MovieChat Forums > Il rosso segno della follia (1974) Discussion > Love the twist

Love the twist

posted 9 years ago by iaingmtodd
2 replies | jump to latest

I love how this film begins as though it's going to be a run of the mill giallo film - especially considering the opening train murder illustrating agatha christie's influence on giallo filmmakers - and then it takes a supernatural turn once he kills his wife. After that point it becomes very very creepy. The scene where Mildred walks up the stairs really slowly as John looks on horrified gave me goosebumps, and the continuous returning of the bag is very effective. A great film. Had never heard of it until I found it browsing on YouTube and I'm glad I gave it a shot! Does Bava wee disappoint?!

[–] FudgeBrownie 8 years ago

I loved it too. I would have rathered that the whole film were about him being plagued by his wife's ghost than the whole norman bates story they had running alongside it, though. All of the most unsettling scenes came from Mildred; the stairs shot you mentioned is the one that particularly stands out.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 3 years ago

I agree that this film takes the right twist by becoming a ghost story. Mildred looks really spooky from that moment on. The similarities to 'Psycho' are there throughout. In a way Mildred is more like a Norma Bates mother than a wife as she constantly scolds a 30 year old man who behaves like a boy. Mildred's connection to John's mother is implied early on when Mildred channel's the dead mother's spirit at a seance.