While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Dario Argento, master of slasher-surrealism, made the interesting Four Flies on Grey Velvet in 1971 … and it combines the low-key elements of his early Giallo period with the more colorful visual experimentation of his later films.Roberto, a drummer in a psychedelic rock band, is being stalked by a man in fedora and sunglasses. When Roberto eventually tracks down and confronts him in an empty confetti-strewn opera house, there is a struggle: his stalker immediately wields a switchblade, but Roberto defends himself and somehow ends up accidentally stabbing the man, causing him to fall into an orchestra pit. SEEMINGLY dead! Meanwhile, some person with a camera, wearing an impish mask, is taking pictures of all this from the opera house balcony.Obviously afraid that he'll be incriminated in the murder, Roberto avoids going to the police. It is not long before someone else begins toying with him, slipping into his home to plant a photo of the killing. This person even sneaks in while he's asleep and kills his cat. Roberto first assumes that he's being blackmailed, but it soon dawns on him that he is now the victim of some sick cat-and-mouse game designed to drive him bonkers. As he sorts through all the suspects (maid, wife's cousin, mailman, etc.) with the assistance of his earthy bohemian friend and a swishy gay private investigator, the culprit does (not surprisingly) turn out to be right under his nose.Like in all of Dario Argento's work, it's the filmmaking style that is the true star, not the actors. Argento rarely pays much attention to his performers, and this film is no exception, but there are a few treasures among the actors to be found here. Michael Brandon is apt (in that he's not very expressive) playing the vapid, macho, and boring Roberto. Mimsy Farmer, who plays his wife, Nina, does eventually come alive at the end of the film (although in an overreaching manner) when she has her big meltdown/confession scene - otherwise, she's pretty bland playing the "dedicated wife." In many ways, you can't blame Farmer since her character is so one-dimensional. A few of the supporting actors, however, stand out. Bud Spenser as Roberto's comical friend, Godfrey, and Jean-Pierre Marielle as Gianni, the overly broad, flaming private investigator, are both very engaging.While Four Flies is not as elegantly garish as Argento's subsequent Suspiria, it's still visually playful enough to give you a hint of the baroque direction Argento would soon take. Charming moments include an opening montage of Roberto jamming with his band (its highlight is a witty POV shot taken from inside a guitar, looking out into a recording studio, as its strings are being strummed) intercut with a pulsating heart over a silent black screen and Roberto being surveyed -- in his car and in the park -- by his stalker. As Roberto drums away, a fly vexes him, which he eventually squashes between his drum cymbals; the build-up to the park murder of Roberto's inquisitive and opportunistic maid stands out with its New Wave jump cuts (think Jean-Luc Godard making a thriller) where late day suddenly becomes night and a populated playground suddenly becomes empty, all within a split second; the climactic scene where the killer's car accidentally collides (in super slow motion) with a truck – we see the killer's stunned face through a crashing sheet of twinkling windshield glass, poetically juxtaposed with Ennio Morricone's haunting lilting music. Four Flies' naturalistic photography is also a charmer, focusing on earthy colors, unlike the much lauded theatrical look of Argento's best known works.Four Flies' script is moderately interesting with odd touches throughout: Roberto's recurring nightmare of a public execution/beheading washed in white sunlight, directly influenced by his friend's grisly party anecdote; a goofy mailman constantly misdelivers Swedish pornography to the wrong addressee; Roberto and Godfrey attend a coffin expo that showcases ornately designed (some - futuristic) caskets; Roberto's cute and cuddly bathtub romp with Nina's cousin, Dalia; an implausible sci-fi device that can record the last image retained on a dead person's retina, possibly revealing who the killer is if a murder is committed. Despite all this nice stuff, the script still has its weaknesses: basically, its flat lead characters and eye-rolling conclusion where Nina reveals herself to be Roberto's stalker. Nina explains her motives in an overly broad monologue that sounds as Freudian as the explanation given at the end of Psycho... and its theory of gender psychosis. She reveals that the reason she is torturing Roberto is because he reminds her of her macho dead father with whom she hates – her father always wanted a son, and would dress her up as a boy when she was little and put her through constant male endurance tests, etc. It's also interesting to add that Nina sports a boyish haircut, where her husband, the manly Roberto, has long locks.For a Dario Argento film, Four Flies' violence is pretty soft (it is PG-rated) except for a few nauseating close-ups of a jumbo needle penetrating a hairy chest's spongy layer and a thick wire being entwined around a man's coarse neck, its leathery skin in rolls. The murder that stands out the most, however, is when Dalia gets sliced on the forehead (an elegant slash like the mark of Harry Potter) right before falling down a flight of stairs (head-first, face-up) her skull plopping musically and cartoonishly against each step as she descends backwards. The coup de grace to this scene is when Argento's camera tracks the killer's perfectly vertical knife, dropping midair, disembodied, like a torpedo, silencing its victim's scream.As I stated before, the style is the most striking thing in a Dario Argento flick -- often, the skeletons of his films just aren't very impressive. Again, it's all in the way he dresses them up!

The drummer of a rock and roll band Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) sees a man wearing sunglasses stalking him everywhere. He follows the man to a derelict opera house and when he confronts the stranger, he pulls a knife. However Roberto accidentally stabs him in self-defense and the man falls from the stage to the floor. Out of the blue, a spotlight is turned on and Roberto is photographed in the crime scene by a masked person on a theater box. Roberto leaves the place and returns home. On the next morning, he reads the newspaper the news about a stranger called Carlo Marosi that was murdered. During the night, Roberto and his wife Nina (Mimsy Farmer) welcome friends and Roberto finds a photo of the previous night entwined with his vinyls. He tells the truth to Nina and their maid Amelia (Maria Fabbri) overhears the story. While Robeto meets his friend Godfrey (Bud Spencer) to ask for help, Amelia schedules an encounter in the park with someone to blackmail with the photos she had found in the apartment; however Amelia is murdered in the park Meanwhile Nina's cousin Dalia (Francine Racette) arrives to stay with Nina. But soon Carlo Marosi appears eating at a restaurant and calling someone to meet him. What has happened in the opera house?"4 mosche di velluto grigio" is a flawed film with am intriguing title. The atmosphere is suffocating most of the time; the camera work uses unusual angles and positions; the cast has good performance. But the plot point with the identity of the killer is weak and quite senseless. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Quatro Moscas Sobre Veludo Cinza" ("Four Flies on Grey Velvet")

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's giallo is certainly very well made but lacks any real scares. Michael Brandon is the drummer in a rock band who finds himself in deep trouble after accidentally killing a man who appeared to be stalking him. Soon people surrounding Brandon begin turning up dead. Creepy yes, but decidedly not scary, this Argento film benefits greatly from excellent acting, stylish cinematography and a very audacious music score by Ennio Morricone. Brandon is fine in the lead and it's always fun to see Bud Spencer in something other than a western. Mimsy Farmer is Brandon's girlfriend. Ordinarily one of the screen's most striking personalities, Farmer is really mis-used here...donning an unflatteringly short hairdo and kept off-screen for much of the action.