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Strange visions
Before he grew fond of rotting corpses rising from their graves and created his three renowned zombie chillers Zombie, City of the Living Dead and The Beyond, all of which contain some of the most memorable set pieces ever committed to celluloid in this genre, Lucio Fulci also helmed a couple of effective gialli in the 70s, Seven Notes in Black being his last. Said decade saw a mind-boggling number of Italian thrillers hitting the cinemas, and while many of these decidedly colorful pieces of pulp fiction proved quite entertaining, the usually superior production values (e.g. exuberant cinematography, melodic, evocative scores and slick set designs) often covered up some of the movies' lack of originality in terms of narrative and that they were obviously made with the sole intention of cashing in on some of the more genuinely inspired entries, with increasingly more explicit scenes of sex and violence being the most apparent (and sometimes only) novelties.
And in that respect it's unexpected - but also very refreshing - to see that Seven Notes in Black doesn't contain even the slightest hint of nudity and only fleeting instances of violence (Fulci's most prominent trademark), even more so considering that it was made at a time when the giallo genre was slowly dying out and in dire need of a powerful shot in the arm. So instead of just following suit and pushing the exploitation envelope Fulci dares to serve up a welcomely old-fashioned whodunit, a clever variation on the often used 'black-gloved killer'-formula that may not reach the same heights as the best movies of this type but which benefits from an elaborate, appropriately enigmatic and sinister plot line, a permeating sense of impending death, Fulci's craftsmanship in a couple of eerily lit set-pieces and a good performance by the ever luminescent and enormously attractive Jennifer O'Neill, to whom I lost my heart in Summer of '42.
As a little girl Virginia (O'Neill) realized she had psychic abilities when she saw her mother throw herself from a cliff - despite the fact they were thousands of miles apart. And now, as a grown woman, she has yet another vision. Driving home after having seen off her wealthy spouse Francesco (Gianni Garko) at the airport she suddenly starts seeing multiple, fragmented images, among other things two different women, one of them covered in blood, a broken mirror, a strange man (Gabriele Ferzetti from On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and a hole in a living room wall. Not quite sure of what she's actually seen Virginia decides to ignore it and give an old mansion owned by her husband a serious make-over while he's away on business, but once there she's met by a frightening revelation: One of the rooms matches precisely that from her vision and after a minor excavation she also finds a skeleton behind the wall.
The police soon arrive at the scene and upon further examination they determine that the alleged crime was committed approximately 5 years ago, but who does the body - or rather, the remains - belong to? Having analyzed the details of her vision over and over again Virginia eventually manages to establish the identity of one of the unknown women, - she's Francesco's former girlfriend and, as it turns out, she went missing around the same time of the murder. Suddenly a prime suspect, Francesco is then apprehended, but since Virginia has complete faith in her husband's innocence she sets out to track down some hard, irrefutable evidence that will definitively clear him of all charges, aided by the sister-in-law (Ida Galli), a parapsychologist (Marc Porel) and his spirited secretary (late, delightful Jenny Tamburi from The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine). With nothing to go on but some seemingly unrelated images she succeeds in conjuring up some valuable leads and little by little the many pieces of the puzzle start fitting together - but, to her horror, in a way she had never imagined.
Knowing how many a giallo frequently throw in the wildest red herrings (that serve no other purpose whatsoever but to put the viewer on the wrong track) I was indeed looking forward to seeing how (and if) this one managed to tie up all the strings. What's truly surprising and unique about Seven Notes in Black is that not only do all key details serve a purpose, the story also makes them appear in one way until a certain point where the plot turns completely around, thereby making them all take on an entirely new meaning. Quite a feat, and that's why it matters less that the disclosure of the killer's true identity ultimately isn't all that interesting. When this otherwise effective thriller still comes up short of being truly satisfying it's chiefly due to some way too excessive - and thus very irritating - use of eyes in close-up, many of the actors clearly struggle with their Italian accents which to some degree also affects their performances - and then the occasionally less than graceful dialogues don't do them any favors, either.
Seven Notes in Black is by no means Fulci's most engrossing movie - in that respect it lacks the daring as well as the raw, emotional power of Fulci's earlier thriller Don't Torture a Duckling (the stark images of the mob's ruthless and - not to forget - lengthy execution of helpless Florinda Bolkan are still to this day almost impossible and too painful to watch). But it doesn't change the fact that I still prefer this movie over the Duckling and Seven Notes ... remains a highly enjoyable ride from start to finish with enough virtues to overcome its limitations - a solid and intriguing little supernatural mystery which, despite a few plot holes, is much more coherent and certainly far less contrived than many other genre efforts. And look - there are no animals in the title! 
René Pedersen, July 19th, 2006
Picture: 8/10
Alfa Digital's visual presentation of Seven Notes in Black comes as a nice surprise. During the first couple of minutes there's noticeable grain as well as moderate scratches and dust speckles, but after the main credits things clear up considerably - suddenly the image appears smooth and clean, print damage is reduced to practically nothing save for some very slight imperfections barely worth mentioning and these improvements hold up right to the very end of the movie. Occasionally a tad on the muted side, the colors are generally warm and look absolutely fine, as do the natural, lifelike skin tones, contrast level remains strong with deep blacks and bright whites and apart from some softness in spots sharpness is very satisfying indeed, albeit not overwhelming like on some more recent productions. Edge enhancement was never an issue and neither were compression artifacts ... although I did notice some ghosting effects when playing back some scenes in slow-motion, but this flaw is hardly visible during normal playback. The film is anamorphically enhanced in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Very good job.
Sound: 6/10
There's one audio option available and that's an English language track, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. In places the sound is a bit harsh and scratchy, there's a constant (but not that obtrusive or distracting) hissing present as well as some occasional pops, but despite an overall lack of fine detail definition the dialogue remains perfectly intelligible, save for a couple of instances where the Italian cast's lines sound a bit muffled. But perhaps the pronunciation was a bit indistinct to begin with because of the heavy accents. The dynamic range, on the other hand, is where this release truly excels, especially in some of the tension-filled sequences the subwoofer adds a good deal of punch to the ominous score. Could perhaps have been a bit better, but all things considered, this track is absolutely fine and won't interfere with your enjoyment of the film.
Extras: 1/10
Apart from a small picture gallery which consists solely of stills taken directly from the film, there's absolutely nothing - not even a trailer. An on-screen interview with Jennifer O'Neill, for instance, would have gone a very long way. By the way, horror buffs will notice that the short piece of music that plays on the Main Menu's screen is taken from Fulci's gore classic The Beyond.
Final thoughts:
One of Fulci's lesser known - but no less enjoyable and worthwhile - thrillers receives a very good transfer on a bare-bones DVD. But if all you want is the movie then Alfa Digital's release is a very respectable way to go.
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