Customer Reviews

Short Night of Glass Dolls

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Short Night Of Glass Dolls" is a great
mystery.

Spoilers
***********

The plot is very interesting with
a 1970's pop-culture idea of
individual freedom which is being
suppressed by a secretive conspiracy
of cold-war, communist fascists in
Chechoslavakia who use some sort
of occult sex-magic religion as their
underlying means of control.

It seems that young woman are being
kidnapped to tap into their sexual power
which is required by those in control
of the civil government and other
aspects of culture such as the arts.

The story is delivered as the memories
of a man who is apparently dead, but
remains somehow alive and conscious,
a zombie in the voodoo sense, made so
by the above mentioned cult,
which is another mystery not explained
until the end.

His girlfriend is missing and he
must find her.
The search leads him to the discovery
of the cult.
**********

If you like mysteries with lots of
culture and politics,
I'm sure this one will do.
Great cinematography, music (Morricone)
and pacing.

The ending pays off if you stay
with the slowly paced film.
There are excellent moments and
interesting characters throughout.

It is a very influential film as
it predates other popular
films with similar themes that
were loved by many whom I'm sure
never saw nor heard of this film.

note bene:
Spoiler **********************
Near to the end of the film
there is an occultic sex orgy
involving elderly people that
I found disturbing. It was a
really creepy soft porn scene
that would have been best done
in a more implicit way.
******************************

It was a beautiful day indeed when Anchor Bay released a box set of four classic Italian gialli films. Most fans of Italian horror films know all about these colorful murder mystery pictures-- thanks to Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Dario Argento--but how many of us know about Aldo Lado? Two of his films appear in the boxed set, "Short Night of Glass Dolls" and the impenetrable "Who Saw Her Die?" On the surface, both films look like absolute grand slam winners. We've a killer on the prowl, gruesome murders, red herrings, and a protagonist determined to bring the guilty to justice. Lado also gives us point of view shots from the killer's perspective, an evil and powerful conspiracy working behind the scenes, and style wafting off the screen in waves. Yep, "Who Saw Her Die?" and "Short Night of Glass Dolls" are definitely gialli in most respects. The latter film measures up well when compared to the giants of the genre. "Short Night of Glass Dolls" approaches the greatness of Argento's epic films "Deep Red" and "Tenebre," and compares just as well to Lucio Fulci's massively entertaining "Don't Torture a Duckling." "Glass Dolls" is definitely a better picture than "Who Saw Her Die?"

Whereas "Who Saw Her Die?" took place in Venice, "Short Night of Glass Dolls" is set in Prague, Czechoslovakia. As the film opens, we see a groundskeeper finding the lifeless body of a journalist named Gregory (Jean Sorel) in a dense thicket. Not surprisingly, he calls in the authorities, who arrive and move the body to the local morgue in the hopes of discovering its identity and the cause of death. But Gregory, we soon learn, is not dead. Rather, he is in a cataleptic state as a result of an injection brought about by an odd series of events. The journalist tells us his story as the doctors examine his body before removing it to a freezer pending further investigation. At one point a doctor friend of the reporter arrives to identify the body, and expresses astonishment when he notices that Gregory's temperature seems much higher than it should be. This doctor even attempts to revive his friend since cases supposedly exist where someone who appeared dead did in fact wake up. Alas, there are also cases where a deceased individual's temperature remained elevated for some time after death. Thus it comes as no great disappointment when the attempts fail to bring the reporter back to life. It is an enormous disappointment to Gregory, however. Especially when they wheel him in for his autopsy...

The story behind this man's condition is an odd one, full of danger, intrigue, and a conspiracy to take over the world in order to install a new morality. It all started when Gregory's wife Mira (Barbara Bach) arrived on a visit and promptly disappeared. His friends at his place of employment, Jessica (Ingrid Thulin) and a Scottish reporter named Jack (Mario Adolf), do what they can to assist Greg in his time of despair. Since he's a reporter, it is inevitable that he will launch a full-scale investigation on his own to find out what happened to his woman. What follows is typical giallo, as a murderer (sans black gloves, oddly enough) starts wiping out people around Gregory. His friend Jack, for instance, soon falls prey to the murderer when his investigations on behalf of his pal set off alarm bells somewhere. Anyone who gets too close to the horrific truth risks his or her life, most of all Gregory when he uncovers the people behind Mira's abduction. A cult of elderly people, black magic, sacrifice, and a mess of glass dolls (yes, the title hints at a significant element in the film's resolution) lead directly to that injection which left our reporter friend in an irreversible state. "Short Night of Glass Dolls" ends on a note of utter hopelessness. This is one bleak film.

In an interview entitled "Strange Days of the Short Night," Aldo Lado discusses the reasons for making the film. In the true spirit of the age--meaning the 1960s and 1970s--Lado lensed a picture that took a scathing look at the wealthy old European elites. These are the figures involved in his black magic cult in "Short Dolls," and their abduction and corruption of the young mirrors the perception among youths of the time regarding their elders. The idea that a dark, evil plot lurked behind the façade of great power must have appealed to adherents of the counterculture. There is also an irony in the fact that this group indulges in scandalous behavior behind closed doors, behavior that they publicly profess to despise in the culture at large. Lado claims he used retirees living in a nursing home as actors in these scenes, and that they attacked their roles with gusto! Those Italians! Predictably, the conspiratorial nature of the film and the risqué final scenes brought Lado into direct conflict with censors. "Who Saw Her Die?" suffered a similar fate thanks to scenes involving violence directed at children. Lado seems to relish, even all these years later, the controversies his films sparked.

Anchor Bay provides another stellar DVD release. The picture and sound quality are good for a film this old, and they even throw in the trailer for the movie and a director's filmography along with the interview. I'm elated that I am finally seeing these sorts of films. This box set is an excellent addition to any horror film buff's DVD library, and the news that Anchor Bay will release a second set of four more Italian gialli is an exciting development. "Short Night of Glass Dolls" is an excellent way to spend a couple of hours.

An unusual and challenging horror/suspense film. Great concept, story line, editing, and overall wallop. Not much like a traditional giallo. Only downside is the dubious dubbing and sometimes awkward foreign dialogue, but if you're used to the genre, it's not too bad. This original film deserves a bigger audience. This deserves a place with the best of Italian horror/fantasy cinema.

This is an interesting giallo being that you find out first that the main character is on an autopsy table...still alive but unable to move or speak. The idea of that is pretty terrifying. Most of the movie is in flashback as we find out how and why our hero ended up in that predicament.

SLIGHT SPOILER:
The mystery behind the events is not mind-blowing but it's creepy and a bit surprising. What makes it significant, however, is the symbolism/subtext involved. I really do think the filmmakers were making a statement about the generation gap and how the older generation feeds off the blood of the young.
END of SPOILER

Though not a classic giallo, this is an interesting entry.

-Jordan Krall, author of the spaghetti western/giallo FISTFUL OF FEET

wow i've seen a lot of giallo but this one pretty much sucks. couldnt even finish it actually. i kept asking myself, is this really a giallo??? the beginning has a guy narrating the film internally due to having a dead body but live mind....right. so we have to pretend the brain can still function without blood flow. so ya, imagination has to terminate logic completely on this one. the style is lacking, scene compsition dull and overall just bland scenery for the most part. visualy this is not the fifth cord!! not even close.
the dialogue is killed by bad dubs. the conversations sound potentially funny but never really are and i ended up not even caring what they were talking about. what is this a soap opera??? anyway, it was literally straight talking for what must have been half the film! where's the sex??? tension?? psychadelia?? stylish wardrobes?? ummm maybe a killer????? oh, n ya the title seems to have nothing to do with the movie, which is the case with some of these films. but it would've been at least interesting to involve glass dolls somehow. at least bloody iris threw the iris flower into the plot for about 2 minutes!
i gave it two stars due to the ennio soundtrack and the fact that there's always a possibility that maybe i didnt give it a chance....honestly i have no ambition to give it another any time soon however. who saw her die is up next.

An interesting debut from director Aldo Lado.An unusual plot is brought to life with some striking visuals and another memorable Ennio Morricone score(though not as haunting as his music for Lado's Who saw her die.)
The film is a little too talky in places but is punctuated with some great scenes of superbly edited action.
This more fantastical than usual giallo is definitely worth a look.Another great transfer too from Anchor bay.

This film has gone by several names, including MALASTRANA (the director's original choice) and PARALYZED. It's one of Barbara Bach's several pre-007 Italian thrillers. I'm undecided whether the American-born Bach, fluent in Italian, dubbed her own voice. As she is the best known in the cast to contemporary American audiences, Bach gets major billing, although she mainly appears in only a few early scenes.

The film opens with a man believed dead who, we soon learn, is alive but paralyzed, his condition unknown to all. Will they bury him alive? Will they perform an autopsy? It's an old conceit invigorated by flashbacks as the man tries to remember how he arrived at his predicament. Intercut with scenes of his paralyzed body being ferried about the hospital, these flashbacks comprise the bulk of the film.

The man (French-born Jean Sorel) turns out to be a Western journalist whose Czech fiancée (Barbara Bach) disappeared, propelling him on a search. Thus, Paralyzed interweaves a medical thriller with a mystery film. Yet because of its mise-en-scene (its Prague setting and black leather jacketed Communist police), it also imparts the sensibility of an espionage thriller. And as the tale progresses, it becomes an occult thriller.

This blend of mystery, foreign intrigue, and the occult has been done elsewhere. Former "Watergate conspirator" and CIA intelligence officer E. Howard Hunt was also a remarkably prolific novelist who published numerous thrillers under various aliases (e.g., David St. John, Gordon Davis, Robert Dietrich), sometimes spicing his novels with the occult (The Coven, The Sorcerers). The X-Files episode, "Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man," was inspired by the real-life Hunt.

It's difficult to discuss this film in detail without spoiling the surprise ending. Thematically, it posits a millennia-long exploitation of the freedom-loving young by the Satanic elderly. The film not only features threatening commissars, it depicts old people as inherently scary, a device used in Rosemary's Baby and The Sentinel. In one scene, Jean Sorel sneaks past a decrepit group of Communist Party hacks in evening dress, male and female, listening lifelessly to a slow-moving classical concerto. Their faces are pasty white, reminiscent of the dead souls in Carnival of Souls. This image contrasts starkly with another scene featuring a lively young, long-haired folk singer.

Style-wise, this film is your typical 1970s Euro-thriller. Lots of telephoto shots with shifting focus, heavy use of zoom lens to create energy (the pre-MTV equivalent of a shaky camera and frenetic editing), and badly dubbed dialogue.

A curious and enjoyable film.

Aldo Lado wrote this film to reflect some of the political realities in italy when it was made 1971. The later parts of the film have some atmospheric similarities to Dario Argento's 'Deep Red', but I like 'Short Night of Glass Dolls' better than the aforementioned. Prague makes a stunning backdrop for any film, and the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone adds tension and pathos, as does the atmosphere of the Cold War.

The movie features a strange cast of characters working behind the iron curtain, such as the American millionaire's daughter turned pseudo-hippy, who likes to bed Communist men. There are great shots of underground and overground Prague - the beautiful surface, and the occult depths it conceals.

The plot concerns an American who wakes in hospital, trapped in a cataleptic state. The story traces his memories back to the disappearance of his girlfriend and his attempts to track her down. The two mysteries (how he got in the trance, and what happened to the girl) are not resolved until the harrowing conclusion. I can't reveal more without giving the plot twist away, but trust me when I say this is a riveting mystery/thriller.

"Short Night Of Glass Dolls" is a great
mystery.

Spoilers
***********

The plot is very interesting with
a 1970's pop-culture idea of
individual freedom which is being
suppressed by a secretive conspiracy
of cold-war, communist fascists in
Chechoslavakia who use some sort
of occult sex-magic religion as their
underlying means of control.

It seems that young woman are being
kidnapped to tap into their sexual power
which is required by those in control
of the civil government and other
aspects of culture such as the arts.

The story is delivered as the memories
of a man who is apparently dead, but
remains somehow alive and conscious,
a zombie in the voodoo sense, made so
by the above mentioned cult,
which is another mystery not explained
until the end.

His girlfriend is missing and he
must find her.
The search leads him to the discovery
of the cult.
**********

If you like mysteries with lots of
culture and politics,
I'm sure this one will do.
Great cinematography, music (Morricone)
and pacing.

The ending pays off if you stay
with the slowly paced film.
There are excellent moments and
interesting characters throughout.

It is a very influential film as
it predates other popular
films with similar themes that
were loved by many whom I'm sure
never saw nor heard of this film.

note bene:
Spoiler **********************
Near to the end of the film
there is an occultic sex orgy
involving elderly people that
I found disturbing. It was a
really creepy soft porn scene
that would have been best done
in a more implicit way.
******************************

"Short Night of Glass Dolls" is a strange, perverse film that is more of a supernatural, occult thriller than a true giallo. Jean Sorel of Lucio Fulci`s "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" is an American reporter living in Prague. His beautiful girlfriend (Barbara Bach of "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" and "The Spy Who Loved Me") mysteriously disappears without a trace. While investigating her disappearance, he learns that other beautiful young women have disappeared and later been found dead without their clothes. Meanwhile, a hitman begins assassinating anyone who helps the reporter. In a giallo, the killer usually wears a disguise and is unknown. In "Short Night of the Glass Dolls," the killer's face is seen two-thirds of the way into the movie.

"Short Night of Glass Dolls" has the conspiratorial and Satanic elements of "Rosemary's Baby," which was released in 1969, just a few years prior. In "Rosemary's Baby," Rosemary Woodhouse (played by Mia Farrow) learns that everyone around her is a witch. Director Aldo Lado seems to mimic the more popular works of others when creating his own. His second movie, which was "Who Saw Her Die?" had a strong resemblance to "Psycho" in that the cross dressing killer has a split personality. Overall, Lado's work appears less original than that of Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, and Mario Bava.

The most unique part of "Short Night of Glass Dolls" is that Jean Sorel finds himself in a morgue, unable to move his limbs. Through hypnosis, he has been immersed into a deep catatonic state. However, he slowly remembers the events that led up to his "death."

The movie is slow and hard to understand at times. One must be patient until the end, which is rather dark and depressing. Even the title is confusing. From the DVD's interview with Aldo Lado, we learn that it was hastily changed from "Short Night of Butterflies" to the nonsensical "Short Night of Glass Dolls" because "The Bloodstained Butterfly," another giallo, had just been released.

I would've given this movie two stars but the gorgeous Barbara Bach compels me to give it three. I can understand why Jean Sorel was desperate to find her. Bach and Sorel make a very attractive couple.