🪬 Giallo—Fulci 🇮🇹

"Look, Counselor, I've never killed any of my lovers, and there have been 56 so far. I keep count of them, you know?"

Sette Note in Nerro is my favorite giallo so far for a number of reasons.

To start, it has a different relationship to fact and time than I am used to, because a psychic is key to the investigation. This opens up a lot of foreshadowing and allows Fulci to produce a lingering sense of malaise and impending doom. That’s a great atmosphere to be watching this film with. The outcome was never fully predictable, and the twists and turns in the plot worked.

I was not expecting something this clean and well-acted from Fulci; this was measured, comparatively calm and rational, and did not feel over the top in the least. His horror films are outstanding but not really focused on those qualities, and there is so much gore and shock that it’s quite possible to miss the rest. As for his gialli, I had not found A Lizard in a Woman's Skin to be engaging in comparison to Argento and had assumed the rest would be the same, but this works much better for me. It’s now obvious why Fulci is known for these films.

The acting is good, and so is the dialogue. Nearly every conversation feels natural and makes sense at that point in the plot. There is very little overacting, and I enjoyed the interactions—It’s great writing. The cinematography is very good as well. Prior to this I had not noticed that Fulci tends to collaborate with Sergio Salvati as cinematographer, and now I’ll be paying more attention to his work. Most shots are well-composed and beautiful, including outside the shots I have associated until now with Fulci (eyes, gore, cat eyes—I’m not even sure if I’m joking here): there are beautiful landscape shots, for example of the farm from above with the protagonists on horseback vanishing into the distance, or of the interior of Villa del Lombroni 6—location scouting clearly worked because they have chosen to shoot this in Siena, where riding has long been part of the culture, and the village is nearly a character of its own. I have only seen Siena filled with tourists during brief stops to show family or friends; I loved seeing it empty except for locals and having a visual sense of how it might have been before it was such a destination. The winding and sloping alleys are lovely and make me want to head out to a medieval hill town immediately.

Fabbio Frizzi in collaboration with Bixio and Tempera have produced a great score, which is referenced in the original Italian title: Sette Note in Nero—"Seven notes in black". Fabbio Frizzi's work matches the film perfectly and plays a part, and I suspect that, as I did, you will find the theme is stuck in your head long after the movie finishes. You’ll likely know his work from many of Fulci’s best films, including City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and Zombi 2.

I am very impressed by this film, and it has caused me to start watching the rest of Fulci’s gialli. If you haven’t watched Sette Note in Nero yet, it’s time to give it a try. Enthusiastically recommended to all.

Some Lists:

🎼 Spotlight on Composers in Horror
🪬 Giallo
Following Fulci
🇮🇹 Italian films I have known and loved
💎 Slightly Hidden Horror Gems
🌱 Hidden Horror Candidates
📽️ Viewing Next
🗂️ Index of Lists (needs an update)

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