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- The Bird With The Crystal Plumage - US DVD - 

Fans of slasher movies, I recently watched a film that you might enjoy. If you 
are a fan of movies devised by a director with some offbeat tendencies and a 
peculiar style of film making, "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage" might just 
be for you. Director/Co-Writer Dario Argento serves us with an interesting 
storyline. 
An American writer visiting Italy finds intrigue and mystery near the end of 
his trip. 'Sam' (Tony Musante) stumbles across and thwarts an attempted murder 
of a woman in an upscale art gallery. Something that he witnessed at the crime 
scene did not make sense to him. As hard as he reviews the scene over and over,
he is unable to percieve exactly what is bothering him about the crime. This 
convinces 'Sam' to conduct his own investigation. As 'Sam's' exploration takes 
him deeper and deeper into the case, a mysterious man dressed in black commits 
murders. Despite placing his life in danger, 'Sam' refuses to stop. 
We are as curious as 'Sam' to find out what is the morbid nature of these crimes.
Anyone who has ever seen an Argento film knows that he does not made perfect 
movies. Please do not take that to mean that I do not consider him one of the 
better directors to ever shoot a movie. He has a brilliant mind. His techniques 
are some of the most diverse. I would consider his methods to be contorted, 
intense, and even puzzling. Those are some of the reason why I like Dario Argento 
and his films. He makes his own rules and does what he wants, even if it might 
take something away from the overall production. Like other Argento movies, 
"The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" has its imperfections.  Some flaws exist 
in the plot. For instance, would the authorities really give 'Sam' as much 
freedom as they do to conduct his own investigation? 
I doubt it. I even wondered about the relevance of some of the characters. 
Among these are a convict called "So Long" and a reclusive painter. Argento 
seems to have thrown these two eccentrics in to fill gaps that did not exist 
anyway. Here is where Argento also shows his talent as a movie maker. The 
story is kept moving along at such a brisk pace that we never really have time 
to think too much about the shortcomings. We are so interested to discovered 
what is happening that we do not care about a few inconsistencies. It is as if 
Argento almost wants us to scratch our heads. 
"The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" is a very good slasher film. The suspense 
is irresistible. Argento makes good use of the old sections of Rome to establish 
some fitting near-gothic scenes. These sets do not necessarily establish the 
tone for the entire movie. They do help us feel the darkness of the plot. The 
murder scenes are intense, but not overblown. They do not have the gore of later 
Argento movies. Still, they are well constructed and worth watching. Fans of 
this type of film will enjoy them.
I found this film to be very fascinating and fun to watch. Argento gives us a 
remarkably visual analysis of the darker side of human nature. He blends terror, 
suspense and even humor to give us the first of his trade mark films. The bizarre 
camera work sets the pace for future films.
For those of you who look for extras, you will probably be disappointed with 
this one. Included are bios of stars Tony Musante (U.S. television series "Toma" 
and "Oz"), Suzy Kendall ("To Sir with Love," "Circus of Fear") and director Dario 
Argento. One trailer is part of the package. Also included is some information 
about Argento's website and an option to listen to the soundtrack (composed by 
Ennio Morricone).

Reviewed By Scal Williams

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