‘We warned you not to be alone!’
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is a 1970 Giallo thriller about an American writer in Rome who attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of attempted murder, and who is now hunting him and his girlfriend.
The Italian-West German co-production was written and directed by Dario Argento (Dark Glasses; Dracula 3D; Giallo; The Mother of Tears; Do You Like Hitchcock?; Sleepless; Trauma; Two Evil Eyes; Phenomena; Inferno; Suspiria; Deep Red; Four Flies on Grey Velvet; The Cat o’ Nine Tails), making his directorial debut. The movie stars Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall (Tales That Witness Madness; Craze; Torso) and Enrico Maria Salerno.
The film is an uncredited loose adaptation of Fredric Brown’s novel The Screaming Mimi, which had previously been made into a 1958 Hollywood movie of the same name, directed by Gerd Oswald, even though Argento denied this for years until he finally admitted it.
In an interview with Nocturno magazine in 2002, Italian filmmaker Aldo Lado (Who Saw Her Die?; Short Night of Glass Dolls; Night Train Murders) claimed that he co-wrote Bird, however, Argento has always categorically refuted this.
Plot:
Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) is an American writer living in Rome with his model girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall). Suffering from writer’s block (“I haven’t written a line in two years”), Sam is on the verge of returning to America, but witnesses the attack of a woman in a modern art gallery by a mysterious black-gloved assailant dressed in a raincoat.
Attempting to reach her, Sam is trapped between two mechanically-operated glass doors and can only watch as the villain makes his escape.
The woman, Monica Ranieri (Eva Renzi), the wife of the gallery’s owner, Alberto Ranieri (Umberto Raho), survives the attack and the local police confiscate Sam’s passport to stop him from leaving the country; the assailant is believed to be a serial killer who is killing young women across the city, and Sam is an important witness…
Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
Reviews:
“The Bird With the Crystal Plumage is frankly not the most innovative of mysteries, nor even the goriest of horror outings, but it’s quite notable for its oppressive sense of terror and subterfuge […] Argento manages to be both rather shockingly lurid (the final showdown between the killer and Sam is almost an exercise in outright sadism) and surprisingly restrained (the film is much less bloody than some might expect).” Blu-ray.com
“This is a film that provides a segue from the noir genre that inspired it – the femme fatale and the amateur detective following her – to a new form of filmmaking and storytelling that seems equally inspired by Ennio Morricone’s jazz score (Argento often cut his films to his musical scores) and Freudian dream logic.” Electric Sheep
“Argento never had a stronger plot than this one, which anchors his trademark visual flourishes into a recognizable thematic and human fabric that would later be jettisoned for the candy-colored fantasias of Suspiria and Inferno. Ennio Morricone’s groundbreaking, jittery score still manages to eke out every bit of suspense from the murder sequences, and the actors all do a fine job, partial dubbing notwithstanding.” Mondo Digital
Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com
“What makes Argento’s thriller so groundbreaking is the way he makes clever use of suspense devices, such as a screaming Kendall trapped in a room while the killer hacks away at the door (much copied in films like The Shining and Halloween). Vital to Argento’s vision is Franco Fraticelli’s sharp editing skills and the impressive visuals of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (who would go on to win an Oscar for Apocalypse Now). Plus, there’s Ennio Morricone’s unforgettable score.” Kultguy’s Keep
“Picking up on the ambitions of his one-time collaborator Sergio Leone, Argento sought to split the difference between art and exploitation with The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, and the result was one of the era’s signature films. It won over the arthouse crowd with its crisp, arid look, and it won over the mainstream crowd because it was as chic as Blow-Up, but easier to understand.” A.V. Club
“If you take the ending of the movie and really begin to break it down after watching the film it may not all add up to you. I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s silly but it’s not entire believable. None of that matters while watching the movie. Argento has you so hooked from the start that by the time you get to that payoff you’re willing to buy anything he sells.” Bloody Disgusting
“The various stalking scenes are handled with style and élan, and if the murders themselves are not as operatic and over-the-top in their savage intensity as they would be in later films, they are still loaded with wonderful touches and details which linger in the mind long after the film has finished.” Troy Howarth, So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films Volume One
Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
” …there’s a sense of humor that doesn’t lessen the suspense or creepy moments and both the development of the mystery and the juggling of the red herrings are competently handled […] All that said, this is neither inventive (conceptually, stylistically or otherwise) nor original enough to be the genre masterwork some make it out to be. It is simply a solidly-crafted, entertaining and above average film of its type.” The Bloody Pit of Horror
“Taking the lead from Mario Bava, Argento quickly established his trademark elements of beautifully staged set pieces, fetishizing graphic violence, and clever misdirection.” J.A. Kerswell, Teenage Wasteland: The Slasher Movie Uncut
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca
“The frequently misogynistic nastiness of Argento’s films was laid down in one set-piece here where a big-breasted woman is first seen undressing for bed and putting on a scanty night top and is then attacked by the killer who takes time out to rip off her top and panties with his knife before stabbing her, a clear example where her desirability is laid out for us before she is then slaughtered.” Moria
“The dialogue is sappy; the post-synchronization dreadful; the blood too thin; the moods too thick—and yet The Bird With the Crystal Plumage has the energy to support its elaborateness and the decency to display its devices with style. Something from each of its better models has stuck, and it is pleasant to rediscover old horrors in such handsome new décor.” Vincent Canby, The New York Times, July 23, 1970
“The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is billed as a thriller, and it’s a pretty good one. But its scares are on a much more basic level than in, say, a thriller by Hitchcock. It works mostly by exploiting our fear of the dark.” Roger Ebert, October 14, 1970
” …while Argento’s fondness for all things psychological may not out-Freud Hitchcock, the film’s ending brings to mind Psycho‘s own. If Hitchcock’s ending needlessly showcases the Hitchcock’s fascination with psychoanalysis, Bird With the Crystal Plumage‘s ending is at least tidier and more poetic.” Slant Magazine
For YouTube reviews, trailers, the film on YouTube and more movie info please visit page 2
MOVIES & MANIA provides previews of new films, our own movie reviews/ratings, and links to other reviews from trustworthy recommended sources - all in one handy web location. Plus, links to legitimately watch 1000s OF MOVIES FREE ONLINE via platforms such as Amazon Prime, Plex, Roku, Tubi and on YouTube. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a very tiny amount from any qualifying purchases.