Why so much hype?

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

"A Blade in the Dark" follows a musical composer staying in a remote Tuscan villa to work on the score of a horror movie. A series of murders begin to occur in the villa after his arrival, sparking local interest.Directed by Mario Bava's son, Lamberto Bava, "A Blade in the Dark" is one of the later giallo films to come to fruition, debuting in 1983. Haphazardly dubbed in English (which, as others have noted, is some of the worst dubbing you're likely to ever see), the narrative twists and turns in relatively predictable ways, though there are a few nice surprises to be had, and Bava toys with the movie-within-a-movie trope by having the protagonist scoring a horror film.The film does succeed at achieving a relatively strong atmosphere, and the hilltop Italian villa locations are breathtaking and eerie. There are some great murder sequences as well, and the film strikes a nice balance between suspense and violence. The performances are decent, although the aforementioned dubbing does distract a bit. The ending is clever and very much in line with the film's giallo dedications, as absurd as it may be.Overall, "A Blade in the Dark" is, like many films of its type, atmospherically and visually interesting, but narratively convoluted. As an early-eighties entry into the giallo subgenre, it doesn't do much to distinguish itself, and that is where its biggest problem lies. It is reasonably suspenseful, however, and warrants a view from genre fans. Just don't expect Lamberto to live up to his father's legacy. 6/10.

Lamberto Bava's second feature - after the head-in-a-fridge hijinks of MACABRE - is this passable giallo which manages to get most elements right. The main problem with the film in my opinion is that Bava borrows too hard from his predecessors, with elements and stylistic touches from Hitchcock/Mario Bava/Brian de Palma popping up all the while. His biggest inspiration is obviously Dario Argento, and stylistically this film is very close to the feel of classics such as DEEP RED and TENEBRAE. There's the same suspenseful music, the same hero who must unravel the clues on his own, the same explicit murders to beef up the plot.The plot is a sound one, making use of a small cast and an isolated location. The villa in the film is full of seemingly endless corridors for plenty of stalking to take place in. The film succeeds in being quiet atmospheric and even a little frightening, even if the thrills are second-rate. The acting is also all right, although the film lacks the presence of a big-name star to give it that extra edge. Andrea Occhipinti (also appearing in CONQUEST, the same year's lame fantasy flick from Fulci) is fine as the hero of the piece, although he is given little emoting to do, appearing more of a robot instead. The identity of the females in the film confused me as to their relationship with Bruno; a lot of girls just pop up out of nowhere to get murdered. Also lurking about is the familiar face of Michele Soavi, a staple of the Italian horror scene in this period before he went into directing.Italian horror fans will automatically expect the slow-moving nature of the story, the plot holes, the sometimes dodgy editing and cheesy dialogue (one bimbo character is called a "vacant nerd" by our hero) although these may make the film harder to take seriously for your average viewer. Thankfully, we have a great score here with lots of suspenseful music which made things a lot easier to take for me (the film cuts down on money by having Bruno as a composer of horror movies - that way we get to listen to his music as the film goes on).The all important gore is quite impressive, and surprisingly explicit in some cases (although the UK version shows some evidence of cutting in the second murder). Nasty! I especially liked the little stylistic touch of having the craft knife click from notch to notch loudly as the killer extended it. A BLADE IN THE DARK breaks no new boundaries and by following on from what has come before (unlike Bava's spectacular DEMONS) will never be very noticeable, but it's an interesting enough film for genre fans to sit through. My only complaint is the identity of the killer - it was far too easy to guess, even for me!

Thats right When The Lights Go Out - The Knife Goes In, which is just one of the many taglines to this nasty vicious thriller. In my review for "Stagefright" I mentioned that I purchased this one along with 3 other slasher movies, including the brilliant "Stagefright".The directer Lamberto Bava really piles on the terror with this twisted shocker "A Blade In The Dark" which set in a villa and the movie centres around Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) a young composer whose being hired by a movie directer Sandra (Anny Papa) to write a score for her latest horror movie who refuses to let Bruno see the final scene for mysterious reasons and before you know it women appear at the villa and gets viciously killed, all of which has something to do with the horror movie he's working on and also the mysterious occupant Linda who also seems to be involved.Lamberto Bava really does a great job with this movie, creating tension and fear at the isolated villa all of which are shot beautifully, the gruesome deaths scenes are also a real treat, although I haven't seen that many giallo thrillers, I have to say that this one has got to be a stand out, the best is "Deep Red". On a bad note though the dubbing in this movie is terrible and a lot of the acting is quite bad, but that's all part of the cheesiness and this movie's charm.All in all a fine addition to the slasher genre, with a few flaws but great tension and death scenes are brutal.

Handsome young music composer Bruno (amiable Andrea Occhipinti) secludes himself in an isolated villa so he can devise the score for an upcoming horror film. A vicious psycho starts brutally butchering assorted lovely young women in the immediate area. Bruno investigates the savage homicides in order to find out if the killings have something to do with the movie he's working on. Director Lamberto Bava creates a reasonable amount of tension, maintains a grim, brooding tone throughout and stages the shockingly gory and sadistic murder set pieces with effectively ferocious go-for-it flair (the bathroom kill in particular is positively gut-wrenching). Moreover, there's a downright delectable bevy of beauteous ladies who are real easy on the eyes: Lara Naszinsky as Bruno's fetching blonde girlfriend Julia, Anny Papa as perky horror director Sandra, Valeria Cavalli as alluring neighbor Katia, and Fabiola Toledo as enticing brunette fox Angela (Toledo has a much-appreciated gratuitous topless scene). Occhipinti makes for an engaging lead, with solid support from Michele Soavi as friendly real estate agent Tony and Stanko Molnar as creepy sleazeball handyman Giovanni. Both Gianlorenzo Battaglia's slick cinematography and the elegantly eerie score by Guida and Maurizo De Angelis likewise hit the satisfying spot. The killer's true identity is both genuinely surprising and admirably perverse. Good, gruesome fun.