Il signor Diavolo

This movie follows perfectly the style of other Pupi Avati's movies. It's a good gothic horror, characterized by a disturbing atmosphere pervaded by a sick and almost surreal sacredness.

Great style and atmosphere, but disappointing ending. This is a recurring theme in Pupi Avati's work. This film is reminiscent of Arcane Sorcerer (1996) in which a protagonist goes to investigate strange happenings involving evil forces. There are similar castle/cathedral-like sets/locations. They both have underwhelming/disappointing endings.

Where Il Signor Diavolo really shines is the atmosphere and the look of the film. It has a gorgeous and gritty feel. It felt authentic. The acting was good all around. The subtitles were poor on the version I saw so that may be part of the problem.

However, the other part of the problem is the structure. This is a novel that was turned into a film about a man who spends half the film sitting down and reading a transcript of an interview that authorities conducted with a young boy who told them a story about why he killed a another boy he thought was the devil. Then, our protagonist has a series of conversations which lead into a rushed finale.

It's creepy. It's wonderful to look at. But it doesn't go anywhere interesting.

Superficial and discounted. Terrible acting, elementary history and meaning none. As a mysterious film there is no tension, as a horror film there is no terror. Alessandro Haber and Andrea Roncato make small cameos: Haber is fine but does not shine as usual; Roncato, compared to the protagonists, looks like an Oscar-winning actor. In a peasant context, in 1952, they still go around with oil lamps (ok), but they also have many vans and cars, even the father of the little protagonist. Completely unreal: they were very poor, at most they could afford a cart pulled by a mule. I am Italian and I know well the situation of the villages of those years, even a bicycle was considered expensive (see "Bicycle Thieves" by Vittorio De Sica, 1948). Luckily I didn't go to see it at the cinema: after 5 minutes I would have gone away cursing and asking for a refund. Garbage.

I watched this movie during spare time, hoping to see some "so bad it's good" stuff, knowing how terribly overrated everything shot by Avati is. In the beginning my hopes seemed to be fullfilled: terrible acting, awful scenes, didascalic photography.. however, with time the movie only gets more boring and unexplained, with some completely useless subplots like the "love story". Incredible how in 2019 a so called "maestro" can continue to get funds by italian ministry to make such awful and useless movies. Embarassing.

In this movie, it's just the beginning part that's scary. For the rest the plot is ridiculous, the special effects are ridiculous and even the aura of the film that should be scary is ridiculous.