Occhi senza volto

Madness (1994)

** (out of 4)

Bizarre giallo from Bruno Mattei about a psychopath stalking the streets and not only killing people but also removing their eyeballs. The story centers around a writer (Monica Seller) who's books include a character who removes the eyes of their victim and the police think that maybe the killer is working his way up to her. Director Mattei was known for ripping off various movies in his career and this one here goes after Dario Argento's TENEBRE and really doesn't do it too much justice. If you're looking for a serious giallo then this here certainly isn't it. If you're just looking for a gory film with some laughs then you might enjoy MADNESS. There are all sorts of problems with this film but there's no doubt that not too much thought was put into the picture. If you've seen the Argento film then you're not going to be shocked by anything here other than the writer ripping off lines of dialogue and the entire story structure. What sets this film apart from others in the genre is that there are a few gruesome death scenes where we see the eyes ripped out of people. Sadly this doesn't happen enough or else the film might have been somewhat better. Even stranger is some of the dialogue including a scene where the police are trying to come up with possible suspects and one brings a guy up who slaughtered countless hookers. The only cop tells him that the guy has an alibi, which tells you that this murderer is out walking the streets and I'm guessing spent no time in jail. Another funny moment comes from the main character and her constant screams of terror. Performances are okay for the most part but with the English dubbing it's really hard to fully judge them. The brief nudity and sex comes towards the end of the film so one shouldn't expect too much of that. This film really isn't going to appeal to too many and I think most people who check it out will be Argento fans wanting to see what Mattei did to that story.

Bruno Mattei is a director famous for making his own versions of popular films; so you would certainly be forgiven for thinking that Eyes Without a Face is a remake of the Georges Franju classic of the same title; and probably quite shocked to learn that it isn't! You're likely to be even more shocked to find out that this is actually a good film! The Giallo genre was most popular in the early seventies; although Mattei didn't start making films in the mid seventies, and by then the likes of exploitation, zombie films and cannibals had taken over as the most popular Italian export. However, the fact that the Giallo had been and gone by 1994 didn't stop Mattei from making one anyway. The plot focuses on a serial killer who is murdering people by way of plucking their eyes out; a modus operandi obviously inspired by a comic book known as 'Doctor Dark'. A few girls get killed and it would appear that the creator of the comic book, a beautiful young woman named Giovanna Dei, will be the killer's next victim when the disembodied eyes start turning up at her place...

Despite being made in 1994; this is every bit the classic styled Giallo, from the confusing plot to thin characters and brutal murder scenes. The film starts with a well worked scene at a go-cart race and the first half moves quite quickly and Mattei manages to keep up the suspense, which is definitely to the film's credit. However, the middle part of the film begins to get a bit tepid; but luckily things are recovered by the end. The film stars Monica Seller, in one of only three film appearances, and it's a shame she didn't work more often because she's very cute. Any violence involving the eyes is usually not for the feint hearted; and that is certainly the case here as while the murder scenes aren't particularly brutal; they are grisly enough and are sure to please. The film features plenty of red herrings; but the ending does come as a surprise and it's really well worked too. Mattei revs the sleaze factor up high and the film ends well. A good Bruno Mattei film is a rare thing; and therefore this film should be cherished. Be sure to give it a look if you can find a copy!

This rare film by Italian sleaze director Bruno Mattei is not - as the English title "Eyes Without a Face" suggests - a remake of Georges Franju's all time horror classic "Les Yeux Sans Visage" (which, as every genre buff should know, inspired Jess Franco's "Les Prédateurs de la Nuit" in 1988, one of Franco's best). "Gli Occhi Dentro" is a thriller in best Giallo tradition and often reminds of the typical genre outings of the 1970s. And this is quite a surprise considering that Bruno Mattei is known for trashy horror and exploitation films, but hasn't made a Giallo before this one.

A serial killer murders baby sitters and plugs their eyes out. The killings resemble crimes from the latest issue of a successful comic book series called "Doctor Dark" about a schizophrenic who is a renowned professor by day and a maniac killer at night. The artist of the comic series is a young woman, and obviously the killer tries to make her suffer for his crimes: she starts finding the plugged out eyes of the victims at her home. After half an hour of the film, it seems that the maniac is caught. But it doesn't take much time to find out that the man apprehended is not the real killer.

The story certainly ain't that original. The actors surely aren't very good. And Bruno Mattei never was a great artist as a director. But all of his films - no matter how shabby - show certain style and atmosphere. And in "Gli Occhi Dentro", he really manages to develop suspense and thrills, and also to deliver enough convincing red herrings for a couple of genre outings. After a swift start and a really cool first half an hour, the film loses a bit of its pace. But Mattei keeps the viewer interested while the plot continues unfolding, and the last half hour culminates in a manic climax to make this undeniably low budgeted thriller big fun for every Giallo freak - and probably makes one sigh nostalgicly towards the 1970s, the Golden Age of Giallo films.

Concerning the plot (which is perfectly coherent for Mattei and average Giallo standards), the pace and the thrills, "Gli Occhi Dentro" is probably the most watchable of all films Mattei directed. Some scenes, though, remind the viewer that Mattei is an old "sleazeball": e.g. the phony close-up of the plugging out of the first victim's eye and a rather unmotivated love scene just before the climax starts. Concerning the gore, Mattei doesn't deliver it over the top. Nevertheless there are some bloody scenes and the murders that aren't as graphic are still quite grisly. All in all, this is a surprisingly well crafted thriller that delivers good thrilling entertainment and doesn't deserve to be as hard to get as it is at the moment. Rating: 7 out of 10.

One thing that I find very irritating in movies: when a character is supposed to be a professional artist (in this case a comic book artist), but their drawings look like they've been done by a child (and a not very talented one at that). I mean, how difficult is it to find someone who can draw decent comic illustrations and who is desperate for a bit of exposure?

That little niggle aside, Bruno Mattei's Madness (AKA Eyes Without a Face) is a fairly effective little giallo - one might be forgiven for not realising that this was by the same director as Rats: Nights of Terror (1984) and Night Killer (1990). The film sees a masked murderer at work, their modus operandi identical to that of Dr. Dark, the serial killer character created by artist (and I use that word loosely) Giovanna Dei (Monica Carpanese): victims are killed with a double-bladed stiletto knife, and have their eyeballs removed, the bloody organs left as a gift for Giovanna.

Eyeball trauma is a staple of Italian horror, and Madness doesn't add much new to the giallo genre, but the film is fun, pacy, and reasonably engrossing throughout; the identity of the killer isn't impossible to work out, but there's always the possibility that you might have guessed wrong. Gore is limited to a few gruesome empty eye sockets and the extracted orbs, and Carpanese supplies the requisite nudity during a brief but enthusiastic sex scene.

Madness is neither Mattei's finest hour (I have a soft spot for Zombie Creeping Flesh and The Jail: The Women's Hell), nor is it his worst (The Other Hell has my vote), but it is definitely amongst the director's better work. I say ignore the director's iffy reputation and give it a go.

Bruno Mattei's grisly, Gorgonzola-garlanded, gloriously goofy Giallo 'Madness' aka 'Occhi Senza Volto' remains a hysterically hinkey, luridly eye-ball harvesting, frequently hilarious, 90s B-Slasher disasterpiece! Larded with mesmerisingly awful acting, deliciously asinine dialogue, 'Madness' is a must-see romp, unless you happen to be one of Doctor Death's brutally brain-spiked, orb-less victims,natch! Misguided B-Movie maverick, Mattei's absurdly entertaining thriller is a ceaselessly delightful trip into bad movie nirvana! The gruesomely ripe performances are either catatonic or, Bette Davis's worst nightmare! Endearingly inept, compellingly cheesy, this gleefully gormless Giallo delivers an abnormally high quotient of trashy entertainment. The infamous, yet enormously beloved Italian schlock supremo, Bruno Mattei has a truly enviable C. V of magnificently mad, crudely plagiarised, generously blood-basted, cheaply made chunk blowers, and, happily, 'Madness' is right up there with the very worst of 'em! What a sunnier world it would be if ALL splatter films were this much fun to watch!