TULPA (2012)
No giallo, or few, have ever really featured stunning dialogue and wonderful scripts.
This was no exception.
But the scenes in the s&m club, the odd occult barman, doorman (or door hermaphrodite) and general sense of unease were rewarding. Set in the world of big corporate business, someone is bumping off the boardroom at unnerving frequency. The manner of the deaths of the sharp-suited girls and boys, is dreadful - strung up on a merry-go ride with barbed wire hanging at the edges or locked in a box cut and bruised with a few hungry rats to gnaw away the hours with (in a lovely touch, the unseen man in the box is forgotten about until the end credits, when we go back to him as if we have just remembered there's someone left to save).
The film has a witty edge that could be mistaken for being entirely serious - hence some laughs in the audience at FrightFest. Giallo, as a genre, is often at its best when playful and painful in equal measure. This film clearly riffs on classic Italian horror director Dario Argento's work. Interestingly, Argento himself at the start of the festival in an onstage Q&A mentioned that many directors copy his style, sometimes good (as in Black Swan), sometimes really bad. Tulpa I think does reference classic Italian giallo with reverence and good effect, although few crime films are ever much good set in a corporate environment. When Tulpa breaks free from this environment, there's a lot more fun to be had, especially in the warren-like red light-bathed sex club or just escaping up trees in the Italian countryside in the dark.
I liked the way the killer grew more and more unhinged like their world was crumbling, about to be found out. I never would have guessed who the killer was. But then, I was having too much fun with the killer's nice (if a little weird) side to suspect.
Giallos have featured the occult before, but this one was still a refreshing homage to Hitchcock and Argento and everyone else inbetween -and the cheer when you know who (the odd chap) saved you know who (the pretty one) from you know who (the killer) - wow! That strange bloke needs his own show..
mark gordon palmer
No giallo, or few, have ever really featured stunning dialogue and wonderful scripts.
This was no exception.
But the scenes in the s&m club, the odd occult barman, doorman (or door hermaphrodite) and general sense of unease were rewarding. Set in the world of big corporate business, someone is bumping off the boardroom at unnerving frequency. The manner of the deaths of the sharp-suited girls and boys, is dreadful - strung up on a merry-go ride with barbed wire hanging at the edges or locked in a box cut and bruised with a few hungry rats to gnaw away the hours with (in a lovely touch, the unseen man in the box is forgotten about until the end credits, when we go back to him as if we have just remembered there's someone left to save).
The film has a witty edge that could be mistaken for being entirely serious - hence some laughs in the audience at FrightFest. Giallo, as a genre, is often at its best when playful and painful in equal measure. This film clearly riffs on classic Italian horror director Dario Argento's work. Interestingly, Argento himself at the start of the festival in an onstage Q&A mentioned that many directors copy his style, sometimes good (as in Black Swan), sometimes really bad. Tulpa I think does reference classic Italian giallo with reverence and good effect, although few crime films are ever much good set in a corporate environment. When Tulpa breaks free from this environment, there's a lot more fun to be had, especially in the warren-like red light-bathed sex club or just escaping up trees in the Italian countryside in the dark.
I liked the way the killer grew more and more unhinged like their world was crumbling, about to be found out. I never would have guessed who the killer was. But then, I was having too much fun with the killer's nice (if a little weird) side to suspect.
Giallos have featured the occult before, but this one was still a refreshing homage to Hitchcock and Argento and everyone else inbetween -and the cheer when you know who (the odd chap) saved you know who (the pretty one) from you know who (the killer) - wow! That strange bloke needs his own show..
mark gordon palmer