El ojo del laberinto

Stuffed with Italian giallo genre conventions and narrative tropes, Eye in the Labyrinth is nevertheless a solid and intriguing thriller with a good payoff. Many of the horror elements do not surface until the final exposition when the artistic stylization of the film is at its peak. During this climactic finale, jarring editing and prominent post-production sound enhance the disturbing plot and mild onscreen gore.

Having seen well over 60 gialli thus far, including the majority of the more celebrated films in the genre, I now find myself sifting through the less well-known titles in the hope of finding an obscure gem. Eye in the Labyrinth doesn't quite fit the bill, the film far too light on elaborately staged killings to be wholly satisfying, but it does deliver an intriguing mystery with a reasonable twist, and plenty of skin from some very attractive women (including a young Sybil Danning), making it a giallo worth seeking out once you've exhausted the usual suspects.

Brunette beauty Rosemary Dexter plays Julie, whose search for her missing lover Luca leads her to a luxurious villa, home to a group of eccentric individuals who know more about Luca than they are letting on. As Julie investigates, she finds herself in mortal danger; will she survive long enough to discover the truth? To writer/director Mario Caiano's credit, I didn't figure out the twist until moments before the reveal, meaning that I was hooked throughout despite the relaxed approach and lack of gore (having said that, the flashback at the end is nice and gruesome, with a really squishy decapitation).

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

This is a giallo that like "In the Folds of Flesh" released a year or so earlier, combines the traditional giallo formula with the kind of "pop"-Freudian nonsense that was big at the time in Europe especially, resulting in a movie that is pretty goofy but fun. A young woman (Rosemary Wilcox) is haunted by pop-Freudian dreams of her recently murdered psychologist (and lover), so for some reason she goes to a resort where the psychologist liked to hang out and becomes involved with a gangster (Adolf Celli) and the strange female resort owner (Alida Valli). Soon more murders occur involving the other guests at the resort, and it's not too hard to guess who is responsible.

The ridiculous portrayal of psychoanalysis in this movie makes even Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie" look realistic, but personally I find this kind of preposterous psychobabble, unbelievable plot twists, and bizarro dream sequences far more entertaining than most of your more realistic "psychological thrillers". There's also some solid acting talent involved here, especially Alida Valli and Adolf Celli as the two most obvious viallians. Lead Rosemary Dexter was originally casts as "Justine" in the Jess Franco film of the same name, but she was replaced American daughter-of-a-name actress Romina Powers, which is unfortunate because she proves here to be an infinitely better actress than Powers--and she gets naked a lot too. And speaking of getting naked, a young Sybil Danning also has a supporting role as a murder victim, pretty much doing what she always does in movies. (As with Linnae Quigley, I find Danning's early work much more interesting in that it is not ENTIRELY an excuse to show off her impressive nude torso).

This isn't one of the best giallo. And if you either hate Freud, on one hand, or take him very seriously, on the other, you may not like it too much. Generally though, I would recommend it.

Giallo fans, seek out this rare film. It is well written, and full of all sorts of the usual low lifes that populate these films. I don't want to give anything away, so I wont even say anything about the plot. The whole movie creates a very bizarre atmosphere, and you don't know what to expect or who to suspect. Recommended! The only place I've seen to get this film in english is from European Trash Cinema, for $15.

This little seen movie is a languid and laid-back giallo. It veers away from some of the cliché's of the genre and adopts a looser approach. It's about a woman searching for her missing lover; a psychiatrist who has suddenly vanished for no apparent reason. Her search leads her to a villa populated by a group of eccentric individuals. In true giallo style, murder is never far away.

The cast is really rather good. We have Aldofo Celi (Thunderball), Alida Valli (Suspiria), Horst Frank (Cat o' Nine Tails) and a very young Sybil Danning (80's scream queen). The lead actress is Rosemary Dexter, and while I am not familiar with her, she does a good job in leading the picture.

One of the defining features of Eye in the Labyrinth is its music. Atypically for a giallo it features a jazz-rock fusion soundtrack. This score, composed by Roberto Nicolosi, is reminiscent of Miles Davis, especially his work on In A Silent Way. It's an excellent soundtrack and really gives this movie a different feel than most gialli. The fusion groove accentuates the languid atmosphere and compliments the sunny, sea-front scenery that the film is mostly made up of.

This is a giallo so we really need to talk about the murder set-pieces. Well, this film falls a little short in this regard. It's certainly not devoid of them but they are few and far between. The opening dream-murder being probably the best on offer as well as a memorable burning car sequence. But this really isn't a particularly violent film. Still, I don't think it should disappoint too many seasoned fans of the genre. The mystery is fairly compelling and it has enough eccentric characters (the idiot boy Saro and THAT unsettlingly inappropriate dubbed accent?) and moments of the bizarre to satisfy; while the sleaze-factor is upheld with a smattering of nudity throughout.

Eye in the Labyrinth plays like a giallo version of an Agatha Christie mystery, as it features a group of unsympathetic characters in a villa, all under suspicion of murder; we have the obligatory flashbacks detailing their connections with the final hours of the (highly unsympathetic) murder victim. While this isn't a grade-A example of the genre, it's certainly an appealingly different one, as it doesn't borrow too heavily from other films of the sub-genre. For giallo enthusiasts I give this a thumbs up and hope one day it's given a nice DVD transfer. It certainly deserves the treatment.