal metaphor.On the other hand, this film veritably oozes mystery and suspense. Many scenes foreshadow some ominous event, making the plot very scary, en route to the climax where the killer is identified.The non-script elements really rev-up the terror. Creepy sound effects in the dark, low light levels in interior scenes, close-up camera shots, and a haunting score combine in many sequences to create a stylistically frightening atmosphere.As with other Argento giallos, the story trends a little weak, but that is offset by terrific visuals, sound effects, and music. Overall however, "Four Flies On Grey Velvet", while good, fares mediocre relative to Argento's cinematic works of true genius.