The Psychic

SETTE NOTE IN NERO

Export Title: Murder to the tune of Seven Black Notes

US Title:THE PSYCHIC

D: Lucio Fulci

P: Cinecompany//St & Sc: Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti,

Dardano Sacchetti//DP: Sergio Salvati//E: Ornella Micheli//M: Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera//Art D: Luciano Spadoni//Costume: Massimo Lentini//Makeup: Maurizio Giustini

Cast: Jennifer O'Neill, Gianni Garko, Marc Porel, Gabriele Ferzetti, Evelyn Stewart, Jenny Tamburi, Fabrizio Jovine, Riccardo Parisio Perrott, Elizabeth Turner.

Virginia has a psychic experience and almost wrecks her car. The vision she saw involved a man with a limp, burying a woman alive behind the wall of a villa. Later on she discovers that particular villa is owned by her husband and when the wall is opened up, a woman's skeleton is revealed. Her husband is arrested for murder since he was involved with her years earlier. Meanwhile, Virginia sees the man with a limp from her vision and tries to discover his link to the crime. The psychic experiences continue, revealing more and more clues to what happened in the past and what will happen to Virginia, her husband and the man with the limp in the future.

Because Fulci followed this film with ZOMBIE, THE BEYOND and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE PSYCHIC tends to get overlooked by fans and critics alike. Which is a shame because it's an excellent thriller, with a very complex plot that relies on Fulci's sensitive direction (not something he's known for) to maintain viewer interest. His use of zooms and quick cuts to inform you that a vision is about to take place, is a clever device that helps keep confusion to a minimum. Actress Jennifer O'Neill does a fine job as the psychic who almost misinterprets what she experiences to the detriment of her own life. Gianni Garko, as her husband, comes across as a man victimized by circumstances, who, when the time is right, reveals his true nature. I also enjoyed Evelyn Stewart as Garko's take charge sister. She pumps some much needed energy into a gloomy scenario. Fulci cribs from himself here (the opening death scene is a more graphic variation on the ending he used in DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING) in places, but shows he still had valid contributions to the genre (something he abandoned later on for THE NEW YORK RIPPER).  You really should give this one a chance.