The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
HORROR-THON 2024 • SEEING RED
8/10
DIRECTOR: Dario Argento
STARRING: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno
RELEASED: 1970
RUNTIME: 1 hour, 36 minutes
WATCH ON: Prime Video, Screambox, Midnight Pulp, YouTube TV
SCARE LEVEL: Medium
THE CAT GUY: Hard pass
An American writer walks past a modern art gallery in Rome late at night and sees a woman being attacked inside. He runs to help, but gets trapped between two glass doors, unable to get in or out, watching her bleed. It’s one of the best openings in horror, and it’s Dario Argento’s first movie.
Sam is an American writer living in Rome with his girlfriend, Julia, and is getting ready to head home. After the gallery attack, the police take his passport. They need their only witness to stay.
A serial killer has been stalking women around the city, and Sam can’t shake the feeling that he saw something important through the glass. He starts investigating on his own. The killer notices and starts coming after Sam and Julia.
MY HUMBLE OPINION
The styling of the gore is 100. Black gloves, glinting blades, white rooms, and red blood: Argento already knew exactly what he was doing on his first try. You can draw a straight line from here to Suspiria and Inferno, both from the 2022 Horror-Thon.
Also, I am jealous of literally every woman’s hair in this movie. It’s 1970s Rome, so everyone has big, glossy, perfectly undone hair. I’d like to schedule an appointment with whoever did this hair or could.
The minus is a big one: a crazy man who eats cats. He’s a minor character, and it’s played as a quirky detour, but I could have lived without it.
FUN FACT FOR YOUR NEXT DINNER PARTY
Tony Musante is well known for his intensity and preparedness as an actor, and it’s allegeded he used to frequently show up at Dario Argento’s apartment at all hours to discuss characterization. Argento later cited him as one of the most difficult actors he ever worked with.