Eurohorror is making quite a comeback at the moment, this is the second such Italian influenced film I've talked about in as many weeks. Whilst In Fabric more borrowed the trappings and stylings of that era to tell a different sort of tale, Knife + Heart is a proper new giallo, with all that entails. For those who don't know what I'm on about, "giallo" refers to a movement of films that started in Italy in the mid-sixties that were similar to the pulp crime paperbacks of the time, many of which had cheap yellow covers, hence the name. The key elements to a giallo is that there should be a strong mystery element, though not necessarily a "fair play" one that the audience can figure out, the deaths should be major set pieces, there is often a strong element of sexuality or sensuality in there somewhere, and it should be filmed as stylishly as possible. As you can probably guess, the sub-genre was a big influence on American slasher films back in the day, with the first couple of Friday the 13ths... borrowing very liberally from one of the best of the bunch Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood. This one fits in well the sort of template laid by Dario Argento, or some of Lucio Fulci's earlier works, just with a very different sort of setting. I should mention now that the Gialli did sometimes have LGBT+ characters, but they didn't always touch on these areas in the most sensitive way (often very far from it!), though often not for a lack of trying. Argento did have a gay couple in Deep Red, one of his best, who were quite sympathetic characters, and in a later film Tenebrae there's a nod to that, including the way some critics/fans at the time read their inclusion, though it's still far from ideal.
Now for those wondering given the subject matter, no there aren't any actual... money shots in the finished film; probably the most visually explicit thing in here is the killer's choice of weapon (I am so not spoiling that!). Boy is there plenty implied just off camera though, with a lot of frank discussion about the topic, so yeah if you're a bit prudish for this, probably not for you. The whole scene portrayed in here does make this an interesting companion piece to William Friedkin's Cruising, although again both are indulging in very different cinematic traditions and styles of storytelling. For example, the mystery of who the killer is relies a lot less on traditional "clues" and is more a matter of theme and psychology. The film does amusingly tease you with the old stand-by of "is it a character's split personality?" early on, in such an obvious way, it's almost going "you really think we're going to dare use that chestnut again?". I can see some being disappointed by how this all wraps up, so I'm going to give a very minor spoiler to set your expectations properly; no, this isn't the sort of "whodunnit" where the audience is given all the information to figure it out. If you go in accepting that, you'll be fine with the way this plays out.
So how does it measure up? Well it's a bit of a "warts and all" job; it has a lot of what makes giallos good, but it brings along some of their weaknesses, in this case somewhat wooly and unfocused pacing. Whilst there are interesting bits in the middle with an investigation into the mystery, it does slow the plot down quite a bit, taking us away from the unique setting for the film that's the USP for too long. However, despite a few stumbles in the storyline, there's a lot to like in here; it's gorgeous to look at, has great character work, the murder set pieces work like gangbusters (especially with the killer's rather unique look), and it's unabashed queerness is refreshing and very funny. If you like off-beat thrillers, definitely give this a go.
Knife + Heart is being released by Mubi Movies from July 5th.
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