THE THIRD EYE is a proto-giallo made on a low budget and in black and white. This is more of a psycho-thriller in the Hammer mould than a Bava-style giallo. There's a debt of inspiration owed to Hitchcock's PSYCHO. If a sense of familiarity comes to you while watching, it's because Joe D'Amato virtually remade the movie for his 1979 nasty, BLUE HOLOCAUST.

As a psychological thriller this is an interesting little film, with the usual bunch of nasty characters holed up in a rambling mansion. There's the dominating old mother, the conniving housekeeper, and the wayward son; the son's innocent bride-to-be soon learns of the madness inherent in the household. The requisite number of plot twists hold the attention throughout, and there's plenty of style to boot. Some of the violence is explicit for the period and the taxidermy theme can be unpleasant. Some of the acting is a little histrionic but overall this is an interesting, albeit neglected, curio. Franco Nero headlines the cast prior to achieving fame as DJANGO.