A Blade in the Dark

1983 "Don't Go Down the Stairs"
5.9| 1h49m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 06 August 1983 Released
Producted By: National Cinematografica
Country: Italy
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Bruno, an up and coming film composer, has been hired to write the score to a new horror movie. After moving into a secluded villa, life begins to imitate art as a vicious killer starts bumping off anyone and everyone who happens to pay him a visit.

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Director

Lamberto Bava

Production Companies

National Cinematografica

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A Blade in the Dark Audience Reviews

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever
Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Carmen Romeo So basically like this dude, I think he needs to like work on his mixtape or something. So he rents this bitchin pad and he's like droppin' dope cut after dope cut. But apparently he sucks as a producer cause he like can't figure out how to mix and he's probably got the dumbs And then this fine betty pops out like "I love humpin'!", but bro is gay so he's all like "get out". Then at the end there's this disgruntled transvestite. I don't know what they were so upset about, maybe like bathrooms or something, but then it turns out it was this dude THE WHOLE TIME and you're like "no way" and then it's over. I would definitely recommend this movie for like everyone.
Leofwine_draca Lamberto Bava's second feature - after the head-in-a-fridge hijinks of MACABRE - is this passable giallo which manages to get most elements right. The main problem with the film in my opinion is that Bava borrows too hard from his predecessors, with elements and stylistic touches from Hitchcock/Mario Bava/Brian de Palma popping up all the while. His biggest inspiration is obviously Dario Argento, and stylistically this film is very close to the feel of classics such as DEEP RED and TENEBRAE. There's the same suspenseful music, the same hero who must unravel the clues on his own, the same explicit murders to beef up the plot.The plot is a sound one, making use of a small cast and an isolated location. The villa in the film is full of seemingly endless corridors for plenty of stalking to take place in. The film succeeds in being quiet atmospheric and even a little frightening, even if the thrills are second-rate. The acting is also all right, although the film lacks the presence of a big-name star to give it that extra edge. Andrea Occhipinti (also appearing in CONQUEST, the same year's lame fantasy flick from Fulci) is fine as the hero of the piece, although he is given little emoting to do, appearing more of a robot instead. The identity of the females in the film confused me as to their relationship with Bruno; a lot of girls just pop up out of nowhere to get murdered. Also lurking about is the familiar face of Michele Soavi, a staple of the Italian horror scene in this period before he went into directing.Italian horror fans will automatically expect the slow-moving nature of the story, the plot holes, the sometimes dodgy editing and cheesy dialogue (one bimbo character is called a "vacant nerd" by our hero) although these may make the film harder to take seriously for your average viewer. Thankfully, we have a great score here with lots of suspenseful music which made things a lot easier to take for me (the film cuts down on money by having Bruno as a composer of horror movies - that way we get to listen to his music as the film goes on).The all important gore is quite impressive, and surprisingly explicit in some cases (although the UK version shows some evidence of cutting in the second murder). Nasty! I especially liked the little stylistic touch of having the craft knife click from notch to notch loudly as the killer extended it. A BLADE IN THE DARK breaks no new boundaries and by following on from what has come before (unlike Bava's spectacular DEMONS) will never be very noticeable, but it's an interesting enough film for genre fans to sit through. My only complaint is the identity of the killer - it was far too easy to guess, even for me!
chrichtonsworld This movie has almost everything a giallo should contain. Sexy women,a brutal killer and gore. An observant and experienced viewer may be able to predict the identity of the killer early on but there are more than enough red herrings to make you doubt your self. There are lot of scenes in which cheesy clichés could have ruined the experience. Somehow the director manages to overturn these clichés into real tense scenes. And for once the main character is not a complete moron. This guy is real charismatic in the movie and his seriousness about all of the events make the movie even work better. Of course this movie has it's share of flaws where plot and logic collide. Especially in the rushed ending. But it didn't bother me in the slightest. Effective giallo!
deckartt Let's face it, this is 70's style garbage inspired by similar movies of that time like "Profondo rosso". OK, that wasn't a perfect movie either, but at least there were decent actors in it and Dario Argento's taste for suspense and some interesting camera angles. Lamberto Bava unfortunately doesn't have a clue of what the elements for a good thriller are (maybe his dad just gave him the money to make the movie but not enough good advices), and ends up with trite murder scenes and a boring soundtrack trying to make a movie that would like to be as taunting as Deep red but actually looks more like Tenebre, possibly the first Dario Argento's movie to start his downward inspirational spiral...What is interesting to notice is the dubbed voice of a very young Andrea Occhipinti (he could never act, not even when he got older anyway..) and the killer in the movie that is an evil transvestite...I guess Andrea wanted that part so badly, or maybe he was even straight at the time, like George Michael. Things change.