Dario Argento's first three Giallo movies may lack the music of Goblin and Claudio Simonetti and they rarely include the crazier visual flourishes he would become known for with Deep Red and Suspiria. But they fit nicely into the world of murder mysteries as solid examples of the Italian crime genre. There are no ventures into the supernatural, and no real examples of extra sensory perception. The eye popping colour schemes are missing too which is a shame. However, there are still glimpses of a style developing, and there are imaginative moments to be found sprinkled all over the place. As a result they're all worth considering each on their own merits, so let's take a look.
The series got this nickname because of the titles rather than any kind of real connection, so calling this a trilogy is stretching truth. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage has a lot of the typical elements with a foreign visitor to Italy becoming entangled in a plot involving a killer with black gloves. Following several deaths an American tourist witnesses the killer escaping after a failed murder in an art installation. This gallery set piece is very striking, with stark white walls and jagged sculptures. Trapped inside two glass doors our hero has no option but to watch it all unfold. It's a memorable piece of staging, and of course this attempt to help damns him by putting him both in the sights of the police and the killer.
Beyond all the suspense things fair less well, and like the other films I'll be looking at here there's a lot of weird attempts at comedy. This is particularly true during an interview with a stuttering convict who offers some clues in the case. But there are other genuinely engrossing moments; particularly a chase sequence involving an assassin wearing a yellow sports jacket. The dark streets of Turin are dark and atmospheric, if a little drab and grey looking. In terms of the overall mood Ennio Morricone does a reasonable job with the music but the score is forgettable on the whole. There are no crazy electronic tunes to be found here and it sticks to the traditional thriller format.
If only the romantic interest in this story wasn't so utterly useless, flailing about on the floor when threatened by a break-in at her apartment instead of actually... doing something. Anything would be nice; it's frustrating to say the least. Beyond the characters the overall mystery plot is very by the numbers with police procedural scenes taking up large chunks of the running time. They even use the cliché of finding one tiny clue hidden in the background noise of a telephone recording. After all their attempts to trace the call have failed of course. It's a fair effort and has enough thrill power to keep things interesting, but overall it lacks personality. Still, it's the most consistent of these three features.
The Cat O'Nine Tails is the one with the most nonsensical title. There was indeed a 'bird with a crystal plumage' and there will actually be 'four flies' involved in the third entry here. But all that we get in this story is a band of amateur sleuths deciding they have nine leads to help solve the case. Randomly one of them says the name of this maritime instrument to sum up the situation, and that's the whole thing. I guess it's kind of poetic... or at least it wants to be. But it's got nothing to do with the actual story which is a strange mystery involving a genetics laboratory.
After some strange business involving a break in at the lab all of the staff are under suspicion, and it's down to a blind man and his little niece to crack the case. Really, that's the whole plot. Of course I'm being a little glib here; they do in fact enlist a reporter along the way. This time the international star is the lead from Valley of Gwangi! It's an odd bunch of heroes but I suppose it's something different. Once the journalist enters the story it does allow for the best moment; a tense sequence in a photography dark room. There's also a good shock scene at a train station, as well as a great climax involving a rooftop and an elevator shaft.
Again the typical crime plot elements are utilised, particularly the process of elimination as each trail leads to a dead end and all the red herrings are discovered. At least the motivation of the killer isn't based on psychiatry again for once, but the reasons feel pretty flat when the big reveal comes around. The information offered up to this point doesn't really seem serious enough that deadly measures would have to be taken. The mixture of violence and humour continues and the visual flourishes during some of the deaths hint at imaginative ideas being given more attention, even if the style never becomes part of the whole. There are a few edge of your seat moments, but overall it's pretty unexceptional.
Four Flies on Grey Velvet continues the trend of bizarre comic relief characters; this time with a hapless postman taking abuse on his rounds, and a riverside outcast nick-named 'God' (played by Bud Spencer) being caught up in the mystery. There's even a really strange moment in which the protagonists meet up in an art gallery which is being used to showcase designer coffins. Perhaps this is saying something about the genre, or about death itself, as the whole scene is played for laughs with the caskets set out like a cars at a design expo. However, once again the overall tone is pretty uneven.
Interestingly Argento keeps the silliness to a minimum during scenes that involve a flamboyant private eye... most of the time. While his portrayal is certainly in the category of typical clichés the inclusion of a gay hero is an interesting choice. He's drawn as a sympathetic figure and Argento was probably trying to ruffle some conservative feathers of the time. Unfortunately the main protagonist is pretty bland; despite being a rock band front man he's often incredibly dull. He's lacking charisma, although it doesn't stop everyone in the story wanting to get into his pants. But his choices throughout also make him kind of unlikeable; God and the detective should have teamed up instead.
This time around there's a murderer with a creepy doll mask. It doesn't get used nearly enough but the kills are all very stylish rather than being gruesome. But this has the weakest twist ending of the three films, with a reveal that kind of comes out of nowhere. The rest of the movie does include flashbacks trying to hint at what is going on, but they don't link together very well. Initially it seems like there's going to be a blackmail plot as our hero gets photographed in suspicious circumstances, but it gets convoluted quickly. There's even a scene where the police view the last moments of a person's life through the retina of their eyes; a pop science myth well before the 1970s.
On top of this there's a weird recurring dream going on, and while it certainly lends some drama it seems to have no real use as a plot device. Maybe they were hoping the premonition element would make things seem more mysterious? In terms of visual style it's often slick but the overall movie is disjointed and the third act is pretty lacklustre. The only real stand out moment is the final shock scene - a very neat effects moment. It's worth seeing for that conclusion but overall it's not well paced. It could have done with more supernatural ideas, a stronger plot, more weird masks, and more Bud Spencer.
Ultimately these are a nice trio of early outings from an imaginative director working out the kinks. They're all worth checking out if you've only ever seen Suspiria or you're just new to the whole leather gloves and prog rock murder mystery genre of the Giallo. Bird with the Crystal Plumage in particular is a solid first entry into the realm of gruesome whodunnit stories. But in the end this is all just a warm up. After this slow start it would all come to a head in 1975 and things would get really good in both the visual style and the musical flair of Profondo Rosso...aka Deep Red.
Overall Score: 3/5 each
