They're Coming to Get You! (1972) User Reviews (56)

Edwige gets startled...again

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 14 January 2018]

You do know that in the real world, the chances of encountering women like Edwige Fenech, Susan Scott, and Marina Malfatti in the space of even a YEAR are almost zilch, right? George Hilton encounters them all in one day. He's an old man now, but I doubt he's got any regrets, and probably still has one of the most enviable wank banks in existence.

Edwige does a lot of 'startled over the shoulder glances' in this one, so if you're a big fan of that you will like this, a quasi-giallo involving that early seventies obsession: the satan worshipping cult. But I'm getting ahead of myself there. The main question of the first half of this film is: If Edwige has flashbacks to witnessing an OLD Ivan Rassimov killing her mother when she was a child, then why does she think a YOUNG Ivan Rassimov is stalking her now?

Needless to say when we first meet Edwige she's a messed up girl (in her head, she still looks immaculate no matter what happens to her) - she witnessed her mum being killed, she lost a baby in a car crash caused by husband George Hilton, and now she can't get it on with him due flashbacks. What's a girl to do? Go see a psychiatrist like her sister Susan Scott recommends? Or join a Satanic cult, drink the blood of a sacrificed dog, and get it on with some smelly hippies? If you thought Edwige's character in Anna, the Mafioso's Punching Bag was gullible, you aint seen nothing yet!

The Satanic cult element is introduced fairly early, but the main mystery of the film is who can Edwige trust? Probably not Ivan Rassimov, as she spends most of the film running away from him, but was is George Hilton up to? Is he a travelling salesman or is he something else? What about psychiatrist George Riguad? Or why does Susan Scott hate George? And what did lawyer Luciano Pigozzi want to talk to her about? Sergio Martino does a good job here of making everything as trippy as possible. The film starts with a bonkers dream sequence involving a floating man in drag and a pregnant woman rubbing blood on her stomach. He chops up the editing at several points so things repeat themselves, shows scenes that may or may not have happened in Edwige's head, and also has Edwige having visions of things that haven't happened yet. You can't go wrong with a good rooftop chase so Sergio throws one of them in too, and actually manages to explain most of what's going on before the end of the film! Except those visions.

That's it - I've now watched every Edwige giallo film (Top Sensation, Five Dolls for the August Moon, Strange Case of Mrs Wardh, Your Vice is a Locked Room and only I have the Key, The Case of the Bloody Iris, All the Colours of the Dark, 1975's Strip Nude For Your Killer and 1988's Phantom of Death). Apart from those, Edwige would appear in a whole lot of 'sexy comedies' that were seemingly the most popular genre in Italy in the late seventies. She would also appear in a couple of Euro Crime films, including Mean Frank and Crazy Tony, which I switched off after ten minutes due to the horrible comedy.

Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back

[ferbs54 · 8/10 · 6 November 2007]

"The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (1971) was the film that first turned me on to giallo director Sergio Martino, as well as the charms of cult actress Edwige Fenech. I just had to have more, and so checked out "All the Colors of the Dark" (1972) just as quickly as I could. This film reunites not only the director and star of "Mrs. Wardh," but also costars George Hilton and Ivan Rassimov from that previous film, as well, and although "Dark" is not the 10-star masterpiece that "Mrs. Wardh" is, it still has much to offer, even to the casual viewer. In this one, Edwige plays a woman named Jane who, when we first meet her, is something of an emotional mess. She had recently suffered a miscarriage following a car accident, and is now having persistent nightmares about the blue-eyed, knife-wielding whacko who killed her mother many years before. And soon, Jane meets the man of her dreams, as Ol' Blue Eyes (and I don't mean Frank Sinatra!) starts stalking her through the streets of London. After psychiatry fails to calm her, she takes a friend's advice and attends a local Black Mass (!), but, not too surprisingly, her new devil-worshipping acquaintances only add to poor Jane's problems.... Anyway, Martino again directs his picture with abundant style to spare, and Fenech is astonishingly beautiful throughout. Twenty-three in this film, she looks a bit like Carolyn Jones' better-looking sister, or a brunette Karin Dor, but in truth is far, far prettier than either of those lovelies. When she's on screen (which, happily here, is most of the time), you just can't take your eyes off her. Thus, we have a slightly overly plotted giallo that combines a stalker, devil worshippers, a psychedelic Black Mass, nightmare sequences AND beautiful Edwige in the buff. Can't be all bad, right?

Not Quite the Giallo One Would Expect

[cassiewright-89520 · 7/10 · 12 July 2019]

Though typically billed as a traditional giallo, All The Colors of the Dark owes more to Rosemary's Baby than it does The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. The stunning Edwige Fenech plays the lead character who finds herself getting wrapped up in a bizarre cult after a neighbor tells her that it might help her get over some of her issues. Naturally, things don't end well when she starts suspecting that this cult doesn't have the best of intentions.

For those expecting buckets of blood, you'll be disappointed, but the script for All The Colors Of The Dark and much smarter and more thoughtful than a lot of other giallo scripts and is filled with twists, turns, and even some honest-to-God suspense.

Definitely worth checking out

[lazarillo · 3 December 2004]

This is an entertaining Italian giallo that has often been unfairly compared to "Rosemary's Baby", even though the only bambina on display here is lead actress Edwige Fenech. There is a satanic cult here as in the Polanski classic, but they are much more interested in making Fenech the centerpiece of their ritualized sex orgies and getting their hands on her inheritance than they are in impregnating her with the Devil's spawn. And while "Rosemary's Baby" makes perfect sense, this is a quintessential giallo where making sense is completely beside the point. There is a powerful sense of paranoia in this film, but it is hysterical paranoia of low-budget Italian thrillers rather than the subtle, creeping paranoia of "Rosemary's Baby". Basically the plot here is just an excuse to move between dramatic chase sequences, bizarre dream sequences, and delirious satanic sex. The movie is certainly aware of it's similarity to the Polanski film and cleverly uses it to produce red herrings by giving the heroine a mysterious, remote husband (George Hilton) and a very odd psychiatrist.

Fenech was always good in these hysterical victim roles, and she is ably supported here by the rest of the cast. The creepily blue-eyed Ivan Rassimov is a killer stalking her. (Why? Who knows, but he's great). Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott) plays the conniving sister and provides some relief nudity for Fenech. George Hilton is smooth and suave as always (he even seems remarkably unperturbed that his wife is cheating on him with an entire satanic cult).

This is not the best gialli with Fenech (that would be "What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer's Body")nor is it Martino's best (that would be "Torso"). But it's the best one they did together. And there are good-looking widescreen bootleg copies of it floating around. It's definitely worth checking out.

A tense and thrilling Giallo co-produced by Italy/Spain including ordinary grisly killings

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 27 February 2021]

A woman : Edwige Fenech , recovering from a car crash along with her boyfriend : Uruguay-born George Hilton, suffers hallucinations and strange dreams , being plagued by nightmares about a coven of devil bloodline worshippers . She lost her unborn child , being nowadays mercilessly pursued by an ominous killer with blue eyes : Ivan Rassimov and wielding a knife . A blood-drenched nightmare from which you awaken too late ! .Something is out there .. coming closer .. Don't be afraid to be afraid . They exist . They bear the Mark of the Devil inside them. They May be neighbors . They May be your wife , husband , sweetheart . They May even be your children . Their time has come . They cannot be exorcised from the World because their power has grown too strong.. their numbers too many !

Sergio Martino's Gialli getting certain success , being compellingly shot , including well staged crimes with plenty of startling visual content and adding Rosemary's Baby thematic . This is the usual Gialli where intrigue , tension , suspense , stabbing and chases show up lurking and threatening throughout parks , buildings , elevador, corridors and grim interiors . The film combines atmospheric blending of thrills , chills , nudism and suspenseful final . The rather perplexing tale weavers so many red herrings when ultimately the murderer is unmasked . Based on a story by prolific Santiago Moncada and whose scripts were created films as The Cauldron of Death , Bell from Hell , Corruption of Chris Miller and A Hatchet for Honeymoon by Mario Bava . Nice ambiance and setttings from Jose Luis Galicia and Raúl Pérez Cubero , enhanced by the well photographed London carried out by good cameraman Miguel Fernández Mila . As well as intriguing musical score by Bruno Nicolai, usual collaborator to Ennio Morricone . Being an Italian/Spanish co-production here appears Italian actors : Edwige Fenech , Ivan Rassimov , Marina Malfatti , Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Collins , Dominique Boschero and Spanish ones : Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott , Jorge Rigaud and Julián Ugarte , giving all of them acceptable interpretations .

The picture was decently directed by the Italian director Sergio Martino . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made unaffected products for mass consumption , realizing a vast array of often entertaining films through an uneven career . Brother of producer Luciano Martino, Sergio has frequently worked with actors George Hilton , Ivan Rassimov , Claudio Cassinelli and actress Edwige Fenech . Directing all kinds of genres as horror, gialli , sex comedy , Spaghetti Western as proved in Mannaja , Arizona returns . Sergio Martino was an expert on Giallos , such as : Torso, The suspicious death of a Minor , The Case of Scorpion's tale, Murder in an Etrusco cemetery, The strange vice of Mrs Ward and this Tutti i color del buio 1972 . Furthermore , he made other genres as Warlike : Casablanca Express , and Sci-Fi : Destroyer , 2019 After the fall of New York . Rating : 6.5/10, a notable slasher that will appeal to Giallo enthusiasts and Edwige Fenech fans.

GIALLO OR NOT?

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 7/10 · 27 February 2019]

In recent years there's been a re-emerging interest in the giallo films, those Italian suspense movies that almost always feature a mysterious murderer in black gloves tracking down a new victim. But that hasn't always been the format used for the giallo film. Such is the case with ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK.

The movie tells the story of Jane (Edwige Fenech), a woman whose mother was murdered years ago who is dealing with the recent loss of a child in a car crash. Suspicious of everyone, always on edge and afraid of being alone, she constantly calls her husband Richard (George Hilton). Richard is a pharmacy salesman and thinks the solution is vitamins he continues to give her. Her sister Barbara (Susan Scott) has other ideas.

Working for an analysts she believes therapy is what Jane needs. Jane goes to see the therapist and discusses her recurring dream where she sees a pregnant woman on a table, a meth mouthed looking midwife dressed in dolls clothing with curly hair and herself on a bed, blood spilling from an open wound. During the dream she also sees a man with piercing blue eyes. The therapist tell here there must be a reason for this and not to worry, they will work on her issues. He leaves the room for a moment and Jane looks into the lobby to find the pale eyed man sitting there. When she tells the therapist he tells her he has no other patients scheduled.

Walking home through a park Jane feels she's being followed by the man with blue eyes. She bumps into a woman named Mary (Marina Malfatti) who happens to be a new neighbor in their apartment building. Stopping in for a cup of tea they have a conversation where Mary tells her she had problems once too but found a solution that she offers to Jane. Jane agrees and the next day they go to a castle nearby.

Mary's solution is to become a member of a satanic cult there. Her mind already in a spin from the dreams as well as the numerous people all presenting different ways to help her Jane succumbs to the influence of both drugs and maneuvers presented by the group. But something seems off about them, something that ties to her past. By the time she realizes what is going on Jane isn't quite sure what it real, what is fantasy and what problems may follow the decisions she makes.

The movie is incredibly interesting and a pleasure to watch due to the quality of the film makers behind the credits. At the same time it has a familiar ring to it. While watching I kept thinking it seemed just like ROSEMARY'S BABY without the baby. During the extras in an interview with the director he notes that Italian film makers at the time borrowed heavily from successful films and that this one was indeed influenced by that film.

The story here is one that's a bit convoluted and confusing at times and yet easy enough to follow if you pay close attention. Some items aren't clear until final revelations are offered near the end but they won't stop you from enjoying the film all the same.

The acting by all involved is better than one would expect and loses nothing in the transition of languages of all involved. Hilton is there for the ladies to swoon over and both Fenech and Scott here in their heyday are amazingly attractive and easy on the eye. Both were consistent actresses in the giallo genre and this movie just adds another to their long list of accomplishments.

While most giallo films seem to be coming from Arrow Video these days this offering is from Severin who have shown in the past year or two a desire to step up their game and offer some amazing titles in the best version possible. This film is not different. Here they are offering the movie for the first time in a 4k scan from the original film negative. It's never looked this good before.

In addition to that they've included some amazing extras to enjoy. These include "They're Coming To Get You" an alternate US cut of the film, "Color My Nightmare" an interview with director Sergio Martino, "Last of the Mohicans" an interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, "Giallo is the Color" interviews with Hilton and Italian horror expert Antonio Tentori, and audio commentary track with Kat Ellinger, the author of "All the Colors of Sergio Martino", trailers and a bonus CD of the film's soundtrack. Wow, what a list.

Severin is releasing this title along with another title called ALL THE COLORS OF GIALLO, a documentary of the genre that includes a 4 hour compilation of giallo trailers. My suggestion is that you pick both up and enjoy them as soon as possible. Severin has done an amazing job on both.

They're coming to get you Barbara I mean Jane

[Tender-Flesh · 6/10 · 9 April 2010]

A pseudo-giallo, All the Colors... once again puts Edwige behind the knife, or rather in front of it and sometimes under it, when she stumbles(or is she lead?) into a satanic cult. Say it ain't so. Now, even on a rainy day when I'm all out of meth, I don't go in for satanic cult movies since they bore me. But, I started to enjoy this film in spite of myself, though I was expecting less devil and more giallo. If you are expecting the razor wielding sex maniac in black gloves to stalk beautiful girls to kick ass music, look elsewhere.

What you get here instead is Jane, a poor gal suffering from nightmares and also possibly daymares. Her beau, Richard, is often away from their flat, leaving her to her nightmares since she refuses to take her vitamins or whatnot. So, a new neighbor offers to take her to a black mass to help rid her of this weird dude named Mark who keeps stalking her and feeling her up with his cool blue eyes. However, all is not well, since after she goes to the mass, she realizes Mark belongs to the coven. D'oh! And now he starts showing up even more, which means Jane was gang raped for nothing. I hate it when that happens. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm always up for a black mass when I'm having nightmares or if some weird person shows up at a couple of places I've been recently. I'm sort of surprised more doctors don't recommend it. Anyway, except for Mark and the mass ringleader, McBride(who looks like a devilish Robert Downey Jr.), the rest of the cultists look like rejects from a Wiccan ceremony held in a local park.

Director Sergio has a few good moments of nice camera-work, lighting, effective music, but overall it struck me as rather average, if watchable. Obvious inspirations from Rosemary's Baby abound.

One of Sergio Martino's best

[capkronos · 7/10 · 31 July 2006]

Opening with a knockout dream sequence (featuring a blue-eyed killer stabbing to death a grotesque old lady with rotten teeth, a pregnant woman on a doctor's table and a nude woman on a bed), this giallo seems to be taking a unusual path by twisting around the conventions set down by the genre. It actually works pretty well even though there's about one too many convoluted plot elements squeezed in at the very end. Edwige Fenech (previously seen in Martino's STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH) fits comfortably in her usual mentally-screwed-up-beautiful-lady-in-distress spot as Jane Harrison, a nightmare-plagued woman living in London whose mother was murdered when she was a child. Her live-in fiancé Richard (George Hilton) seems kind, patient and understanding, but he's also away most of the time at work. Jane's sister Barbara ("Susan Scott"/Nieves Navarro) also appears to be sympathetic and protective of her sister and takes her to see a psychiatrist (Georges Rigaud) who attempts to unlock the secrets of her past. After her session, Jane is pursued in a subway by the same sinister man from her dreams with the cracked blue eyes (a wonderfully creepy Ivan Rassimov in some interesting contacts). He follows her home and starts keeping watch outside of her apartment house. Jane is befriended by a new tenant named Mary (Marina Malfatti), who claims she has the answer to all of Jane's problems and then things start to get even weirder.

So before long, Jane finds herself up to her neck in a black magic cult working out of a secluded castle and headed by a guy (Julian Ugarte) who wears Freddy-like claws on his hands. During her initiation, they make her drink fresh dog's blood and pass her around during a sex orgy, where she's fondled by zombie-like pasty-faced cult members. After she's pursued by the killer once again and apparently unperturbed by her first traumatic encounter with the Satanists, Jane becomes desperate enough to return to the cult, where they convince her she'll be "free" from the killer if she does just as they say. The cult leader has sex with her again and give her a knife. Mary kills herself by falling over on it and then Jane is informed she's obligated to take her place. And guess who else is involved in the Satanic sect? Why the mysterious blue-eyed killer, of course! When Jane tries to escape them, he sends Doberman's after her to chew up her arms and then chloroforms her. She wakes up back in her apartment. Are these events actually taking place or are they simply delusions in her pretty little disturbed head? After a rapid-fire succession of murders, plot twists and maybe even a prophetic dream insert, a police inspector finally reveals our answer.

As usual with the majority of giallo efforts, the script is far from rock solid, but technically speaking, this movie is quite good. Martino's direction is smoother, more stylish and much more assured than it was in STRANGE VICE. Miguel Fernandez Mila and Giancarlo Ferrando's vivid, surreal and sometimes psychedelic cinematography and Bruno Nicolai's score are both huge pluses and add immensely to this film. And while there's the requisite amount of Fenech flesh on display and some blood, the film is more concerned with style and story than it is providing cheap thrills. All around, the cast is very good. 

TUTTI I COLOR DEL BUIO/ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK originally made it to US theaters in 1975 under the title THEY'RE COMING TO GET YOU. It was then released to VHS as either DAY OF THE MANIAC or DEMONS OF THE DEAD. The Shriek Show DVD contains a lot of goodies, like separate interviews with the director (who claims ROSEMARY'S BABY was a chief influence) and star George Hilton, a photo gallery, alternate US title sequence, the original Italian trailer and radio spots, plus four other unrelated trailers.

Psychedelic and stylish Sergio Martino thriller

[Red-Barracuda · 9/10 · 4 November 2010]

All The Colors of the Dark is a combination of a giallo, an occult horror and a Roman Polanski style claustrophobic apartment-based thriller. It's possibly director Sergio Martino's most ambitious film from a period when he produced a series of excellent pictures. Unlike Martino's other gialli, this one is much more psychological in approach. It doesn't have a series of murders or anything like that but instead focuses on the troubled world of its female protagonist played by cult actress Edwige Fenech. She is recovering from a car crash which claimed the life of her unborn baby, shortly after this she is menaced by a mysterious man and is introduced to a black magic group by an enigmatic neighbour. The story isn't all that great to be perfectly honest it's the style in which it's presented that's its strength. It's consistently photographed in an interesting way, with unusual angles and good colour schemes. The disorienting camera angles do add to the overall theme of a psychologically troubled woman. The London settings are also used very well indeed – the apartment block and country manor are both very effectively shot. It would also be deeply remiss to not mention Bruno Nicolai's soundtrack. It's a really nice psychedelic piece that adds to the atmosphere very nicely, it comes into its own in the scenes of the cult indoctrinating Edwige Fenech's character into their circle; this scene is one of the best that Martino ever directed, it's pure 70's psychedelic delirium. It's only matched in this movie by the very creepy and bizarre opening dream sequence which includes things like a murdered pregnant woman and a hideous old crone dressed like a child's doll.

The movie is immeasurably helped by the presence of Edwige Fenech. She looks like the definitive giallo heroine here, with her gorgeous mane of long black hair, porcelain skin and big eyes. She is certainly a welcome character to base the movie around and does play the vulnerable victim very well it has to be said. Her co-star, the always excellent Susan Scott, who plays her sister, is sadly underused but at least she's there. The male stars don't particularly shine but Ivan Rassimov has a fairly memorable role as the blue-eyed psycho. Overall, Sergio Martino produced another fine Italian thriller with this movie. I'm not convinced it's his best necessarily, and perhaps it sometimes promises more than it actually delivers. Nevertheless, this one should most certainly please fans of this kind of thing.

Darkness imprisoning her... All that she sees, absolute horror!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 23 July 2006]

There's isn't any black-gloved killer butchering one fashion model after the other with an exceptional weapon here, yet that certainly doesn't make "All the Colors of the Dark" any less of a genuine Italian giallo! This solid thriller, directed by the almighty Sergio Martino ("Torso", "Blade of the Ripper") , benefits most from its extremely stylish cinematography and, of course, the mesmerizing looks of lead actress and reigning giallo-queen Edwige Fenech. With this natural beauty running around hysterically all the time – often scarcely dressed – you almost feel forced to forgive the story for being overly confusing and the violence for being too tame. Jane is a young woman, still recovering from a traumatizing accident in which she lost her unborn child, and suffers from re-occurring nightmares as well as hallucinations of being stalked by a blue-eyed creep. With her lover Richard out of town a lot, others try to help Jane with her mental problems. Her sister recommends seeing a psychiatrist and a befriended girl in the apartment even advises her to join a satanic cult. This last initiative obviously isn't a very good idea, as lovely Jane becomes involved in an occult mess of rape & murder, starring all the people of her unexplained hallucinations. Sergio Martino creates and sustains a powerful atmosphere of paranoia and morbidity, yet it's truly regretful that there isn't any more gore on display. Jane's nightmares are remotely bloody, but true fans of Italian horror cinema require a bit more sadism. There are several suspenseful scenes to make up for this, notably the one where Fenech awakes in a countryside cottage and painfully realizes she STILL isn't safe. The screenplay makes several intriguing twists & turns near the end, just in time to make it a great giallo after all. I have to admit that the first hour of "All the Colors of the Dark" nearly wasn't as compelling and involving as other contemporary gialli. The music is great as usual and, apart from Edwige, this movie also contains great performances by George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov and Nieves Navarro.

Complete Mess

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 1 June 2020]

In London, Jane Harrison (Edwige Fenech) lives with her boyfriend Richard Steele (George Hilton), who is a pharmaceutical salesman that frequently needs to travel. Jane has two serious traumas, the first when her mother was murdered when she was a child and recently when she was pregnant and lost her baby in a car crash. Presently Jane is a frigid woman that has nightmare disorder with a man with blue eyes and a dagger and frequent daydreams. Richard gives vitamins to cure her. Her sister Barbara Harrison (Susan Scott) wants to schedule a medical consultation with her chief, the psychiatrist Dr. Burton (George Rigaud). When Jane meets her neighbor Mary Weil (Marina Malfatti), she convinces Jane to go to a cult where her fears would disappear. But now she believes the blue-eyed man and the cult worshippers are hunting her down.

"Tutti i colori del buio", a.k.a. "All the Colors of the Dark", is a dated film of horror and giallo genres. The screenplay is a complete mess and the cult is based on "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) and the use of hallucinogen and free-love movement typical from the 70´s in a psychedelic environment. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Todas as Cores da Escuridão" ("All the Colors of the Darkness")

Excellent giallo.

[parry_na · 9/10 · 25 August 2018]

One of the many things I enjoy about the giallo genre is that whilst the structure is similar with each film, the overall style can be infused with various other flavours. Here, the horror/thriller style is given a kind of 'Rosemary's Baby' treatment, with the incredible Edwige Fenech playing Jane, who appears to becoming immersed into the world of the occult (this is a far more successful melding of genres than 'A Black Ribbon for Deborah' two years later).

Traumatised by the loss of her unborn child, Jane begins seeing the image of an impossibly blue-eyed man. As time goes on, this figure tries to kill her, and desperately lonely with her husband away for his work, she befriends nearby mysterious and condescending Mary (Marina Malfatti), who promises that if Jane attends a Black Mass ceremony, all her problems will vanish. As solutions go, it was never going to work. The blue eyed figure, now wielding a knife, warns her not to renounce the group.

Looking fabulous, poor Jane is catapulted from one nightmare to another, with partner Richard (George Hilton) turning up to save her. However, could he become ensnared in the cult too? You would hope not. Incidentally, in a sadly brief role as Jane's sister Barbara is Nieves Navarro (here billed as Susan Scott), a million miles away from the carefree characters she played in 'Death Walks... ' giallos from the early 1970s.

Beautifully directed in an occasionally hallucinogenic fashion by Sergio Martino, and mesmerizingly scored by Bruno Nicolai, 'All the Colours of the Dark' features a typically exciting climax. If you like giallo films, you'll like this. If you're uninitiated in the genre, I'd recommend it without question.

Cult mix of giallo and Rosemary's Baby

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 5 June 2016]

Sergio Martino is an Italian director who can usually be relied upon to churn out a decent B-movie and DAY OF THE MANIAC is typical of his work: it's an offbeat, slightly bizarre entry into a genre that bears obvious influences from previous, better films but nevertheless provides a fun viewing experience for the undemanding fan. DAY OF THE MANIAC is a giallo film with all the usual trappings of that genre: beautiful women being stalked by weird strangers, menaced by swishing blades, pleading their sanity to their unsympathetic partners, and voicing their concerns to doctors and psychoanalysts. On top of that, the film is a variation of ROSEMARY'S BABY, as the heroine joins a Satanic cult and begins to suspect that those around her are not who they seem.

The cast is headlined by Edwige Fenech, possibly the prettiest and most rewarding of all giallo heroines. Here, she's at the top of her game, projecting a fragile beauty and only overacting on occasion. Fenech is let down a little by a staid George Hilton, who always seems to be wooden whatever the film he appears in; as her husband, he makes little more impact than a lump of wood. Far better is Ivan Rassimov; although his appearance is limited to only a few sequences, Martino makes superb use of his imposing presence and he really seems to be having a ball with his turn here. Julian Ugarte also deserves mention as the suave leader of the black magic cult and on top of that there are some interesting bit parts from the likes of model Susan Scott and Italian film regular Luciano Pigozzi.

DAY OF THE MANIAC becomes quite delirious in places, leaving the viewer just as confused as the heroine to what on earth is going on. There's a noticeable lack of gore by genre standards but Martino makes sure he puts the requisite nudity into the production (why have the heroine clothed when talking to her husband? Why not have her in the bath or getting dressed?). The moments with the Satanic coven are quite well staged with plenty of eerie interludes (the stabbing of the fox springs to mind). Things get even weirder as it transpires that Fenech has psychic abilities, a plot device that leads to a climax fraught with tension and impending danger. A little more intrigue in the first hour would have made this a real classic of the genre; as it stands, it's a decent enough giallo flick, not perfect but certainly above average thanks to the sheer style resulting from Martino's compelling direction.

Stylish but monotonous, unrewarding giallo.

[gridoon · 5/10 · 21 March 2004]

Set mostly in London, this giallo has some things going for it, including stylish direction, good-looking photography and surprisingly decent dubbing. But Sergio Martino makes the crucial mistake of letting Edwige Fenech carry the movie almost all by herself (he should have given the task to the smooth-as-always George Hilton). Don't get me wrong, she looks good enough to eat, but her acting is monotonous and her character terribly boring. She has no other function except to get scared (and to undress a couple of times). The whole movie basically proceeds like this: Fenech gets scared, gets chased, gets away, has a bad dream, gets scared again, gets chased, gets away....ad nauseam. The one effective scare occurs when she wakes up in a cottage to find...but I won't spoil it for you. (**)

Martino and Fenech make a good team.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 20 July 2019]

Stunning as always, Giallo regular Edwige Fenech stars here as Jane Harrison, a young woman involved with Richard Steele (hunky George Hilton, another staple of this genre). Once upon a time, they'd had a traffic accident that resulted in her miscarrying their baby. Now, she's being plagued by nightmares full of bizarre, kinky, and threatening imagery. She's taken first to a psychiatrist (George Rigaud); then her conniving sister Barbara (Nieves Navarro) gets her involved with a Satan-worshipping cult. Naturally, this only makes things worse for the fragile Jane.

Film director Sergio Martine and the lovely Fenech did some fine work together, and she's good in a role that requires a lot of histrionics. The cast is full of compelling performers, though: Marina Malfatti plays the solicitous neighbour Mary, Ivan Rassimov is perfectly creepy as an ominous mystery presence in Janes' life, the sharply featured Julian Ugarte is likewise very sinister-looking as the cult leader, and ubiquitous Luciano Pigozzi turns up as a lawyer.

The score by Bruno Nicolai is haunting and beautiful, and is one of the best done for a Giallo. The film itself is quite stylish and interesting; its main hook is that it flirts with unreality at all times. One is never really sure where the dark fantasies end and where real life comes back in. Of course, everything is explained at the end, and it's up to the individual viewer whether they go for these kinds of exposition scenes. Until then, "All the Colors of the Dark" is the kind of exercise in surrealism that's sure to appeal to lovers of European shock cinema. Its colours are vivid and its use of camera angles is striking. There was also a lot of excellent location shooting in England. Perhaps most intriguing is that this doesn't really utilize a "murder mystery" approach like a lot of Gialli, but instead goes for this psychological approach. That in itself is admirable.

Highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Seven out of 10.

Beautiful and Entertaining... if you like Giallo

[RottenPop-Sid · 6/10 · 16 July 2019]

An Italian Giallo picture from acclaimed director Sergio Martino. Starring George Hilton, Edwige Fenech, Ivan Rassimov, Julian Ugarte, George Rigaud, Susan Scott, and Marina Malfatti. The film was released on February 28h, 1972 by Interfilm in Italy. It was released in the United States in 1976 under the title There Coming to Get You!

Synopsis Jane lives in London with her boyfriend, Richard. She is haunted by visions from her past. Visions of her mother being murdered when she was five. The baby she had recently lost in a car crash. And also, a knife-wielding man with icy blue eyes. Her boyfriend has her on vitamins to help curb the hallucinations. But it might be exacerbating things. Jane's sister recommends psychiatric care, but Richard won't hear it. A strange neighbor suggests a satanic ritual performed at a black mass. Jane goes through with it. However, now the visions are seeming all too real. Now the nightmares are coming to life.

Analysis Jane is being held back by the drugs Richard has her on, and the effects stemming from the Black Mass she attended. All of the characters that are poised to "help" Jane end up making her problems worse. The movie does a good job of keeping things fairly ambiguous by leaving it up to the imagination whether or not these people are conspiring against her.

However, the entire thing is a metaphor for this depressed and bored housewife to be free and be on her own. Void of these hang-ups that haunt her. A disinterested lover, an overbearing sister, and a clueless therapist. Ultimately she gets this wish granted, albeit gruesomely.

The pacing and style of the film help keep the viewers disoriented. It feels very dreamlike, leaving us wondering what's real and what's fiction. We watch in agony as Jane tries to unravel the mystery of the stab-happy killer, but it's torturous to watch her try and progress. You fear for Jane seeing what's happening to this poor woman.

The music by Bruno Nicolai is good but strangely placed in weird scenes. The Black Mass is one good example of this. It's a horrific scene with a dog being killed and drained of its blood followed by a kissing orgy. However, it's presented with this spaghetti western type score. It's very bizarre and a bit off-putting. But I think the filmmaker missed his mark with this scene.

The cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando and Miguel Fernández Mila is great too. I love the lighting throughout the picture. It's done well and it works with the vibrant colors in each scene.

Overall All the Colors of the Dark is very reminiscent of Roman Polanski's 1968 classic, Rosemary's Baby. The satanic imagery and torture of a poor, mentally frail, young woman are in line with the style of that picture. It's not presented as well. But this film hits most of the same beats. I found myself really getting into it. Very impressed with the filmmaking, but generally intrigued by the story. It's a good Giallo picture. I can safely recommend this to cinephiles, but I don't think you would fall into it unless you had an interest in these weird little Italian flicks.

seduced by satanic therapy

[revrommer · 2 October 2011]

This is a high-grade example of all of the movies that came out excitedly influenced by Roman Polanskis Rosemarys Baby, which should be seen before viewing this one. It's a very similar story, though the only baby involved is lost by miscarriage. Sergio Martino botches the satanic ritual scenes, Euro movies always seemed to have to make Satan into a goatish Baphometan pretty boy, and hes pretty weak here, but he beautifully expands the menace in the recruiting part and then the escape from the cult part of the basic story (both involving being stalked by Ivan Rassimov). Edwige Fenech (whom I found trivial and overly enamored of herself in Strip Nude For your Killer) is quite effective as a very troubled woman who actually submits to going to a Sabbath as if to therapy, and to being group groped and more by pastyfaced acolytes, but then balks disgusted at having to ritually kill her friend Mary, because in an interesting twist now that Mary has recruited her, she is free to leave (meaning this life). Fenech is apparently famous for her physique aka great sloping breasts but its mostly her Venus reclining profile that caught audiences eyes and she exploits that to the full here by appearing often reclining in bed or crouching in corners on floors, though there is only modest nudity. And yet she spends most of her time in bed suffering, sex with her husband is so unsatisfactory to her (except once) that one suspects him of not good things. Martino seemed most excited by Mia Farrows exclamation in RB that this is not a dream, this is really happening, and uses what the dumb American trailer called Chillorama otherwise known as wide angle shots to blur reality and paranoid fantasy in a way that does unnerve. He also makes great symbolic use of the old apartment bloc including its roof, a great English castle and its grounds (a chase scene reminiscent of Demon of the Night) and London (its interesting how the legacy of Hammer satanism from Witchcraft all the way to Satanic Rites of Dracula turned England into the land of horror so that even Italian directors felt they had to shoot there (see also Seven Deaths in a Cats Eye) to reinforce the blurring.

She had to pay for our mother's betrayal.

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 25 September 2010]

The opportunity to watch the voluptuous Edwige Fenech is a guilty pleasure one should partake of over and over again.

She freely gives us her body to admire in all manner of twisted thrillers such as this one. She is obsessed with strange dreams where a man with a knife is coming to kill her. Soon, she sees the man as really following her. She tries psychiatry, and then is taken to a Satanic cult by her sister (Nieves Navarro), who really desires her boyfriend (George Hilton).

What is imagination? What is real. We are never quite sure, but the one thing we are sure of is that it is a pleasure watching Fenech running and screaming.

The solution to everything is elementary.

Psychedelic Scares

[matheusmarchetti · 10/10 · 12 March 2010]

Having recently watched and loved Sergio Martino's two other gialli "Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh" and "Your Vice is a Locked Room and only I have the key", I decided to rewatch this one, which I always thought to be a pretty average film, and I ended up loving it. It's probably the director's best tied with "Strange Vice". Highly atmospheric and suspenseful, the film opens with a bang and never lets go. It's nightmarish, dreamlike feel is about as good as anything done by David Lynch, and is enhanced by Bruno Nicolai's lovely soundtrack and Bava-style cinematography. Also, Edwige Fenech proves that she actually can act, giving a tremendous performance of a sexually frustrated housewife who may or may not be going insane.

The film is often criticized for being a rip-off on "Rosemary's Baby", and while I can see an influence of Polanski's classic, both films very different in style and substance, and if anything, "All the Colors of the Dark" plays much more like an acid version of "Repulsion" than anything else.

One thing that may put some people off is that the film has a very strong 70's feel, which makes it slightly campy at times, but still, I think it only adds to it's charm and 'grooviness'.

Overall, a highly entertaining and stylish giallo. A must-see for genre fans.

Unpredictable Resolution

[SMK-4 · 7/10 · 15 March 1999]

One of the problems with many giallos is the unsatisfactory way they resolve the mystery the audience was plagued with. It is often either completeley predicatable or, in the other extreme, so completely unconnected to what was going on earlier to be meaningless. Tutti i colori del buio does not suffer from either problem, in fact the viewer is thoroughly misled about where the film is going.

The film is situated in England (mostly London), which was a rather fashionable location for Italian films of that period. This was probably not an ideal choice - in many ways the central characters remain unmistakably Latin, and some attempts to inject Englishness into the film have gone wrong. For example, Luciano Pigozzi's lawyer speaks a mixture of posh English and working-class English which sounds very weird - the whole cinema (in London) was laughing when he said "come to me office".

Laughable loony toon of a movie

[zhivago97 · 4/10 · 9 July 2021]

To be fair, this movie has not aged well. Everything about it says 1972, I mean in a bad way. On the other hand, this is the same quality that makes it enjoyable- it's just so dated I had to keep watching to see the next ugly piece of harvest gold or olive green furniture.

The costumes are glamorous and for some reason, whatever happens to the female characters, their makeup and hair are always perfect- day and night - sun or rain - walking or sleeping or desperately running for their lives! Did they even have waterproof mascara back in 1972???

Like I said, the same things that make this movie laughable and campy also add to the enjoyment, which is probably not what the movie studio that financed this movie hoped for.

The acting is terrible. Did they employ ventriloquists? Some of the actors can speak without moving their lips! But I guess the glamor makes up for this small shortcoming, dialogue.

The musical score is effective. The settings are good. The camerawork is nothing special. Yes there are some creative and bizarre scenes that really drive home the creepy factor. But they don't make up for the overwhelming shortcomings.

Overall a C+. Nothing special, the the glamor and creepy atmosphere are worth watching. If you see this movie once, you will have no desire to ever see it again.

Visually overwhelming, great score, Edwige Fenech - and even a good story

[AristarchosTheArchivist · 9/10 · 11 December 2002]

"Tutti i colori del buio" is worth a look if you are interested in the visuals of cinema. Sergio Martino's directing of the mostly dreamlike scenes is almost unbelievable. The use of wide-angle lenses, strange perspectives and slow-motion serves perfectly the weird atmosphere of this thriller.

Add to this a stylish 70s score by Bruno Nicolai and an unusually good script (well, for Italian giallo films) and you have another unknown classic.

9 out of 10

Giallo Pudding Pop

[lucifer_over_tinseltown · 7/10 · 29 May 2020]

A film of hypnotic, at times hypnagogic, beauty. The Italian directors of this particular era had an unparalleled aesthetic sensibility. Martino is no exception. His wife, at the time, the deliciously pulchritudinous Edwige Fenech (oh what a lucky man Martino was) delivers one of the most dazzlingly frazzled performances of all-time. Constantly startled, breathlessly looking over her shoulder all deer-in-the-headlights-eyed as she is pursued by Satanistic stalkers. Amazingly, she never looks like less than a perfect 10, you kind of just want to sip her through a straw and/or turn her into a giallo pudding pop and get to licking. Just don't let her cook your eggs. The Satanic cult leader was a dreadful actor, but he reminded me of this guy Dennis I know who sings throwback doo-wop with a group called the Delneros, so this, and this alone, made him bearable. Once again we see the infamous lightning blue contacts, this time being worn by some Polish-looking dude with a self-inflicted haircut. Those contacts really made the rounds in the early 70s, as did George Hilton, who has an Engelbert Humperdinck swagger about him, but maybe it's just the turtlenecks. Got to dig that dude's ubiquity. Not Martino's best film, but probably his most occultish and psychedelic. A technicolor thrill!

More boring Satanists

[osloj · 1/10 · 2 April 2007]

Having expected at least a decent horror film, I knew at the opening credits that the film itself would be way below average, probably somewhere near the throw away horror bin at a soft porn shop, or near the incinerator units in hell, as from watching 4 minutes of nausea-inducing, amateurish opening dream sequences, complete with atrocious overacting, a nude pregnant woman rubbing chicken feces on her belly, overuse of zooming, and a woman vomiting fake blood. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the time I was pouring down the sink.

After about 45 minutes of pure filler, including boring dialogue found in most homes or grocery stores, a long, dull chase sequence commences.

The whole film is a sluggish chase sequence between some 1970's skinny weirdo wearing fake blue contacts, and the screaming neurotic bimbo played by the cardboard actress Edwige Fenech, who is nude half the time, and even that becomes tedious.

She also screams about 68% of the time (use MUTE) in the film instead of picking up a gun or doing anything remotely intelligent, such as tossing a hand grenade into the Satanist house.

Also found are a psycho babbling old geezer whose recitation of Dr. Freud is incompetent and shallow; at least he winds up dead later.

No script, no luminosity, and certainly no aptitude are ever found in this film, and it even has George Hilton, who stared in other rotten horror films, who plays another wooden idiot, as all his films seem like they are all the same, cheap and particularly dull.

The Satanists finally enter, in a stupid orgy scene which has them dancing around the nude Edwige Fenech to some boring 1970's music while showing their ugly teeth and robes (filmed in England).

They are puffed out with white makeup, and they get too many "zoom ins" that look amateurish; the whole effect is about as scary as having your car washed or being beaten on the head with French bread.

This is a very lethargic, cheaply made, badly acted film that is not even a Giallo type, and it goes nowhere since frame one.

The only people who should bother with it are those in comas in hospital beds, or those who have lost their TV remotes.

The extras on the DVD are even worse, they have the egomaniacal self-indulgent, Director Sergio Martino single handily taking credit for 'dream type of films' and elevating his other bad films, which were also rip-offs of superb films. Also to note are the idiotic radio ads used for blind people.