Back in the days when he was known as The Italian Hitchcock, Dario Argento put together a mini-series called 'Door Into Darkness', which featured four standalone thrillers; this is the second entry in the series and the first the great man directed himself. Given its 50min running time, it's a lot more minimalistic than his feature films and has a pretty straightforward plot. The body of a young woman is found on a tram. Despite being fairly busy, amazingly no one actually witnessed the murder, so a police investigator is assigned to solve the baffling case.
First of all, it's worth pointing out that due to its TV origins and despite a bit of textbook black leather gloved giallo action, there is an absence of the director's trademark bloody violence and his flamboyant flashy visuals are also reigned in for the small screen. That said, the final act showcases his ability to generate suspense, with a really tense extended sequence where a woman is stalked by the unseen killer in a deserted tram depot. This whole section is really expertly directed by Argento, with Giorgio Gaslini's jazzy score properly adding and ramping up the tension. There's also some pleasingly irresponsible police work on offer here, such as the police investigator orchestrating a massive re-enactment of events on the tram and using his girlfriend for bait (what could possibly go wrong with that?). But that kind of irresponsible law enforcement work does pay dividends in the likes of this, with the poor woman terrorized in the suspense filled ending sequence. And for what it's worth, there was also a fairly neat explanation which revealed how the impossible murder actually occurred. A cracking bit of old Italian telly overall.
First of all, it's worth pointing out that due to its TV origins and despite a bit of textbook black leather gloved giallo action, there is an absence of the director's trademark bloody violence and his flamboyant flashy visuals are also reigned in for the small screen. That said, the final act showcases his ability to generate suspense, with a really tense extended sequence where a woman is stalked by the unseen killer in a deserted tram depot. This whole section is really expertly directed by Argento, with Giorgio Gaslini's jazzy score properly adding and ramping up the tension. There's also some pleasingly irresponsible police work on offer here, such as the police investigator orchestrating a massive re-enactment of events on the tram and using his girlfriend for bait (what could possibly go wrong with that?). But that kind of irresponsible law enforcement work does pay dividends in the likes of this, with the poor woman terrorized in the suspense filled ending sequence. And for what it's worth, there was also a fairly neat explanation which revealed how the impossible murder actually occurred. A cracking bit of old Italian telly overall.