Just when I thought that I couldn’t fall more in love with the Giallo scene, I stumbled across this gem.
Directed by Sergio Martino, All The Colours of the Dark celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and is simply sublime.
Often overlooked and wrongfully compared with Rosemary’s Baby, purely for its association with the occult and horror entering into the suburban household.
Since then. ATCOTD has been struggling to pry itself free from this shadow.
This is a shame because the film lives out to the Giallo name with it’s slick and decisive visuals, peppered with a convoluted story around the psychological state of mind.
Our lead protagonist and potentially unhinged lady, Jane (Edwige Fenech) has just cause for her trauma, with her mother tragically dying when she was just five years old and recently losing her baby, it’s no wonder that life has weighed down on her soul.
When she starts to see a strange, blue eyed man following her, those closest to her, Jane’ sister Barbara (Nieves Navarro) and James’ husband doubt her story, passing it off as a psychotic state.
With no one believing her, not even her doctor, and with Jane’s nightmares of a knife-wielding man becoming all too real, she turns to a neighbour and potential confidante out of the doldrums of suburbia.
Willing to try anything, Jane’s neighbour entices her to attend a black mass and from here on in her troubles amplify.
There’s plenty to tantalise here, with seduction, betrayal, bloody killings, and a satanic cult. Martino crafts a sublime story with stunning, over-the-top and at times psychedelic visuals.
I can’t wait to delve into my next Giallo film off the back of this.
– Saul Muerte