Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

morrison-dylan-fan After deciding that I would soon watch Ruggero Deodato's 1976 Italian Crime epic Live Like a Cop,Die Like a Man for the first time soon,I started checking for Horror flicks to view in the run-up to Halloween. Looking at the films from DVD company Shameless I had left to view,I spotted a Giallo by Deodato,which led to me playing the music of the Phantom.The plot: Whilst one of the most successful classical composers around, Robert Dominici has to keep secret from his fans,co-workers and girlfriend Helene Martell that he has an illness which makes him rapidly age. On the same day his doctor says they have given up finding a cure,Dominici is told by Martell that she is pregnant. Horrified about there being no cure,and fearing that his child will have the same illness as him,Dominici begins writing a murderous composition.View on the film:For what was then the second film they had put out,Shameless give the title a passable transfer,with the soundtrack being clear,but the picture having a noticeable amount of grain. Largely staying away from the genre until the third,and final wave of Giallo (with this,the Slasher hybrid Body Count,and the classy Gialli The Washing Machine) director Ruggero Deodato (with family member Giovanna designing the costumes) and cinematographer Giorgio Di Battista slant the Giallo to the Erotic Thriller side,with blue low-lighting covering Dominci's face,and slick camera moves gliding on his high- life. Backed by a smooth synch score from Pino Donaggio and surprisingly good practical effects, Deodato makes the murder set-pieces short and sharp,with the stylised splashing of Gialli red heightening the madness of Dominci.Revealing the killer to be Dominci early on,the screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici/Vincenzo Mannino & Gigliola Battaglini focuses on the rapidly ageing romance between Dominci and Martell in rather mature characterisation, which whilst giving the movie a dramatic weight,does drain any feeling of urgency from the murder case being solved. Whilst Deodato says she was only included because the producer wanted her, Edwige Fenech (whose voice for the first time is not dubbed) gives an alluring performance as Martell,who is pulled by Fenech to her wits end at the change of her lover,and Michael York gives Dominci a strong dose of gravitas,in the writing of his final composition.

bensonmum2 About half way through Phantom of Death last night, I almost gave up and turned it off. Much of the first act seemed so schizophrenic to me. What I thought was going to be a straight forward giallo ended up being anything but. I'm glad I stuck around. It's not great, but Phantom of Death provides a rather unique twist on the giallo that fans ought to check out. Robert Dominici (Michael York) is a 35 year-old concert pianist with the world at his fingertips. However, he is stricken with a rare disease that makes him age at an alarmingly rapid pace. He goes through bouts of uncontrollable, murderous rage. His target (as with most all gialli) – beautiful young women. Inspector Datti (Donald Pleasence) is tasked with putting a stop to the killings. For the aging Dominici, it becomes a cat and mouse game as he taunts Datti at every opportunity. The rapidly aging plot device is used very effectively in Phantom of Death. The police aren't sure who they're after. Physical evidence suggests the killer might be in his 30s or in his 50s or even in his 70s. It's a nice twist. And York does a phenomenal job with the aging Dominici. His performance here is much better than I ever expected to find in a film like this. Even though he's a ruthless killer, York is actually able to make the audience feel sympathy for Dominici and his situation. This is especially true in the film's finale. It's really remarkable. The make-up here is also fantastic. With hair falling out, teeth rotting, and other age related transformations, York really appears much older than he is. Nice job.As is the usual case and as my rating indicates, there are some issues I had with Phantom of Death. I love Edwige Fenech, but she's horribly underutilized as Dominici's love interest. Her role is such that I'm in the fourth paragraph of this and I am just now mentioning her. I don't think Pleasance gives one of his better performances. He often looks tired and lost. He's not helped by a script that makes him and the rest of the police look incompetent. How they didn't catch Dominici earlier is a mystery that can only be answered by one of the film's writers. One of my biggest complaints is with the editing. There are several occasions where a scene will jarringly end and switch to something completely different. A monkey on speed could make smoother transitions. Finally, the pacing is off kilter at the start of the film. As I wrote previously, it felt schizophrenic.

adriangr A successful pianist, surrounded by beautiful female admirers, is dogged by a string of murders that seem to follow him around. The movie follows him as his life begins to unravel. I admire Shameless for bringing these movies out for us to experience, but this is not a good film. It's badly made, and it looks AND sounds horrible. The sound quality is really bad, the volume leaps between low muffled spoken dialogue one minute, to heavy, blaring orchestral music the next. I was playing with the TV remote to whole time to compensate for this. And when stars Michael York and Donald Pleasance speak their lines, the audio quality is appalling - totally different to the person they are having a conversation with. Donald Pleasance in particular speaks in every scene (no matter where he is) with the tonal quality of being in an echoey, tiled chamber, while everyone else's vocals sound really close and flat. There's no way to get immersed in the performances with sloppy dubbing like this.The editing and flow of the various scenes is also really bad. Case in point, the scene when one victim is knifed at a train station, the scene carries through her death scene to the police arriving, body being covered up and Michael York watching in anguish, with the same intense score, as though these thing are all happening at the same time. That's not artistic, thats bad movie crafting. Michael York (as the main character) seems to dash all over the place with no sense of any real time passing. You'd think that with the experience that director Deodato has under his belt, there would be a bit more polish than this. So what are we left with? Some splashy but cheap gore (who has a bedroom lampshade with a 2ft spike on it?), some attractive ladies who's appeal is sadly ruined by terrible late 1980's fashion disasters. The acting is dire. The killer seems to have no motive for the way he is behaving. Donald Pleasance looks troubled and unwell the entire time. Michael York is shrill and hammy. Sorry, but I'd give this one a miss. You are very likely to lose interest before the whole sorry thing limps to a close.

christopher-underwood 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.