Tulpa - Perdizioni mortali

I finally got time to watch this movie. I ordered a German special edition blu-ray a way back but was too busy to see it until now. A negative feedback that this movie got from various sources seemed to affect my mood for watching it a little bit too much which really was a shame.

The movie itself was a little bit of a mixed bag. First 1/3 was actually quite good in terms of story and killings. In fact the actual murders were quite innovative throughout the movie. I got flashbacks from various Argento and Fulci movies throughout the film with both the style and methodology aspects included.

After a one third to first half of the film the direction and the script seemed to fall apart a little bit. The naive Argento inspired escape from the club was fascinating and boring at the same time and the plot seemed to degenerate after the movie went along. However: The latter part of the movie got me flashbacks from Argentos Tenebrae so it basically went from tribute to tribute within the movie in decades (I loved Tenebrae btw).

I really appreciate the directors effort to tribute some earlier giallo directors and movies. In my opinion some reviewers have focused too much bashing the protagonist skill of English using it to take the movie down (It really didn't mind me very much).

If you like horror and giallo in general this is a movie worth watching. IMDb users seem to be harsh with horror in particular so don't let the overall score fool you.

BTW: The "blue/red pill joke" at the end made me grin :)

I saw it at Sitges this year and i was impressed by the quality of this crazy and bloody Italian flick. Zampaglione clearly knows his stuff and with this new film he shows all his love for the genre. . Tulpa visually looks fantastic,and it's a well performed addition to Italian cinema, most importantly it does what it intends to do, it remains faithful to the Giallo mentality, and breathes life back into a dead area of the horror/thriller genres.

Zampaglione even goes as far to bring back the traditional Giallo killer, a dark shadowy figure, with face covered, black hat, and those leather gloves . There are also some incredible and elaborated murders you will never forget. Giallo fans will love this one.

It might be a strange to criticise this modern day giallo film for looking a little cheap; in their heyday in the early 70s, such genre films were never hugely budgeted.

This does have the look of an Indie film though, which is absolutely no problem in itself, but it robs the production of the stylish values usually attributed to the gialli.

The acting is fine, although Italian actors speaking English when it is not their first language damages it a bit. It also makes it difficult to care about the characters, which is unfortunate as many of them spend quite a few scenes in jeopardy.

I don't mean to be too damning here though. Any half-respectable reinvention of the gialli style is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, and there are some nicely filmed set pieces and some weird and fascinating red herrings - and a fair bit of sex too. My score is 6 out of 10.

The biggest problem with movies like this and Eyes Wide Shut, that revolve around a sooper-seekret sex club is that sex clubs don't generally operate in secret. They tend to be right out in the open. Just for kicks, I googled "swingers clubs rome italy" and got dozens of results.

That said, I enjoyed this movie. It really felt like it could have been made in 1972. Not that it's a period piece or anything, but the style, the pacing, the music, and the whole general vibe of the film felt very retro.

Some great cinematography early on, the score is consistently nice and the creative/gory deaths are enjoyable to watch. Sadly, that's about it.

The acting in 'Tulpa - Demon of Desire' isn't the best, though I don't actually blame the cast - rather the filmmakers, who chose to shoot the majority of the film in English, despite having a mostly - if not entirely - Italian cast. The language choice makes it feel clunky and cheap.

I liked watching Claudia Gerini in the lead role, she does a solid enough job. There aren't any others I'd pick out, though. There are a few that play a big part, one in particular with the twist at the end - which is poorly executed. I do, meanwhile, give the film credit for how it mixes the sexual stuff into the story.

A bigger budget and cleverer writing could've made this great, instead it's a disappointment in my opinion.