Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Siflutter
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
VideoXploiter
I really enjoyed this movie, despite the WTF ending. It's beautifully filmed, with an equally beautiful female protagonist. Her descent into madness is intriguing to watch. The afore mentioned weird ending does yield some patented Italian gore. It's relatively well paced, I only found myself bored a bit during the middle. But it really picks in the final act, with some slasher action. I recommend this classy mind trip.
bababear
THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK is very much worth watching. But it takes a lot of patience because it doesn't follow the template we expect for a film like this; I kept watching because it was wonderfully photographed, had a tremendous musical score, and I kept expecting to get really involved with the main character.Unfortunately, my involvement wavered because most of the action took place inside her head (as best I can figure) and as the story progresses she gets crazier and crazier. For that reason Silvia gets relegated to the role of The Unreliable Narrator. And when a film's makers get too involved in questions of What is real? and What is illusion? my mind goes to the question of What time does whatever is playing in Auditorium 2 start and can I sneak it?Silvia, played by Mimsy Farmer, is a work obsessed career girl employed in some sort of chemical lab. The exact nature of her work is never explained, but she's one of those women who never wants to take a day off. Whatever she does obviously pays well: she has an apartment in Rome with a living room big enough to play polo in.Mimsy Farmer is a blonde American actress of the Hope Lange- Vera Miles school who projects practicality and good sense. She made a second career for herself in Italian films like this after parts on this side of the Atlantic dried up. She kept my interest going even when the plot faltered.Silvia has a Dark Secret in her past, and her life gradually begins to unravel. The atmosphere becomes more menacing, but not a lot happens. It's past the one hour mark before the first irrelevant supporting character gets killed off.Finally there's a climactic scene where Silvia is confronted by the phantoms of the past and events seem to come to a resolution.Then (don't worry- I'm not going to give anything away here) director Francesco Barilli seems to crank up a whole new movie in the last few minutes so different in tone (both in theme and execution) that it seems totally unrelated to everything we've seen and heard, even though it does feature the same actors we've been watching.Imagine if THE KING'S SPEECH had ended with Dr. Logue and King George VI wearing fishnet stockings and dancing "The Time Warp" on the steps of Buckingham Palace. This movie goes off the rails even worse than that.And that's why the ending of THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK dropped its rating from an eight to a three.You can see for yourself if you're a Netflix subscriber- it's available streaming now.
The_Void
When it comes to rare cult gems, The Perfume of the Lady in Black is a finely cut diamond! Many rare Italian films have received wide releases recently, meaning that it's a tragedy that this film hasn't. While this film isn't the best to come from Italy, it's certainly well worth seeing for fans of the Italian thriller, and its cult value is immense! The film is often mistaken for a Giallo; but this seems to be more because of the fact that it's from the Giallo homeland than any affiliation with the sub-genre. The Perfume of the Lady in Black is more of a psychological thriller, although it does benefit from a colour scheme typical of Italy's most famous cult films. The plot follows the story of Silvia Hacherman. We see her in a photograph over the title sequence, and it quickly becomes apparent that all is not right with her and her family. The film starts years later; Silvia is grown up and her parents are dead. However, their memory is not, and the beautiful young woman finds herself haunted by their memory.Carrying on with the diamond idea...this film is absolutely stunning to look at! The vibrant colour scheme (which mainly consists of yellow) ensures this and every scene is beautifully photographed by director Francesco Barilli. Barilli directs the film with care, and every vista is dripping with a double meaning bubbling below the surface. Mimsy Farmer (who has worked with Italian legends Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci) takes the lead role, and only adds to the aesthetic value. This beautiful actress is a delight to look at, and her image always suits the film. The plot is character based, and the plot points are few. Because of this, several points will be lost on the casual viewer, and The Perfume of the Lady in Black is a film that needs to be viewed carefully in order for it to be fully appreciated. The film benefits from a foreboding atmosphere, which is perfectly backed up by the music score; and the way that it climaxes in bloody and brutal fashion brilliantly offsets the pace of what has gone before. The Perfume of the Lady in Black is not an easy film to track down; but if you get the chance to see it, I definitely recommend taking it!
Prof-Hieronymos-Grost
Mimsy Farmer is an industrial chemist haunted by tragic flashbacks form her childhood concerning the deaths of her parents….Is she going mad?...or is she the victim of a voodoo curse?…we are never quite sure until the vividly gruesome and savage climax. Magnificent cinematography and a memorable score make this a real gem of the Giallo genre.Barilli really shows his undoubted talent for capturing the wonderful Italian architecture and keeping us interested in the storyline too. This is not your bog standard slasher though, as nothing really happens until that brutal climax…(That I didn't see coming BTW).however this is a pensive and deliberately paced thriller that will live long in your memory.HIGHlY RECOMMENDED 8.5/10
