The Perfume of the Lady in Black DVD Review
The Perfume of the Lady in Black DVD Review
AKA: Il Profumo Della Signora in Nero
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The Perfume of the Lady in Black is one of the few "cash in" copycats that actually works and also manages to stand on its own. Made in Italy in an era when British and American films like And Now The Screaming Starts!, Rosemary's Baby, Don't Look Now, Mephisto's Waltz, and The Possession of Joel Delaney were well-known, this 1974 gothic thriller cribbed shamelessly from them all. It also emanates foreboding vibes from a few flicks that came along afterward, such as The Tenant, The Sentinel, and even 2007's The Orphanage.
Prolific giallo gal Mimsy Farmer plays Silvia Hacherman, a dedicated chemist who puts her work above all else, including her demanding, sulky boyfriend Roberto (Maurizio Bonuglia). Roberto is getting pretty fed up with Silvia's lack of devotion to him, and so he takes her to the home of renowned a African studies professor (Jho Jenkins) for a dinner party, leaving out the part that there will be voodoo for dessert.
After this encounter, Silvia doesn't become Roberto's slave, but she does start to lose her once practical, focused scientific mind. As her grip on sanity loosens, she sees many bizarre past, present and future things… real, or imagined? Is it her mother's uneasy spirit come to haunt her? The very strange, elderly cache of neighbors who reside in Silvia's building? Roberto with unknown motives? The ghost of her troubled girlhood? There is malice in wonderland as our beautiful blonde heroine falls deeper and deeper into the rabbit's hole.
I've seen a lot of Farmer's flicks, and her performances overall are pretty uneven — but here, she is right on the lira (not to mention rocking some incredibly cool 70s ensembles; and, for the male audience, shucking them) as a woman slowly losing herself to fantasy, madness and finally extreme paranoia. I'm pretty sure I have never seen any other movies from director Francesco Barilli, but he certainly worked well with Farmer and the entire cast. He also did a fantastic job miming the dreamlike imagery from filmmakers like Roeg, Malle, and Polanski in a non-schlocky way (don't get me wrong, though — this is a cheap spaghetti thriller and continuity errors and such abound). Cinematographer Mario Masini deserves kudos as well, even if his style isn't quite as flamboyant as this story calls for. There are some really breathtaking visuals, augmented by an appropriately creepy score by Nicola Piovani.
The conclusion of the film is a out of left field (think: Fulci's The Beyond), but overall, The Perfume of the Lady in Black is an arresting, interesting psychological horror story that's shamefully overlooked (granted, it is pretty hard to find in the States — but if you see a notice for a revival screening or can get your hands on a Region 0 disk, jump on it).
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson