HEFILM The film is loaded and overloaded with visual ideas. Two directors, perhaps too many ideas? Or too little story or interest in telling a story. There is very little talk in the film so don't let the fact that it's subtitled distract you as everything else will eventually.It has a David Lynch vibe to it at times in both a good and bad way though this is hyper paced rather the leaden though strangely it eventually proves to be going nowhere fast.Though it's easy to say the film is beautiful looking--it borrows heavily from several films in particular that fans will know. The thing is though the photography doesn't make the people look good--they all seem wrinkled and loaded with bumps and warts that the way the film is shot emphasizes, is this on purpose? Hard to say but the film's interest isn't exactly in people so it may just be an oversight, or some jacked up director idea to make everyone non-glamorous.There is a story at least suggested here in the first half hour but the movie is overlong and has a number of repeated little visual gags. almost like a highlight reel---as it to say, hey we really thought this one scene we did five minutes ago was cool, what if we show it to you again. And fast cutting gets just as boring as no cutting when the same style is used to edit every scene. The movie repeats it's best bits so much you start to hate them.Then it has a final baffling ten minutes--that feels like 20--that really make no sense whatsoever. You lose all sense of who any of the characters are by that point, you won't even know who's story it is by then.Use of authentic Giallo music is effective--and mostly used as source music--I guess the character's like to listen to Giallo music as you seen them start LP's at a number of points.It's a movie that doesn't know when to quit doing anything, it's almost like scenes cut out off a "real" giallo film or alternate edits.Of interest or distraction is the overuse of extreme close ups and split screen. if you're interested in unusual styles or shooting this will be of interest and show what works and what sure doesn't.If you're just a gore and giallo exploitation fan you'll likely get pissed off multiple times. A film worth a look but not really worth watching all of. What you'd call an interesting failure.

meddlecore This film is seriously exhausting to try and follow.It is one helluva gory psychedelic mess.I wasn't sure it was going to come around...and I'm not sure it ever really did.Without providing myself a little context going into this...I would have been completely and utterly lost, as to read any meaning into it whatsoever.It seems, a man named Dan Kristensen (Klaus Tange), has returned home to find his wife- Edwige- missing.He starts to wander around his apartment complex, seeking help from the other residents...but they aren't of much assistance.The residents he does happen to meet...seem to tell him their own stories...taking him on a journey through their nightmarish blood-soaked, psychedelic, fantasies.Though, perhaps, these stories are meant to reveal something about his own, hidden, nature.Or...is there just someone in the walls? Either way, he wakes up next to his wife's decapitated head, and thinks a man with a beard is out to kill him.A police officer is assigned to the case, but Dan continues on with his own investigation anyways.The man behind the wall eventually reveals himself to Dan- providing SOME sort of context for a narrative to develop: His wife was part of some game, that caused her to push the limits of her body, in an attempt to discover what was inside, but she only found "Laura". Knowing this secret tormented his wife, so she tried to escape, but was caught..."Where Laura found a new way... Where Laura keeps her secrets...".As you can see, sh*t remains pretty cryptic.There was an earlier point- where Dan was reading a diary that hints at the idea, that Edwige(?) had "discovered someone inside of her", that was, "trying to take control". But it's always noted in the male context.After the man in the wall seems to have been murdered. Dan decides to break through...to see what lies on the other side.This seems to be a journey into his own mind- during which he finally meets Laura- as he witnesses her death.Or is she even dead? Because he soon discovers her again, and this time...the cop shoots her dead.Now, it seems...Laura was the killer, travelling through the walls, discovered by his wife...who succumbed to her, for knowing her secret...that being, that she is also the old lady from apartment number 7.Turns out she killed her husband- and anyone else who knew the secret of her true identity- so that she could have the man of her dreams (Dan) to herself.But then Dan sends her off.And sh*t is still happening.The diary is empty. And so is the photo album- filled with stock photos.In the end, it all seems that this was one man's bizarre, masturbatory, fantasy- possibly originating from him having witnessed his sister- Laura- have her first period, as a child.So f*cking weird.Beautifully shot though.This is constructed like Lynch, and shot like Greenaway.And it is one helluva trip.Great film to watch on acid, for sure.6 out of 10.

christopher-underwood Certainly in the spirit of giallo but with the soul of Kafka. No simple narrative flow, not even a regular narrative structure, this visual and aural treat is not the simplest of watches. Always beautiful with continuous references to stained glass, art nouveau, eyes, knives and bared and bleeding flesh, the music and effects are also alluring, evocative and disturbing. A man returns from a business trip to find he cannot find his wife ( Edwige, nudge nudge aficionados! ) and that's about it, unless you count the wondrous building in which the film takes place or the spaces behind the walls. The directing duo are clearly fascinated by the Italian genre films of the 60s and early 70s and deliver up the most sumptuous offering, its just that, not unreasonably, they are less interested in the story lines but more in the more primal elements that go into even the lesser giallo. They love the colours, the sounds, the wide eyed screams and the trickling blood. The confused participants who know not whether they are mad or even dead, cannot help but draw us in to this manic mayhem and those of us who, similarly enjoy this craziness, can only applaud and breathe a sigh of relief we got out alive.

kosmasp In this case it is style over substance. There is something hidden and you may be able to decrypt it. But if you don't you'll either still love it or you will be annoyed by the fact that it's nothing like anything else you've watched the last couple of years. The movie always challenges you and even when you think you figured it out, there is something coming up muddling the water.It's a tough sell for some, but an easy if you want to watch something that is not explainable. Even if I wanted to tell you the story, I wouldn't be able to. It's about a man and a woman. Or is it? It's about one apartment ... but is it? It's about a detective ... or is he? If Dario Argento actually would have evolved and he had some artistic flair, he might have been the one doing these movies. As it is, we get this couple, who might not want to explain what they were thinking when they made the movie, but we know they had a master plan ... is it enough for you to enjoy though?