Stijn Guillaume
"Francesca" is not merely a nostalgic piece of fan-art, glorifying the best works of Argento, Bava or Martino. It's a film that stands alone and captures the feeling of the old giallo perfectly. Mesmerising imagery, haunting score, bad dubbing, leather gloves and childhood traumas. Exactly what you are looking for if you kind of like the genre. I had high expectations, regarding the great artwork and it didn't let me down! Can't believe it gets such a low score here...
Stevieboy666
As a giallo fan I'd never heard of this until I noticed the DVD case's quite stunning artwork staring at me from the supermarket shelf. Needless to say I couldn't resist! This is a filmed in Argentina and dubbed into Italian homage to the giallo sub-genre. Much use of colour is used her, perhaps too much at times, but the camera work is very good and the film comes with a terrific Goblin/disco inspired soundtrack. There are several dream-like surreal moments, which I also enjoyed. One thing that let the film down was that whilst the kills were typically brutal the special effects looked rather amateurish. Now before writing my review I decided to watch the film a second time, to give it a fairer chance because after my first view I felt slightly disappointed & confused. ** SPOILER ALERT ** Definitely better the second time, though the end , i.e. the identity of the killer - or indeed killers - could have been explained better, this crucial part of the film was felt too hurried. Giallo movie fans will get a feeling of nostalgia, even though it's not the real thing.
jspwordieitaly
Giallo fans can only gorge on this one. The colour contrast is worthy of Argento. There are tropes galore, the leather gloves, the scarlet blood, the mannequin doll - and a story that even evokes a canto from Dante's Inferno. It's all Italy at its best to the umpteenth power.As with all giallo genre films, the beauty is not to be found in the plot, the dialogue or the acting, but more in the imagery. In contrast to Argento's 'Suspiria', there are numerous outdoor scenes. The eye-witness account is exploited and no venue is exempted from being a crime scene.I spent the whole film trying to spot a non-1970s anachronism. With the possible exception of what looked like a child-proof lock on a bottle of pills, I didn't find any. My only complaint is that the acting struck me as being 'too good for a real giallo' - but that's more of an unexpected bonus really.
A Braunsdorf
A truly stunning simulacrum of a 1970s giallo. The illusion is so convincing that I'd never have guessed it was made last year.If you're not a fan of gialli, this one will do nothing to change your mind. It has no interest in covering new ground or breaking the well-worn mold, but if you treasure the thought of exploring a whole new one, this is the movie for you.If we were judging by looks alone, this would be a solid ten, but some story issues (and not ones really typical of or inherent in the genre in my view) require a deduction. I may change my mind on subsequent viewings, but I'd rate this a must-see for giallo fans. Non fans might be able to use this as a gateway, but it's probably better to start with the real thing.
AD
