Sentences de mort

The Italian giallo is an interesting type of movie. I have seen many good films from this category including films like "Deep Red", "New York Ripper" or "Eyeball. "Delirium" is an interesting film from Mario Bava's son Lamberto, who also directed "Demons" 1 and 2. I had heard of this movie for many years but never really got the chance to see it, and many people had told me that this isn't a great film. Well, it wasn't exactly a great film, but, if you like a ton of nudity, some violence, and a plot that was predictable from the start of the movie, you should like this.

The story is about a woman named Gloria who runs an adult magazine. When friends and employees turn up dead she becomes frightened that the killer is out to get her.

Of course, that is just a little bit about the movie. What makes this a fun movie is all of the different Italian actors that end up in it. We have Serena Grandi playing as the volumptuous Gloria. Daria Nicoladi from Dario Argento fame playing a close friend of Gloria's in the movie. Joe Damato's good friend George Eastman makes a some what small appearance in the movie. Karl Zinny from Demons plays a pervert in a wheelchair. And Lino Salemme from both Demons films plays a detective in this film. So it has its fare share of familiar faces.

I had thought this movie would be gorier considering this is Lamberto Bava we are talking about here. But we do have a few decent scenes of bloody mayhem, but not much. More or less, this is a movie just to see a lot of big breasted women take off their clothes, and I would be lying if I said that was a bad thing.

All in all, it was a decent giallo. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. 6/10

This is such great trash. As a straight woman, I was insanely distracted by Serena Grandi's breasts throughout. I really don't know how she walks, let alone runs, with those things. I hope her back is ok. There were times when I was more concerned that she'd topple over and hit her head on a coffee table than get stabbed by the psycho killer who was after her.

It's fairly typical giallo stuff and feels a little like a less psychic Eyes of Laura Mars with a well off magazine editor finding out that her models are being killed off one by one. But this one comes with 100% more Daria Nicolodi, which is never a bad thing even if she gets nothing to do.

There's a suspenseful sequence in a department store, a wacky killer monologue/motivation, and some really surreal murder sequences where we see them through the killer's P.O.V. where he or she sees the victims as different kinds of strange insects or giant eyeballs. If someone can figure out what the creators were smoking or shooting up when they thought of this, I'd like some, please.

Lamberto Bava may not be as great as his father; master director Mario Bava, but you can always count on a good time when it comes to his movies - and while Delirium is certainly no masterpiece; Giallo fans will be satisfied with this sleazy story of murder and naked women! Italy's answer to Dolly Parton, Serena Grandi, stars as Gioia (the Italian answer to 'Gloria'), the owner of a porn magazine known as 'Pussycat'. The porn industry attracts a lot of attention for it's stars, and Pussycat magazine is no exception. One of Gloria's admirers is a wheelchair bound young man who spies on here from the sanctity of bedroom, and another 'admirer' is someone a little more psycho - someone that likes to kill Gloria's models, and then send her pictures of their mutilated corpses in front of a six foot picture of herself! Obviously, this leads our leading lady to assume that she's the next victim; as more and more of her models are killed, who could be the killer?

And what could possibly be their reason for slicing up such fine looking ladies? Lamberto Bava seems to know what audiences like - and this is shown by the way that Grandi's breasts are shown often. I have no problem with this; and I doubt anyone else with a will to see this film will either. The Giallo is a sub-genre soaked in sleaze, and Bava does a good job of implementing that style into this film by way of lots of nudity, and some graphic murders. The murders are a big part of any Giallo - and this one features the likes of murder by pitchfork, and the (apparently) famous bee murder scene! Really, the murders aren't the best ever seen in a Giallo; but they do the job. The acting is typically trashy, and it's always obvious how Serena Grandi won her role (clue: it wasn't acting talent). The cast is made up of unknowns (Giallo standard), with the exception of Daria Nicoladi. Dario Argento's frequent collaborator lights up the support cast, and gives the film an extra little bit of cult class. Lamberto Bava's films are often rated poorly by critics (both professional and amateur), but as usual; Delirium isn't all that bad. No masterpiece; but well worth seeing for the Giallo fan.

And I do mean EVERYTHING else.

A great looking film in all aspects.

Brilliant camera work. Excellent use of color. The cinematography and art direction were Oscar worthy and everybody in it looked great. The majority of them proving it by getting naked.

Beautiful models get bumped off by a killer whose face becomes a giant eye before the kill. The sudden rush of colors signifies that a murder is coming. Said models work for a magazine that our heroine (A former model herself) runs.

Of course now she thinks she's the final target. Is she? If you can find this gem, see it.

I found this in a used video box in Tokyo and was sucked in but the cover art. Seeing Bava's name helped too.

It's a bit dated now, it reminds one of an 80's music video at times. But the mystery element is great and never lets up.

It's all about director Lamberto Bavas' style in this decent Giallo with a merely okay story but lots of sex and violence. Beautiful Serena Grandi (known as the "Dolly Parton of Italy") stars as Gioia (Gloria in the English language version), a former model who now owns and operates an adults only magazine. Her models begin to be slaughtered by a psycho admirer of hers, who arranges their dead bodies in front of a photo of her. Naturally, this leads her to believe that she will eventually become the killers' ultimate victim.

The lighting and camera work are exemplary. Certainly if Lambertos' father Mario had seen this one, he likely would have been proud. There is also some effective suspense at times. Simon Boswell supplies a score that alternates between pounding rock 'n' roll and more conventional arrangements. (One climactic chase scene would have done better to do away with the rock score.) The screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici & Daniele Stroppa does at least succeed in keeping fans of this genre interested in determining which of the possible suspects will eventually be unmasked as the real culprit. The most original touch is when things are shown from the killers' warped perspective, and it's too bad that we don't see a little more of this throughout.

The performances are adequate enough for the material. Nothing award worthy, but entertaining. Grandi is well supported by Daria Nicolodi, Vanni Corbellini, David Brandon, Karl Zinny (who'd acted for Lamberto in "Demons", and who here plays a horny, sleazy, surly, wheelchair bound kid), and the most welcome of all, Italian cult & exploitation icon George Eastman, playing Gioias' ex fiancée, an actor. There are several very attractive female cast members and numerous breast shots for those who are interested. Veteran sex symbol Capucine appears as Gioias' bitter business rival.

If you enjoy the genre or the films of Bava Jr., this should be an agreeable hour and a half exercise in style and sleaze.

Seven out of 10.