Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The story is garbage. The acting is horrible. The main actor cannot act, it's like they just took some dude from the street and put him in front of the camera. And his character is a dirtbag. Who sleeps in his jeans? Who takes a nap with a fully loaded gun in his hand? The wife, cannot act, not pretty, just a plain face, nothing to look at, just plain nothing. When she got the call that the maid was dead and told the husband, nothing, no shock, no oh my god, just plain nothing. Nothing. What's the story with the bum friends? The best line is when one of the bums asks for a light and switched the cigarettes! The comedy sucked. Some of the killings were OK, nothing great. The maid in the park idea was good, but seriously poorly executed. The rock music was horrible, Truly horrible. Some mentioned that Deep Purple was thinking about doing the music. I am glad they didn't get stuck in this garbage movie. The rest of the music sucked too, especially the drum/bongo crap towards the end. Truly annoying. Then we get to the part of the dead eyeballs capturing the last thing the victim saw. Was this supposed to be sc-fi? What the hell was that? Then the wife comes in with the medallion of the flies. Oh, now it all makes sense. She's crazy, so she concocts this elaborate scheme to torture and kill her husband. Then she tries to take off, and for dramatic effect, crashes her car into a truck and gets decapitated, with poor effect. After the car crash a head is shown rolling in the street, no blood anywhere. Very poor. Give me a break! Characters are show telling boring stories. Some of these characters are shown before the big reveal, a red herring. Editing is crap, real choppy. The scene where the main character is shown confessing to his wife about killing someone, and the wife's cousin casually walks in and he does not stop talking. Does this seem realistic? No! So, what we have here is someone who got a budget with no talent, and hired a bunch of people with no talent to produce a film, for all the no talent film viewers to see and say, "It's art". It's not art, it's crap.Inferior story, acting, cinematography, lighting, sets, editing, music, you name it, it sucks.I've watched enough giallo films and understand that not all the story is supposed to make sense. But at least the good ones present decent cinematography, acting and music. I recommend Don't Torture A Duckling by Fulci, or All the Colors of the Dark, by Sergio Martino This movie should be the basis of a semester in film studies. Scene by scene should be torn apart for what should not be done. To be fair there are some parts, like the park scene that had good ideas, but bad execution.I've read some of the IMDb reviews and most like or love this movie. I hate it. And I hate Argento. This is only the 2nd movie I've seen from him. First was Suspira, a complete garbage of a movie. Color gels for lighting and that's his set design. I can only guess that fans of Argento might be looking at his movies and disregarding the story and the acting. And they praise the cinematography and scenes. Sorry, he fails on all fronts. He does not produce art, or abstract art, it's just garbage. If you watch a film with black screen and no audio, you would have a better time, use your imagination and produce your own abstract art film.I've read most of the critic reviews. So far only Entertainment Maven and Bloodcapsules have given it a low or negative rating. So, I can only conclude that most reviewers here are deaf and blind and ignorant of true art. Most state that the story is lacking and the acting is amateurish, but disregard these important elements of movie making by giving it a positive review. So, I guess you need to make up your own mind. Please, do not be fooled by garbage disguised as art.

"Four Flies on Grey Velvet" focuses on Roberto, a drummer in a rock band who is grappling with feelings of guilt for his responsibility in a man's death after he believed him to be stalking him. Following the death of the stranger, he finds himself being blackmailed by an unknown, hellbent assailant.This was one of Argento's films that I had neglected to view for many years, and I was surprised when watching it how complex it was, especially given that it was such an early film of his. Somewhat like "Deep Red," "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" weaves an intricate, winding narrative that spreads out in varying directions before closing back in on itself for the final resolution. The narrative here is for the most part coherent, and there are enough through-lines to really engage the audience from beginning to end.There are some phenomenal and legitimately frightening scenes involving the threatening killer, and the murder scenes are jarring and well handled. Unusual, borderline experimental uses of parallel editing and jump cuts give the narrative a dynamic flair, and atmospherically, every frame bleeds with Argento's unique aesthetic choices. The opening confrontation in the opera house is stunning, and several of the murder scenes are particularly memorable and understated; the film does seem to have some stilted elements to it, including characters and moments that really serve no purpose, but the upshot is that they lend Argento more time to wallow in stylistics. Solid performances from Michael Brandon and Mimsy Farmer really help bolster the proceedings, and Jean-Pierre Marielle is memorable as the flamboyant gay detective.I've read some criticism of the film's conclusion, and while I do find it to be fairly easy in terms of expectancy, it is a clever twist, and the slow-motion finale is mildly remarkable.Overall, "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" is an intriguing giallo with some great, understated murder scenes and a puzzle of a plot that engages the audience in ways which Argento would come to refine even more with "Deep Red." In charting Argento's career, the film is highly important, but even outside the context of his directorial trajectory, it stands as a solid, weirdly memorable effort with some rock'n'roll spirit and an extremely sinister doll mask. For most genre fans, I think that's more than enough. 8/10.

I have been waiting a long time to view this film, after the first 2 parts in Argento's brilliant animal trilogy "Bird with the Crystal Plumage" and "Cat O' Nine Tails" which were both excellent in their own ways, and "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" has always been hard to find and perhaps least remembered. Then when I finally got round to seeing it, well I was pleasantly fulfilled, okay it's not as strong as the other 2 and may be a bit flawed, but still manages to shine with yet another intriguing storyline and fascinating characters and plot twists.The storyline here is we have a drummer in a rock band named Roberto Tobias whose straight away being stalked by a man and when he confronts him, he pulls out a knife and tries to attack him, but after the struggle the stalker gets stabbed. A mysterious masked stranger took photographs of the entire incident and later begins to taunt him and starts to murder people in his life.Okay "Four Flies" may lack the elegance and style of the first part of the animal trilogy, but it still packs a punch, especially the masked stranger, with that freaky mask which is truly terrifying and you definitely feel a sense of dread whenever this person is around and the opening of this movie was a very interesting concept and then the growing paranoia of the lead character begins to grow and grow as he wonders what's gonna happen next is truly tense. Along with several stylish murder scenes such as the maid in the park as she's running towards the gate, was beautifully shot and terrifying, and the girl hiding in the cupboard kept me on the edge of my seat and the nerve racking outcome made me jump out of my skin. Even the final reveal was well executed and was a total shock, and the medical experiment which utilizes the four files was truly exciting, especially when it's played out in the end, and the shocking aftermath was a truly brilliant and thrilling experience and one that will be remembered forever.The performances were solid in this one and even the supporting cast were memorable and great as well. Michael Brandon gave a good performance as the lead character and Mimsy Farmer also gave an interesting performance and gives a great screen presence, especially towards the end. Jean Pierre Marielle also gives a standout supporting performance as the private investigator and was truly hilarious and really makes you feel for his character.All in all a good ending to the animal trilogy and okay may not be as strong as the other two, but still worth a watch with its good storyline, intriguing mystery and fantastic ending that neatly wraps everything up.

Dario Argento envisioned 4 Flies On Grey Velvet as his last giallo (an Italian genre that mixes horror with police procedure). He could never have predicted that his next movie, the political satire titled The Five Days, would flop and that he'd return to the giallo genre with his masterwork, Deep Red. So 4 Flies On Grey Velvet has a special importance in his filmography: it's not just a movie; it was intended to be his testament, the acme of his work on the giallo.Does it succeed in this? I'd say it did a splendid job. 4 Flies On Grey Velvet was the last entry in his 'Animal Trilogy', and if Argento hadn't made another giallo again he'd have a consistent body of work to be proud of.The movie introduces us to bass player Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon), member of a funky band, married to Nina (Mimsy Farmer) a beautiful and rich woman. He lives in a stylish, comfortable villa; he's popular at parties. In sum, he leads a perfect life.But Roberto then notices a man stalking him. Wherever he goes, the man is right behind him. And he's not even making an effort to remain out of sight. One night Roberto loses his patience and confronts the stalker at an abandoned theatre. Circumstances cause the man to die accidentally but Roberto is photographed by a person wearing a creepy, baby-like rubber mask. Soon a mind game begins between this watcher and the protagonist.Some people may think that Dario Argento only makes movies with one formula: mysterious killer bumps off victims one by one until amateur sleuth stops him. I wouldn't argue with this description. But his earlier work showed some creativity within this formula. 4 Flies On Grey Velvet is a good example: the antagonist here is more concerned with making Roberto's life hell - leaving incriminating evidence at his house, killing his cat, taunting him on the phone - than randomly killing. There's a more intimate relationship between protagonist and antagonist here than in his other movies, in which an witness to a murder becomes unwillingly involved in the investigation. The victims here are mostly circumstantial: they have to be killed because they know who the killer is, or are on the verge of discovering his identity. In Argento's movie before this one, The Cat O' Nine Tails, the killer had the same motive.The movie is not without its narrative problems. Dario Argento focuses so much on the art direction and cinematography, that he ignores the editing and screenplay. There are characters in the movie who don't seem to have much of a purpose - including my beloved Bud Spencer, in a hilarious but arguably dispensable role as a friend of Roberto.Also in Argento's movies the viewer seldom has opportunities to try to discover the identity of the killer. There are no red herrings and no suspects, like in classic mysteries. This makes the climatic scene of revealing the killer's identity always disappointing in his movies.But he's redeemed by the fact that he always does it with visual elegance and inventiveness. Indeed the camera work is the best thing in his movies. Argento understands the language of cinema better than most directors - he knows how to tell a story just with images (perhaps that's why his dialogue is usually weak), not just in the way he frames a scene but also in the way he makes the art direction a character in itself, and in the way he uses colors in the background.Amidst this visual feast, the actors do a good job with the screenplay they have. If they're not great actors, if their characters aren't that complex, at least they have to ability to be instantly likable. From the moment Roberto stars being stalked, I feel his fear and want him to triumph. Mimsy Farmer and Bud Spencer give efficient performances. But Jean-Pierre Marielle gives my favorite performance, in a short role, as a homosexual private investigator. Although he has all the mannerisms of a stereotypical '70s cinema homosexual, Marielle gives his character sensibility, wit and charisma. Plus he gets credit for being the only person to discover the killer's identity by his own intelligence.A good giallo wouldn't be complete without music, and Ennio Morricone composes one of his best horror scores here. I'd consider it the best from the 'Animal Trilogy', but ironically a disagreement about the music between composer and director ended their collaboration until the 1996 movie The Stendhal Syndrome. The opening theme is a funky/jazzy composition, intercut with the beating of a heart (an effect Giorgio Moroder used later in Midnight Express). The last theme in the movie is one of the most beautiful Morricone has ever composed, an orchestral piece with vocals that transmits sadness and tragedy, much like the end of the movie itself.All in all, 4 Flies On Grey Velvet would have been a great finale for Dario Argento's work in the giallo. Thankfully he continued to make them for many more years, but this movie stands out as one of his strongest and most enjoyable movies.