L'occhio nel labirinto

Giallo fans, seek out this rare film. It is well written, and full of all sorts of the usual low lifes that populate these films. I don't want to give anything away, so I wont even say anything about the plot. The whole movie creates a very bizarre atmosphere, and you don't know what to expect or who to suspect. Recommended! The only place I've seen to get this film in english is from European Trash Cinema, for $15.

Julie (Rosemary Dexter) wakes up from a nightmare to discover that her boyfriend, Luca (Horst Frank) has vanished. Setting out to find him, Julie's life becomes an adventure of mystery and intrigue, filled with danger.

EYE IN THE LABYRINTH is an unusual giallo with an odd atmosphere of paranoia. It's inhabited by a plethora of bizarre characters, including the magnificent Alida Valli (SUSPIRIA, INFERNO) as Gerda, Sybil Danning (THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES) as Toni, and Adolfo Celi (WHO SAW HER DIE?) as Frank. The viewer quickly gets the impression that a conspiracy is underway, but has no idea what is being covered up. The final revelation is a true shocker! EITL is well worth watching, if only for the sheer weirdness of it all...

Stuffed with Italian giallo genre conventions and narrative tropes, Eye in the Labyrinth is nevertheless a solid and intriguing thriller with a good payoff. Many of the horror elements do not surface until the final exposition when the artistic stylization of the film is at its peak. During this climactic finale, jarring editing and prominent post-production sound enhance the disturbing plot and mild onscreen gore.

'Eye in the Labyrinth' is a surreal yet glossy giallo offering from director Mario Caiano that doesn't have the usual structure that the genre usually has due to its mind-bending plot that progresses in a dream-like fashion and its odd ambiguous nature, but I found this rather quirky and enjoyable as it delves more into psychological thriller than horror with enough craziness going on to sustain interest.

The plot follows a young woman Julie (Rosemary Dexter) whose boyfriend Luca (Horst Frank) disappears for no apparent reason and sets out to find him and ends up at a villa in Italy which is populated by a group of eccentric characters including the owner Gerda (Alida Valli) and soon enough strange things begin to happen.

The movie's premise is utterly compelling and the mystery element is engrossing enough to keep your interest throughout with an array of interesting characters, tight direction and stunning picturesque cinematography where at times it employs a distorting quality which gives the film a nightmarish atmosphere. Although there are a few flaws such as the storyline does tend to spiral in different directions at times and does come across as a bit overwrought and some of the events at the villa doesn't seem to have any logic to them, especially when everything's revealed at the end. But those are just minor and nowhere near enough to ruin my enjoyment of this flick.

Overall 'Eye in the Labyrinth' is a great giallo flick, not quite up there with some of the more classics of the genre, but a solid effort nonetheless and definitely worth a watch.

Worried about her missing friend, a woman sets out to find him which takes her to an island getaway populated by a strange woman and her bohemian-like friends, yet when she begins to look deeper into the mystery a series of troubling actions against her threatens to expose a deadly secret.

This was an enjoyable enough giallo. One of the more intriguing areas involved with the film is the strong psychological implications thrust into it. As this one tends to unravel its mystery, which starts out strongly due to the stylish murder, the focus on the search behind it when it's discovered that was a dream drives the film along. The search through the remote village full of hostile eyes and uncooperative locals or the search through the abandoned building to the tactics employed to torture her mentally on the journey which is all tied together with the background dealings at the villa that give this one an engrossing psychological horror bent that comes together incredibly well. Once this setup has been accomplished, the action picks up considerably in the second half. Although not conducted in the usual manner, it's got some fine setpieces here including her being locked in a garage with a car's exhaust turned on, a later attack on a rocky beach as a mysterious figure shoots at her with a spear gun and a wild car ride leading into a fiery finale for all involved. Even other attacks and fight scenes here provide this with some fine energy going into the finale where everything is finally revealed which causes this one to come away with a rather shocking twist. Carrying out a gruesome and grisly act that really turns this on its head with the psychological ramifications about her mindset that gives this a lot to like overall as this holds the film up. There are a few flaws to the film. One of the biggest issues here is the incredibly convoluted and overwrought storyline that really makes no sense. While it starts off simple enough, there's far too much going on elsewhere at the villa to really sustain interest as the dealings with the bizarre painting or the different flashbacks between the various guests at the villa detailing their connection to the incidents which complicates matters. The continuous attacks on her at the villa are merely distractions that don't have any real logic behind them, a common trope of the film as nearly everything that happens here really undoes this one. Others may also be put off by the lack of traditional action here, yet these aren't enough to hold it back.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Nudity and Language.