The Psychic (1977)

A clairvoyant woman discovers a skeleton in a wall in her husband's house, and seeks to find the truth about what happened to the victim.

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Lucio Fulci (story & screenplay), Roberto Gianviti (story & screenplay)

Stars:

Jennifer O'Neill, Gabriele Ferzetti, Marc Porel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer O'Neill	...	Virginia Ducci
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Emilio Rospini
Marc Porel	...	Luca Fattori
Gianni Garko	...	Francesco Ducci
Evelyn Stewart	...	Gloria Ducci
Jenny Tamburi	...	Bruna
Fabrizio Jovine	...	Commissioner D'Elia
Riccardo Parisio Perrotti	...	Melli
Loredana Savelli	...	Giovanna Rospini
Salvatore Puntillo	...	Second Cab Driver
Bruno Corazzari	...	Canevari
Vito Passeri	...	Caretaker
Franco Angrisano	...	First Cab Driver
Veronica Michielini	...	Giuliana Casati
Paolo Pacino	...	Inspector Russi

Storyline

A clairvoyant woman, inspired by a vision, smashes open a section of wall in her husband's home and finds a skeleton behind it. Along with her psychiatrist, she seeks to find the truth about who the person was and who put her there. Soon enough, she starts to realize the possibility that she may share the victim's fate...

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Plot Keywords:

giallo | reference to vermeer | body hidden behind a wall | psychic | premonition | 

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Taglines:

Suddenly and without warning it's tomorrow... and you're dead.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the early 2000's, Quentin Tarantino announced that he would be directing a remake with Bridget Fonda starring. It failed to materialise.

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Goofs

Woman spots the finger in the wall, but it wasn't there in previous shot.

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Quotes

Gloria Ducci: I've had fifty-six lovers and haven't killed even one of them.

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Connections

Referenced in Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010)

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Soundtracks

With You
Written by Ernest - Franco Bixio (as Bixio) - Fabio Frizzi (as Frizzi) - Vince Tempera (as Tempera)
Recorded on Cinevox Record by Linda Lee

User Reviews

A well thought-out supernatural giallo from Lucio Fulci

The Psychic finds Italian film-maker Lucio Fulci in a decidedly more restrained mood. Never a director to shy away from excessive sex and violence, this entry in his cannon is far more an exercise in suspense with a real focus on presenting an interesting mystery. There is an early scene where a character falls off a cliff resulting in their face being bloodily shredded by rocks as they fall - basically a scene repeated from Fulci's earlier giallo classic Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) – but apart from this, there is no real excessive blood-letting at all. The story is essentially about a psychic woman who experiences premonitions about mysterious murders, before long she finds herself in the midst of a dangerous situation.

The atmosphere of this one generates a real sense of dread. This is mainly on account of the quite distinctively structured mystery that underpins the story-line. The mixing of visions of the past and events yet to come was clever. It means that there is a real sense of intrigue to this one, with lots of visual clues thrown at us that progressively make sense, while often setting us off to entirely the wrong conclusion. It's a jigsaw puzzle of a movie and this is a very nice touch. Because it came quite late in the giallo cycle I guess it was for this reason that it adopted a more original approach, mixing the standard tropes of the genre with a supernatural angle. Whatever the case, this is one of the better written and thought out story-lines from the sub-genre and what it lacks in visceral excess it does make up for with a well-conceived mystery. It benefits too from a good leading lady in Jennifer O'Neill who later starred in David Cronenberg's excellent sci-fi/horror Scanners (1981). In addition it also features a Goblinesque score which was another nice touch.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

23 March 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Psychic

Filming Locations:

St Margarets Bay, Dover, Kent, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rizzoli Film, Cinecompany

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1