The Evil Eye

LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPPEVA TROPPO

THE EVIL EYE

Italy 1962

D: Mario Bava.

P: Massimo De Rita for Cosmopolis Films, Galatea SPA, Coronet and Les Filmes Marbeuf//St & Sc: Sergio Corbucci, Ennio De Concini, Eliana de Sabata, Mario Bava, Franco Prosperi & Mino Guerrini//DP: Mario Bava//E: Mario Serandrei//M: Roberto Nicolosi (Les Baxter US version)//Art D: Giorgio Giovannini//Costume: Tina Grani Loriello//Makeup: Euclide Santoli

Cast: Leticia Roman, John Saxon, Valentina Cortese, Dante Di Paolo, Robert Buchanan, Gianni Di Benedetto, Jim Dolen, Lucia Modugno, Virginia Doro, Luigi Bonos, Chana Coubert, Adriana Facchetti, Milo Quesada.

Nora (Leticia Roman) arrives in Rome to visit her Aunt Ethel who isn't feeling well. When Auntie dies that night and Nora experiences a wild chain of events that lead to her witnessing a murder, the police, along with Dr. Bassi (John Saxon), are skeptical since there is no body. She ends up staying with friends of her Aunt's, Laura Craven (Valentina Cortese) and her husband. Nora also learns about a series of murders that took place over the past ten years, dubbed The Alphabet Murders (the victims last names followed along like the letters of the alphabet). More murders occur before it is revealed that Laura herself is the killer (she also did in her sister) and it's not the "heroic" doctor who saves her, but Laura's near-to-death husband.

Although THE EVIL EYE is usually mentioned as the precursor to the Giallo cycle, that honor should really go to Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE. THE EVIL EYE is more akin to Alfred Hitchcock's fifties films, with Leticia Roman playing the Doris Day role, and John Saxon as Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart (in fact the Italian Title of THE EVIL EYE translates as THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, which is no accident). Both are bland in their appearance and actions and it is the flamboyance of the killer that makes the film memorable. The film definitely benefits from the fact that Bava acted as his own cinematographer. The B&W imagery utilizes light and shadow to effective extremes. When the Aunt dies in her bed in the middle of a thunderstorm, it acts as definite foreshadowing of Bava's technique utilized in a similar situation in BLACK SABBATH. Finally, a note about the fact that two, quite different versions of this film exists. The US print emphasizes comedy throughout, using different takes and sometimes even reshooting scenes emphasizing slapstick pratfalls and overacting. No doubt the "geniuses" at AIP required such stupidity. The European version is much bleaker and noirish, with no lessening of tension through comic relief. There are scenes unique to both versions that makes one wish a best of both prints could be created for the definitive viewing.