I never understood why it seemed impossible to make a modern giallo film. Everything released in the style after the 80s seemed to be quite awful, even by greats like Argento. The 90s had a few fun ones but by the turn of the century no one seemed to want to make them anymore and if they did they did it badly. I had resigned myself to thinking that very specific style just couldn't come across in the digital format or was only fun by way of kitsch- then something wonderful happened. In the 2010s there was a resurgence of 70s throwback horror and with that came a smaller, more minor giallo revival, starting with the work of Helene Cattete and Bruno Forzani. Unfortunately, although miles ahead of previous attempts, their work was mainly style focused, being incoherent and surreal. One could argue that those are points of reference for the original scene, and they are, but most gialli, even Argento's most dreamlike works, still had a logic that made sense within the movie. This duo's films seemed to be just a barrage of images dressed up Italy in the 70s.
And so I was disappointed- until today. Francesca does everything right. Starting with the basics- the score, the 70s styled grainy film, the throwback sets and, especially, the dubbing. All of this comes together to create something that truly feels authentic even if you wouldn't necessarily be able to mistake it for something made back in the day. It's hard to recapture something like that, maybe impossible, but this film has come as close as ive ever seen.
One thing I didn't like about it was the lack of a final girl. It almost seemed like there was no main character for much of the film, the perspective was split several ways. The excitement of most slashers, for me, comes with watching the main character escape death over and over again while everyone else around them succumbs.
But other than that I have no complaints. This is a great film and I'm extremely excited to see what this guy might do next.