The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970; L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo) is Dario Argento’s first film as a director and one of the first examples of the giallo genre (if the info on the back of the Blu-Ray box is correct). This was an entertaining mystery thriller with Hitchcock and Blow Up as clear influences. An American writer (Tony Mustante) about to leave Italy witnesses an attack that may be connected to a leather gloved, coat and fedora wearing serial killer. There’s some great set pieces and oddball characters (the rustic painter was a fave), though not as ultra violent and super stylistic as Argento’s later work. Some beautiful pieces of score by Ennio Morricone featured as well. This forms part of Argento’s ‘animal’ trilogy with Cat O Nine Tails and Four Flies On Grey Velvet (love those titles!).
VHS Tracking 