"The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" - Film Review

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is a terribly disturbing film. For all its occasional clunkiness, when director Dario Argento wants to scare us, the film thrills and unsettles like few horror films do.

While much of the film is a by the books slasher film, spiced up by some intriguing amateur detective work by the protagonist, it takes its familarness and mines it for some truly delightful and unnerving thrills and chills. Part of the film’s seeming familiarity is how many times the film’s premise and style have been copied; the film sparked the Italian horror genre of giallo.

While many later giallo films would use the genre for cheap thrills of violence and nudity, Crystal Plumage crafts a solid narrative that though not without its faults (the whole visit with that artist is just idiotic and clumsy) is very entertaining. The murders are frightening and creepy, especially since they’re shot largely from the perspective of the serial killer. The film turns these stalking sequences and the attacks on the life of Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall) into highly exciting scenes that often leave you on the edge of your seat. 

When Sam witnesses an attempted murder, he rushes to save the woman in distress and soon finds himself caught up in the investigation for the killer. He initially wants nothing to do with the case, hoping to return home to the United States. But the more he looks into the murders, the more engrossed he finds himself to the point of near-obsession.  The greater his involvement becomes, the more he puts himself and those around him at risk. 

The film is helped along by some lovely cinematography that’s at times sumptuous and exquisite, accentuating its colors at the just the appropriate moments to build a wonderful sense of atmosphere. 

Crystal Plumage is disturbing and thrilling horror film that’s still a great deal of fun to watch. 

Grade: B