Most critics of proposed developments and reveal clues and information that could distort the element of surprise and unveil the following resolutions and works cited .. Christian Bauman made the acquaintance of a mysterious young woman, Barbara. So she invited him in his hotel room, a stranger armed with a gun threatening surprises them; in the fight, Christian turns the weapon against its owner and accidentally kills him. Distraught, the couple decided to flee .. But the plot thickens when a serious Christian, returned to the scene where he had left too incriminating clues, discovers with amazement that the body has disappeared!. Sheltering in the strange house of a friend of Barbara, the two "heroes" did not turn out unfortunately after their surprises. Released in 1974, "Spasmo" tinkered and strange, is perhaps not the most representative production of its author better known for his delusions or western cannibals; the same way, if "Spasmo" absolutely deserves its label Giallo (despite what the purists think), it is true that lovers torn grandmas, black gloves or formal experimentation, will find themselves confused by the lack of graphic violence as well as by the size voluntarily more psychological intrigue and the classicism of his treatment .. For others, the pathetic rantings of the frame will go into the background in favor of the mysterious and captivating atmosphere continuously (we definitely do not suspect this will happen!) And even if we can blame Lenzi to sometimes "filler" (the central part of the work suffers copiously rhythm and inspiration) and continuously graze the absurd and the grotesque, the last half hour redeems all defects (again, talk about the most intransigent sloppy and improbabilities, the giallo but he never advocated realism? ..). More than the game lacks subtlety actors, it is in the nonsense and inconsistencies even sequences, these comings and goings, these sudden appearances and disappearances messiest finally hypnotic archetypal characters, that will best reflect embrittlement and mental imbalance. The corpses are raised, the objects that were thought to get rid reappear, the characters seem to have the gift of ubiquity, women like these strange dolls, perversely arranged, (un) dressed in lingerie and poses frozen in macabre (and by whom why? The end will respond only ..) .. exudes a nightmarish atmosphere and mysterious incomprehensible. The greatest interest of "Spasmo" is therefore the culmination of his dream completely different components; Lenzi has successfully developed a claustrophobic and paranoid in which we never know what or who you can really relax. The identification process works well (despite a Robert Hoffman desperately dull and stiff!): Just as the hero, you find yourself dropped into a world where the absurd and the threat seem to have any Fel .. The encounter of Christian and Barbara (she seems dead, stranded on a beach (you would think a doll) and she said he did not remember what brought him there ..). The tour is unrealistic that their flirtation (Barbara takes her to his hotel but instead of a drink or to jump on it, they act quite differently: while it takes three hours to undress, he will shave his beard in the bathroom .. (??)). They broke into a strange house (Barbara said to know the owner!) The arrival and just as surprising attitude of the occupants of that house (an odd couple (an old man and a young girl with doll face) that involve themselves inexplicably in history ..)). And although the final twists successive shed light (Christian has obviously been manipulated and each character was part of a larger conspiracy), we do not fully understand retrospectively the rationale of such a mess .. (Without giving away the (the) fall (s), we can unveil the origin of the plot was (again) family; Christian to be killed without the use of both intermediate and complications, however, seemed more likely! Qu 'matter! ..). Fetishism and perversity inaugurated by the atrocious generic models do in fact turn out to be a decoy, outside the actual plot and only "explained" (hung up?) In extremis. As in many gialli, the plot is rooted in childhood and feeds both of fraternal jealousy, greed, materialism and brain disorder. Again, one can argue that the systematic killing of people is not always justified (the awakening (and revelation (smoker!)) Homicidal impulses takes place just because!). Prégénérique sequence, the couple stopped in her frolics by the eerie presence of a morbid doll, and all those similarly disturbing reminders of a fetish out of alignment, bring me to nothing but a beautiful scene last (finally futile and altogether unnecessary in light of the overall storyline) .. And finally, there was some the impression that Lenzi wanted to hang too much to his frame without the means to exploit them all. The character of Fritz, Christian's brother, talked all the way at the turn of the dialogue (and, a fortiori, through the dolls that always seem sinister "follow" the hero) and suffers from a too steep drop (Ivan Rassimov in vain to breathe happily disturbing charisma, we can bemoan his lack of depth). Similarly, the accompanying figures of Malcolm and Clorinda (the couple living in the strange house) are a pseudo-justification in retrospect very far-fetched (they appear in a Super 8 film recounting the childhood accidents and injuries on both Bauman brothers!). installation of hollow and dotted ellipses too deliberately unsettling, hyper-close-ups emphasizing meaningful one thing and its opposite .. ; Wrongly takes the mystery at the top may annoy and somewhat tired .. Too much "red herring" Lenzi seems to lose itself in the confusions of the plot, unintentionally scuttling a film yet original and full of good ideas. Sometimes clever despite an obviously limited budget, the staging manages to take advantage of limited sets yet (the beach, the harbor, the villa, the motel and the factory). And, following the well-known recipe, Umberto Lenzi propels us into a world of illusions where women (manipulative and / or victimized) mixed up with their unique copies (mannequins and dolls latex tortured, fondled and directed by anonymous hands), where fake deaths and brutal murders follow and mix (the accidental death (and totally staged) of the perpetrator of the motel, the "false death" of Christian, the murders revealed in the end ..) ,. where meetings and events, deceptively dangerous, only participate in a vast conspiracy, a world in which the family is not safe at all, a world whose heroes reveal themselves of unsuspected facets and personalities .. And if Christian lets himself overwhelmed (with good reason!) By a growing feeling paranoid, it seems, ultimately, the goal of all this incredibly complex plot was mainly the cause, put it in danger, until that he reveals himself to himself!. Contaminated by the recent violence, he will at some point or another forced to open their eyes to reality and his own surprising aspects of himself (he is, incidentally, amusing to note that the path of the hero himself proceeds contrary to the perception of increasingly shaky and uncertain of its environment: the nightmarish and unreal appearance, falsehood and lies about it leading to the truth and the (re) cognition of itself!). Thus, the adventure of Christian enigmatic, this sort of breathless quest (?) A truth-shaped path hunt murderer, they ultimately lead to the most troubling confrontations: self!. Indeed, beyond the character disorder (and disturbing!) Of the brother of whom all back to the end (and with which, against all odds, the confrontation did not occur in the final!), It is his own reflection at its staggering and unexpected reality, that Christian is obliged to submit!. The film shown by Fritz, this compilation almost abstract (and completely unrealistic!) Memories (and demons) family, mystery supreme in this world of pretense, is, ultimately, the mirror, the click, which completes the process and revives the memory permanently. We can also remember the more contemporary "The Game" by David Fincher (much built and panting, though totally devoid of kitsch and the poetry of Giallo libertarian!) Which produced the similar principle of a slow and disturbing alienation of Real (we also found there besides the presence of a brother at the root of all ..). The director chose deliberately to plant their plot within a bourgeoisie and a jet-set basically superficial and vicious (a constant giallesque! Side "leftist" of genre cinema! ..) And he takes care of spare no one in the end. The filmmaker has beautiful do the opposite of normal mechanical, refuse complacent display of bloody murders or beautiful naked girls (kills will prove often treated off-camera mounted or "cut", and devoid of appetizers convoluted ). Sex will be much more qu'extraverti suggested (but still ubiquitous and beautifully deviant (these dolls so eroticized so damn unhealthy!)), He abuses queries, "nudge" and poses deliberately enigmatic, emphasizes sinister aspects or versatile and the lies of his characters and means and definitely too much detail (sometimes free and idle) without ever making such justifications required!. The staging plays constantly on the most hackneyed clichés (silhouettes lurking, women who disappear, darkness falls, secret interviews and shenanigans, the phone calls as mysterious as were heard ..) with a sense of accumulation and demonstration almost burlesque!. Yet the choice of details proved emblematic rather inspired (such morbid dolls, this ancient tower, this villa washed by the waves, these clothes are constantly red murderers, these pine forests near the sea, well, this pruner from from hand to hand, this amulet antistress killer (magnetic metal balls) ..). In the first, he sets the scene, the protagonists and the first of its plot, in the second, it complicates galore, lengthens, diluted, multiply the comings and goings, the chatter, the agitation vain repetitions and long lengths (his hero is struggling and everything becomes hostile and potentially dangerous) and finally, it provides answers and solutions in the last part, reviving a pace far too sluggish and languid, multiplying the surprises and twists with a happiness quite communicative. . A bit like a concerto, the work thus passes through breaks in tone and pace, opening up the andante allegretto here a little boring, and ending in an orgy played prestissimo. Repetitions more or less successful (in fact, a lot of noise and energy spent "not much"!) And blatant parallels (two brothers similarly "sick", the fake and the real murder in the motel, the discovery Barbara's body at the start (knocked out in the sun?) and the final reminder (Christian failed in the same place in a similar position (except this time the death is real!)) ..) indicate (in a way, of course, a little overrated) construction by self-referential and reflective moment. Similarly, schizophrenia or split personality Property characters materialize in the insistence duets and pairs (couples "precedent" of the two heroes (when they meet, Christian and Barbara are both already "FotoDesk" (it to the (unnecessary?) Xenia, she (the inconsistent) Alex)); surprising the couple formed by Malcolm and Clorinda; the importance (and the constant link length that unspeakable) of these two warring brothers (Christian and Fritz: the duo the most essential and most disturbing), the two henchmen (the spitting image of Dario Argento and the man with sunglasses)). Similarly the events and situations offer several possible readings and things are often repeated (the murder (accidental and deliberate) of a man threatening; a love scene that quickly turns to murder, the use of two "sauvetrices "(the Christian woman who takes in his car, Xenia who collects her (both are identically killed)) ..). Supported by the hazards and vicissitudes of hocus pocus attitudes consistently illogical and contadictoires protagonists, the trap set similarly meaningful forms (one bathroom "locked" tiles, a tower on the sea recalling the Chateau d'If, a flowering bird cages, a well, a car trunk ..) is so blatant that does not fail to wonder how the hero can be manipulated so grossly, why he does not try to escape rather well , far .. Similarly, the automatic presence of this hand around his neighborhood with the dolls she stabs and tortures with such insistence, does not refer to any other logic than the effect for the effect of interference and smoky track!. "Spasmo" features still an undeniable (and unintentional?) Coherence: the absurdity of its programming, superficial and vain folly of his universe .. stick finally quite in mind of his main character, pathologically paranoid and dangerously foreign to himself!. If we agree to read all this demonstration as a process reminiscent of quasi-psychoanalytic work on memory and the unconscious (an approach, however, initiated by a third party in this case the brother of the hero ill), the dreamlike , offsets, gaps and deficiencies of the staging are able to find some reason for being. how to tie a fishing hook through aggression and lack of rigor and clarity, it fails to take his story seriously, much less to fascinate .. Scenes, moments, images, even if it is unhealthy that the permanence of these claims and this beautiful dolls final sequence as a classy tribute to Mario Bava, and float a lasting impression. Finally, an amazing Giallo (but not necessarily in a good way!), Unintentionally funny and full of friendly duds that simply aping what he should have been. This blog offers a personal view (and subjective) of the great Dario Argento (and many other films and filmmakers that I loved or hated).