Combining a deadly thriller plot with the stylized violence that would become his trademark, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage marked an impressive horror debut for Dario Argento.
Combining a deadly thriller plot with the stylized violence that would become his trademark, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage marked an impressive horror debut for Dario Argento.
This trend-setting thriller put its director, Dario Argento, on the international map and began a flood of imitative mystery-horror hybrids which dominated Italian genre output in the early 1970s. Tony Musante, best known for the television series Toma, portrays an American who witnesses the murder of a woman at a trendy Rome art gallery. Before long, Musante finds himself targeted by a mysterious killer. Based on a story by Byron Edgar Wallace, Bird and hints at the flamboyance which would
become Argento's trademark. This and Argento's subsequent two films Il Gatto a Nove Code and Quattro Mosche di Velluto Grigio were much less horror-oriented than his later work. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
Dario Argento's undistinguished Italian thriller was an unexpected hit in 1969, thanks largely, one suspects, to some violent scenes that were unusually graphic for their time.
[It] has the energy to support its elaborateness and the decency to display its devices with style. Something from each of its better models has stuck, and it is pleasant to rediscover old horrors in such handsome new décor.
One of the most self-assured debuts of all time, a work so certain in its conception and execution that almost 40 years later I'd still quickly rank it as one of Argento's finest.
As a first feature, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is a startling achievement. It's technically proficient, visually arresting, and quite suspenseful.
Argento's decision to focus more on tense plot twists and less on gore (there's relatively little here) gives this an audience beyond the usual hardcore horror fan.
Dario Argento came into his own with this outstanding widescreen Italian suspense flick in which an American writer witnesses a murder through a huge plate glass window.
... the story is only a structure for Argento to spin his painstakingly choreographed visions of violence and terror with a fluid camera and carefully controlled colors.
Dario Argento's directorial debut is a stunning achievement in horror. The start of an excellent career is showcased on screen. What you have with Bird With The Crystal Plumage is a solid horror Giallo that is quite possibly Argento's most solid picture.Bird With The Crystal Plumage is a fine Giallo picture, probably
the best of it's kind. Every Argento fan should seek this one out. What makes this film succeed is the eerie atmosphere than Argento paints added by Ennio Morricone ominous score. This is a classic of Italian horror, and I find it almost an insult that people try to compare this film to anyone of Hitchcock's films. Argento and Hitchcock are two different kinds of directs and both have made their mark in horror history. This is an intense horror film that brings genuine chills to the viewer and is by the films end, you are in awe at how powerful the horror is. Bird With The Crystal Plumage is one of the best Giallo films that I've seen, only matched by Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture A Duckling and Argento's own Deep Red. Bird With The Crystal Plumage is an accomplished horror film that is brilliantly directed by Argento. A must see for fans of horror, and this is one of the best films that Dario Argento has made. A unique film thats not easy to forget. The film is bold and tense, and relies on atmosphere to create effective terror. A classic worth seeing.
July 30, 2011
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski
Super Reviewer
Very fine debut that set the trend for giallo for the next half dozen years. The seeds of the genre had already been sown but here Argento strikes out stylishly and makes a massive mark. It was interesting watching this again after having seen so many giallo since first seeing this and seeing just how much influence
this had been. There are elements, particularly visually, that we will see developed in later Argento films as well as the many imitators. So many red herrings and unanswered questions, of course, but by now we are used to that and others would be freed by this incompleteness to go on and create marvellous colourful multi-layered nonsense for us all to revel in. The Morricone score must also be mentioned for it is of monumental proportions covering the widest range possible from the children's voices through symphonic passages and to the almost abstract.
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