Spasmo (1974)

Dir: Umberto Lenzi

Umberto Lenzi delivers a pretty incoherent effort with this bizarre, ridiculous giallo about a man being driven mad by those around him. The trailer is hilarious but sadly almost all of the film's good stuff is in there and ninety more minutes of nonsense can drag even the most patient viewer into a state of just screaming at the screen and wanting it to be over. It's odd that a film with such a linear storyline can feel so utterly impossible to follow. Lenzi tries to justify it with a twist that almost pulls things together (and an admittedly fantastic finalé) but the absurd dialogue ("I have a razor in my room. It's big, sharp and sexy!") and his ability to focus on irrelevant minute details of the plot for ages, then rush through something important makes this workaday thriller (with almost no sex or violence, I should add) feel like the antithesis of conventional filmmaking. It's an uneasy mix that while memorable and quotable for weeks afterwards ("I'M NOT A STRONG WOMAN, CHRISTIAN!") is tough to sit through. NB: no one uses the word "Spasmo" throughout the entire film. EL BOMBA!