Customer Reviews

Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, a word of caution - if you haven't already seen the film you'd do well to avoid Amazon's image gallery as it pretty much gives the game away.

As with the previous two entries in the unofficial Animal Trilogy, Four Flies on Grey Velvet is short on explicit gore but brimming with atmosphere and artistic ingenuity, with set-piece murders primed and mined for maximum tension. It was with this film that Argento began to cement his particular style and is something of a crucible for future ideas. The murder of Roberto's maid in a local park foreshadows John Saxon's fate in Tenebre, and with its sudden lapses in time and attempted escape through the cobwebbed space between two buildings (to a soundtrack of whispers and sighs) it also sows seeds that would flourish in Suspiria. Other visual motifs (crimson curtains, extreme close-ups, inanimate objects suddenly wielded by a seemingly maniacal camera) would be repeated or re-jigged in Deep Red, Phenomena and Opera.

Argento's original intention was to have a gay protagonist and though the character of Roberto is still open to such a reading - his victimisation being as a result of a fear of being outed (as a murderer) has obvious correlations (note also Brandon's shaggy mane v Farmer's gamine crop or the rather tame bathtub scene with Francine Racette which sees Roberto playfully seducing his mirror image) - the more overt references are passed to Jean-Pierre Marielle who brings immense likeability to a small role as the PI hired by Roberto, and whose swish factor is tempered by a steely determination to finally cracking a case. A frosty Farmer acquits herself well, though Brandon is merely okay. Argento's fascination with weird science (here ludicrous by design but ingenious in execution) gives the film its animal-themed title, and the finale boasts one of his greatest sequences - a stunning, slow-motion shot of a car impacting with the back of a lorry, which marries chillingly beautiful aesthetics to Hollywood folklore, scored with Morricone's haunting "Come un Madrigale".

Having spent nearly 40 years in bootleg hell the picture quality in this release is a revelation, as has been noted, however, the English audio is problematic, there are no English subtitles included for the full Italian audio and there are minor cuts to transitions between scenes which are occasionally jarring. How much of a nuisance all this proves comes down to personal taste, but chuck in a couple of obvious factual errors on the sleeve blurb and sadly it amounts to a rather sloppy rush-release from MYA, whose claims of "fully uncut and with an astounding picture and sound quality" are at best over-zealous.

Four Flies is a solid giallo and an important entry in the Director's canon which bears repeated viewing, blurring gender roles and sexual identity, adding subtext and hit and miss humour, asylum flashbacks, well-executed deaths and a recurring nightmare in the form of a sun-bleached, public beheading - the significance of which turns out to be twofold. It also has in spades what a good Argento giallo conveys like no other, that chilling feeling of something wholly alien on the loose in human form.

Four Flies ranks somewhere in the middle of Argento's films. Way better than is 90s era stuff like Trauma, but not quite on par with Suspiria or Deep Red. Still I'd recommend it to anyone who is is even mildly an Argento fan.

I have mixed feelings about this DVD. The picture quality is great, and, let's face it, the visuals are really the main attraction in any Argento film. There is an ugly black line across the screen during the climax, but, after checking the video on some of the bootleg copies that are floating around the 'net, this appears to be part of the source film?

Also, the sound quality is poor but passable. Basically, the audio is crackly, like an old, dusty vinyl LP. Often it is too quiet and you'll be leaning in to your TV trying to hear the dialogue or the wonderful Ennio Morricone score.

Fans will still have to wait for the perfect DVD of 4 Flies, but, for the time being, this version will do fine.

After suffering for so long with fuzzy VHS bootlegs, I was very much looking forward to this release. It's certainly the best the film has ever looked but after going through every single scene and comparing it to the recent RetroFilm DVD, I found that there are three scenes with missing footage totaling :40. These occur during scene transitions and include dialogue. Also, the speed of the audio seems slowed down. If you listen to Mimsy and Michael, their voices are way too deep compared to previous versions or films. It sounds like they rushed this release once they got the exclusive rights instead of getting it perfect. That is too bad. This could have been the one. It is not. I gave it 3 stars for the picture quality alone.

Look, it's a vast improvement on the German semi bootleg that was floating around last year. Shame about the scratches on the print near the end. If you like Argento, you'll love this. Others may find its quirks a little odd. Those looking for a first Argento film should try Deep Red or Suspiria. That said, the Morricone score is worth admission price alone and there's some nice editing.

Long lost in a prolonged rights battle and unseen for years, Dario Argento's Four Flies On Grey Velvet may come from his most consistently inspired period but it's still such thin and often tedious stuff you'd half suspect he was keeping it hidden himself out of embarrassment until you realize that he's happy enough for the far worse Phantom of the Opera and The Card Player to still be out there. The chief problem is the disjointed and unconvincing plotting, but Michael Brandon's insipid performance as the unlikeable and uninterestingly passive musician being blackmailed after accidentally killing someone shows up just how rickety this one is without a charismatic or proactive figure to hold it together. It's not without its compensations and a couple of striking pieces of imagery - a recurring sequence of a Saudi execution and an ultra-slow motion car crash - although Argento seems to be expending far more energy and visual flair into purely expositionary shots like letters being delivered or phone calls being made than the surprisingly few setpieces. Too often he relies on cheap gimmickry, be it Jean-Pierre Marielle's camp gay private eye ("Oh, you heterosexuals!") who has never solved a case or the old `image caught on dead person's retina' plot device, while the main character treads water. The less said about the clumsy comedy (much of which comes from brutally beating an Arab postman), the better. There's an appealing performance from Francine Racette that partially offsets Mimsy Farmer's hysterical overacting and a cameo from Bud Spencer that briefly threatens to liven things up but it's far more forgettable than it has any right to be in that unwelcome I-think-I'm-dropping-off-to-sleep kind of way. Even a second viewing of the film with lowered expectations feels like clearing out the garage: you might find the odd item of interest but for the most part it's just a tedious chore.

The Region 1 NTSC DVD may have much better picture quality than the bootleg copies floating around, but aside from being a slightly cut version the sound quality on the English soundtrack is very poor, making Brandon sound even more bored than he is to begin with and most of the women ironically sound like female impersonators. The Italian soundtrack is much better - but since only a brief section of the film is subtitled in English that's not going to be much help for most viewers. Not much in the way of extras either: English opening and closing credits, stills gallery, the Italian trailer, a US TV spot and a copy of the US trailer that's been mastered from what looks like an atrocious seventh-generation dupe video source.

This early Dario Argento giallo boasts mainly a haunting Ennio Morricone score and a few excellent set-pieces to make it well worth viewing (the fact that it's been unavailable in a decent, viewable format up until last year also lent it a certain holy grail mystique for Argentophiles like me). The performances by Jean-Pierre Marielle as a flamboyantly gay detective (he brings a certain dignity to an obviously stereotypical role) and Mimsy Farmer as the hero's jittery wife are nicely done; Michael Brandon fares less well as the wooden, none-too-sympathetic leading man. There are several stylish directional touches here that hint of the delirious highwater mark that was still to bloom full flower in Argento's mid-seventies-to-early-eighties work (in Deep Red through Opera, to be exact), particularly in the groovy opening credits and in the slo-mo final sequence, the latter of which achieves a poetry rare in horror films. Those knock out moments bump up my final rating a half star: ***1/2 out of *****

This film wraps up Argento's "Animal Trilogy", which included 'Bird With The Crystal Plumage' and 'Cat 'O Nine Tails'. 'Four Flies' is the best of his early films, and next to 'Suspiria' is arguably his best work. Like everything he does, it is gorgeously photographed and quite stylish, with beautiful sets and locations. This film is full of Hitchcock-like mystery, suspense, twists, and a noir atmosphere. I highly recommend this film for anyone interested in thrillers, mysteries, slasher movies, or people interested in exploring the dark-hearted, mad world of Argento.

As a Dario Argento fan, I thought this was a lost film. Prints of this film rarely pop up anywhere, and the VHS copies of it (which were put out by Paramount many centuries ago) are impossible to find, and if they are found, they're usually so worn (and pan and scan) that they aren't worth looking for. But alas, the film was not lost, and thank goodness. This is a great Argento film, the best of his early work (aka the animal trilogy), and a great precursor to his later masterpieces.

There is a lot to enjoy here. Argento's camerawork here is quinessentially Argento, and his framing and lighting give this film a superb, surreal look. Even ordinary things seem strange and evil. The film has a lot of cool twists, and it also has some darkly hilarious scenes, especially the one that takes place in a funeral parlour. There are people trying out coffins for their future deaths, and it's one of Argento's most amusing scenes in all his work. The scene where they examine an eyeball is surreal and creepy, and the music score is haunting. Even the songs from the main character's rock band are pretty good. Argento's framing is very good as well (the DVD has been restored to its 2.35:1 aspect ratio), and some of the violence is quite jarring, even by today's standards. It also has the best opening credit sequence in any of Argento's work.

The only problem the film has is boring English dialog and wooden performances (which happens a lot in Argento's work), especially by the lead Michael Brandon, who shows hardly any emotion at all in this film. The supporting characters, however, are quite colorful (especially "the professor", a bumbling mailman, a gay private detective, and "God") and amusing. This is a must film for any Argento fan, and it's really one of his best films.

Throw away your DVD-R copies and other lousy DVD or VHS prints. MYA Communications has put out a beautiful restored widescreen transfer of Four Flies on Grey Velvet. English language until the end where the restored scenes are in English subtitles. This one has a man who being tormented because he accidentally killed a man who was following him. When a few people start to figure out who the person that is tormenting Roberto (Michael Brandon) is, they get killed - in light-moderate gory ways. This one is easy to figure out who the killer is. There arent really a lot of red herrings in this one. It is a very good movie but to me it is still the least of the animal trilogy (Cat O Nine Tails and Bird with the Crystal Plumage). I just found the characters to be a little weaker and the fact that the killer wasnt hard to figure out. There are a few genuinely creepy moments in this - a great scene where a lady is trapped in her home and you know she's going to get it, there is no music as she quietly tries to hide. I am saying a lady here and avoiding trying to not be a spoiler reviewer here. What I will say that whoever you think the killer is verified with this scene. It just became too obvious.
This movie isnt overly gory ala Suspiria or Deep Red. There is some gore, but nothing really super graphically gory.
This movie is worth owning because it really is well done even though I personally like his other ones better,but Four Flies is a superior effort compared to Stendhal Syndrome, Phantom of the Opera and Dario Argento's more recent movies. In my opinion his older movies are just superior and he is worthy of being called the Italian Hitchcock.

For a very long time, I thought I would have to order an European release of "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" in the PAL format. Thankfully, it is now available in the United States in the NTSC format from Mya Communications. It was worth the wait. "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" is a superb giallo (murder mystery) from the Italian Hitchcock, Dario Argento; his other giallo masterpieces include "Deep Red" (my favorite), "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage," and "Tenebre."

A persistent theme runs through most of Argento's earlier gialli: Appearances can be very deceiving. Many of his main characters are very artistic; they consist of writers and musicians. In his later, more high tech, gialli, they are members of the police force. In "Four Flies on Grey Velvet," Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) is a handsome, young musician who is being stalked. He confronts and accidentally kills the stalker in an empty cathedral. Someone wearing a creepy, kewpie doll mask (remember the horror hit "Valentine"?) takes photographs of the incident.

During a party at his home, Roberto finds the photographs. Anyone could have planted them. The maid, however, knows who it is. She tries blackmailing the masked person. Unfortunately, the maid is killed at a park while running through a maze of tall, narrow stone walls and hedges - a great chase scene reminiscent of Mario Bava's "Baron Blood," which was released one year later. Indeed, "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" has some creative death sequences. No two victims are dispatched in the same manner. There is a stabbing, a bludgeoning, and a death by drug injection.

The acting is good. Mimsy Farmer, an American, found fame in Italian gialli. (Armando Crispino`s "Autopsy" is one of her most famous.) She is Roberto's wealthy, distraught wife, Mina Tobias. Francine Racetta is a gorgeous brunette; she plays Dalia, Mina's cousin who easily seduces the vulnerable Roberto. Jean-Pierre Marielle is fun to watch as the colorful homosexual detective, Gianni Arosio, who has never been able to guess the killer's identity until now.

A beautiful musical score has been provided by the famous Ennio Morricone who scored many of Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns and a host of gialli from other Italian directors. Morricone scored all of Argento's earlier gialli until the two parted company. Then the rock band Goblin began playing the music. Argento is famous for his masterful camera work and lavish set productions. (He was greatly influenced by his mentor, Mario Bava.) This is all evident by the masterful restoration performed by Mya Communications. Video and audio quality are excellent. The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Italian mono is provided but there are no English subtitles. Some scenes during the killer's explanation were never dubbed in English and have English subtitles. I wish, like Blue Underground's release of "Deep Red," that English subtitles had been provided throughout the film during the Italian mono.

Maya Communications has provided a gallery of posters and lobby cards. There is a restored theatrical trailer from Italy. The American trailers (television and theatrical) are not restored. There is no commentary from the director or from anyone else.

Needless to say, "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" is essential viewing for all fans of Dario Argento and fans of Italian gialli. It has a few twists to keep everyone happy. The explosive finale is awesome.