Produced at the height of his career, "A Blade in the Dark" marks Lamberto Bava's best directorial effort (certainly better than "Demons" and "Devil Fish"), a slick, intriguing, and sometimes shocking giallo. Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti, of "The New York Ripper") rents an isolated villa to work on the soundtrack for a horror film, only to find himself in the middle of a murder mystery, as young girls meet grisly ends at the hands of an unseen killer. While clearly influenced by the works of Dario Argento, Bava opts for a bland, impersonal color palette that intensifies the mood, combined with a script that has fewer contrivances and red herrings than a typical offering from the aforementioned maestro. The result is a satisfying giallo whose only crime is an occasionally sluggish pace (though this is easily forgivable, as the film was originally intended as a multi-episode TV series)...but stick with it, for ghastly surprises are in store for those who wait.
Review of A Blade in the Dark
