L'occhio nel labirinto

Having seen well over 60 gialli thus far, including the majority of the more celebrated films in the genre, I now find myself sifting through the less well-known titles in the hope of finding an obscure gem. Eye in the Labyrinth doesn't quite fit the bill, the film far too light on elaborately staged killings to be wholly satisfying, but it does deliver an intriguing mystery with a reasonable twist, and plenty of skin from some very attractive women (including a young Sybil Danning), making it a giallo worth seeking out once you've exhausted the usual suspects.

Brunette beauty Rosemary Dexter plays Julie, whose search for her missing lover Luca leads her to a luxurious villa, home to a group of eccentric individuals who know more about Luca than they are letting on. As Julie investigates, she finds herself in mortal danger; will she survive long enough to discover the truth? To writer/director Mario Caiano's credit, I didn't figure out the twist until moments before the reveal, meaning that I was hooked throughout despite the relaxed approach and lack of gore (having said that, the flashback at the end is nice and gruesome, with a really squishy decapitation).

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

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.

This little seen movie is a languid and laid-back giallo. It veers away from some of the cliché's of the genre and adopts a looser approach. It's about a woman searching for her missing lover; a psychiatrist who has suddenly vanished for no apparent reason. Her search leads her to a villa populated by a group of eccentric individuals. In true giallo style, murder is never far away.

The cast is really rather good. We have Aldofo Celi (Thunderball), Alida Valli (Suspiria), Horst Frank (Cat o' Nine Tails) and a very young Sybil Danning (80's scream queen). The lead actress is Rosemary Dexter, and while I am not familiar with her, she does a good job in leading the picture.

One of the defining features of Eye in the Labyrinth is its music. Atypically for a giallo it features a jazz-rock fusion soundtrack. This score, composed by Roberto Nicolosi, is reminiscent of Miles Davis, especially his work on In A Silent Way. It's an excellent soundtrack and really gives this movie a different feel than most gialli. The fusion groove accentuates the languid atmosphere and compliments the sunny, sea-front scenery that the film is mostly made up of.

This is a giallo so we really need to talk about the murder set-pieces. Well, this film falls a little short in this regard. It's certainly not devoid of them but they are few and far between. The opening dream-murder being probably the best on offer as well as a memorable burning car sequence. But this really isn't a particularly violent film. Still, I don't think it should disappoint too many seasoned fans of the genre. The mystery is fairly compelling and it has enough eccentric characters (the idiot boy Saro and THAT unsettlingly inappropriate dubbed accent?) and moments of the bizarre to satisfy; while the sleaze-factor is upheld with a smattering of nudity throughout.

Eye in the Labyrinth plays like a giallo version of an Agatha Christie mystery, as it features a group of unsympathetic characters in a villa, all under suspicion of murder; we have the obligatory flashbacks detailing their connections with the final hours of the (highly unsympathetic) murder victim. While this isn't a grade-A example of the genre, it's certainly an appealingly different one, as it doesn't borrow too heavily from other films of the sub-genre. For giallo enthusiasts I give this a thumbs up and hope one day it's given a nice DVD transfer. It certainly deserves the treatment.

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.