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Starring |
Adrien Brody
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Emmanuelle Seigner
,
Elsa Pataky
,
Robert Miano
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Directed By |
Dario Argento
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Audio
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Dolby Digital 5.1
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Visuals
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16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
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Running Time |
89 mins
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UK Release Date |
July 11, 2011
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Genre |
Thriller, Horror
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Our Rating |
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User Rating |
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Celine, a beautiful American model, is abducted by her taxi driver on her way home in Torino, Italy. When her sister Linda (Seigner) realises her sister is in danger, she enlists the help of Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Brody) in hunting her sister's captor. It soon becomes clear that the sadistic killer, known only as 'Yellow' is preying on the beautiful, disfiguring innocent women and punishing them for their looks. As the hunt continues, Enzo becomes closer to the killer than he ever wanted to be.
Dario Argento's recent crop of cinematic offerings have done little to impresss. On the surface, Giallo looks promising, if a little uninspired. With its simple cat-and-mouse premise, procedural plot and dependable leading man, this latest Argento offering has all the ingredients of a solid enough thriller, if nothing else. Sadly, it's not long before the films many shortcomings appear and unfold at the seams, leaving us with a shoddy mess of a movie that's at times, unbearable.
Brody does a decent enough job in his central role, wading through a shoddy script and by-the-numbers dialogue with ease, but it left with no other tools with which to shape out an engaging protagonist. Emmanuelle Seigner's casting as Linda almost immediately proves itself a woeful misfire, with the actress struggling to endear herself to the audience, let alone strike up any chemistry with Brody.
The sadistic killer at the centre of the whole gory affair is also massively uninspired. A social misfit and physically disfigured oddball, 'Yellow' comes packaged with a ridiculous back-story and threadbare motive. Poorly conceived and ridiculously portrayed, Yellow's on-screen presence is at best bizarre.
Giallo isn't shy and retiring when it comes to the red stuff, but this alone won't curry favour with the gore-lover. Now that the most weak-stomached of cinema goers have endured countless Saw sequels and torture-porn pictures on an almost weekly basis, Giallo's more violent scenes seem tepid at best.
Overall Verdict: It seems Argento just isn't trying anymore. With a half-baked premise that's been done to death by any number of forensic dramas, this limp thriller is best avoided.
Special Features:
None
Reviewer: David Steele
