The Possessed (1965)

 

If The House with Laughing Windows is the atmospheric giallo that creates dread with atmosphere and a doom and gloom setting this one is that one that does it the same way with nightmare logic and a hint of drama and tragedy. The noir voiceover adds an extra layer to at least keep you within the narrative. The narrative is really all over the place, yet it has an ending that makes sense. The narrator is also unreliable. Most of the movie you don't know what is really happening as with each revelation the main character just wakes up when it is over. Certain things like notes being read more than once gives you a feeling of deja vu. The movie keeps you on your toes and guessing throughout. It wouldn't work without an ending that makes sense that comes with a bittersweet catharsis as the family this film centers around is torn apart by the time this movie is over. The black and white cinematography, as well as the wintery setting adds a different atmosphere and feeling of dread. 

Synopsis: "Disaffected writer Bernard (Peter Baldwin) returnsto the small Italian village he often uses as a hideaway. He has one goal in mind: to reconnect with the beautiful Tilde, (Virna Lisi) with whom he has become obsessed. He is disappointed when Enrico, who runs the local hotel, tells him that Tilde committed suicide the previous year. The local photographer, (Pier Giovanni Anchisi) does not believe it was suicide and sets Bernard on a search to find the killer. -Taken from Troy Howarth's book with some paraphrasing

Bazzoni's film does a great job making use of duality and doubles throughout the film to keep you guessing and on your toes. He also does things that a lot of giallo would go on to do. There are close ups on eyes peeping through doors. Specifically from Bernard, which sets the tone of him being an unreliable narrator. There are times throughout the film where you think he could actually be the killer or he could be involved as he is shown in flashbacks to be stalking Tilde. He is shown to be a voyeur. When he gets to the hotel he sees that Tilde's coat is still around and he follows someone in town wearing it, only for it to be the new maid. That isn't the only misleading scene involving someone wearing a coat. There is sequence of deja vu where Bernard and the photographer go fishing and they talk about the situation. He had gotten a note from the photographer on that day. He wakes up, as he often does throughout this film after a significant scene, and sees the name note again! Now it's implied their conversation on the boat actually happened because the photographer says I have to stop sending notes because people will get suspicious of us talking. Yet, I'm still not sure if he is talking about multiple notes or not. Again that isn't the only note the main character gets and follows instructions for throughout. 

As I stated previously anytime the character has a scene where he gets more info about Tilde or someone's thoughts on her death it usually transitions to him waking up. There is one scene for example, where Irma, Enrico's daughter (Valentina Cortese) is shown ranting about her father not having anything to do with Tilde's death and her family being disgraced because of it. It then transitions to Bernard waking up. Did he dream it? Did she say that stuff to him? Is it something he thinks she would say? There are questions each time more information comes about. This wouldn't work if part of the ending didn't make sense. I'm pretty sure I understood the backstory which is good and also quite tragic. This isn't a feel good type of giallo when it ends. It's more like The House with the Laughing Windows than any other giallo I can think of. I still don't really know what happened involving the deaths of some characters at the end. Those are actually my favorite giallo movies where I put together more of the mystery up on repeat viewings. 

The style in this is amazing. The snow, the wind, the narrative voiceovers, the many layers of clothing, and all the scenes on peers make give this a weird depressing noir-giallo hybrid. While some of Umberto Lenzi's gialli with Carroll Baker have a similar feel with the blackmail, and even more eroticism which you get in more gialli as time went on, this movie had much more of mystery than any of Lenzi's noir-giallo movies have. Adding to both the unreliable narrator and the style there are scenes where you can't see the whole room, or the scenes are replayed through Bernard's mind (or is it) in different ways. Most of what happens in this movie isn't clear to me, except the backstory which only makes me like this more. I almost think this could be a movie I review each time I watch it so I can see what else I picked up or what I think of differently. Look for some great Gianetto De Rossi effects toward the end involving slit throats and scars on hands that was preview for things to come later in this career. I do enjoy the score and I like how it has the low pitched horns that were the same type of cues used during big reveals in Bava's Blood and Black Lace.

Rating: 9.5/10

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKWZ8T70Y7E