Crimenes en portada

And I do mean EVERYTHING else.

A great looking film in all aspects.

Brilliant camera work. Excellent use of color. The cinematography and art direction were Oscar worthy and everybody in it looked great. The majority of them proving it by getting naked.

Beautiful models get bumped off by a killer whose face becomes a giant eye before the kill. The sudden rush of colors signifies that a murder is coming. Said models work for a magazine that our heroine (A former model herself) runs.

Of course now she thinks she's the final target. Is she? If you can find this gem, see it.

I found this in a used video box in Tokyo and was sucked in but the cover art. Seeing Bava's name helped too.

It's a bit dated now, it reminds one of an 80's music video at times. But the mystery element is great and never lets up.

This has just enough of the giallo about it to be considered a late entry in the genre and whilst it is far from outstanding is perfectly watchable. It is bright, fast moving and colourful but at the same time rather brash with an uninvolving story and the usual crashing 80s score. Serena Grandi may not be the greatest actress in the world but she is outstanding in one (or is that two?!) respects. Another large busted performer, Sabrina plays herself and between them the two girls manage to display a considerable amount of flesh amidst the murderous shenanigans. George Eastman makes an appearance and it is regrettable that his part could not have been enlarged in place of some of the silliness going on around. Daria Nicolodi is a welcome participant and again enlarging her part might have been a good idea. Altogether there is too much time spent on the young guys and creating red herrings when the script is really not up to being taken seriously.

Delirium (1987)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Gloria (Serena Grandi) is a former model who struck gold making a magazine called Pussycat but it seems a secret admirer is about to cross the line. Pretty soon obnoxious phone calls are turning into someone murdering off the models that are working for Gloria.

Lamberto Bava was trying to not only make a film that looked and seemed like the work of his father but there's no question that there's a touch of Dario Argento as well. DELIRIUM isn't a completely successful movie but at the same time there are enough interesting and bloody murders mixed in with the sexploitation feel to where fans of the genre will find it to be worth a watch.

The film seems to not know if it wanted to be a naughty nude film or a giallo so we basically just get the best of both worlds. The film's plot certainly isn't the greatest or the most original but it's basically just here to show beautiful women being murdered and of course getting naked before hand. As a giallo it works to a point as the violence is certainly there as well as the actors and actresses ability to spit out blood as they are being wounded.

The film offers up a lot of nudity from the various women and that includes the lead Grandi. She's actually pretty good in the film has she's constantly showing off her body and in a rather hilarious way she does so at the end with the killer's request. You've also got George Eastman and Daria Nicolodi appearing in brief bits. Bava's direction is fine for this type of picture and he offers up some nice cinemaotgprahy and lighting.

DELIRIUM certainly isn't a masterpiece or even a good film but it's sleazy enough to where fans of the genre should enjoy it.

It's all about director Lamberto Bavas' style in this decent Giallo with a merely okay story but lots of sex and violence. Beautiful Serena Grandi (known as the "Dolly Parton of Italy") stars as Gioia (Gloria in the English language version), a former model who now owns and operates an adults only magazine. Her models begin to be slaughtered by a psycho admirer of hers, who arranges their dead bodies in front of a photo of her. Naturally, this leads her to believe that she will eventually become the killers' ultimate victim.

The lighting and camera work are exemplary. Certainly if Lambertos' father Mario had seen this one, he likely would have been proud. There is also some effective suspense at times. Simon Boswell supplies a score that alternates between pounding rock 'n' roll and more conventional arrangements. (One climactic chase scene would have done better to do away with the rock score.) The screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici & Daniele Stroppa does at least succeed in keeping fans of this genre interested in determining which of the possible suspects will eventually be unmasked as the real culprit. The most original touch is when things are shown from the killers' warped perspective, and it's too bad that we don't see a little more of this throughout.

The performances are adequate enough for the material. Nothing award worthy, but entertaining. Grandi is well supported by Daria Nicolodi, Vanni Corbellini, David Brandon, Karl Zinny (who'd acted for Lamberto in "Demons", and who here plays a horny, sleazy, surly, wheelchair bound kid), and the most welcome of all, Italian cult & exploitation icon George Eastman, playing Gioias' ex fiancée, an actor. There are several very attractive female cast members and numerous breast shots for those who are interested. Veteran sex symbol Capucine appears as Gioias' bitter business rival.

If you enjoy the genre or the films of Bava Jr., this should be an agreeable hour and a half exercise in style and sleaze.

Seven out of 10.

This is a better than average Giallo and is packed with solid actors. There are scenes that you will remember from this one. George Eastman has a small part in this so don't go in expecting a large amount of him in this one. If you are a fan of this style of film or even just a fan of Serena Grandi you must see this film. George Eastman and Serena Grandi get along way better in this film than in Grim Reaper. ;-)The killer is plagued with delusions and these are worth seeing. There is a nightmarish feel too the film. The pacing is very well done. Look for one of the lead actors of Demons to have a prominent part in this film. Lamberto Bava did a great job with this one. See the Shriek Show DVD version of this one.