Toutes les couleurs du vice

Tutti i colori del buio or All the Colors of the Dark (also released as Day of the Maniac and They're Coming to Get You!) got some good points - a nice soundtrack (including some good psychedelic rock tunes), some well crafted scenes/settings and psychedelic shots, some beautiful ladies. Where this movie lacks is in providing an interesting story line and the elements of horror or terror are rather on the weak or tame side. The occult scenes with some trippy elements are well shot and spiced up with some softporn elements. Is it bad? No. Is it good? Not so much. Only recommended if you want to watch some movie deep rooted in the 70s style of Italian movie making - but for a real giallo movie this one is too tame in my opinion.

Though typically billed as a traditional giallo, All The Colors of the Dark owes more to Rosemary's Baby than it does The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. The stunning Edwige Fenech plays the lead character who finds herself getting wrapped up in a bizarre cult after a neighbor tells her that it might help her get over some of her issues. Naturally, things don't end well when she starts suspecting that this cult doesn't have the best of intentions.

For those expecting buckets of blood, you'll be disappointed, but the script for All The Colors Of The Dark and much smarter and more thoughtful than a lot of other giallo scripts and is filled with twists, turns, and even some honest-to-God suspense.

This is an entertaining Italian giallo that has often been unfairly compared to "Rosemary's Baby", even though the only bambina on display here is lead actress Edwige Fenech. There is a satanic cult here as in the Polanski classic, but they are much more interested in making Fenech the centerpiece of their ritualized sex orgies and getting their hands on her inheritance than they are in impregnating her with the Devil's spawn. And while "Rosemary's Baby" makes perfect sense, this is a quintessential giallo where making sense is completely beside the point. There is a powerful sense of paranoia in this film, but it is hysterical paranoia of low-budget Italian thrillers rather than the subtle, creeping paranoia of "Rosemary's Baby". Basically the plot here is just an excuse to move between dramatic chase sequences, bizarre dream sequences, and delirious satanic sex. The movie is certainly aware of it's similarity to the Polanski film and cleverly uses it to produce red herrings by giving the heroine a mysterious, remote husband (George Hilton) and a very odd psychiatrist.

Fenech was always good in these hysterical victim roles, and she is ably supported here by the rest of the cast. The creepily blue-eyed Ivan Rassimov is a killer stalking her. (Why? Who knows, but he's great). Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott) plays the conniving sister and provides some relief nudity for Fenech. George Hilton is smooth and suave as always (he even seems remarkably unperturbed that his wife is cheating on him with an entire satanic cult).

This is not the best gialli with Fenech (that would be "What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer's Body")nor is it Martino's best (that would be "Torso"). But it's the best one they did together. And there are good-looking widescreen bootleg copies of it floating around. It's definitely worth checking out.

Having recently watched and loved Sergio Martino's two other gialli "Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh" and "Your Vice is a Locked Room and only I have the key", I decided to rewatch this one, which I always thought to be a pretty average film, and I ended up loving it. It's probably the director's best tied with "Strange Vice". Highly atmospheric and suspenseful, the film opens with a bang and never lets go. It's nightmarish, dreamlike feel is about as good as anything done by David Lynch, and is enhanced by Bruno Nicolai's lovely soundtrack and Bava-style cinematography. Also, Edwige Fenech proves that she actually can act, giving a tremendous performance of a sexually frustrated housewife who may or may not be going insane.

The film is often criticized for being a rip-off on "Rosemary's Baby", and while I can see an influence of Polanski's classic, both films very different in style and substance, and if anything, "All the Colors of the Dark" plays much more like an acid version of "Repulsion" than anything else.

One thing that may put some people off is that the film has a very strong 70's feel, which makes it slightly campy at times, but still, I think it only adds to it's charm and 'grooviness'.

Overall, a highly entertaining and stylish giallo. A must-see for genre fans.

"Tutti i colori del buio" is worth a look if you are interested in the visuals of cinema. Sergio Martino's directing of the mostly dreamlike scenes is almost unbelievable. The use of wide-angle lenses, strange perspectives and slow-motion serves perfectly the weird atmosphere of this thriller.

Add to this a stylish 70s score by Bruno Nicolai and an unusually good script (well, for Italian giallo films) and you have another unknown classic.

9 out of 10