Alta tensione (TV Mini Series) Testimone oculare (1993) User Reviews

Stylish, but nothing special

[rundbauchdodo · 5/10 · 8 November 2001]

This extremely hard to find thriller from Lamberto Bava comes in typical Giallo tradition, except that the identity of the killer is revealed with the first murder scene. The eyewitness of the title is a blind young woman, so she can describe the killer only by sound and smell. The inspector doesn't really trust her and soon suspects her best friend she knows from a community for the handicapped. Meanwhile, the real killer stalks her, but innocent people have to die until she is finally confronted with the maniac.

The first half of this stylish film is thrilling, delivering a tense atmosphere that keeps one on the edge of the seat. The second half, however, somehow loses track and becomes a bit overlong, including an unnecessary affair between the blind woman and the inspector. The climax, on the other hand, happens too fast to grip the viewer's attention. Barbara Cupisti of "Stagefright" fame gives a solid performance as the title character, and Simon Boswell's sound track is cool as usual. Lamberto Bava used some of the plot elements of "Testimone Oculare" again in his superior and last Giallo until now, "Body Puzzle" aka "Misteria" (1992). Mainly interesting for Giallo fans.

a blind eyewitness

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 23 October 2013]

Starring Barbara Cupisti (Stagefright, Opera and whose first film was New York Ripper) is excellent in this very late giallo from Lamberto Bava. Personally, though I became a bit irritated by her character, a bit tetchy at first and then rather moralising but I was won over. How long can you resist a blind eyewitness!?

Supposedly a TV movie, this doesn't hold back on the sex or violence and is really pretty sinister in parts. Not sure about the finale but overall this is a decent enough ride with convincing performances. Maybe too much time is spent with the main police guy flirting with the aforementioned, blind eyewitness, but it does afford us a change of pace. Music effective if a bit repetitive but is the general look of the film that is so pleasing with some especially good night time exteriors with splashes of colour worthy of the director's father.

Bava does Wait Until Dark

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 12 June 2023]

Elisa (Barbara Cupisti) and Karl (Giuseppe Pianviti) are in a department store at closing time, waiting until no one is watching so that she can steal a shirt. She's stuck there alone as Karl runs out to get their car and while the store is closed, she sees a secretary get killed by her manager (Alessio Orano)

Or, well, she doesn't.

Because Elisa is blind.

Directed by Lambero Bava with a script by Giorgio Stegani and Massimo De Rita, this is a made for TV giallo in which police commissioner Marra (Stefano Davanzati) investigates the suspects, which includes the secretary's lover (Francesco Casale), as well as Elisa and Karl. At the same time, the manager thinks that Elisa knows who he is because he believes that she can sense him.

There are moments here - when it isn't trying to be Wait Until Dark - when the film aspires toward the giallo of the past. I love the idea of a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities that tries to get them to expand their abilities. And of course the manager tracks down Elisa in the hopes of killing her in a scene that has echoes of Tenebre and "Blind Alleys" from Tales from the Crypt mixed with some incredible POV shots and great editing.

Unlike most giallo, we know the killer from the beginning. But that's fine. The tension here comes from how close the killer gets to our heroine. And yes, as always, the cops are the absolute worst. Defund the giallo police, I always say.

Flawed Woman-in-Peril Plot is Redeemed by Bava's Solid Work

[jfrentzen-942-204211 · 7/10 · 2 February 2024]

Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) is routinely shoplifting in a large department store and doesn't notice the store is closing for the night. On her way out, she stumbles onto a murder scene in progress. The killer, the store manager, is in full view of the audience, but Lisa is blind. She can identify him by smell, vibrations, only by a feeling. He can identify her more readily, and so begins this routine cat-and-mouse thriller that contains a few surprises.

As we know right away who the killer is, the chief drama in TESTIMONE OCCULARE is the up and down relationship between Lisa and the police inspector (Stefano Davanzati) investigating the case. Lisa is comfortably integrated into her world, and can even operate smoothly outside of the handicapped community in which she lives. Her companion, Carlo, who was with her in the department store but did not witness the murder, is the inspector's chief suspect. The inspector character is, then, the most problematic of the movie, as the filmmakers also decided to give him an infatuation with Lisa.

This two character tension never resolves properly, so Bava opts to for a lady-in-peril third act that breathes needed excitement into the movie. The surprise ending is nicely done, too, and indicates how Bava is more comfortable with genre thrills than with the unconventional love story. When Lisa finally gets her killer where she wants him, for awhile it looks like she badly miscalculated and may become his next victim, after all. It is in these moments that Bava shines -- a master of "what the hell went wrong" plot twists.

Cupisti, an underrated actress who appears in most of Michele Soavi's movies (she was the lead in STAGE FRIGHT), is enthusiastic and goes quite far with the contradictory Lisa character. "Bare Facts" completists should note, she appears legitimately nude in this film. Alessio Orano (from Mario Bava's LISA AND THE DEVIL) is an impressive, impassive killer whose kinky obsessions are mostly hinted at, with his collection of whips and dolls that he pulls out of a wooden chest from time to time.