The Psychic (1979)

Shortly before he surrendered to the gory excesses of horror Lucio Fulci the notorious director of ZOMBIE and PERVERSION STORY crafted one last brilliant thriller with a killer twist. Jennifer O Neill of SCANNERS stars as a clairvoyant tormented by visions of a violent murder. But will her own investigation into the crime lead to the most shocking discovery of all? Marc Porel (DON T TORTURE A DUCKLING) and Evelyn Stewart (THE WHIP AND THE BODY) co-star this chilling giallo that critics and fans including avowed devotee Quentin Tarantino consider the most stunning film of the maestro s entire career.Released in the U.S. with several key scenes removed THE PSYCHIC (aka SEVEN NOTES IN BLACK and MURDER TO THE TUNE OF SEVEN BLACK NOTES) is now presented in its fully restored European Version featuring footage never before seen in America. Genre: HORROR UPC: 891635001285 Manufacturer No: 891635001285 Product Description

sound was awful

Very poor film with even worse transfer to DVD. I literally had to turn up the volume to its loudest just to barely hear what was being said. This movie stinks now and even by standards of the day it was made it stinks. I'm afraid that's the kindest I can be to this film. April 30, 2008

Terrible DVD transfer!

Just have to say the transfer for this DVD is terrible. There all these lines all over the picture, especially when there is any movement. It's terribly jarring and ruined my enjoyment of this Fulci giallo. If you can't see these lines, I'm going to assume you didn't watch it on an HDTV. I'm quite annoyed with Sevrin for releasing this shoddy project. It's unfortunate that Blue Undeground or the old Anchor Bay didn't get this license, becuase they would've found good transfers for it! Sadly we have b-rate companies like Shriek Show and now Sevrin who just want to do a lazy job and collect a quick profit instead of preserving these genre films for future generations. Save you money and go buy some Fulci films from Blue Underground instead.

I must also say I found this Fulci giallo to be over-rated and pretty boring at points. However, I can't make a a confident review of it since my enjoyment was obviously effected by all those lines on the screen. However, I will say that A Woman in the Lizard's Skin and Don't Torture a Duckling are probably far superior to it at this point. Hopefully, some day this film and Lizard will get a decent DVD release. February 9, 2008

A Mesmerizing Edge Of Your Seat Puzzle !

Lucio Fulci's almost forgotten gem "The Psychic"(aka:Five Notes In Black) is not only one of the maestro's most brilliant pieces of cinema but it's more so proof that the god of gore could make a thriller just as creepy as "The Beyond","House By The Cemetary" and "Zombi 2" with out large amounts of blood and gore. Dardano Sacchetti penned up a whopper of a giallo here and Fulci and the rest of the film crew(actors/musicians/editors/costume designers and such) did a mesmerizing job bringing Sacchetti's story/screenplay to life. As a big Lucio Fulci fan I am more than delighted to add this masterpiece to my collection. Great film! January 18, 2008

Solid Fulci movie before his splatter era

The Psychic AKA Seven Notes in Black sort of marked an end of Fulci's career, but started another career for him. Lucio Fulci like I always say was a filmmaker who sparked debates among horror fans. Some love him and others see him as a no talent splatter director, but before Fulci became a splatter director he did some top notch Giallo work that sadly went over-looked.

If you're looking for what became the typical Fulci movie loaded with a high body count and a whole lot of gore well you best look elsewhere. Most of the violence happens off camera and what we see gore wise is very, very little. The Psychic was made back before Fulci started his splatter era, which was only 2-years away. Many people feel Fulci was a lousy filmmaker, but I have to disagree. Even in his splatter era he was a good filmmaker. He knew how to build tension, but it was often over-looked due to poor dubbing, an incoherent plot, idiotic characters and a whole lot of the red stuff.

With The Psychic, Fulci attempts to tell a story using filmmaking skills rather than blood. And he sort of did that in some areas, but in others The Psychic just didn't work. The Psychic is a very slow burn type movie that relies on story and characters and there is a little bit of a problem.

The screenplay was written by Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti and Dardano Sacchetti, but according to Sacchetti, Lucio didn't write a single word to the movie. He would show up at meetings and say what he liked or disliked, but never actually wrote. I don't see what Sacchetti would gain from lying, but since Fulci is credited I will acknowledge him as a writer regardless of what's true. From a writing stand-point The Psychic had all the right ideas. And all the ideas were mostly executed well. But the problem was the characters.

The Psychic is one of those movies where you really can't tell who's who. None of the characters have much depth and honestly after the movie is over you'll be hard pressed to remember any of the names of the characters. The Psychic relies on story and characters, and while the story is pretty much there it's the characters that aren't. They're all as thin as the paper they were written on. If this was a Fulci splatter flick it really wouldn't matter. But when a movie relies on story and characters without one it just won't totally work.

There is a nice mystery surrounding the story and it really does work well for the most part; but without the characters it does hurt a little bit. I'm not really familiar with Roberto Gianviti besides Murder Rock, which he wrote and Fulci directed. Dardano Sacchetti is one of the biggest names in Italian cinema if not the biggest horror writer. You name the cult classic he did it and several of those were with Lucio Fulci.

The screenplay is quite interesting and mostly moves forward. It's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle with the psychic visions. The lead character Virginia Ducci played by Jennifer O'Neil has to piece them all together and it does make for an interesting premise, but again I go back to the weak characters. In general horror movies often don't have the best developed characters and one can argue Fulci and Sacchetti never really wrote a lot of movies that featured well developed characters. Overall like I said the screenplay works well but the characters are what hurt it.

Lucio Fulci fairs much better as a director, but there is only so much he can do. The first hour of The Psychic can be quite slow, but Fulci manages to keep the pace moving at a pretty good, but slow pace. You might find yourself slightly bored at times, but Fulci manages to keep the plot going and keep the viewer interested for the most part. The final 30-minutes are quite good and as good as you'll find in any Giallo. The chase scene towards the end is probably the finest Fulci ever put together.

The visual look also really helps. Lucio Fulci along with DP Sergio Salvati create a great visual look. These two have worked together many times and most of Fulci's best movies were with Salvati. The scenes are well lit and give an eerie feel and Fulci loves the eyes and you get plenty of close up of the eyes. When used in the right situation that can really add to the tension, but when used at the wrong time it fails. Here, Fulci uses it at the right times and it adds to the tension.

The Psychic does feature a lot of nice plot twists that really add to the movie and proves Fulci was more than just a gore director and for the most part The Psychic is coherent. I would say The Psychic is one of Fulci's more solid movies, but just lacks with the characters. The plot mostly always moves forward and it worked quite well, but again I just found the characters lacking. Even with those flaws I would say this is one of Fulci's better movies. It's not as good as Don't Torture a Duckling, but better than a lot of Fulci's work in the 80s.

The Psychic is one of the sort of forgotten Lucio Fulci movies and it really deserves a wider audience. The movie has its fair share of flaws, but it's also a solid Giallo that mostly moves forward with the plot. Fans of Fulci will wanna seek this one out and even those who dislike Fulci might wanna give this one a try. Besides the visual look this isn't the Fulci most people know. There is hardly any blood and it's mostly coherent. Not a perfect film, but a solid movie in Lucio Fulci's career. December 23, 2007

Forgotten Fulci

What a masterpiece. Most of you know Lucio Fulci as being the king of over the top gore and violence with films like The Beyond, Zombie, and House By the Cemetery. Fulci is much more reserved in this quiet subdued thriller yet the film is still one of his strongest works. Instead of the gore he uses much more suspense and build up and keeps you guessing throughout. The film has that 70's glaze which I love and amazing poster art as well. I just recently picked up an original 1977 print of the poster. Don't miss this movie. It is way overlooked and needs to be necessitated.
*mike October 19, 2007

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