Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Handschuhe

If you are just getting to know the works of Dario Argento, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE is a great place to start. A masterful giallo from, arguably, the best director of the genre.

Filled with mystery, murder, and menace, this film is one of the foundation stones for all future serial killer / stalker horror. Argento's now-famous imagery and quirky characters are on full display, adding texture to his tale of a man (Tony Mustante) targeted by a homicidal madman after witnessing an attempted murder.

There are no dull moments, and Argento shows why he is the rightful heir to Bava's throne...

I recently bought a bunch of Argento movies on laserdisc because I'd seen a few and really liked them. I was pleased to find that the new titles in my collection are really good as well.

This film was Argento's first as director, and it's easy to see how he got work after that- it's great. It begins with an intriguing premise- that a witness to an attack saw more than he perceived- and pays off with a nice thriller.

My only beef is that I rewatched the beginning after it was over and, well, try it for yourself.

If you liked this and can stomach some much more extreme gore, try TENEBRAE. Maybe you shouldn't watch them back-to-back as I did, but give it a spin some time.

It's of course definitely true that the earliest Giallo's are also most definitely the best ones and the same can be said for Dario Argento's movies. And this movie was not just his first Giallo but also his first movie in general! And what a great debut it was for him! This movie is definitely being one of his bests and one of the better Giallo movies out there in general.

Finally a good Giallo again! I absolutely love the genre but I have to admit that most of the movies in it are extremely mediocre. Absolutely nothing tops "Profondo rosso", which also got directed by Argento but I can at least say that this movie comes close at times and especially considering that this is one of the earliest movies out of the genre, I really have to take my hat off for this one.

Some good mystery, some good characters, some great tension and killings. In other words, plenty to enjoy for the Giallo lovers in this movie. I think that this movie did a great job with its storytelling and the way it was handling its almost constantly present tension and mystery. Also good news about all of it is that it doesn't fall flat at the end, as often is the case with these type of movies.

The movie uses some great and at times also innovative cinematography, which helps to create a certain mood and tension for the movie, which all definitely helps to make this a very effective one within its genre.

And if you still aren't convinced to watch this movie, let me throw in a couple of more names, besides Dario Argento's; Ennio Morricone and Reggie Nalder. Nalder is a great character actor, I have seen popping up in a wide variety of movies. I have even seen a skin flick with him in it, which is all the more shocking once you know how Reggie Nalder looks. Luckily he himself didn't got nude in it but I always enjoy seeing him in movies and he often plays the quiet, scary looking henchman, as he basically also does in this movie.

And then there is also still the Ennio Morricone musical score. Most people don't really know it but by far most of Morricone's musical scores are some weird ones, that still have lots of quality to them though. As does the score to this movie, which is one Ennio Morricone himself is even proud off, since he often plays it at some of his concerts.

Finally a Giallo movie again of which I can truly and honestly say it's a great one, that I absolutely enjoyed watching.

8/10

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One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and Written by Dario Argento; Produced by Salvatore Argento (an Italian-German co-production); released in American by UMC (United Marion Corporation). Photographed by Vittorio Storaro; Edited by Franco Fraticelli; Music by Ennio Morricone. Starring Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrio Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi and Mario Adorf.

Argento's first film is an Italian tour of Hitchcockland. This tale of psychological terror is an incredibly scary murder mystery about a black hatted and coated maniac on the loose in Rome. Fine photography by Vittorio Storaro and Ennio Morricone's beautiful/terrorific score help to build up tension. The key to the mystery is shown but is quite difficult to spot. It's quite representative of the new "case study' style of psychological horror films.

An American writer witnesses an attempted murder and gets on the wrong side of the attacker as they try to finish him off to keep him from investigating any further.

While not as explicit as future gialli, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage ushered in a new kind of suspense film. It's violent, gory, and overtly sexual at times. The major twist is a real shocker.