L'Emmurée vivante

Very, very tame Fulci. It's not a Giallo by any stretch of the imagination, nor is it a horror film, in fact you wouldn't even know that it was made by the father of gore, except perhaps for the constant panning and zooming of eyes, which was his trademark. There are a few close-ups of bloody bodies, but very subtly conceived, and good-old Lucio could have spared us the repetition of the effect of the falling body from his previous piece Don't Torture a Duckling, where the face of a fallen person is rubbed bloody against a rock and we can clearly see that it is a stupid dummy. It looked silly back then and it looks silly today, too. But the story isn't bad, it has logic, it keeps the mystery until the very end where the cards are laid on the table, and it builds up quite nicely. And once again it was confirmed that Fulci knew how to choose beautiful women for his films and give them expressive roles that were a joy to play. (12/06/2019)

Seven Notes In Black has a very good plot, breathtakingly good for 1970s Italy, and Fulci in particular. At a certain point it’s clear how the story will end, but it still holds the attention of the viewer thanks to its brilliant crescendo. However, I have the feeling that this film has so little horror that it can’t be called a proper Giallo. It’s only a detective movie, but I don’t see it as a problem. (27/01/2010)