Sunday, November 27, 2016

Francesca

Director - Luciano Onetti (Sonno Profondo)
Starring - Luis Emilio Rodriguez, Gustavo Dalessanro, and Raul Gederlini
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Giallo and I never truly got along.  Sure, I enjoy the works of Dario Argento but the other giallo films bored me to death.  Argento has a style that can not be duplicated regardless of how hard the others tried.  His copy cats and rip offs were never able to capture the style, tension, and suspense like he could.  With that being said, there is some modern giallo films that I really enjoy.  The first being a parody of the sub-genre, The Editor.   This Astron-6 masterpiece is nothing short but brilliant.  It captures everything we love about Argento's giallos but was able to make you laugh at those very things.  The next up is the perfectly crafted Sonno Profondo.  This film from first time filmmaker Luciano Onetti hits all the right notes and makes you think you are watching a giallo from the heyday of the giallo film.  It is beautiful, well put together, and wraps it all together with the giallo style that Argento mastered.  When I found out that Onetti was at it again with another giallo I had to see it.  The film, Francesca, was acquired by my friend over at Unearthed Films and the Francesca Facebook page messaged me with the details.  I held off reviewing the film until I could get my hands on the amazing bluray that Unearthed is known for.  It was sent my way from my friends over at MVD.  Thanks guys for allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to see this amazing film!
     A town is rocked by a series of gruesome murders and two detectives are tasked with stopping them before they kill again.  However, this is no easy task.  Their only lead is an unsolved abduction from 15 years ago when a little girl named Francesca was kidnapped and her father was stabbed.  Now they must find her abductors in order to stop this ruthless killer.
    

     When it comes to giallo its all about style.  We need stylish settings, stylish camera work, stylish kills, and so on.  Style is key.  That is what I liked so much about Sonno Profondo.  The film didn't throw blood at us for no reason and didn't give us more story than we needed.  What we got was enough story and style to hook the viewer.  Sure, we got some kills but that was just the icing on the cake.  Francesca very much followed in Sonno Profondo's footsteps.  The acting in this one is questionable.  Most of the film's cast is new to cinema.  Their imdb pages are all bare with the exception of Francesca.  They have no experience and due to language being a barrier we get some flat performances.  More experience would have went a very long way in this instance.  The story for this one is very giallo inspired and borrows heavily from those films of yesteryear.  The film flows like a slasher was combined with a murder mystery all while being painted as a giallo.  That is what makes giallos so much fun.  We never know who is going to be doing the killing and what kind of twists we will be getting.  The film does move slowly but that only adds to the atmosphere of the film.  Finally, the film does have a couple kills but they are nothing memorable or entertaining for that fact.  The blood is at a minimal.  With that being said, the film was not intended to be a bloodbath.  Instead, it was made to look and feel like an authentic 70s giallo.  Overall, Francesca was worth the wait.  Nostalgia is high with this amazing piece of indie cinema.  If you enjoy giallos then you need to see this.  Check it out.




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