The Perfume of the Lady in Black

1974 [ITALIAN]

Action / Drama / Horror / Mystery / Thriller

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 51% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 51% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 3424 3.4K

hallucination whodunit doctor giallo

Plot summary

Sylvia, an industrial scientist, is troubled by strange hallucinations related to the tragic suicide of her mother.

Director

Francesco Barilli Photo
Francesco Barilli

Top cast

Carla Mancini Photo
Carla Mancini as Elisabetta
Margherita Horowitz Photo
Margherita Horowitz as Signora Lovati
Mimsy Farmer Photo
Mimsy Farmer as Silvia Hacherman
Lara Wendel Photo
Lara Wendel as Young Silvia
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
951.11 MB
1280*684
Italian 2.0
NR
Subtitles it  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 1
1.72 GB
1888*1008
Italian 2.0
NR
Subtitles it  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lastliberal-853-253708 7 / 10

Utter madness

Like Barbara Bach, Mimsy Farmer went to Italy and fell in love. She did, however, have a long career in the US, starting with Gidget Goes Hawaiian to a few biker movies. She remained in Italy making films until her divorce, and then moved to France where she continued acting.This is more a psychological horror film that a true giallo. It was a tale of a woman going mad over unresolved traumas from her childhood. Or, maybe it was a tale of a woman being driven mad for nefarious purposes. It was not totally clear, but there were little clues throughout.Whatever the case, the ending was a total surprise and nothing led you to expect it.
Reviewed by Coventry 6 / 10

Sadly, it's not ALL about style & beauty

I'll be the last person on this earth to deny that "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" isn't a breathtakingly beautiful and stylish viewing experience. Quite the contrary, I agree that Francesco Barilli's film is a masterwork of subtly built up suspense and it's also one of the best films ever forcing you to empathize with the leading character. This film contains numerous astonishing camera shots, genuinely creepy musical tunes and hugely impressive decors, but this material greatness makes it all the more difficult to forgive that there's not a lot of coherence or plausibility in the story and that Barelli leaves far too many questions unanswered at the end of the movie. "Perfume etc.." is similar to and clearly inspired by the earliest work of Roman Polanski; most notably "Repulsion" and "Rosemary's Baby". Exactly like in those two cinematic milestones, the plot introduces a seemingly weak and vulnerable female protagonist that suffers from nightmarish hallucinations and haunting memories of her childhood. She, Silvia Hachermann – played by Mimsy Farmer, soon isolates herself from the outside world and notices how her social surrounding, including her boyfriend and friendly neighbors, turn against her. Does these events relate to the voodoo-talk she had with some friends? Or the mysterious circumstances regarding her mother's premature death? Or maybe it's all happening in Silvia's mind alone. Perhaps I was expecting too much of an old-fashioned Italian giallo whereas this film is clearly an occult/psychological thriller, but the slow development of the plot and the absence of a perceptible kind of malice honestly bothered me just a tad bit. After a full hour into the movie, still nothing grueling has occurred and Silvia's inevitably disastrous fate can't be guessed until the very last seconds. The climax comes as a total shock, for sure, but not exactly a satisfying one since absolutely nothing in the development of the plot hinted at such a macabre switch in tones. Nonetheless, "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" is a curious gem of Italian horror cinema, with an overload of talent in front as well as behind the cameras' lenses. It's a demanding film that requires the full attention of all your senses and even then it's likely to confuse you several times. Recommended to well-trained fans of Italian cinema.
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