O Terceiro Olho

Although I only saw this movie once and over 25 years ago, the imagery and disturbing feel have stayed with me. Sure, the production values weren't up to current standards and the acting is not top drawer, but somehow what makes it to the screen gets under your skin and makes it crawl. True horror buffs should be fighting to get a copy of this for their collections - and I don't understand why it hasn't received more play in the USA. (OK, so it's foreign and involves cannibalism and other nasty things; is that any reason to pass it over?!) The young Franco Nero in this feature shows the acting promise of the later movies he appeared in, a number of them made for US audiences.

Franco Nero plays a young taxidermist named Mino,who lives with his domineering mother and a loyal family servant Marta in a Gothic residence.The elderly widowed Countness doesn't want his son to marry his beloved Laura.To achieve her goals Marta cuts the brake cable on Laura's car causing the vehicle to roll off an embankment and into a lake and murders the Countess pushing her down the stairs.This is the beginning of Mino's madness.He takes Laura's body and preserves it and starts picking up women and choking them to death in the presence of his preserved love."The Third Eye" is strikingly similar to "Buio Omega",but nowhere nearly as gruesome and disgusting.The cinematography is elegant and stylish and the use of romantic score is a nice touch.A must-see for fans of "Buio Omega".8 out of 10.

Whilst much of this b/w film is well shot with interesting angles and perspectives, I didn't feel that the director truly had a grip on things. There are good moments and frankly duff moments and despite the presence of franco Nero there were times when I wondered if I was even going to stick with this. First real problem is that as things get under way we are introduced to the overpowering mother of Nero's character, played by Olga Solbelli and she is fantastic, like some Fellini grotesque and , of course, the splendid, EriKa Blanc, and they both disappear from the picture. Almost in the blink of an eye the best are gone and we are left with a struggling Nero and a conniving maid. Nero works very hard in his role as a latter day Italian Bates but the director doesn't seem to help and he sometimes seems to overdue things, to become just too 'crazy'. Worth a look as a supposed forerunner to D'Amato's Buio Omega and it probably features the longest struggle towards a ringing phone in movie history.

I recently watched the Italian gem 🇮🇹 The Third Eye (1966) on Tubi. The storyline follows a wealthy count who lives under the influence of an over-possessive mother and a maid who secretly desires him. His mother believes no one is good enough for her son, but when he falls in love and plans to marry, tragedy strikes-his bride is mysteriously killed. Grief turns to madness as the count begins inviting exotic women to visit... women who are never seen again.

This film is directed by Mino Guerrini (The Mines of Kilimanjaro) and stars Franco Nero (Django), Erika Blanc (Kill, Baby...Kill!), Gioia Pascal (Italian Way of Life), and Olga Solbelli (Mill of the Stone Women).

The writing is fantastic and channels a Hitchcockian style, with clear Psycho vibes. It's more of a psychological thriller than a traditional horror film. A young Franco Nero gives a standout performance. The film includes some clever twists and turns-from a laugh-out-loud parrot corpse scene to a chilling meat clever moment and a fantastic beach finale. There's a lot to appreciate here.

In conclusion, The Third Eye is a smartly written and skillfully executed psychological thriller that's well worth your time. I would score it a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.

THE THIRD EYE (Mino Guerrini - Italy 1965).

This interesting little chiller by Mino Guerrini, starring Franco Nero and Erika Blanc, certainly was much better than I expected. Often categorized as an early Giallo, it's actually more of a mix of Gothic horror and some Giallo elements. Definitely not the six-penny quickie, I expected. It's quite an elaborate production, well-shot, with fine acting and cinematography.

Franco Nero is Mino, a young count who lives with his dominant mother and jealous servant Martha in an isolated mansion in the Italian countryside. Like Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO - with which this film shares quite a few parallels - Mino has a fascination with birds, particularly stuffed birds. A few days before his marriage with the young and beautiful Laura (Erika Blanc), she mysteriously dies in a car crash and soon-after, his mother is killed. Mino begins to lose his sanity and starts luring young women into his mansion in order to kill them, together with his willing accomplice Martha, who secretly loves him, but one day, a young woman visits him who looks just like his late fiancée Laura.

Although the "Count gone mad scenario" was already a bit over-used by the time the film was made, the (then) contemporary setting, the murder mystery angle, elegant production design, professional cinematography and more than adequate direction, make this one well worth a look and definitely a cut above the average attempt within European genre-film-making, to say the least. The film is also surprisingly candid in its sexual nature (although complete nudity is absent) and, regarding that aspect, is a typical exponent of the transitional period in the mid-sixties. Fans of Franco Nero might wanna take a look at him in a role as a neat, well-dressed and impeccably coiffured young man, quite the contrast to the sweaty, unshaven Django-look, or generally sleazy look, he would cultivate later in his career.

The film was remade as BURIED ALIVE (1978), the gore classic by Joe D'Amato.

Currently only available in German, but with the DVD-age already coming to a close, it's unlikely that this film will ever see an English-language release, so the German-only version is perhaps something even English speaking fans of obscure Italian cinema should consider.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10