quridley What today is an obvious mash up of Rosemary's Baby and Repulsion (complete with Mia Farrow clone) was a clever cash in on a then fresh genre. It's predictable, unoriginal and somewhat stale, but it's also one of the more lavish and well-crafted Italian giallo. It's not the best of the countless Occult horro films that came out of Europe but it's far from the worst.

Scarecrow-88 Slow moving, methodically paced psycho-thriller, with elaborately bizarre touches (the inclusion of a little girl, Alice in Wonderland, and a body organ feast, not to mention one old kook has an affinity for hippos), has a scientist, Silvia (Mimsy Farmer, Autopsy/Four Flies on Grey Velvet), slowly succumbing to madness as past demons, involving a mother's supposed suicide and her lover's attempted pedophilia, fail to leave her, and it doesn't help that her friends/colleagues seem to participate in sinister activities she's unaware of. The little girl is an obvious manifestation of Silvia, a reminder of a difficult childhood, not to mention, her mother reappears in vivid form. Director Francesco Barilli has a camera that wants to capture everything, following Silvia as her mental instability grows, and there's never a sense that the world revolving around the lead character is ever quite normal. African witchcraft is discussed towards the beginning, and there's a "reading" of Silvia that unveils parts of her past, so her social circle are certainly openly into the occult which might somehow explain the surreal ending. Farmer, almost from the very beginning, conveys a fragile mind holding on for dear life. Not a giallo, as the title might suggest, with really no violence or bloodletting until a couple of cleaver murders in the last twenty minutes (and these might or might not be real, the real possibility Silvia imagined them, including a brick to a familiar's head when he attempts to rape her). Farmer is a stunner and she bares all in the final scene which has to be seen to be believed. May be a bit too dull for some (it was for me), the lagging pace (to reiterate, the director is in no hurry and scenes following Silvia have a tendency to drag on) will probably test some viewers. I can't say I personally found it satisfying but understand why "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" has a cult following. What I think this film does best is illustrate how a person can become consumed by unexorcised demons. The director gets a lot of mileage out of the apartment complex where Silvia lives, especially downward shots of the stairwell, definitely breathtaking. This could feature Farmer's best work as an actress.

Witchfinder General 666 "Il Profumo Della Signora In Nero" aka. "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" (1974) is a film that enjoys a certain cult-status among my fellow fans of Italian Horror, and I was therefore curious to see it for quite some time. When I finally saw it recently, the film was not quite what I expected, but not in a negative sense, as it certainly didn't disappoint me. Having deliberately read no reviews before watching it, I was probably most surprised by the film since I had been mislead to believe that "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" is a typical Giallo, whereas it is much rather an occult psychological Horror film. The fact that this beautifully filmed cult-gem is often named a Giallo is probably the stunning visual style, which reminds of many early 70s Gialli, such as some of the films by Sergio Martino, or Dario Argento's earlier work. The early films of Roman Polanski (especially "Repulsion" clearly served as an influence to this film. If there is one Giallo that "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" is comparable to, it is probably Sergio Martino's "Tutti I Colori Del Buio" ("All The Colors Of The Dark", 1972), but the similarity also lies in the nightmarish atmosphere of upcoming insanity rather than in the Giallo-esquire elements (such as the typical depiction of murders, the mystery about the killer's identity etc.). One will not find a black-gloved killer butchering dozens of beauty-queens in "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black". What one will find, however, is cinematic beauty, genuine creepiness, a nightmarish atmosphere and utter insanity in equal doses in this bizarre, sometimes confusing, sometimes spine-chilling gem. The beautiful Mimsy Farmer stars as Silvya Hachermann, a chemist tormented by nightmarish visions related to her own childhood... I don't want do give too much of the storyline away, since it is unforeseeable and often bizarre, but I am sure it will appeal to most of my fellow Italian Horror fans. If the film has one weakness, it is that it is sometimes a bit too confusing, and does not always make perfect sense, but then, the film's obscure, sometimes surreal nature mostly makes up for this. Mimsy Farmer is once again wonderful in her role. Farmer is known to Italian Horror fans for her roles in films like "Macchie Solari" (aka. "Autospsy", 1975), Dario Argento's "Four Flies On Grea Velvet" (1971) and this one. Beautiful as she is, Farmer also has a great talent to play women on the cusp of mental instability, and she once again delivers an outstanding performance here. The other performances are all very good, especially memorable are Mario Scaccia as a friendly elderly neighbor, and Orazio Orlando as a truly sleazy scumbag. "Beautiful" is a word often used to describe this film, and for understandable reasons (at least as far as the visual style goes). This must be one of the most visually striking Italian Horror films of the early/mid 70s, and this is saying something as the combination of this genre, country and period bears countless films that are visually astounding. The photography is as impressive as the settings, and the many occult elements only make the film more effective. The score by Nicola Piovani is also great and contributes a lot to the film's creepy atmosphere. "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" is a chilling and nightmarish film with an ascending atmosphere of insanity and a brilliant leading performance by Mimsy Farmer. Beautiful and terrifying in equal measures, this stylish and obscure cult-gem is highly recommended to all my fellow fans of Italian Horror.

HumanoidOfFlesh "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" by Francesco Barilli is an extremely stylish and beautifully shot occult horror film that is often regarded as one of the most underrated Italian horror movies ever made.This film influenced the works of Dario Argento-there are themes and set-pieces that would re-appear,virtually unchanged,in Argento's "Deep Red","Suspiria" and "Inferno".The cinematography is simply astounding and the score by Nicola Piovani is genuinely creepy.Mimsy Farmer plays an industrial scientist named Silvia who is troubled by strange hallucinations.These images that seem so real point to a tragic event from her childhood:the suicide of her mother."The Perfume of the Lady in Black" is obviously inspired by both "Don't Look Now" and "Rosemary's Baby",but there are some lashings of grisly violence(the evisceration/cannibalism scene is particularly nasty and gruesome).Overall,this Italian baffling psycho-shocker is a suitably unsettling exercise in psychological horror with incredibly beautiful Mimsy Farmer.A must-see for anyone interested in Italian horror.10 out of 10.