105 of 1001 Movies: The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)

Sadly, the first thing I noticed about this film was the very poor transfer to DVD. No one had bothered to try to restore it even though the shots in the film are well thought out, and really do try to view the city as beautiful despite the grim happenings in it. To cut some slack though on Dario Argento this was his first film he directed, and you can sort of tell. For him it worked out though because it got him dubbed the Italian Alfred Hitchcock. While the story does grow to be suspenseful, and has some creative twists it never really gives you any spooks, and there is also some odd dubbing and mixed language that is going on that throws you off.

Sam is an American tourist in Italy, and one night witnesses the attempted murder of a woman. After seeing the murder he becomes the target of the killer, but still wants to investigate the crime after finding out that this killer has already murdered 3 other women, and the count is still rising. Sam doesn't expect it though when the killer not only begins targeting him, but his girlfriend. So now he is in a race to figure out who is committing the crimes before they get him first.


The good thing about Italian horror is that it is not that gory. As someone who does like horror, but doesn't appreciate what it has become it was a relief to watch a film that didn't rely on showing that to try to gain scares. It's scary enough without seeing people butchered. This film has a lot going for it as far as how he sets up the moments to build intensity in the city.  Like they do a lot of running through dark alleys, and the one moment where Sam gets a call that leads him to a dark house he wanders through is insanely creepy, and provides a good scare. There was something though that just didn't stay consistently scary though.

The biggest problem is the very awful dubbing that I was left not choice but to watch. There wasn't an option given to switch to anything, so I'm not sure if they movie comes that way or what. I was reading others who were confused about the original language, and even list this as a goof officially at IMDB. Anyways, the problem I am talking about is that no one knows if it's Sam speaking English the entire time, and everyone else is in dubbed English, or if everyone is just speaking Italian and the whole thing is dubbed. There are moments where the speaking doesn't match up with their mouths though, so it seemed like a bet it was all dubbed.  This part really messes up the movie, and the ability to scare though, because it's badly done.

Tony Musante is the lead as Sam though, and I think he does a good job. I liked how the whole story turned out for him. To be honest the ending was expected to be much darker, but it ends different than expected. I think it just shows how much horror movies have changed, and shows maybe even a shift in how we perceive things. The twist at the end is very nicely tied into the whole story though, and for a first film it does show this director has potential, but this one definitely is a beginner film.

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage doesn't give too many scares, but it has some nice intense moments, and a few good twists. There was one part that honestly did terrify though, and it was a great put in for the movie. For horror fans who are interested in exploring the genre it is always interesting to see how other countries pull it off too, and the approach of using less gore and more surprise was much more appreciated.

Rating 6 of 10.