Libido

'Libido' is a slick and stylish gothic Giallo thriller with a foreboding atmosphere and a well-executed narrative that sustains momentum right up until the chilling climax. The movie is simple yet effective with its slow and deliberate pace which may not be for everyone, but there's enough suspense and tense moments to keep you engaged and thankfully the movie doesn't outstay its welcome.

The plot = Christian (Giancarlo Giannini) returns to his ancestral home where as a boy he witnessed his father murder a young woman and now as a man he's plagued by those memories and worried that he'll turn out the same way.

The opening scene does a fantastic job of setting up what's to come. The direction by both Ernesto Gastaldi and Vittorio Salerno is strong with an interesting and well written premise. The cast performances are also strong with Giancarlo Giannini providing a great and believable lead with a very captivating performance. Dominique Boschero is also fantastic in her role as the wife. Mara Maryl is a standout in her role as Bridgette and finally Luciano Pigozzi also gives a solid performance and rounds off this small cast rather well.

Overall 'Libido' is a solid Giallo thriller that fans of the genre should check out if you're a fan of well-made psychological thrillers.

Haunted by a terrible tragedy, a young man brought back to his family's old home by his wife and friends finds his long-held belief in a legacy of family-led mental disorders has come to bear when they succumb to strange happenings and must try to keep him sane in order to leave.

This was quite the troubled if enjoyable Giallo effort. What really tends to hold this one down is the fact that a vast majority of the film is based around the idea of his past coming back to haunt him without anything actually happening. It plays like a stodgy Gothic chamber-drama more than an actual horrific effort, filled with long- winded scenes of him monologuing about the past and his fears of its recurrence in his personality followed by their increasingly incessant pleas for him to regain his sanity, leaving this one incredibly dry and long-winded for much of it's running time. Even being distracted by the elaborate Gothic setting or the inviting mystery at hand doesn't really offer up much as it becomes quite obvious early on that little is actually happening with such long stretches of time between action, and the repetition of these events merely reinforces this since that's what happens for a large part of the film. Due to the lack of more traditional Giallo-based elements, that really leaves this one with the seriousness of its set-up to sustain any attention in the first half and that causes this to feel way too drawn-out for way too long throughout this section of the film. Once it becomes more involved with the idea that the father has returned and it starts in on some rather more lively antics there's some likable work at play here as the preponderance of Gothic architecture and settings makes for a suitably chilling scenario to base the kind of psychological torment-style plot that this one hinges on as it does follow the kind of stylistic plot- points needed for that kind of payoff to occur. The walk-throughs of the castle-grounds thinking back on the events he experienced as a child that plays over the whole affair, the sight of the figure off in the distance of the castle grounds who disappears before they can offer any kind of identification of the figure leaving behind only the footprints on the carpet and the later discovery of the dead body in their midst play off quite effectively here. The film really hits its stride, though, in the final half-hour which is where it really starts to get interesting with the revelation of who's behind the whole affair and their intentions which sets up some rather fun action in the house as everyone tends to reveal their true intentions all leading up to the great shock at the finale that makes for a rather nice ending. Still, the overall blandness on display does hurt this one considerably.

Today's Rating/PG: Mild Violence.

Four people arrive at a seaside mansion, which is the ancestral home of one of the party - a young man who witnessed his father murdering a woman there when he was a child. Various antagonisms exist between the characters and to make matters worse, there is a hefty inheritance at stake - isn't there always?! And will history repeat itself in the form of murder?!! Do you know what, it might just...

This very early giallo owes more to the likes of the French classic Les Diaboliques and Hammer psychological thrillers such as Taste of Fear, than it does Mario Bava's early giallo proto-types, The Girl Who Knew Too Much or Blood and Black Lace. To this end, it doesn't have a maniac on the loose scenario and instead focuses on a small cast, where the central character is so emotionally vulnerable that we are not sure if they are being driven mad or insane to begin with. It's a fairly basic and minimalistic movie in a lot of ways but it does have some visual black and white elegance and nice touches such as the mirrored room. The small cast isn't bad either with future Hannibal and Bond actor Giancarlo Giannini suitably intense as the psychologically damaged son, giallo regular Dominique Boschero a welcome presence once more as his wife, character actor of dozens of side roles Luciano Pigozzi is successfully shifty once again as the lawyer and Mara Maryl (who came up with the idea for the film!) romps about in bikinis as the resident fox. But what may define Libido most of all in giallo terms, is that the most prominent screenwriter of the genre, Ernesto Gastaldi, was given a rare opportunity to direct here. He doesn't do a bad job and the film, while a bit unexciting for the most part, does have a fairly diverting final third where events do ramp up a bit. Its no classic but it's a nice example of a very early Italian thriller.

This well-made four-person thriller follows on the tradition of such films as "Gaslight" and "Diabolique", while at the same time anticpating later gialli motifs such as the haunting music tune and the black gloves. Slow-paced first half, entertaining second half, with enough plot twists to get your head spinning. **1/2 out of 4.

The great Mario Bava is often credited with introducing the Giallo genre with The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and then refining it two years later with his masterpiece Blood and Black Lace; but Ernesto Gastaldi would go on to become one of the premier Giallo screenwriters with such classics as The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and The Case of the Bloody Iris under his belt; and this little film is his first contribution to the genre. Libido is certainly not as 'Giallo' as Blood and Black Lace; but many of the genre trademarks are present, and it is a very nice little thriller. The film begins with a sequence that sees a young boy witness his father kill his mother inside a room lined with mirrors. His father later kills himself and the boy winds up in a mental hospital; his estate entrusted to his lawyer until the boy turns twenty five. Its years later and the boy is a man and married. He goes to stay in the old house (not really sure why) along with his wife and the lawyer and his wife. However, it's not long before he starts finding clues that maybe his father has returned...

The surreal, dreamlike quality is a feature of many Giallo's - and it's a big part of this one too. The screenplay ensures that the audience is always kept guessing and we're never sure of exactly what is going on; and this ensures that the proceedings are always interesting. The film is shot in black and white and obviously very cheaply too (the film was allegedly shot in just eighteen days for a bet), plus the fact that the copy I saw was extremely poor quality means that the cinematography is not particularly nice looking; and so the film may not appeal to the fans of the some of the higher quality genre entries. The cast is very small and features just four performers; and all of them perform well enough. Giancarlo Giannini is the lead actor and is decent in the role; although he would go on to much bigger and better things, while Dominique Boschero and Mara Maryl provide eye candy and the cast is rounded off by Luciano Pigozzi. The film is good for the duration and then things are really kicked up a gear in the final third when the twists start to come into play. Overall, Libido is a very good, if not quite brilliant Giallo, and is recommended to fans of the genre.