Un delitto poco comune

Ruggero Deodato's Un Delitto poco comune aka Off Balance (1987) is an Italian thriller about a wealthy and happy pianist (Michael York) whose life turns upside down after the doctors find a very rare and lethal disease inside him. He starts to grow older very fast, having only few months to live or so and things turn even darker for him as someone starts to viciously murder those close to him. The plot follows police agent Donald Pleasance's attempts to find the killer before it's too late as well as the pianist's own efforts to return a some kind of balance to his life.

Film maker Ruggero Deodato has made one of the most challenging and important films of all time, Cannibal Holocaust (1979) which tells about rotten media violence and the animal species that consumes it. The film is notorious for its unspeakable acts of carnal violence but none of it is in vain or gratuitous which is way too much for some viewers to understand and admit as most of them can't face themselves on the screen. Deodato has also made pure exploitation trash like the 1980 La Casa sperduta nel parco aka The House at the Edge of the Park or Inferno in diretta aka Cut & Run (1985) both of which are mostly just extremely gratuitously violent but also have at least some thoughts and themes to make them more interesting than other nasty and gory Italian films of the period.

Off Balance is written by Gianfranco Clerici whose other credits include the mentioned masterpiece Cannibal Holocaust with Deodato as well as The House at the Edge of the Park but also Lucio Fulci's sadistic and misogynistic terror tale Lo Squartatore di New York aka The New York Ripper (1982) the last two of which are perfect opposites to the firstly mentioned and its subject matter. Off Balance is easily among their weakest works but, fortunately, has some brain too in addition to blood.

The film has a very promising beginning with the first murder scene taking place during the credits inter-cutting to calm scenes depicting the protagonist play piano in his concert. The film moves fastly from the beginning and the characters and their relations get introduced well too. But ultimately, after the first half or so the film loses its fire and becomes slower with plenty of talk and things that don't make too much sense, mostly involving the killer and his (absent) motives for his vicious acts. I can't name one single explanation for his acts and that is rather frustrating once one has realized that. The things that are discussed in the second part are also interesting and important but they are presented with too much contrast with the more lively first half.

The film's theme about aging and living one's life while it's offered and on hand is of course important and surprisingly well-concentrated on in the script and practically the whole last part is about this and not about the killings anymore. The film tries to make the audience understand how important it is not to let your life pass by without living it, as there may come times in the future that you start regretting it as life after all would have offered something interesting and worth living. It definitely doesn't say life or youth ends when your hair go off but it says that some things should be understood not by experience but for example by other people around us or art depicting these things.

The film works also as a pure giallo thriller as it has its moments of suspense and mystery and of course the graphic blood letting. There are few nasty murders in the film, both at the very beginning and they are definitely very "Italian like" with the huge amount of red color sprayed over the screen. The second one is very close to Dario Argento's style but serves not any other purpose than itself, unlike the great usage of similar effect in Argento's Tenebre (1982) for example. The effects are pretty good and the aging character becomes all the more tragic as we see the horrible face mutations of his in so little time. York does a believable role and never over-acts at all.

Off Balance is more promising and potential than some other films of the giallo/slasher genre and since it's Italian, it could've been so much more than it now is. Deodato and Clerici have once proved to be a very efficient couple but it seems they're ambitions are either not supported by the producers anymore or have just changed a little bit in themselves. 3/10

'Phantom of Death' is an enjoyable late 80's Giallo slasher flick with a macabre atmosphere, an interesting plot and some well staged death scenes that enhances the bleak tone of the movie. The genre was pretty dead by this point, so it was nice to have a well-made Giallo flick with a different point of view from this time period, even if it does go off the rails with its choppiness change in direction.

The plot = A gifted pianist Robert Dominici (Michael York) is stricken with a genetic disease called Progeria which causes him to age rapidly and to lose his sanity and goes on a killing spree prompting a police inspector Datti (Donald Pleasence) to try and stop him.

The movie starts out like a typical Giallo with an interesting set up, but the mystery element is thrown out the window when the main character gets the disease and becomes the killer, which isn't a spoiler its literally revealed in the synopsis and trailers. The movie then shifts focus to a more crime thriller slasher film which I thought that was an interesting twist by making this more of a character study and it does subvert the genre tactics, but the filmmakers could have done more with this idea as it basically comes out of nowhere and makes this a rather confusing first time viewing. The haphazard editing doesn't help with these matters as there's a lack of flow from scene to scene and you're not entirely sure how much time has passed between certain scenes. Despite the scripting problems this is a solid enough entry in the genre with enough craziness going on to sustain momentum.

The cast here are excellent with Michael York delivering an entertaining performance as the main lead and provides a stellar screen presence with believability and conviction in such a demanding role. Donald Pleasance is always a joy to watch and injects the movie with much needed enthusiasm even if he is treading on familiar ground. Then of course there's the ultimate genre queen Edwige Fenech who despite being in such a small role, brings elegance to the flick and its great to see her in what would be her final Giallo outing.

Overall 'Phantom of Death' is a decent late offering from the genre.

This horror/giallo was directed by Ruggero Deodato, who was more famous for extremely controversial films such as the very unpleasant The House on the Edge of the Park. With The Phantom of Death he reigned in his excesses and produced a far more restrained affair. Its story does have an original angle. A famous pianist discovers he has a rare disease which ages him extremely rapidly. This sets off a homicidal impulse in him and he thereafter goes about murdering women. He becomes hard for the police to track down seeing as the evidence suggests a much older man is responsible for the killings.

The cast in this one is very good on paper. Michael York is the pianist, giallo legend Edwige Fenech is his wife and Donald Pleasance is the cop pursuing the killer. York and Fenech put in a bit of effort with their characters but Pleasance seems to be going through the motions a bit. The lethargy is reflected in the film overall as it is a little dull for the most part and generally lacks suspense. There is a series of murders to enliven things a little but even they don't make too much of an impact. It's a shame in some respects that it is such a pedestrian effort because the central concept is at least an attempt at something a bit different. It's definitely a watchable enough film, however, just a little disappointing considering the potential.

Italian horror/thriller director Ruggero Deodato gives us this somewhat introspective, blood and guts tame by Deodato standards film about an Italian pianist who contracts a very rare disease that makes him age at an incredible rate. The pianist has bouts of memory loss and periods of losing mental control in which he kills, naturally mostly beautiful young women. The deaths are bloody(I saw the Uncut version) but not over-the-top fortunately. In fact the movie really works best as a cat and mouse game between Michael York as the pianist and Donald Pleasance as a plodding policeman not so hot on his trail, as long as you can get past the point that York and Pleasance are supposed to be Italians. The film is in no way great, but I was pleasantly surprised with its effective pacing, decent acting, and heart. York is a man not wholly evil, in many ways a victim of circumstance. He ages before our very eyes. He kills with anger and spur of the moment passion rather than cold-blooded calculation(at least most of the time). He is almost a man to be pitied, and York plays on this for the second half of the film with some obvious talent. Pleasance is Pleasance. A steady presence on film. He does a good job, but he looks physically exhausted and old. The rest of the cast is very adequate with particular attention going to Edwidge Fenech as York's girlfriend. A beautiful woman! A tense thriller!

"Phantom of Death" is one of the lesser known Ruggero Deodato's horror/giallo entries.Michael York plays a famous pianist Robert Dominici.He has a rare disease that contributes to turning him into psychopathic killer.Donald Pleasence plays the cop who tries to track him down.The film itself is rather dull,but it offers some really bloody murder scenes.I liked especially the scene where the woman is stabbed repeatedly until she smashes through a window.The acting is okay,but there is not enough suspense for my liking.Check it out,if you are a fan of Italian horror.6 out of 10.