Tutti i colori del buio (1972)

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

Lewis E. Ciannelli (English version)
Ernesto Gastaldi (screenplay)

Release Date:

August 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

They exist. They bear the mark of the devil inside them. They may be your neighbors. They may be your wife, husband, sweetheart. They may even be your children. Their time has come.

Plot:

A woman recovering from a car accident in which she lost her unborn child finds herself pursued by a coven of devil worshipers.

Plot Keywords:

Nightmare | Therapy | Love | Giallo | Obsession

Cast

George Hilton	...	Richard Steele
Edwige Fenech	...	Jane Harrison
Ivan Rassimov	...	Mark Cogan
Julián Ugarte	...	J.P. McBrian
George Rigaud	...	Dr. Burton
Maria Cumani Quasimodo	...	Anziana vicina di casa
Nieves Navarro	...	Barbara Harrison (as Susan Scott)
Marina Malfatti	...	Mary Weil
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Avv. Franciscus Clay (as Alan Collins)
Dominique Boschero	...	Donna Uccisa Nel Sogno
Lisa Leonardi	...	Girl with dog
Renato Chiantoni	...	Sig. Main - guardiano della villa in campagna
Tom Felleghy	...	Inspector Smith
Vera Drudi	...	Vecchia Donna Nel Sogno
Carla Mancini

Also Known As:

All the Colors of the Dark (International: English title)
Day of the Maniac
Demons of the Dead
They're Coming to Get You (USA) (dubbed version)
Todos los colores de la oscuridad (Spain)

Runtime:

USA:88 min | Italy:94 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Lea Cinematografica

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 59784 delivered on 24-2-1972.

Quotes:

Jane Harrison: I got frightened. A strange guy tried to follow me all the way home.
Mary Weil: I'm frightened that the time will come when a man won't follow me home.
Jane Harrison: I'm afraid this one was a maniac.
Mary Weil: Strange men have been following women since the Stone Age, Jane.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 3 (1996) (V)

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (Sergio Martino, 1972) **1/2

Typically convoluted but surprisingly average giallo with nods to ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) which gets by largely on the strength of its stylish visuals (the narrative is set against attractive London backdrops) and an effective pounding score by the reliable Bruno Nicolai. Besides, it gives "Euro-Cult" starlet Edwige Fenech – who, by now, had grown comfortably into the mould of put-upon genre heroine – one of her more rounded parts; in fact, all the other characters (lover George Hilton, stalker Ivan Rassimov, high priest Julian Ugarte, duplicitous sister Susan Scott, neighbor/cult member Marina Malfatti, psychiatrist Georges Rigaud) basically revolve around hers. The film has an interesting and fairly ambitious structure (co-scripted by Ernesto Gastaldi from a story by Santiago Moncada, both of whose names are synonymous with the form) – starting off immediately with a surreal nightmare involving a pregnant Afro girl, an old hag dressed up as a marionette and a female murder victim and concluding with the heroine discovering to have the ability of second-sight, followed by the more familiar rooftop chase but re-affirming its intent with an ambiguous and downbeat fade-out. As ever, we get plenty of ladies willing to shed their clothes throughout – but, like I said, some care seems to have been applied to the characterization so that, at least, this isn't as slapdash as they could have been!