Rorret

A beautiful scary movie with the highest Lou Castel. Anna Galiena, Massimo Venturiello and Patrizia Punzo help us to know the psychopathic world of Mr rorreT, the owner of the Peeping Tom horror theatre. The first Wetzl's movie It's also his best. The best italian production of the year 1988.

Joseph Rorret opens a movie theater called Peeping Tom which only plays murder mysteries and black and white thrillers.Anna and her boyfriend work for mysterious and elusive Rorret.Rorret obsessively spies on his female audience during the séances.Later he tracks down his pretty female victims,dates them and finally strangles them.Curious Anna starts investigating Rorret."Rorret" plays like a homage to "Psycho","Peeping Tom" and "Bunny Lake Is Missing".It's an elegant and well-acted drama/thriller,but it lacks exciting thrills and sleaze of many 70's and early 80's gialli.The killings are non-graphic and the action is slow."Rorret" reminded me a little bit Vernon Zimmermann's "Fade to Black" and Larry Cohen's "Special Effects".6 thriller death scenes out of 10.

This rather unknown Italian film is an odd thing. On the one hand, it's a beautiful homage to the Film Noir genre, and the two thriller classics "Psycho" and "Peeping Tom" especially. The film almost oozes its love for these movies, there are the best known moments of those movies restaged almost frame by frame in film-in-film sequences. "Psycho"'s shower scene, for example, is shown in a film called "Blood in the Shower" (sic!). Jean Sorel is extremely convincing as the murderous theatre-owner Joseph Rorret, and the stylish direction also adds to the flair. But...

On the other hand, "Rorret" is rather a drama than a Film Noir or a thriller - although it undoubtedly includes typical Giallo elements. Problem is that Fulvio Wetzl's direction sometimes looks über-stylish. It's often too film-school-like, it seems that he wants to show his love for the movies too clearly using the style of them how one learns about it at film-schools - therefore "Rorret" is probably too artsy.

A big plus is the musical score: While most Italian scores of the late 1980s are pure synthesizer sound, this one boosts almost old-fashioned guitar music that fits perfectly. Which brings me to another point: "Rorret" makes the impression of being anachronistic. It's almost too subtle for its production year.

All in all, "Rorret" is a unique and interesting film - but with a more modern and direct approach, it would have been an instant cult classic. Therefore it's a wasted opportunity in a way. And that's a pity.