Too much of everything

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

"Phantom of Death" is one of those movies that makes you wonder if the director called in sick for its entire production. Its sprawling, shambolic pacing and editing seems to do everything it can to prevent you from caring about what's going on on-screen. Some of the cuts finish one seen with an actor mid-sentence, and then cut to another location where the actor finishes what they were saying as if no such change had occurred. The effect is jarring and sophomoric.One thing that can be said for the movie is that the make-up is top notch. The movie concerns a killer who is rapidly ageing due to some rare illness. Why that would make him want to kill anyone isn't satisfactorily dealt with, but nevertheless, the effect is believable and horrible.The actor who plays the killer is also quite good in the role. The problem is, he isn't the centre of the movie. The movie has no centre. Any time you think you have detected what the movie is really about, you find yourself in error. Yes, it's a giallo/slasher, but there's none of the mystery of the former and little of the lurid sex and violence of the latter. You don't know the victims, or the killer. The portrayal is incomprehensible, and deadly boring. Not one of the killings is memorable, and the movie has minimal nudity and no sex, if I remember correctly. I finished watching this moments ago and I've already forgotten.It's not every day you see a Donald Pleasence movie and find yourself pitying other actors in the movie more, but here we are. At least he didn't have to act all spooky while uttering the name "Michael Myers", and he gets one good scene, running down the street shouting "Where are you, you bastard!"

This is fine, its just that it could so easily have been a lot better. The trouble is that the intriguing central theme that makes life so difficult for Donald Pleasence as the police chief, also makes for plot difficulties. Michael York plays a youngish concert pianist who has an ageing illness and an added problem is that in reality the star has already lost some of his boyish charm. He nevertheless deals well with his role and indeed seems more effective as the film proceeds. Unfortunately though the film itself starts fast and well it slows almost to a halt and when we know exactly who did what the only interest is the progress of a badly ageing (really!) Pleasence. Edwige Fenech is as lovely as ever and we fans of hers can only regret she keeps her clothes on, but not everyone does and what with som gore, this giallo like thriller certainly has its moments.

To us horror fans, Euro-horror is the optimum; Portland's video/DVD store Movie Madness even has a section devoted to it. Unfortunately, "Un delitto poco comune" (called "Phantom of Death" in English) has little to show for itself. The plot involves something about a piano player (Michael York) who unwillingly assumes a different identity and goes around committing murders, but the whole movie is poorly strung together and barely goes anywhere. A particularly bad scene is when Donald Pleasance is telling someone something, and then they cut the scene and he finishes the sentence several minutes later! All in all, there are plenty of cool Italian horror flicks (anything by Mario Bava or Dario Argento is right up there). No need to waste your time on this one.

Unusual giallo, directed by one of Italy's finest horror filmmakers, and revolving on a truly ingenious and original topic, namely a murderer who commits his crimes because he can't accept the extremely rare disease that is destroying him physically and emotionally. Robert Dominici is a genius pianist, also practicing an eminent oriental fighting sport, suddenly stricken with a terrible illness that causes him to age rapidly. Leaving a trail of frustrated and extremely gore murders in the city, inspector Tati (Donald Pleasance pretending to be Italian, again!) has tremendous difficulties, as the forensic lab tests indicate a gradually older culprit each time. "Phantom of Death" is not Deodato's best film (that honor unquestionably goes to "Cannibal Holocaust") but it's a well-made and occasionally very tense thriller with good special effects and loads of streaming red liquid. It wouldn't be an Italian flick if the murders weren't extraordinary gross, right? We've got a couple of slit throats and one poor girl is violently thrown through a window. The acting performances are rather impressive, with Michael York being the personification of pure agony. Even more impressive are Edwige Fenech's looks! This giallo was made 18 years after her initial successes in the genre ("All the Colors of the Dark", "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh"), but she still looks exactly as gorgeous as she did back then. I guess she's definitely NOT suffering from the rapid-ageing virus...