***SPOILERS!*** Franco Nero truly is an amazingly versatile actor, and his films from 1966, probably the most important year for his career, are a perfect proof for that. In the same year when Nero became an immortal cult-icon as the cynical and super-tough eponymous antihero in Sergio Corbucci's "Django", he also played an insane mother's boy with a Norman Bates complex in this amazing psychological chiller "Il Terzo Occhio" (aka. "Third Eye"). Released several years before the heyday of the Giallo in the early 70s, and only few years after Mario Bava's genre-defining masterpieces "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" ("La Ragazza Che Sappeva Troppo", 1963) and "Blood And Black Lace" ("Sei Donne Per L'Assassino", 1964), "Il Terzo Occhio" is sometimes referred to as an early Giallo with Gothic elements, but it isn't really, in my opinion. Giallo or not, "Il Terzo Occhio" is doubtlessly an amazingly morbid Psychological Horror Film with a wonderful Gothic atmosphere and a stunning mood of insanity that should definitely appeal to all those who love the Giallo genre.
Nero plays Mino, a young count whose life is dominated by his possessive Mother (Olga Solbelli). Mino's plans to marry the beautiful Laura (Erika Blanc) are a thorn in the flesh both of the malicious old countess and the murderously ambitious Maid Marta (Gioia Pascal)... The film begins exquisitely macabre, when the murderous plans of two possessive women get out of hand, and carries on morbidly when the young count himself goes absolutely nuts. Terriffically set in an eerie country mansion, "Il Terzo Occhio" very obviously copied some elements of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece "Psycho" (1960), but, as usual for Italian Horror Films, it is in many ways more explicit and morbid than the acclaimed American film. As famous movie-Psycho Norman Bates, mother's boy Mino enjoys stuffing animals, but, as opposed to "Psycho", we also get to watch his hobby in explicit detail, for example. Franco Nero is, as always, brilliant in his role, and the rest of the cast is terrific too. Fans of Italian Cult-Cinema will be delighted to see the beautiful Erika Blanc ("Kill Baby... Kill!", "The Devil's Nightmare", "The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave", etc.) in the role of Laura. THE great female performance in this film, however, comes from the equally beautiful Gioia Pascal, who sadly never appeared in any other film. Olga Solbelli is great in the role of the horrible old witch of a countess. "Il Terzo Occhio" is probably most famous for spawning a more (in-)famous remake, sleaze-deity Joe D'Amato's notorious and ultra-nasty Exploitation highlight "Buio Omega" ("Beyond The Darkness", 1979). Buio Omega, which tells basically the same story, but focuses more on (very) explicit gore, necrophilia and detailed perversions is also highly recommendable, but only to those with a good stomach. While both films are definite must-sees for my fellow Italian Horror buffs, this one is also recommendable to those who are not into extreme nastiness and nauseating gore. Even though it does not (yet) get the attention it deserves, "Il Terzo Occhio" is an amazingly creepy film with a great ensemble cast that must not be missed by fans of Italian Horror. Highly recommended!
Nero plays Mino, a young count whose life is dominated by his possessive Mother (Olga Solbelli). Mino's plans to marry the beautiful Laura (Erika Blanc) are a thorn in the flesh both of the malicious old countess and the murderously ambitious Maid Marta (Gioia Pascal)... The film begins exquisitely macabre, when the murderous plans of two possessive women get out of hand, and carries on morbidly when the young count himself goes absolutely nuts. Terriffically set in an eerie country mansion, "Il Terzo Occhio" very obviously copied some elements of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece "Psycho" (1960), but, as usual for Italian Horror Films, it is in many ways more explicit and morbid than the acclaimed American film. As famous movie-Psycho Norman Bates, mother's boy Mino enjoys stuffing animals, but, as opposed to "Psycho", we also get to watch his hobby in explicit detail, for example. Franco Nero is, as always, brilliant in his role, and the rest of the cast is terrific too. Fans of Italian Cult-Cinema will be delighted to see the beautiful Erika Blanc ("Kill Baby... Kill!", "The Devil's Nightmare", "The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave", etc.) in the role of Laura. THE great female performance in this film, however, comes from the equally beautiful Gioia Pascal, who sadly never appeared in any other film. Olga Solbelli is great in the role of the horrible old witch of a countess. "Il Terzo Occhio" is probably most famous for spawning a more (in-)famous remake, sleaze-deity Joe D'Amato's notorious and ultra-nasty Exploitation highlight "Buio Omega" ("Beyond The Darkness", 1979). Buio Omega, which tells basically the same story, but focuses more on (very) explicit gore, necrophilia and detailed perversions is also highly recommendable, but only to those with a good stomach. While both films are definite must-sees for my fellow Italian Horror buffs, this one is also recommendable to those who are not into extreme nastiness and nauseating gore. Even though it does not (yet) get the attention it deserves, "Il Terzo Occhio" is an amazingly creepy film with a great ensemble cast that must not be missed by fans of Italian Horror. Highly recommended!