User Reviews

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

Take a video camera, any will do, new or old, it doesn't matter. Then assemble a group of strangers, give them no plot or script to work from and film them. Whatever the outcome of this endeavor the chances are you will surpass Tulpa in style, complexity and your actor's performances.

Tulpa is without doubt one of the worst films ever. Acting so wooden it makes Haydn Christensen's turn as Anakin Skywalker look as complex and multi-faceted as Al Pacino's in the Godfather Part II. A script so bad that it contains the line, "For your information I work in IT", although the delivery and context of this made it one of the funniest scenes committed to film this year.

The first post credits scene of a business meeting written via what must have been a copy of meeting buzz words for idiots is hilarious, with the head of the company, who is the sleazy love child of Silvio Berlusconi and Alan Sugar, telling his management team that one of them must go.

The sex club run by the weirdo in white gloves does more for promoting abstinence than anything right wing Christians can cook up with him constantly imploring our heroine to "Release her Tulpa".

I have wasted hours of my life watching this so you don't have to. Heed my warning and keep your Tulpa where it is!

One of the first scene of the movie really ruined it for me, because here you see the basic rules of the movie by avoiding nudity and after that hitting you in the head with useless violence.

It just did not make sense to me and as the movie progressed it was a repeating this formula over and over. The nudity I did see was more personal and even that felt a little awkward with weird close ups and out of focus shots.

Because of the subject matter and the way to walk around it the whole thing became kind of silly.

I usually like Italian actresses but these seem to be chosen to look like Hollywood bimbos where double d is mandatory.

Did not watch it until the end cause if you've seen more than half of the movie and it don't convince you the whole thing is tainted.

I always liked Italian cult for not being so uptight but this one is to uptight even for American standards.

Could have been a cult classic.

An Italian attempt to emulate the classic gialli of yesteryear, or a 'neo giallo' if you like. I didn't care much for this cheap-looking production at all. It follows a businesswoman who's also a member of a secret swingers club. When people she has sex with start getting bumped off by a mysterious killer, well...nothing much happens. It's certainly an explicit tale with lots of sex, nudity and graphic kill scenes, but the latter have a mean and vindictive feel that made me depressed. The whole thing looks like a cheapo indie and is far too dark to boot, particularly at the climax.

I've often bemoaned the death of the giallo as much as I've worried about its return over the last few years. So many movies are influenced by it to the point of slavish devotion that keeps them from becoming their own unique films. Or even worse, they are more inspired by American films like Basic Instinct and look boring and lifeless when they should be neon-hued punches to the face.

I'm pleased to report that Tulpa is the movie that I've been looking for.

Lisa Boeri (Claudia Gerini) is obsessed with her career, but in the evening, she visits the club Tulpa to unleash her darkest fantasies. The club, led by a Tibetian guru - well, that's a first - allows her to indulge in all manner of aardvarking potential, but then her lovers start getting killed the day after she makes love to them.

Once those murders start uniting her day and evening hours, she decides to track down the masked killer on her own.

Tulpa was written by Giacomo Gensini and director Federico Zampaglione, who also made the film Shadow together, along with Dardano Sacchetti, the Italian writer who wrote, well, just about any genre film worth a damn out. I'll give you three, but he has a huge list of credits: The Beyond, Shock and The Cat o'Nine Tails. So yes, this is a movie with an eye toward the past and the future, as well as an ear. That's because the soundtrack, by Zampaglione and Andrea Moscianesca, sounds like Goblin.

I had a blast with this film and it felt like a real discovery. And that's why I spend so much time writing about movies, in the hopes that I can help you do the same.

Someone here said that this movie was one of the worst films of all time. Well, I don't thing it's really the worst, although for sure there is a lot of crap in Italian cinema, I mean in every genre: I thing it is very difficult to decide which is the worst. It's a fight to the death, there at the bottom! In my opinion, Tulpa is quite good in creating some "giallo" atmosphere, even if the narration shows plot holes. But what's important is the feeling that audience gets. The actors act very bad in real life situation (it seems they are reading their lines, not acting), but are better in the horror/giallo one, probably because of the script, absolutely trite, boring, not plausible and trivial in the office part. The director follows the footsteps of Dario Argento in a very specific genre and quite succeeds. The musical score is good, too.

The main character Claudia Gerini is an extremely beautiful woman, even in her 40s and after 2 sons - just (a little) extra weight on her hips, to be honest. But she cannot resist; has to be naked, at all costs, even if many people do appreciate her even totally dressed. You know, the call of the wild for nowadays actresses: breasts are displayed like you show a new haircut. The (very, very) weird thing – for me - is that she was directed by her real partner in life (they have a child), the (good) musician/director Zampaglione. Putting your (wonderful) wife naked, in an orgy scene! It is simulated, obviously (BTW, the scene is not vulgar and well filmed), but her body is touched by other people, kissed by another woman (maybe friend?) or another man (maybe unknown). Can you imagine? I cannot. I'm very open minded, but I find this very awkward. Perhaps I'm too old.

Italian businesswoman Lisa Boeri (Claudia Gerini) lets off steam by going to an exclusive, member's only sex club. Meanwhile, a killer in classic giallo garb is running around Rome violently killing folks. Their only connection is that they all came in contact with Lisa at the club. I'm not up to speed on the neo-giallo sub-genre (having only seen the Cattet/Forzani films and Argento's soul crushing entries), but a friend mentioned this one and it sounded interesting. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect is that veteran Italian screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti is co-credited with the story. There is a cool metaphysical angle as Lisa goes to the club and is told to "release your Tulpa." If that sounds like some weird Buddhist thing, well, it is. It is a being that can be created and released by your metaphysical powers. That makes you think this will be a cool take on the giallo genre with a Cronenberg twist. Unfortunately, writer-director Federico Zampaglione and co-writer Giacomo Gensini use the metaphysical angle as a distraction and the film embraces the old giallo trait of "the killer is just some random person you saw for a second earlier." The end result is something that vacillates between good and bad. There are some cool sequences, but the business world drama falls flat. Tulpa-and-a-half stars out of five.

Not since Dario Argento's "Opera" have I had so much fun in the cinema. TULPA in the tradition of the aforementioned giallo classic's continues the black gloved killer franchise in a way that their creator has failed to equal since. Enter Federico Zampaglione, cat-like femme fatale Claudio Gerini and future horror icon Nuot Arquint in a trippy and highly erotic sex and death adventure, accompanied by moody neo-noir cinematography and a score that rivals Simonetti and the Goblins at their very best. Clunky plot points and expositional dialogue aside, TULPA is a must see for any horror fan worth their weight in salt. 8 stars....