Good start, but then it gets ruined

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Delirium (1987) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Gloria (Serena Grandi) is a former model who struck gold making a magazine called Pussycat but it seems a secret admirer is about to cross the line. Pretty soon obnoxious phone calls are turning into someone murdering off the models that are working for Gloria.Lamberto Bava was trying to not only make a film that looked and seemed like the work of his father but there's no question that there's a touch of Dario Argento as well. DELIRIUM isn't a completely successful movie but at the same time there are enough interesting and bloody murders mixed in with the sexploitation feel to where fans of the genre will find it to be worth a watch.The film seems to not know if it wanted to be a naughty nude film or a giallo so we basically just get the best of both worlds. The film's plot certainly isn't the greatest or the most original but it's basically just here to show beautiful women being murdered and of course getting naked before hand. As a giallo it works to a point as the violence is certainly there as well as the actors and actresses ability to spit out blood as they are being wounded.The film offers up a lot of nudity from the various women and that includes the lead Grandi. She's actually pretty good in the film has she's constantly showing off her body and in a rather hilarious way she does so at the end with the killer's request. You've also got George Eastman and Daria Nicolodi appearing in brief bits. Bava's direction is fine for this type of picture and he offers up some nice cinemaotgprahy and lighting.DELIRIUM certainly isn't a masterpiece or even a good film but it's sleazy enough to where fans of the genre should enjoy it.

The film looks like a classic Italian Giallo, almost a parody, with eroticism and many nude scenes. Actually, it's a good psychological thriller. The director Lamberto Bava manages to keep the suspense till the end, with a lot of false leads and several suspects. The most interesting part of the film is that the spectator can see the murder through the killer's eyes, his sick mind. Bizarre homicides, beautiful use of colors, cool soundtrack. Serena Grandi and the models are just gorgeous and sexy, David Brandon plays his part very convincingly, just a cameo role for George Eastman, Capucine shows off her class in the small role, the rival. I would like to say thank you to Lamberto Bava for choosing Vanni Corbellini, Gioia's brother, very talented actor. In the end, there are many psychoanalytic themes.... Delirium: Photo of Gioia is ultimately a pleasant, interesting, bizarre and surreal movie.

It's not often I regret investing in a DVD, but this is $10 I wish I had back. That said, there is an appropriate time and place for everything. For those Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fans among us, it's extremely MiSTable. A fun movie to watch late at night with a bottle of something relaxing and a bowl of popcorn, when you just want something with boobs and gratuitous violence to make fun of, with lots of dialogue pauses and breaks for spoofing. Unfortunately, I've never seen it on any TV listing ever, so your best bet is to trick one of your friends into buying it and then going "haha, now it's too late!". Make a night of it, kids!

Sort of an "Eyes of Laura Mars" wannabe, this Italian import has a murky, gloomy visual style, a derivative slasher-movie plot and an exploitative approach (with lots of nudity and some graphic, though unoriginal, murders). Overall, a mediocre thriller, but at least director Lamberto Bava has some bizarre ideas that may not add up to much, but do manage to grab our attention (SPOILER:before two of the murders, the victims-to-be turn into appallingly ugly half-human monsters, at least from the killer's point-of-view). (**)