Nonureva
Really Surprised!
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Matho
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
GL84
Brought into the city morgue, a still-alive American recalls visiting Prague with his girlfriend when he stumbles onto the mysterious disappearance of a young woman and sets out to find her which plunges him deeper into the underworld and forces him to stop the nefarious plans.This one has quite a lot to really like about it. What really works well here is the fact that this one manages to dwell quite heavily in such an engrossing mystery that it's main protagonist going crazy trying to solve it doesn't seem the slightest bit ludicrous or out- of-place. The early set-ups here, from the main part of him paralyzed trying to remember what happened and launching from there into the recollections of the events that transpire throughout here, from the party and her eventual disappearance to the gruesome discovery in the river and how that works into providing the remaining parts of the storyline. That leads into the more enjoyable giallo portions in the later half where he finds himself stumbling onto a fine mystery and getting into the usual demands of such a situation, generated by the fact that there's some rather ingenious scenes of him being psychologically tormented by the overt attempts on his life in the encounter in his hotel room or the murderer striking at the train-tracks which are clearly after him yet there's little about the scenes themselves that make sense in his unraveling of the mystery that draws him deeper into the underworld club that's at the center of his quest, and more importantly the scenes there not only wrap the film into quite a thrilling series of twists as well as the addition of some sleazy thrills to be had there with the disturbing orgy featured and the nice chase out of the club. Likewise, these are bolstered quite well with the interludes of him on the slab waiting to determine why he's showing the signs of death yet is not truly dead yet, and though these may somewhat disrupt the flow here there's more than enough to get engaged with the gradual tension of what's to come whether or not they realize this in time makes for a gripping main storyline on display. While these here give this a lot to really like, it's still a flawed effort overall. One of the biggest issues here is the fact that this one tends to interrupt it's main storyline chase for a series of overly bland and unimpressive shots here not only showing him being hounded by the police officer or at the music centers but also the numerous inserts of him on the phone calling others that it does seem to stutter at times. Due to the low body-count in here, that does compound measures somewhat slightly as well with the fact that there's not a whole lot of truly overt and obvious giallo leanings that come from this one, and on the whole these here are what hold it down.Rated R: Violence, Full Nudity, Language and drug use.
PimpinAinttEasy
A journalist who is in a coma slowly remembers how he got to the hospital. At the hospital, only he knows he is alive but cannot speak to the doctors who think he is almost dead. Scenes at the hospital are interspersed with the journalist (Jean Sorel who bears an uncanny resemblance to Robert Redford) slowly retrieving his memories of romancing his girlfriend (the wooden Barbara Bach) in Prague, whom he saved from some sort of political scandal. We are treated to yet another great Morricone - Edda Del Orso collaboration while they walk around Prague kissing each other. But soon the girlfriend disappears and the rest of the film is about the journalist trying to track her down with the help of a colleague (Ingrid Thulin) who is madly in love with him. While also trying to stay alive at the hospital where everyone thinks he is dead.There are some great set pieces. This was obviously a low budget film. There are little or no long or wide angle shots. The ending is simply spectacular. I did not see it coming. Barbara Bach ruined the film for me a little bit. I did not find her to be attractive at all. Posters on the message board suggest that Stanley Kubrick was inspired by this film when he did the orgy scenes in Eyes Wide Shut.Aldo Lado, the director says in his commentary that this film is about the old feeding on the young to stay alive. Somewhat prophetic, considering Europe's declining birth rates which would lead to young people having to take on the burden of providing welfare for an aging population.
Ben Larson
It's been about 25 years since Barbara Bach has appeared on screen. In her early career, she was known for giallos like this one; after all she married an Italian and moved to Rome.Americans will probably know her more from The Spy Who Loved Me, Force 10 From Navarone, or Caveman.Her boyfriend in the film, Gregory (Jean Sorel), is a reporter that shows up in a hospital apparently dead, but not really.While they are trying to reanimate him, we get the story through flashback.Interesting and well made.
Witchfinder General 666
Aldo Lado's "La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro" aka. "Short Night Of The Glass Dolls" of 1971 is a work of art in style and beauty that every fellow lover of Italian Horror cinema should see for its many ingenious aspects. Yet, I cannot deny that I was a tiny bit disappointed with this film, which I bought under the title "Malastrana" and which several fellow Giallo-enthusiasts had recommended to me as something absolutely unique. My expectations were high, and I also expected something quite different in the film. I was (miss)lead to believe that "Malastrana" was a typical Giallo, and while it can be attributed to the Giallo-genre, it can not really be described as a Giallo in the traditional sense. It was not the lack of stylish murders from the perspective of a black-gloved killer that bothered me, however. The visually striking film has a downright brilliant premise and an ingenious ending, but in-between it tends to drag a little. While the general atmosphere is an eerie one, however, I would have loved a little more genuine scares.Not that the film wasn't suspenseful. It actually builds up a great tension. The film begins very promising, when a man (Jean Sorel) is brought to a morgue while he is actually still alive. The man, who soon remembers that he is Gregory, an American Journalist working in Prague, experiences how he is pronounced dead, and yet he is unable to do anything about his situation. He therefore decides that all he can do is to try and remember how he got in this peculiar situation... A more than original beginning indeed, which made my expectations for the rest of the film even higher. A fellow Giallo fan had described the film as one of his personal favorites to me, and in the beginning I almost felt that it might become one of mine. Sadly, there are some points that I didn't like. The film drags a little in the middle, and the suspense could sometimes have been more intense. Also, the film does not really make the viewer care for the characters, which lessens the intensity a little. Then again, the film has many brilliant aspects. Visually, the film is incredibly striking. The photography is beautifully done and Prague is an excellent setting for a Giallo, even more for one with an occult twist. The visual impressions are intensified by a brilliant score by maestro Ennio Morricone. Jean Sorell is very good in the lead and the rest of the performances are also brilliant. The cast includes the great Mario Adorf in a typically unpolished role, and the immortal Ingrid Thulin. The ravishing Barbara Bach is unbelievably beautiful in the role of Mira, the main protagonist's young girlfriend who takes every man's breath away. Overall, "Short Night Of The Glass Dolls" did not quite live up to my very high expectations, but it is not the film alone which can be blamed for that. I began to watch this film expecting a masterpiece, and while, in my opinion, it is not, it is nonetheless a highly atmospheric, original and visually striking film that no Italian Horror fan should consider missing. Especially the ending is breathtaking. Not an absolute masterpiece, in my opinion, and yet highly recommended to all my fellow Giallo-buffs!
