DVD Review: Giallo
DVD Review: Giallo (2009)
Studio: Maya Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 19, 2010
Directed by: Dario Argento
Starring: Adrien Brody, Emmanuelle Seigner, Elsa Pataky
Review by: John Carpenter
Have you had your V8 today? For those who recall the commercial, people who don’t drink V8 are destined to walk through life off balance. The advertisement promotes that once a bottle of the (fairly disgusting) carrot juice is consumed, things will quickly set a person straight thus setting V8 drinkers up with a lifestyle of success. Dario Argento may be a part-time V8 drinker. While this master of horror has certainly been straight up terrific at times (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Opera) he has also directed some crooked features that have missed the mark. As the giallo king steps behind the lens for Giallo, is Argento going to leave audiences off balance with terror or reclined back in the chair catching up on sleep?
While headed home to visit her sister Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner), Celine (Elsa Pataky) finds herself in the wrong taxi. It seems there is a serial killer known as ‘Yellow’ (Byron Deidra) who loves picking up beautiful women to kidnap and torture. Celine, being an attractive model, certainly caught his eye. The X-factor is that Celine was talking on the phone with Linda, who heard enough to suspect something had happened to her sister. The next morning, Linda heads to the police station and is sent to the basement. It is there she finds Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Adrien Brody), a chain smoking cop with an unorthodox way of working. Avolfi has been tracking a killer and with the assistance of Linda, the two attempt to solve the crime and recover Celine in the process.
Think about your favorite athlete. Once this player hit the professional level, he/she probably dominated their respective sport. Unfortunately, age always catches up to these talented individuals and the performance level is significantly lower during the twilight of their careers. I liken Dario Argento to my favorite athlete and sadly he seems to have lost a step or two. As much as I cling to the horrific beauty of Deep Red and the nightmarishly seductive Suspiria, today’s Argento is just a fraction of what he once was. Giallo has hints of what makes Argento a master of horror, and I believe those who are not familiar with his catalog may be impressed enough by his latest to dig a little deeper. These new fans to the genre will be rewarded in a major way. As a longtime fan, I am not as forgiving. After sitting through The Card Player and Mother of Tears (which upsets me more having Asia Argento involved), it may be time to stop trusting the horror master and turn to his highlight reel for quality horror.
Giallo hits DVD with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The quality feels like a direct-to-DVD transfer. Giallo films are known for being visually appealing, with art direction almost becoming a character in the film. Argento’s latest doesn’t have this feel. The overall look of the film is rather bland, which has more to do with the movie and less with the transfer. Flesh tones are accurate and the level of detail is fine for the DVD release.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is pretty tame. Dialogue is crisp, only suffering when Yellow mumbles his way through a line. The score is strong, but overall the action is limited to the front channels.
For a movie that I was less than impressed with, the lack of extra features on this DVD is a blessing in disguise.
Those who were excited about Adrien Brody and Dario Argento teaming up can sit down now. Giallo is more disappointing than it is boring and will probably be better known for Brody trying to halt the DVD release than the film itself. Longtime Argento fans will not be impressed with the film and Brody’s other recent genre releases (Splice, Predators) are certainly better options. The barebones DVD has decent audio and video making this tough to recommend for anything other than a rental….maybe. Will somebody please slip Dario Argento some carrot juice?
