Come una crisalide

Attending a convention that went on for 3 days we all got mail that there would be a flick available approved by Dario Argento. The next big thing coming out Italy. It was sold out immediately the first day, the second they they sold new copies and the third day it was already OOP. Wow, limited on 1500 copies you must get a hold on your own copy. And have a look, the score made by an ex Goblin, Claudio Simonetti. effects by Sergio Stivaletti not unknown in the genre. Lamberto Bava, Luigi Cozzi, they all praised it.

What an expectation I had and what a failure it was. Sure, it do has all the elements of a Giallo and it do has vibrant colors and expertly contrast with clever usage of shadows and lighting. But it just couldn't catch my attention throughout the flick. The killer is never revealed. The puppets used for narration annoyed me and the journalist telling about how to make a program was way too long.

What it did had were nice chicks walking around and some decent killings. A bit of nudity here and there and close ups of boobs and even Nikol Brown as a prostitute goes full frontal but all elements were there but it just didn't fix. There isn't simply a twist or a real story.

But people who love the new Giallo's like Amer (2012) will love this but for me I was left with a bitter feeling. Hyped for no reason at all.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

When a disturbed young man's psychiatrist suggests institutionalization, the guy opts to be all that he can be by surrendering to his murderous impulses.

That's all there is, unfortunately. Director Pastore made no secret of the fact he was inspired by the works of Dario Argento -in fact, the film opens with a quote from TENEBRAE- but pastiche "homages" never live up to their muse and this film is no exception. The colors, camera angles, quick cuts, and compositions may be Argento-esque and a score by former Goblin Claudio Simonetti (who actually appears in the film) assists in this but, if anything, the film is closer to Mario Bava's HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (plotwise, at least) in that we know the killer from the outset and vaguely explore his past as we watch his present and wait for the inevitable.

There's some PEEPING TOM in there as well since the madman videotapes his coming out "like a chrysalis" and even kidnaps the host of a "Most Wanted"-style TV crime show so's he can film the man's torture death. Other than that, the only things going for the film are its kills which come fast and furious (helped considerably by special effects pro Sergio Stivaletti) but even a half-assed mystery (very common in the giallo) is better than none as this film proves. As eye candy only, it wears out its welcome pretty quickly, even at 80 minutes (including end credits that go on for quite awhile, thanking Argento, Luigi Cozzi, and God knows who else).

In Symphony in Blood Red (Come una Crisalide), the Killer kills and kills and kills once more... stop for a pause... and then He kills again and again and once more, from the beginning to the end of the film. This is the basic story of the film.

In the beginning I thought that the killings had a purpose. He was killing those that had mistreated him as a child, but after a while I noticed that he was not particular, he could kill any human being (not animals, rejoice animal lovers!) that walked on earth.

Sure thing, "Come una Crisalide" shows some stylish pieces of cinema, the girls are pretty and plenty, the Killer wears something like white plastic gloves, and there are some obvious Dario Argento homages (from the eye close up to whole scenes), but in spite of everything I couldn't connect and feel interested about the film and its characters, mainly because there are no characters in the film, just images and images, not connected to any living reality.Maybe later I'll appreciate more the film, but I doubt it.

Symphony in Blood Red is a bleak, pessimistic take on the horror-thriller genre, if you are looking for a traditional giallo circa 1971 (amateur detective or police procedural) then you are out of luck, for while deeply influenced by that era Pastore has played with the conventions and introduced an innovative take on the genre, something that I felt Argento tried to do but backed out of, with the character of Alfredo Grossi (played by Thomas Kretschmann) in The Stendhal Syndrome.

Opening with a straight up homage and quote from the immediate beginning of Argento's Tenebrae, a director who Pastore openly states as a major influence, we see a blood-stained woman stumbling away from the camera before being introduced properly into the film with first a POV shot of a (presumed) girlfriend stating she is leaving our lead character for another man, and then in the next scene his psychiatrist seemingly abandons him by stating she recommends he should go into a clinic. These personal rejections appear too much too handle and provide the catalyst for an ill mind to snap, or rather develop into that of a revengeful killer which the film follows.

Symphony in Blood Red is quite a serious film, in the sense that it never plays for (ironic) laughs or absurdity as some horrors are prone to mistakenly do and as a result it is able to not only maintain but also build on the gloomy almost nihilistic feel without diffusion or breaking the illusion of the bitter world created by Pastore and Tentori.

Featuring brutal violence, beautiful women and a pessimistic outlook make this a similar yet different Italian horror film, letting the killer be the story teller as opposed to simply the odd scene from his point of view, Pastore's knowledge and love of the genre and film in general shines through but equally does his creativity and personality. Clocking in a tight 74-minutes (it says approx. 80 but I don't really count credits), this film does not overstay its welcome and due to the relatively short duration it needs to be focused and thankfully the makers have achieved that without sacrificing brutality or emotion.