A Blade in the Dark (2022 revisit)

One of the most amusing aspects of the film to me is how women just keep popping up on the rented estate of a composer working on the score for a friend's horror film...a horror film with a twist that brings out the worst side of someone close to the home occupied by Bruno. It was fun to see Soavi as Tony, the son of an oil executive renting the big sprawling home and grounds. There's a perverted gardener the film throws at us as a red herring, but the obvious suspect is the other character you see from time to time not a woman getting brutally murdered. On the grounds is a nice pool, plenty of trimmed hedges, surrounding wilderness, and well mowed lawns. I read this setting was the residence of an Italian producer...good for that guy!

Speaking of the estate, I think why I enjoy this as much as I do is because of how impressive the residence really is. The sprawling nature of main location real estate offers plenty of space for the killer to hide and roam about undetected, easily free to dispatch startled victims unprepared for that strike when it does come. That knife through the hand while using a bag to smother a swimmer in a bathroom is just savage. Plenty of "Psycho" (1960) vibes. Lamberto Bava in the 80s was more than capable of spraying blood all over the place, too.

The killer's wardrobe will definitely turn off some people, I think. It ties in to the film being scored by Bruno with emphasis on "You're a female. You're a female." Yeah, that will be polarizing.

I thought the character of Julia was a bit underdeveloped. But the women of the film were all underdeveloped, most just stabby fodder for the killer. Oh, another aspect of the film I really like that makes this giallo standout is the emphasis on a musician working on his score while a lot of horror happens in and around where he is staying.