7/10
Darkness imprisoning her... All that she sees, absolute horror!
23 July 2006
There's isn't any black-gloved killer butchering one fashion model after the other with an exceptional weapon here, yet that certainly doesn't make "All the Colors of the Dark" any less of a genuine Italian giallo! This solid thriller, directed by the almighty Sergio Martino ("Torso", "Blade of the Ripper") , benefits most from its extremely stylish cinematography and, of course, the mesmerizing looks of lead actress and reigning giallo-queen Edwige Fenech. With this natural beauty running around hysterically all the time – often scarcely dressed – you almost feel forced to forgive the story for being overly confusing and the violence for being too tame. Jane is a young woman, still recovering from a traumatizing accident in which she lost her unborn child, and suffers from re-occurring nightmares as well as hallucinations of being stalked by a blue-eyed creep. With her lover Richard out of town a lot, others try to help Jane with her mental problems. Her sister recommends seeing a psychiatrist and a befriended girl in the apartment even advises her to join a satanic cult. This last initiative obviously isn't a very good idea, as lovely Jane becomes involved in an occult mess of rape & murder, starring all the people of her unexplained hallucinations. Sergio Martino creates and sustains a powerful atmosphere of paranoia and morbidity, yet it's truly regretful that there isn't any more gore on display. Jane's nightmares are remotely bloody, but true fans of Italian horror cinema require a bit more sadism. There are several suspenseful scenes to make up for this, notably the one where Fenech awakes in a countryside cottage and painfully realizes she STILL isn't safe. The screenplay makes several intriguing twists & turns near the end, just in time to make it a great giallo after all. I have to admit that the first hour of "All the Colors of the Dark" nearly wasn't as compelling and involving as other contemporary gialli. The music is great as usual and, apart from Edwige, this movie also contains great performances by George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov and Nieves Navarro.
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