Review: Delirium
Serena Grandi plays a former model now running a men’s
magazine, whose models are being bumped off one by one. How long before Grandi
herself becomes a target? Daria Nicolodi plays Grandi’s assistant, George
Eastman plays Grand’s actor boyfriend, Karl Zinny plays Grandi’s oddball
paraplegic neighbour, Capucine is Grandi’s old acquaintance and professional
rival, and Sabrina Salerno plays one of the models…named Sabrina. That’s
helpful.
Better than a few Dario Argento and Maria Bava films
I’ve seen, this 1987 giallo pic comes from Mario’s son Lamberto Bava (“A
Blade in the Dark”, “Demons”). No one’s going to accuse Lamberto of
being a better director than his father or Argento for that matter, but he’s
made a colourful and stylish film here…and a bit of a bloody weird one. I
won’t spoil it, suffice to say that the murder scenes are shot in a very
strange, arty way unlike any other film I’ve seen. Meanwhile, if you’ve ever
wanted to see 80s Italian pop tart Sabrina (Salerno) in a horror film, this
one’s for you, and she’s topless here nearly the entirety of her participation
in the film. Seriously, she’s topless from her very first moment. So if the
uncut version of her teasing ‘Boys (Summertime Love)’ music video helped shape
your adolescence as it did mine, this is a must. For others, it’s a solid
giallo with some bizarro stylistic touches and plenty of sleaze. It’s not quite
as sleazy as “Strip Nude for Your Killer” but the plot is set in a very
similar cynical and sleazy world (I think this one’s the better film).
The film looks terrific, as shot by Bava and cinematographer
Gianlorenzo Battaglia (“A Blade in the Dark”, “Demons”, “Warrior
Queen”). Simon Boswell (“Dust Devil”, “Hackers”) also
contributes a solid rock score in the Goblin vein. I also have to commend the
screenwriting duo here of Gianfranco Clerici (the infamous “Don’t Torture a
Duckling” and “Cannibal Holocaust”) and Daniele Stroppa (Joe
D’Amato’s “Convent of Sinners”) because while I should’ve picked the
culprit (s) here, I whiffed instead. There’s so many suspects here that I
couldn’t even settle on a suspect. Well-done there. ***** MINOR SPOILER ALERT
***** The best thing might be that the person who saves the day here is the
one person you’d never expect – or really want – to end up being the hero. So
that was a nice surprise, too. ***** END MINOR SPOILER ***** As
for the violence, we get a nice poolside pitchfork death to start the mayhem, and
a great death involving a swarm of bees.
In terms of performances, you get the surprise casting
of George Eastman (real name Luigi Montefiori) playing the most ‘normal’
character I’ve seen him play – an actor/love interest for our heroine. He’s
rather good actually, though he looks like Bava’s just dragged him off the set
of one of those Italian “Mad Max II” rip-offs Eastman was in. Whilst
lead actress Serena Grandi certainly has impressive assets, she’s not as
impressive in her performance as Daria Nicolodi or the aforementioned Eastman.
I was a little surprised to see Capucine in something like this, I must say. How
do you go from working with Fellini, Henry Hathaway etc. to appearing in a
Lamberto Bava sleazy giallo? Movies are weird sometimes.
A good, stylish giallo with a solid story and a few
truly bizarre visual touches in the kill scenes. Oh, and the naked bodies of
Serena Grandi and Sabrina Salerno. Something for everyone here, folks. Unless
you don’t like horror films I suppose.
Rating: B-
Comments
Post a Comment