Il profumo della signora in nero

Sylvia (Mimsy Farmer), an industrial scientist, is troubled by strange hallucinations related to the tragic suicide of her mother.

After the success of "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), the Italian horror world began to embrace Satanic and occult stories. This is one of them. Director Francesco Barilli took a cue from early Argento and made a giallo with some dark undertones. He previously wrote a script for Umberto Lenzi, but had not directed a feature himself.

The cast may not be well-known outside of Italy, but have appeared in Lenzi, Argento and D'Amato films. One even appeared in the notorious "Salo", and a few starred alongside Daria Nicolodi in a picture. So there is plenty of connection here.

This film is beautifully shot with excellent color and better than average acting. It deserves more recognition than it gets. Wikipedia and IMDb are relatively silent on the film's creation, and even Italian horror historian Luca Palmerini has little more than a sentence to say about it in his book...

"Il Profumo Della Signora In Nero" aka. "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" (1974) is a film that enjoys a certain cult-status among my fellow fans of Italian Horror, and I was therefore curious to see it for quite some time. When I finally saw it recently, the film was not quite what I expected, but not in a negative sense, as it certainly didn't disappoint me. Having deliberately read no reviews before watching it, I was probably most surprised by the film since I had been mislead to believe that "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" is a typical Giallo, whereas it is much rather an occult psychological Horror film. The fact that this beautifully filmed cult-gem is often named a Giallo is probably the stunning visual style, which reminds of many early 70s Gialli, such as some of the films by Sergio Martino, or Dario Argento's earlier work. The early films of Roman Polanski (especially "Repulsion" clearly served as an influence to this film. If there is one Giallo that "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" is comparable to, it is probably Sergio Martino's "Tutti I Colori Del Buio" ("All The Colors Of The Dark", 1972), but the similarity also lies in the nightmarish atmosphere of upcoming insanity rather than in the Giallo-esquire elements (such as the typical depiction of murders, the mystery about the killer's identity etc.). One will not find a black-gloved killer butchering dozens of beauty-queens in "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black".

What one will find, however, is cinematic beauty, genuine creepiness, a nightmarish atmosphere and utter insanity in equal doses in this bizarre, sometimes confusing, sometimes spine-chilling gem. The beautiful Mimsy Farmer stars as Silvya Hachermann, a chemist tormented by nightmarish visions related to her own childhood... I don't want do give too much of the storyline away, since it is unforeseeable and often bizarre, but I am sure it will appeal to most of my fellow Italian Horror fans. If the film has one weakness, it is that it is sometimes a bit too confusing, and does not always make perfect sense, but then, the film's obscure, sometimes surreal nature mostly makes up for this. Mimsy Farmer is once again wonderful in her role. Farmer is known to Italian Horror fans for her roles in films like "Macchie Solari" (aka. "Autospsy", 1975), Dario Argento's "Four Flies On Grea Velvet" (1971) and this one. Beautiful as she is, Farmer also has a great talent to play women on the cusp of mental instability, and she once again delivers an outstanding performance here. The other performances are all very good, especially memorable are Mario Scaccia as a friendly elderly neighbor, and Orazio Orlando as a truly sleazy scumbag. "Beautiful" is a word often used to describe this film, and for understandable reasons (at least as far as the visual style goes). This must be one of the most visually striking Italian Horror films of the early/mid 70s, and this is saying something as the combination of this genre, country and period bears countless films that are visually astounding. The photography is as impressive as the settings, and the many occult elements only make the film more effective. The score by Nicola Piovani is also great and contributes a lot to the film's creepy atmosphere. "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" is a chilling and nightmarish film with an ascending atmosphere of insanity and a brilliant leading performance by Mimsy Farmer. Beautiful and terrifying in equal measures, this stylish and obscure cult-gem is highly recommended to all my fellow fans of Italian Horror.

"Beautiful" and "stylish" are naturally two words that automatically come to mind when describing this odd, dreamy, haunting movie. It's definitely not the typical "giallo", as it's not so much about being a murder mystery as it is being a character profile and a "Repulsion" style story of one young woman's mental decline. Lovely Mimsy Farmer is the woman in question, Silvia Hacherman, a chemist with an unhappy past who begins to see things that she can't make sense of. She doesn't know if she can even trust the people who are part of her life, from her would-be boyfriend Roberto (Maurizio Bonuglia) to another friend, Andy (Jho Jhenkins) to her subtly creepy neighbour Mr. Rossetti (Mario Scaccia). Just who is the strange Woman in Black that Silvia sees in her mirror? Or the equally off putting little girl (Lara Wendel) who insists on being part of her life? Right from the start, "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" promises to be an interesting trip, accompanied by a wonderful music score composed by Nicola Piovani. The look of the movie always helps, also, in insuring that one wants to keep watching even though there are parts of the story that drag. Those viewers expecting more traditional thrills will have to wait until the very end for some juicy bits of gore (that actually seem out of place amidst the low key nature of the rest of the movie). Co- writer / director Francesco Barilli (who wrote the movie with Massimo D'Avak, whose credits include "Who Saw Her Die?" and "The Man from the Deep River") keeps us, along with his main character, off balance with his deft balancing of real and fantastical elements. By the time that his movie is over, it may well have provoked more questions than provided answers, but I agree with others that by this very nature this becomes a highly intriguing if not entirely successful psychological thriller, made at a time when that phrase hadn't yet been introduced into the lexicon. It certainly leaves the viewer to think about what they've seen afterwards. It's good material that is worth a look for adventurous fans of Italian cinema. Seven out of 10.

Like Barbara Bach, Mimsy Farmer went to Italy and fell in love. She did, however, have a long career in the US, starting with Gidget Goes Hawaiian to a few biker movies. She remained in Italy making films until her divorce, and then moved to France where she continued acting.

This is more a psychological horror film that a true giallo. It was a tale of a woman going mad over unresolved traumas from her childhood. Or, maybe it was a tale of a woman being driven mad for nefarious purposes. It was not totally clear, but there were little clues throughout.

Whatever the case, the ending was a total surprise and nothing led you to expect it.

It's hard to review gialli that deviate from the normal formula, because if you compare that film to a similar film, you're revealing some of the surprises of the plot. It's okay to compare, say, Strip Nude For Your Killer with Blood and Black Lace, because most people go into these film expecting a gloved or masked mysterious killer and plenty of suspects, but when that's all thrown out of the window, things become difficult. I avoided reading anything about The House With The Laughing Windows for years, and was glad I did so when I finally watched it. I'd recommend doing the same with this film.

The Perfume of the Lady In Black is a strong contender for best looking Giallo ever, as the characters inhabit a world not only of strong primary colours (blue being a prominent colour in everyone's apartments), but also a world where various hues and shades of purple and pink are in abundance. There's also a strong floral theme to both the decoration of apartments and people clothes, with at least one of the characters also having a floral name. Stuffed animals and taxidermy also feature everywhere, and a lot of the time the shots are invaded by outside light sources, like lightening, or a flashing sign. It very much looks like a Peter Greenaway film, only without the OCD.

Silvia, seemingly, has had a pretty rough childhood, with her Naval father often away for months at a time, and her mother having an affair with a nasty looking man who also tries to it on with her. We learn this not so much as flashbacks, but as real physical things happening right in front of Silvia's eyes. Something strange is happening to Silvia, but what could it be?

What doesn't help is when her neighbours talk her into having her palm read by a blind medium in a scene that uses mirrors to great effect. Silvia's troubled childhood comes to light and things start to spiral out of control when she's apparently visited by herself as a child! Things get stranger and stranger, and reality becomes questionable, and I'm only skirting around a lot of the stuff that goes on here to avoid ruining it for the three or so people who'll read this on the IMDB over the next sixty years.

One thing I will say is that not every question is answered by the end of the film, but I think that might have been deliberate. The end of this one makes you question everything that's gone before it, and even question reality in itself. That's not to say it's not without scares either. Or gore. So stick around for that too.