Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971)

In Prague, a man is found dead and sent to the morgue. The coroner finds his passport and identifies the American journalist Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel).He finds strange his body temperature and the absence of rigor mortis. However, Gregory is alive and totally paralyzed and recalls all the previous events. Gregory works in Prague with the journalists Jessica (Ingrid Thulin), with whom he had a love affair, and Jacques Versain (Mario Adorf). He will be transferred to London and meets his girlfriend Mira Svoboda (Barbara Bach) to invite her to travel with him. They go to a party and then he returns to his apartment with Mira. However Jacques calls him to investigate the death of a minister. However the information is fake and when he returns to the apartment, he finds that Mira has gone missing. The inefficient Inspector Kierkoff (Piero Vida) is in charge of the investigation and Gregory finds that several young women have disappeared in Prague. He carries out his own investigation culminating to find a mysterious cult. Meanwhile his friend and doctor finds weird the condition of his corpse and tries to revive Gregory. Will he succeed?"La corta notte delle bambole di vetro", a.k.a. "Short Night of Glass Dolls", is a totally different giallo. The story has no gore and slightly recalls the idea of "Sunset Boulevard", where a dead man tells the previous series of events until his death, and "Rosemary's Baby" since there are many people involved in a satanic cult. The conclusion is excellent with no redemption. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Breve Noite das Bonecas de Vidro" ("The Short Night of the Glass Dolls")

And perhaps the only one, as well. I mean, how many others in this genre were even set in a Communist city (here, Prague), let alone had such a strong political subtext? Though this isn't really a giallo in the traditional sense, it's more of a straight mystery (there is no gore, but some nudity - even senior-citizen nudity!). The "hook" of the film (a man who appears to be dead to everyone but whose mind is still working and is trying to remember what happened to him) is original and gripping. The final 5 minutes are suspenseful. But in the middle the movie fizzles and becomes dull, with a more or less obvious plot, a lack of pace, and uninspiring performances. It also features one of Ennio Morricone's less memorable music scores. ** out of 4.

Despite its typically giallo-style title, Short Night of the Glass Dolls cannot be neatly pigeon-holed in that genre: there is no mysterious black-gloved killer, a lack of inventive deaths, and absolutely no creepy dolls or haunting nursery rhymes! That said, this film should definitely appeal to fans of Argento, Bava, Fulci, Martino et al thanks to its ridiculously convoluted plot, bizarre characters, cool 70s cinematography and even a Morricone soundtrack.Director Aldo Lado (The Night Train Murders) delivers a highly original tale of the macabre that is told through a central character—reporter Gregory Moore—who appears to be dead, but is actually conscious, trapped within his seemingly lifeless body. Laying in the morgue, the man struggles to remember the events leading up to his strange predicament, and gradually recalls uncovering the existence of a secret, murderous, orgiastic cult.Lado's film is admittedly very slow going, and many might find it too much of a struggle to complete; those who persevere, however, will be rewarded with a hullucinatary experience that, whilst not a classic of Italian horror, is certainly a rather unique one (how many Italian thrillers have you seen set in cold-war Prague?).

American reporter Gregory Moore (played by French Jean Sorel) is in Prague with fellow reporters Jessica (Ingrid Thulin) and Jack (Mario Ardof). He prepares to leave and go to England with Czech girlfriend Myra (Barbara Bach). However she suddenly disappears without a trace. Moore starts to investigate but the police try to block him, his friends tell him to forget her and a mysterious man is following him...This is advertised as an Italian giallo but I don't think it really is. At the end it becomes one but about 85% of the movie is just a thriller--a good thriller but not a giallo. The title means next to nothing (as the director says in a short interview on the DVD). It was supposed to be called "Short Night of the Butterfly" (which does work) but it had to be changed at the last minute. "Glass Dolls" was just picked out of thin air. The film is hurt by poor dubbing--some of the dialogue is virtually incomprehensible. I had to keep turning the volume up and down to hear! That aside this is a good movie. The plot is complex and it's beautifully directed. The DVD of this has a gorgeous transfer. The acting is good by everybody--especially Sorel and Thulin. There's also a beautiful score by Ennio Morricone that perfectly fits the film. All in all a good strong thriller worth catching.