Die sieben schwarzen Noten

"The Psychic" is probably one of Fulci's most plot-based movies. It also is fairly restrained; it is surprising that this was not issued a PG-13 rating. The only real gore was in the beginning of the movie when a woman falls off a cliff. Her face is shown hitting the side of the cliff repeatedly. Don't let the lack of gore stop you from renting this, though, because this movie is well worth it.

The story is as follows: A clairvoyant of sorts has a vision of a murder taking place in the house in which she lives. She then digs a skeleton out of the wall of the house. She calls the police, who in turn arrest her husband, the longtime owner of the house. In attempts to get her husband out of jail, she tries piecing together what happened based on her vision. It should be noted that the major plot twists are given away on the back of the box, so avoid reading it if surprise is wanted.

"The Psychic" is one of Fulci's few technically competent movies, containing few plot holes and a great storyline. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about the dialogue, which is subpar, and the quality, which takes away from the movie's viewing experience. Also, the first half of the movie drags, but luckily things pick up for the second half. Be sure to listen for the tune in the watch; it starts out like the theme song to "Zombie!"

This is an enjoyable movie for all audiences. My rating: 7 out of 10.

This underrated giallo is probably Lucio Fulci's best movie. Without his usual gorie style, the film is about a clairvoyant woman, Virginia (Played by Jennifer O'Neill- Scanners), who has a vision of a murder that happened years ago. When she goes to her new husband's country house, she finds out that it's the same place she saw on her vision. So she smashes one of the walls of the house and finds a skeleton in it. Now the police think Virginia's husband is the murderer. But she doesn't think the same and does everything possible to prove he's innocent, so she start to investigate (giallo style of course)- Sadly ignored at the time of it's release (Maybe because it has almost no blood and no nudity), the film is filled with suspense, especially after the hour mark. It has a great storyline and above average acting. The score deserves a special mention as it is arguably the best giallo music ever, even beating Goblin's Deep Red. Recommended to anyone who likes the giallo genre, Lucio Fulci's fans and people who think he's a hack. Definitely a 10/10.

Attempting to help herself, a woman marred by psychic visions finds a long-missing body walled up inside her husbands' house which puts him in the police's custody for the crimes and forces her to set out to save him, but soon becomes troubled when the vision leads to something else.

This proved to be an incredibly enjoyable giallo. Among the film's best qualities here is the sparkling setup that gets the film going and gives this one plenty of strong aspects. That we're given enough early on to show her abilities and gifts into the paranormal where we can both see the past as well as into the future, this becomes a driving force throughout the rest of the film. As the initial sequence of her coming under the influence of her latest vision as an adult, going through the contents of the room and looking over everything she finds there gives quite a fantastic setup to the film focusing on this aspect. Once that's firmly in place, the idea of the film resorting to an investigation into the cause of the woman that's found there death within the house gives this an intricately developed and played out mystery. The connection and build throughout the film, generated mainly from the need to prove her husband innocent of the crimes, is quite far-reaching as she goes through each of the clues from her vision and goes through each step, from the photograph to the investigation into the taxi company's history and even what the cigarette brands she finds. This is an important aspect that keeps the film going along nicely and logically with plenty of strong leads and reasoning done to keep throwing everything off. That this still keeps some thrilling suspense present in this section gives this a fantastic finish. As the final stages of the investigation take her into the sphere of the politician who's trying to keep the dead body a secret, there's a great enhancement of the action featured here were the series of chases and confrontations they have. From the back-and-forth hide-and-seek game through the apartment to the chase through the church, this all sets up the dark and chilling finale where the real meaning to her visions and gifts gets into some dark areas with how everything gets played out. It's a fun finale and gives this one a lot to like overall. There are a few minor flaws here. The main issue here is the notable lack of a nominal killer knocking victims off which plays such an integral part of the genre. This one tends to introduce the threat to her life so late here with the majority of time investigating the crime that it's almost entirely possible to forget she's in danger without threats on her or her friends which are quite important. The other issue is the finale, where the twisting plotlines are so over-the-top in how they get resolved in the context of the story as well as what emerges with the final revelation that's not nearly as shocking as it thinks it is. These here are enough to lower this one overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

Lucio Fulci is best known for his surreal and graphically gory horror movies of the early 80s {i.e.Zombie,The Beyond} but some of his most interesting work was made before. This film,which deserves to be far better known,is a case in point. It's an extremely suspenseful thriller with borderline horror elements,a bit reminiscent of Don't Look Now and quite possibly an influence on several films since such as The Vanishing. Fans of Kill Bill will recognise one of the pieces of music used.

Opening with a graphic but very unconvincing scene of a suicide off a cliff,the head bashing on the rocks,the film does not continue that way,but becomes a slow but intriguing supernatural mystery,with the suspense gradually building and Fulci showing himself quite capable of handling a relatively complex plot. Camera work,music and Jennifer O'Neill's stunning performance are all so good that the relative lack of actual action does not matter too much. Nevertheless, Fulci really proves himself with a really exciting and suspenseful scene near the end where O'Neill is pursued by the killer,and there is clever and evocative use of props throughout.

Interestingly,where most Italian films like this are dubbed by different actors,this one looks like it was dubbed by most of the actual cast,and unfortunately a couple of major plot revelations are hard to make out! However,this is a solid little thriller that ,while not quite on the level of,say Fulci's A Lizard In A Woman's Skin,really deserves to be seen if you think Fulci can only do gore.

... Actually it is not exactly an horror movie, but rather more a thriller (or, better, a giallo). Visionary, tense, well acted (& dubbed), nice locations (villas, interiors, landscapes, cars, etc.), care to costumes and details, a nice 7 notes tune... it is a truly enjoyable little gem from the (not enough) celebrated Italian gore maestro. The plot itself, assuming it is possible to have such supernatural powers, develops convincingly and without too many disgusting bloody scenes . In some points (the visions, particularly the reversed statue) I had the feeling that Kubrick in Shining (1980) might have stolen something (MURDER...). Will it be possible? Oh, I was forgetting, the actress (O neill) is wonderful, and Ferzetti (Once upon in the West, On Her Majesty's Secret Service) is playing as well. 8.5/10 Well done Lucio!