So this is Dario Argento’s second movie as a director, and it’s probably the least Argentian movie of his I’ve seen. I’d say “he hadn’t yet developed his mature style,” which is probably true, but it feels even less like his other movies than his debut (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage) did.

Fundamentally, the thing is that it’s just kinda… lowkey. Sure, the premise is authentically wacky — a blind puzzle-maker and his adopted(?) daughter(?) overhear/see a suspicious conversation on the night of a murder, and then they team up with a reporter to investigate what turns into a series of murders. And the plot coherence is authentically low, with lots of twists that don’t really make any sense.

But it’s not really over-the-top enough to feel like Argento. Sure, there are some notable setpieces that echo his other works, and no scene would really feel out of place in his filmography. It’s just… you never get up to the bonkers energy that you get in most of his films.

But you do still get to marinate in the ambience of stylish Italians in 1970, and if it’s lower-key than usual, it doesn’t fall down to the level of dull. Recommended for Argento completists, I’d say.