Die sieben schwarzen Noten (1977)

Die sieben schwarzen Noten: Directed by Lucio Fulci. With Jennifer O’Neill, Gabriele Ferzetti, Marc Porel, Gianni Garko. A clairvoyant woman discovers a skeleton in a wall in her husband’s house, and seeks to find the truth about what happened to the victim.

“Lucio Fulci is best known for his surreal and graphically gory horror movies of the early 80s {i.e.Zombie,The Beyond} but some of his most interesting work was made before. This film,which deserves to be far better known,is a case in point. Itu0026#39;s an extremely suspenseful thriller with borderline horror elements,a bit reminiscent of Donu0026#39;t Look Now and quite possibly an influence on several films since such as The Vanishing. Fans of Kill Bill will recognise one of the pieces of music used.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOpening with a graphic but very unconvincing scene of a suicide off a cliff,the head bashing on the rocks,the film does not continue that way,but becomes a slow but intriguing supernatural mystery,with the suspense gradually building and Fulci showing himself quite capable of handling a relatively complex plot. Camera work,music and Jennifer Ou0026#39;Neillu0026#39;s stunning performance are all so good that the relative lack of actual action does not matter too much. Nevertheless, Fulci really proves himself with a really exciting and suspenseful scene near the end where Ou0026#39;Neill is pursued by the killer,and there is clever and evocative use of props throughout.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInterestingly,where most Italian films like this are dubbed by different actors,this one looks like it was dubbed by most of the actual cast,and unfortunately a couple of major plot revelations are hard to make out! However,this is a solid little thriller that ,while not quite on the level of,say Fulciu0026#39;s A Lizard In A Womanu0026#39;s Skin,really deserves to be seen if you think Fulci can only do gore.”