This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

A Disappointing Continuation

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

As nearly every professional critic mentions, this movie is more of a cinematic freakout than a story, though there's enough story to grab on to. Is it good? Is it self-indulgent with a whiff of pretension? Is it cryptic enough to leave you without an easy answer? Yes, yes and yes. It isn't really a horror movie, except for in a psychological, David Lynch way. I would say that the main weakness (and here's the mild spoiler) is that it gives us yet another metadramatic "Is it real? Is it a fantasy? A dream? Is he insane and it's all in his head? Is it about filmmaking itself?" kind of thread to pull on. And I think that thread is threadbare this decade. It's been beat to death. This said, I half-expect to change my score to a 3 or a 9 after I eventually see this movie again. It's so weird that I'm not even sure if it's good, lousy or great.

The film is extremely eerie, and beyond that, one of the more surreal films that I have ever seen. Whilst nowhere near mainstream, Berberian Sound Studio proves to be something very grand, but also unbelievably weird. There's no clear cut storyline, nor is there your traditional horror, but the atmosphere of this film is more than enough to propel the story into something truly scary. It's a film about sound, the manipulation of sound in films and whether what you see and hear in film is really there or not. I think people will dislike this film for being deep and metaphoric, but that's why I like it. Nothing in this film feels out of place and a sudden change in how the story plays out towards the end creates something really fantastic.

I had had the pleasure of watching Berberian Sound Studio at first in Thessaloniki film festival, and I was greatly satisfied and surprised with the real cinematic freshness this films brings in the fields of horror movies and art cinema(if there is such a field) at the same time.Genuine and enigmatic, it does not succumb to the trendy ways in which directors usually manipulate their material these days,and does not seek to impress for nothing, but creates its own universe with completely original means, despite the fact that it is certainly referring to a certain era, that of the Italian Giallo, reproducing a feeling that belongs to that era, but at the same time creating something new.I consider this film one of the best I have watched over the last five years and a very serious candidate for the list of the ten best movies of the decade, when the moment comes.I understand that it is not for all tastes-as I realized by the reactions of many spectators-but I believe it's a film worth fighting for that will have its place as a classic in the future.In the meantime, I can't wait to watch the new film by Peter Strickland in this year's Thessaloniki film festival, all the more as his films do not seem to have release in Greece beyond the festival.At least Berberian sound studio never did, so I bought it from Amazon to watch it again and again.

(37%) This really, really is not a movie for casual film fans, so anyone expecting the simplicity of a slasher flick, or the fun of a horror comedy should give this a wide birth. This is for fans of a certain type of Italian horror with the main focus on sound mixing and creation in a rather bleak looking sound studio. After about 20 minutes it becomes clear that this isn't going to be a plot heavy movie as Toby Jones (the best aspect of the movie) records effects, mixes effects etc while the whole time something is never quite right. The movie is not really fun to watch, or really that rewarding, but a certain audience will find at least something to enjoy here, while everyone else should stay away.