Watching Dario Argento's Sleepless (2001) last night I was taken aback by his return to absolute savagery. I think we have reached a point where this kind of film is on the outs or already nearly over. The kind of brutal violence towards women as seen in this might be just too politically incorrect for the audience of 2016. The scare or attempted building of dread is more important than the visceral spilling of blood and destruction of the human body. No one destroys victims in the giallo like Argento. He has made brutality a near art form. The train sequence at the beginning is impactful if just because Argento sets it up similarly to Suspiria and others familiar to his fans. The woman sees something she shouldn't have and is pursued by a madman. In this film's case, a prostitute grabs a blue zipper bag with incriminating evidence that would implicate a killer who paid for her favors. Fleeing to a train she believes she's okay but he is on board with her. She loses at the sharp end of the blade. Even worse, the handle to an exit door cuts off her fingers!
Dario doesn't stop there. The most cruel of the deaths would seem to be a nasty use of an English horn which is repeatedly stabbed in a mother's mouth while her horrified son looks on, trapped in a cellar. Almost rivaling that is a woman's face bashed repeatedly into a wall until her teeth break out. Another ballerina is lifted off her feet (the camera pointedly at her wiggling feet as we hear her struggle for breath) and decapitated by a hatchet (impressive severed head gag as it flops to the floor). The drowning victim gets off easy in retrospect. The nursery rhyme (it is heavily promoted as written by Asia Argento) and Animal Farm book provide a seriously warped nutcase with ideas as he takes what happens to animals and applies them to victims, casualties of his psychopathy. Little animal cut outs left at crime scenes by the killer link each victim to the murdered animal from the rhyme.
The child who watched his mother's horrible murder returns home to Turin after seventeen years away in Rome. His childhood buddy, an asthmatic, calls him home and the now twenty year old finds himself aligned with a retired cop (the great Max Von Shadow) as they investigate a new crop of homicides, supposedly related to the "dwarf killings" if not committed by another never caught.
Goblin has a score which integrates effectively with whatever tone each scene carries. The opening in the train is pulse pounding and frenetic as Dario ratchets up the terror of the prostitute running back and forth from car to car by making his camera frenzied when she tries to escape, with the distant shot of her from the outside calmer, observant. As with films from the past, Argento has Goblin apply scoring to his kill scenes that enhance the establish set up of the victim (it isn't too difficult reasoning that the person we see who isn't introduced as a lead principle cast member is doomed), her dilemma (she is often in a place with few people present, and almost every homicidal attack happens at night), and the anticipation of when and eventually how she dies (often the camera looks through the eyes of the killer in classic slasher tradition before, and full view of him is never elaborated until the very end).
My IMDb review to close:
I feel "Sleepless" is a fine example of how to make a giallo and make it right. The red herrings, the reasons behind why and how the killer works, the violence which is jarring and graphic, the strength of having a legend, Max Von Sydow, as the central sleuth detecting, and the great finale which is actually quite satisfying. You'll have detractors saying that this has such familiarity to it, but I felt this is a completely original story in it's own merit while exhibiting the traits fans of this genre know and love. The film concerns killings from the past and how they connect with a fresh crop of new killings. It is said that a killer dwarf(!)was behind the death of three women, one being the mother of Giacomo(Stefano Dionisi)..viciously slain by a musical instrument. It is stated that Ulisse Moretti solved the case which ended when a dwarf named Fabritiis decided to commit suicide instead of tolerate the scorn of others lying guilt at his feet for the slayings. The fresh killings bring that case back to fruition and Moretti begins to suspect he was wrong in fingering the dwarf. It seems the killings are following a pattern from a nursery rhyme book with animals. After each female is killed, a cut-away picture of an animal is left by their body. Giacomo, who had left the area, returns at the invitation of an old school chum, Lorenzo(Roberto Zibetti). With Moretti, Giacomo go on their own investigation and make some startling discoveries on the way. During the course of the film, Giacomo will also have a passionate affair with a talented harp player, Gloria(Chiara Caselli). This film has some very nasty killings such as a poor woman who gets her face bashed up against a wall, a man who receives a gold pen inserted in his skull, not to mention some knife slayings for good measure. The train sequence in the opening(..not to mention what happens shortly afterward)is very well done. There's an inspired sequence where a ballerina is beheaded during the intermission of a "Swan Lake" concert. I love how the film develops over time as we discover the connection between the animal rhyme book and the slayings, not to mention who the killer really is. Everything comes together in such a thrilling was. An essential giallo, and one of Argento's finest films.
Dario doesn't stop there. The most cruel of the deaths would seem to be a nasty use of an English horn which is repeatedly stabbed in a mother's mouth while her horrified son looks on, trapped in a cellar. Almost rivaling that is a woman's face bashed repeatedly into a wall until her teeth break out. Another ballerina is lifted off her feet (the camera pointedly at her wiggling feet as we hear her struggle for breath) and decapitated by a hatchet (impressive severed head gag as it flops to the floor). The drowning victim gets off easy in retrospect. The nursery rhyme (it is heavily promoted as written by Asia Argento) and Animal Farm book provide a seriously warped nutcase with ideas as he takes what happens to animals and applies them to victims, casualties of his psychopathy. Little animal cut outs left at crime scenes by the killer link each victim to the murdered animal from the rhyme.
The child who watched his mother's horrible murder returns home to Turin after seventeen years away in Rome. His childhood buddy, an asthmatic, calls him home and the now twenty year old finds himself aligned with a retired cop (the great Max Von Shadow) as they investigate a new crop of homicides, supposedly related to the "dwarf killings" if not committed by another never caught.
Goblin has a score which integrates effectively with whatever tone each scene carries. The opening in the train is pulse pounding and frenetic as Dario ratchets up the terror of the prostitute running back and forth from car to car by making his camera frenzied when she tries to escape, with the distant shot of her from the outside calmer, observant. As with films from the past, Argento has Goblin apply scoring to his kill scenes that enhance the establish set up of the victim (it isn't too difficult reasoning that the person we see who isn't introduced as a lead principle cast member is doomed), her dilemma (she is often in a place with few people present, and almost every homicidal attack happens at night), and the anticipation of when and eventually how she dies (often the camera looks through the eyes of the killer in classic slasher tradition before, and full view of him is never elaborated until the very end).
My IMDb review to close:
I feel "Sleepless" is a fine example of how to make a giallo and make it right. The red herrings, the reasons behind why and how the killer works, the violence which is jarring and graphic, the strength of having a legend, Max Von Sydow, as the central sleuth detecting, and the great finale which is actually quite satisfying. You'll have detractors saying that this has such familiarity to it, but I felt this is a completely original story in it's own merit while exhibiting the traits fans of this genre know and love. The film concerns killings from the past and how they connect with a fresh crop of new killings. It is said that a killer dwarf(!)was behind the death of three women, one being the mother of Giacomo(Stefano Dionisi)..viciously slain by a musical instrument. It is stated that Ulisse Moretti solved the case which ended when a dwarf named Fabritiis decided to commit suicide instead of tolerate the scorn of others lying guilt at his feet for the slayings. The fresh killings bring that case back to fruition and Moretti begins to suspect he was wrong in fingering the dwarf. It seems the killings are following a pattern from a nursery rhyme book with animals. After each female is killed, a cut-away picture of an animal is left by their body. Giacomo, who had left the area, returns at the invitation of an old school chum, Lorenzo(Roberto Zibetti). With Moretti, Giacomo go on their own investigation and make some startling discoveries on the way. During the course of the film, Giacomo will also have a passionate affair with a talented harp player, Gloria(Chiara Caselli). This film has some very nasty killings such as a poor woman who gets her face bashed up against a wall, a man who receives a gold pen inserted in his skull, not to mention some knife slayings for good measure. The train sequence in the opening(..not to mention what happens shortly afterward)is very well done. There's an inspired sequence where a ballerina is beheaded during the intermission of a "Swan Lake" concert. I love how the film develops over time as we discover the connection between the animal rhyme book and the slayings, not to mention who the killer really is. Everything comes together in such a thrilling was. An essential giallo, and one of Argento's finest films.
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