ThiefHott Too much of everything

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Myriam Nys A beautiful and independent woman works as a translator and interpreter. When she arrives at the office in order to hand in some written notes, she gets a frosty reception : she is accused not only of exceeding the deadline, but also of disappearing in a sudden (and highly inconvenient) manner. Defensive at first, the poor woman discovers that she can't account for her whereabouts during the last week or so. About the only clue consists of a photograph of a large, striking building in a Moorish or Oriental style... "Le orme" can be described as a psychological thriller, a metaphysical horror movie, or both. Whatever it is, it is a trippy, eerie, discombobulating movie with a highly original plot and style. I'm not sure that the plot, once unravelled, makes complete sense in a (chrono)logical way - which is the reason why I'm awarding 7 stars instead of 8 or 9 - but it certainly makes sense in a poetic, emotional way. "Le orme" also contains some very imaginative metaphors, and even some kind of movie-within-a-movie.Florinda Bolkan gives an excellent performance. She is also a very beautiful woman, a fact which is highlighted by some superbly flattering costumes. In fact, "Le orme" as a whole is an aesthetic delight. The wonderfully shot sets, locations and scenery are so beautiful that I would like to visit them in the flesh. (Am I right in thinking that the movie was filmed in Italy, Greece and Turkey ?) Those shimmering peacock windows alone would be sufficient reason to travel to a far-off destination.Last but not least the movie boasts a fine musical score.

Leofwine_draca A slim but occasionally thrilling giallo yarn with an offbeat plot that might be of interest to cult fans: the inclusion of a bizarre and spooky black and white science fiction film that makes repeated appearances throughout the movie, concerning an astronaut who finds himself abandoned on the lunar landscape after being deserted by his crew mates. What this has to do with the rest of the movie is unclear but it certainly makes things more interesting. Otherwise this is a character-focused mystery that falls under the definition of being a "giallo", although the main elements of the giallo - ie. the murders - are missing here, replaced by subtlety, atmosphere, and tons of mystery.FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON is a rather slow-going experience, tough to sit through due to the fact that absolutely nothing happens in the movie until the last ten minutes. Sure, lots of different characters are introduced and segments of the puzzle unearthed or remembered, but nothing in the way of action actually happens to further the plot in anyway. In fact, aside from the ending, the rest of the film chronicles Bolkan's attempt to discover what has happened in her past, events which are gradually uncovered in flashback. Despite being an uncomfortable viewing experience, there are numerous factors in this film's favour, not least the engaging turn from lead Florinda Bolkan, never better as the woman frustrated by her own identity. Although her amnesia is a done-to-the-death plot device, the formula still works in places and the heavy air of mystery and suspense makes things more bearable.Numerous familiar faces pop up in the cast, including fellow giallo veteran Evelyn Stewart (aka Ida Galli), wasted in a nothing role. Annoying redhead child Nicoletta Elmi (who later grew up in DEMONS) proves pivotal in helping Bolkan uncover some of her secrets, whilst veteran performer John Carlsen (THE SHE BEAST) makes an almost cameo appearance. But it's Klaus Kinski who is the most memorable, in an extremely small but important part as another kooky weirdo, and the film makes excellent use of his presence. Another memorable factor is the strong score by Nicola Piovani, which helps add to the experience. The ending, which I refer to repeatedly throughout this review, is unsettling and deeply horrifying stuff, best resembling a nightmare from which the protagonist cannot awake, definitely the strongest moment the film has to offer. Sadly the rest of the movie just can't match it.

BA_Harrison The American title for this film, Primal Impulse, makes it sound like a bad erotic thriller from the '90s. I wish that it had been: it would probably still have been more enjoyable than the pretentious and quite unfathomable Italian twaddle that it actually is.Also known as 'Footprints on the Moon', the film stars Florinda Bolkan as Alice, a translator who wakes to find that she can remember nothing of the past few days. Her only clues as to what has happened are a torn up postcard from the town of Garma and a mysterious yellow dress in her wardrobe. Packing her bags, she heads for Garma hoping to find the answer to the mystery.Although almost unanimously praised here on IMDb (the film is described by most as either atmospheric, eerie, haunting or suspenseful), I found the whole thing extremely boring, a rather pointless and very slow tale in which the protagonist is probably a complete looney tune, the whole mystery being a figment of her addled imagination. Either that or she's actually part of an alien experiment masterminded by Klaus Kinski. I couldn't say for sure.If you prefer your giallo (as this is often described) to pack a straight razor, black gloves, bloody kills and a cool score, avoid—this is not for you. If you like 'em a bit on the bizarre side (eg. Death Laid An Egg) you'll probably enjoy this a lot more than I did.

oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx There's no way of classifying Footprints, I know many have gone for calling it giallo, and perhaps it's best to approach it as that having never seen it, but really it's not genre fare. Much better to compare it to the likes of Solyaris, an art-house movie using genre trappings. However there's a real interbreeding of genres in Footprints, which gives it a feeling of incredible uniqueness.It's about a woman of a certain age, Alice, who is an interpreter for a large multinational governmental body. Her whole life we feel is a masterpiece of repression, a Freudian version of Rococo filigree. A friend tells her that there is something truly inhuman about how she dedicates herself incessantly in the pursuit of perfection at a job she hates. This of course is a sign of someone for who inner dams will eventually burst. One night Alice has a strange sci-fi dream and wakes to discover that she has lost three days of her memory. A clue leads her to an unusual resort, Garma, in a country that's unspecified, but may well be that faraway country, the past. Outside of the diegesis it's actually the ancient town of Phaselis in Turkey.The location is fascinating, there is a graveyard with unusual tombstones, an ancient church with the most magnificent glittering of golden tessera on the ceiling around a large organ. The organist, unusually, faces the audience and is glorified by their location. It's an opulent place that you can imagine was fleetingly glorious in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire as a resort, and Arcadian in the distant past. The state of the location mirrors Alice's state, a faded woman, who has only obscure memories of happiness.The music for the movie is provided by Nicola Piovani (who worked with the Taviani Brothers), and is of the 24 carat variety. The organ and strings piece at the start is punctuated by the beating of what sounds like a heart under a stethoscope. The accompanying shots on the moon, which inevitably remind one of 2001: A Space Odyssey, are appropriately brilliant.The beautiful stained glass peacocks of Alice's confused memory, were of interest to me. In the Western world we see these lovely creatures as ornamental and leave them wandering around the lawns of great estates. They actually come from the jungles of India however, and there's something quite outrageously beautiful present if you see them glide down the jungle valleys. Rather a metaphor for what modernity has done to the human organism.Excellent movie, if somewhat of a diminuendo after the awe-striking first sequence. A classic of cinematic paranoia.