I wanted to like this film. I'd heard some good things about it, and, as with most gialli, it does have some very good points. Director Pupi Avati knows how to build tension and use light and shadow to some very exceptional ends. But the look of the film stock seemed like it was shot on video instead of film. This seems to be another one of those horror films where everyone is in on the plot except our hero.
An art restorationist arrives in a small town to work on an aging fresco depicting the murder of Saint Sebastian. He works in a church where the fresco is located and rents a small set of rooms in a strange villa on the outskirts of town. An old woman is his only other house mate and she is bedridden. But, our hero hears creaking floors at night and finds a strange recording of the fresco artist's voice talking riddles and madness. The artist is presumed dead as his body was never recovered, and although he had two sisters, no one seems to want to be forthcoming with the information as to their whereabouts. And some people end up dead, yada yada.
The plot seems to be forcing itself on you and wants to make the overall feel of the movie more menacing than it really is. The direction is good but the material leaves you wanting. For gialli lovers only.
An art restorationist arrives in a small town to work on an aging fresco depicting the murder of Saint Sebastian. He works in a church where the fresco is located and rents a small set of rooms in a strange villa on the outskirts of town. An old woman is his only other house mate and she is bedridden. But, our hero hears creaking floors at night and finds a strange recording of the fresco artist's voice talking riddles and madness. The artist is presumed dead as his body was never recovered, and although he had two sisters, no one seems to want to be forthcoming with the information as to their whereabouts. And some people end up dead, yada yada.
The plot seems to be forcing itself on you and wants to make the overall feel of the movie more menacing than it really is. The direction is good but the material leaves you wanting. For gialli lovers only.