The Psychic (1979)

A clairvoyant woman, inspired by a vision, smashes open a section of wall in her husband's home and finds a skeleton behind it. Along with her psychiatrist, she seeks to find the truth about who the person was and who put her there.Chris Eggertsen included the film as number seven in a countdown of the "Top Ten Underrated Horror Gems", citing its "excellent cinematography and deft use of color", though criticizing its "poor use of dubbing". The dubbing is, indeed, a bit of a problem, but that is more or less standard with these things. Often, if I understand correctly, they do not even have an audio track to begin with and dub everything later regardless of language.The film works great as a giallo. The general concept is usually someone thinks they see something, but is not quite sure, and then they have to investigate it. This works on those lines, but the "seeing" is a psychic vision, not quite accurate. A gallery is mistaken for a museum, a man with a beard has shaved, and so on.

Average (and surprisingly tame) Fulci giallo which means it's still quite bad by normal standards, but redeemed by its solid build-up and some nice touches such as a neat time twist on the issues of visions and clairvoyance.The genre's well-known weaknesses are in full gear: banal dialogue, wooden acting, illogical plot points. And the finale goes on much too long, while the denouement proves to be a rather lame or shall I say: limp affair.Fulci's ironic handling of giallo norms is amusing, though. Yellow clues wherever you look.3 out of 10 limping killers

Enthralling and well made giallo tinged thriller. Superb central performance and great score and if it lacks a little blood, it certainly contains enough menace. We are constantly trying to work out both 'who dunnit' and when or even if, but the quirky music starts up again and amidst the crashes and recurring dream/vision/memory we are sent reeling once more. Fine opening, which is pretty bone crunching, stunning ending and in between plenty to keeps one's attention. My son who heard the 'seven black notes' of the title as he was passing through, whilst I watched, advises me that they were used by Tarantino in Kill Bill, as a tribute, presumably and quite right too.

I must confess: I do not like the cinema of Lucio Fulci. Although he is often considered a top tier director of Italian horror/gialli, I found his films to be nothing more than exploitative and shameless, capitalizing on violence and sex to appeal to nothing but the viewer's carnal desires while providing little (if any) intelligence for the viewer's mind and cognitive thinking.Imagine my surprise when I found this not only to be a *good* movie, but also quite possibly one of the best gialli I have ever seen (second only to some of Dario Argento's best work).Despite a rather unnecessarily violent and gory opening (which is more laughable than shocking), the film is very subtle and restrained, with no nudity and very little violence, focusing upon its labyrinthine mystery to provide the thrills rather than anything visceral.And the mystery is superb, playing out very much like a jigsaw puzzle. The main character (Jennifer O'Neal) sees a barrage of images in the opening of the film, like pieces of a puzzle, and as the film progresses we see the pieces beginning to come into place and form a whole picture. All of this creates a very engrossing experience as we get en-wrapped within he mystery.That is not to say the film is totally devoid of visceral thrills. The suspense sequences are genuinely suspenseful, with the chase scene in the run-down church being almost unbearable in its potent tension. Not to mention, the very last sequence in the house will also have you on the edge of your seat.And the story isn't the only thing that makes this giallo work so well - the direction by Fulci (I can't believe I'm saying this) is magnificent, with such stunning sequences of camera movements and edits that just draw the viewer into the action. Also, the music by Bixio, Frizzi, and Tempera is hypnotic, creating a very much palpable atmosphere of dread and ominous foreboding.However, I don't mean to sound like this is a masterpiece of Italian cinema - it's not. I am merely so shocked at how good this film is considering its film-making pedigree. The opening scene, as mentioned earlier, is entirely out of place, and the plot, while complex, is strangely predictable once you begin to understand what's happening.Despite this, the plot is tight, focused, and clever, with genuine suspense, which makes it one of the best giallo films ever.Essential viewing for not only giallo fans, but also any lover of a good mystery.