''Sette note in nero'' () is a 1977 Italian
giallo
In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...
film directed by
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he ga ...
and co-written by him with
Roberto Gianviti and
Dardano Sacchetti Dardano Sacchetti (born 1944 ) is an Italian screenwriter who often worked with Italian directors Lamberto Bava and Lucio Fulci.
Screenwriting
Sacchetti was born in 1944,in Italy. His first screen credit was for Dario Argento's film ''The Cat o' Ni ...
. ''Sette note in nero'' stars
Jennifer O'Neill
Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winn ...
,
Gianni Garko
Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935), often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson, is an Italian actor who found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana ...
,
Marc Porel
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie (3 January 1949 – 15 August 1983), known professionally as Marc Porel, was a Swiss-born French film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1967 and 1983.
Life
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie was bo ...
, and
Ida Galli
Ida Galli is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in Spaghetti Western and giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon.
Extremely prolific, som ...
. The film involves a woman who begins experiencing psychic visions that lead her to discover a murder; her husband is charged with the killing. The psychic must embark on an investigation with a paranormal researcher to clear her husband's name of the crime.
The film was released in the United States as ''The Psychic'', and also as ''Seven Notes in Black''. Other alternate titles include ''Murder to the Tune of the Seven Black Notes'' and ''Death Tolls Seven Times''.
Plot
In 1959
Dover, England
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidston ...
, a woman commits suicide by leaping from a cliff. At the same time, her daughter, Virginia, living in Florence, Italy, sees her mother's death in a vision. By 1977, an adult Virginia (
Jennifer O'Neill
Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winn ...
) is living near Rome and is married to a rich Italian businessman Francesco Ducci (
Gianni Garko
Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935), often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson, is an Italian actor who found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana ...
). Ducci leaves on a business trip, and as Virginia drives herself away from the airport after seeing him off, experiences more visions—she sees an old woman murdered, a wall being torn down and a letter hidden beneath a statue.
Virginia plans to renovate an abandoned mansion her husband has bought, but notices that the building resembles the one she has seen in her visions. She tears down a wall in one room, finding a skeleton behind the plaster. Assuming the skeleton is that of the woman in her vision, Virginia contacts the police. However, they do not believe her story and charge Ducci with the killing.
Examination of the body reveals it not to be an old woman, but one in her twenties; killed about five years earlier. The skeleton is finally identified as Ducci's ex-girlfriend, Agneta Bignardi, who vanished several years ago. Virginia is determined to exculpate her husband, and contacts her friend Luca Fattori (
Marc Porel
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie (3 January 1949 – 15 August 1983), known professionally as Marc Porel, was a Swiss-born French film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1967 and 1983.
Life
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie was bo ...
). Fattori is a researcher of psychic phenomena, and his investigation eventually leads to the wealthy Emilio Rospini (
Gabriele Ferzetti
Gabriele Ferzetti (born Pasquale Ferzetti; 17 March 1925 – 2 December 2015) was an Italian actor with more than 160 credits across film, television, and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s.
Ferzetti's first leading role ...
), who may be the true culprit.
Francesco returns from his business trip where Virginia updates him on everything that has happened. He urges her to dismiss the matter from her mind, but she instead grows more and more obsessed with learning this mystery.
Virginia discusses the case with Francesco's sister Gloria (
Evelyn Stewart), and Melli (Riccardo Parisio Perrotti), a lawyer friend of Gloria's. Gloria says that her brother left for a business trip to America in April 1972, and that she was the one who changed the furniture of the place. The room with the walled-in corpse had been Franceso's bedroom, but it was Gloria who had bought the furniture that Virginia saw in her vision, after Francesco's departure.
A few days later, Virginia buys a magazine which runs a picture of the murdered woman on the front cover, exactly the same magazine from Virginia's vision. When Luca notices that the magazine has only existed for a year, it becomes apparent to him that Virginia has experienced a premonition, not a vision of past crimes. Virginia and Luca find more evidence that appears to clear Francesco, allowing him to get released on bail. Gloria, in the meantime, gives Virginia a wristwatch as a gift, one that plays a haunting tune on the hour.
Details from the premonitions start to occur in front of Virginia with greater and greater frequency. Virginia takes a yellow taxi, with a blinking CB radio light, from Luca's office to her home (just as seen in her vision). The mysterious old woman phones Virginia, leaving a message on her answering machine, offering information about the case. When Virginia arrives at her house, she finds her dead (in the same position from Virginia's vision). Rospini appears and Virginia flees in panic. Grabbing a vital letter featured on a coffee table in her vision, Virginia escapes down the road to a neighboring church that is undergoing repairs. Virginia's hiding place is given away when her wristwatch chimes go off. Rospini tries to reach her on a wooden scaffold, but slips and falls to the marble floor, many feet below.
Virginia runs back to her husband's old villa nearby, and phones him at his office to come see her right away. When he arrives, Virginia is alarmed by his limp (just as in her vision), which he claims to have twisted his ankle just a few hours before. They go inside to the fateful room. Francesco puts down a copy of the magazine with Agneta on the cover, right on the table as described in the vision. Growing more nervous, Virginia starts smoking one of Gloria's yellow cigarettes, and places it in an ashtray also featured in the vision.
At the hospital, the police talk to the badly injured Rospini, who can barely gasp out his explanation of the events. Back in 1972, the old woman, Signora Casati, had an illicit buyer for a valuable painting in a nearby gallery. Francesco, Rospini, and Agneta Bignardi had all been involved in stealing it. Rospini killed a guard, a fact mentioned in a letter Agneta wrote to Casati. Rospini was not trying to kill Virginia, but only trying to retrieve the letter. Casati was already dead when he arrived, having been killed by Francesco, who sustained a twisted ankle after jumping out of a window. It was Francesco who murdered Agneta five years ago after she enraged him by trying to make off with the painting alone.
Alone with her husband, Virginia becomes more and more frightened by the gradual confluences of elements from her vision. The last crucial link in the chain occurs when Francesco sees the incriminating letter on the dresser. Virginia claims that she hasn't read it, but he refuses to believe her. He suddenly attacks his wife with a fireplace poker. His first blow misses as she ducks and it smashes a mirror (seen in the vision). The next blow strikes her on the head. As Virginia lies on the floor, bleeding profusely, he prepares to wall her into the excavated hole in the wall. Finally, all the details of room fit with the vision: Virginia realizes that she was victim all along.
A little later, Luca figures out from the magazine cover about the real location and time which Francesco could have murdered Agneta Bignardi. He then races over to the Ducci villa, while being chased by two motorcycle cops who are trying to arrest him for speeding. He manages to keep their fingers off his collar long enough to elaborate his suspicions. Francesco invites them all into his house and into the room, expressing concern at his wife's disappearance. Despite the policemen's questions and Luca's remarks, they cannot break Francesco's bland self-control. As Luca turns to leave, escorted by the police, everyone hears the haunting tune, like a music box chime, emerging from the wall where Virginia is hidden.
Cast
*
Jennifer O'Neill
Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winn ...
as Virginia Ducci
**Fausta Avelli as Young Virginia
*
Gianni Garko
Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935), often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson, is an Italian actor who found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana ...
as Francesco Ducci
*
Marc Porel
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie (3 January 1949 – 15 August 1983), known professionally as Marc Porel, was a Swiss-born French film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1967 and 1983.
Life
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie was bo ...
as Luca Fattori
*
Gabriele Ferzetti
Gabriele Ferzetti (born Pasquale Ferzetti; 17 March 1925 – 2 December 2015) was an Italian actor with more than 160 credits across film, television, and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s.
Ferzetti's first leading role ...
as Emilio Rospini
*
Ida Galli
Ida Galli is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in Spaghetti Western and giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon.
Extremely prolific, som ...
as Gloria Ducci
*
Jenny Tamburi
Jenny Tamburi (27 November 1952 – 1 March 2006), born as Luciana Tamburini, was an Italian actress and television hostess. Her first stage name was "Luciana della Robbia" and after her first film she changed it to "Jenny Tamburi".
Born in Rom ...
as Bruna
*Fabrizio Jovine as Commissioner D'Elia
*Riccardo Parisio Perrotti as Melli
*Loredana Savelli as Giovanna Rospini
*Elizabeth Turner as Virginia's Mother
*Vito Passeri as Caretaker
Production
According to director
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he ga ...
, ''Sette note in nero'' gestated over several years in
development hell because producer
Luigi De Laurentiis was unsure about what type of film could be made out of it.
Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi (born 10 September 1934) is an Italian screenwriter. Film historian and critic Tim Lucas described Gastaldi as the first Italian screenwriter to specialize in horror and thriller films. Gastaldi worked within several popular ge ...
stated that he had written an twelve-page outline of the film with director/producer
Alberto Pugliese, titled ''Pentagramma in nero'' () or ''Sinfonia in nero'' (). The story dealt with a woman who dreams of a murder, and believes it will happen in real life. Film critic and historian Roberto Curti has noted that there exists a script kept at the
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film.
The centre is the oldest film school in ...
library, titled ''Incubus (Pentagramma in nero)'', which is credited to Gastaldi,
Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies.
He is the older bro ...
and Mahnamen Velasco and is dated March 1972, but states that this was, in fact, an early title for ''
La morte accarezza a mezzanotte
''La morte accarezza a mezzanotte'' (''Death Walks at Midnight''Luther-Smith, Adrian (1999). Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd.) is a 1972 ''giallo'' film directed by Luciano Erco ...
'' (1972); however, Curti notes that both ''La morte accarezza a mezzanotte'' and ''Sette note in nero'' share near-identical premises of women having premonitions of murder.
''Sette note in nero'' was written by Roberto Gianviti and
Dardano Sacchetti Dardano Sacchetti (born 1944 ) is an Italian screenwriter who often worked with Italian directors Lamberto Bava and Lucio Fulci.
Screenwriting
Sacchetti was born in 1944,in Italy. His first screen credit was for Dario Argento's film ''The Cat o' Ni ...
. Fulci and Gianviti had collaborated on several films together, including ''
Operazione San Pietro'', ''
One on Top of the Other'', ''
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
''A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'' ( it, Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) is a 1971 ''giallo'' film directed by Lucio Fulci and produced by Edmondo Amati and Robert Dorfmann. It stars Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel, Leo Genn, and ...
'', ''
Don't Torture a Duckling
''Don't Torture a Duckling'' ( it, Non si sevizia un paperino) is a 1972 Italian giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Florinda Bolkan, Tomas Milian and Barbara Bouchet. The plot follows a detective investigating a series of child murde ...
'', ''
White Fang
''White Fang'' is a novel by American author Jack London (1876–1916) — and the name of the book's eponymous character, a wild wolfdog. First serialized in ''Outing'' magazine between May and October 1906, it was published in book form in Oc ...
'' and ''
Challenge to White Fang
''The Return of White Fang'' ( it, Il ritorno di Zanna Bianca) is a 1974 Northern film. A sequel to '' White Fang'', it was directed, as was its predecessor, by Lucio Fulci, as part of a trend of films inspired by '' Call of the Wild'' (1972), wh ...
''.
Sacchetti would later collaborate with Fulci on ''
Zombi 2
''Zombi 2'' is a 1979 Italian zombie film directed by Lucio Fulci. It was adapted from an original screenplay by Dardano Sacchetti to serve as a sequel to George A. Romero's '' Dawn of the Dead'' (1978), which was released in Italy with the ...
'', ''
City of the Living Dead
''City of the Living Dead'' ( it, Paura nella città dei morti viventi, lit=Fear in the city of the living dead, also released as ''The Gates of Hell'') is a 1980 Italian supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Lucio Fulci. It stars ...
'', ''
The Beyond'' and ''
The House by the Cemetery
''The House by the Cemetery'' ( it, Quella villa accanto al cimitero) is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film stars Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina and Dagmar Lassander. It ...
'', and ''
The New York Ripper
''The New York Ripper'' ( it, Lo squartatore di New York) is a 1982 Italian ''giallo'' film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film is about a police lieutenant who is tracking a sadistic killer who slashes women with a switchblade and straight-razors ...
''.
Fulci and Gianviti had been put under contract by De Laurentiis and his son
Aurelio based on the success of their earlier ''gialli''; given creative freedom to conceive a project in the same genre, they chose to adapt writer (later a film critic and distributor) Vieri Razzini's 1972 mystery novel ''Terapia mortale''. Described by Curti as "a banal and rather poorly written
whodunnit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with th ...
", the novel follows
parapsychologist Patrick Delli as he investigates the death of his friend Mark, which he discovers to have been an act of murder through the use of psychic powers, and that Mark's wife Veronica (who Patrick is in love with) is another potential target.
Barbara Bouchet
Barbara Bouchet (born Bärbel Gutscher; 15 August 1943)
glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com; ...
was originally intended as one of the film's leads; in a July 1974 interview, she revealed that filming was intended to take place in
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...
. However, the De Laurentiises were not satisfied with Fulci and Gianviti's material, and Sacchetti was brought on board to work with the pair in summer 1975. Sacchetti noted that Fulci and Gianviti had little to show for half a year's work on the project, largely because the former misinterpreted the novel's portrayal of parapsychology as a type of magic instead of psychoanalysis. Fulci initially resented Sacchetti due to the success of his collaborations with
Dario Argento and referred to him as "De Laurentiis' spy", but eventually warmed to him after Gianviti approved of his additions to the script, which served to "unblock" difficulties that Fulci and Gianviti had originally encountered, while remaining true to the spirit of the novel.
After Fulci, Gianviti and Sacchetti's initial draft was rejected by the De Laurentiises, Sacchetti suggested that they work on a new story from scratch, and asked Fulci what his biggest obsession was. When Fulci informed him that this obsession was "
fate
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
", he returned the next day with an entirely new outline that met with Fulci and Gianviti's approval. Fulci impulsively devised the title ''Sette note in nero'' after Sacchetti informed him that a carillon would serve as a key plot device in the story. Sacchetti attributes "70%" of the resulting script to Gianviti, and described his contributions as "a touch of Argento to a traditional mystery plot. The 'touch of Argento' were the suspenseful situations in general, the modalities of the deaths, especially the victim's point of view". Although an announcement that production of the film, then bearing the novel's title, would begin in November 1975 was deposited at the Ministry of Spectacle, the film was shelved again by the De Laurentiises, as their company was in financial trouble due to
political and social unrest in Italy. Within several months, Fulci was able to make a deal with a smaller production company, Cinecompany, and distributor
Cineriz
''Cineriz'' was an Italian media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films, founded in the early 1950s by the businessman Angelo Rizzoli. The company catalogue counts also many films directed by Federico Fellini, Gil ...
to make the film.
Aside from sharing a theme of psychic powers and the character of Luca Fattori being a parapsychologist who harbors romantic feelings for the married Virginia, the resulting film bares little resemblance to Razzini's novel. Curti notes that ''Sette note in nero'' features several scenes and themes influenced by Fulci's earlier films, including the potentially unjust imprisonment of a man for the murder of his wife (''One on Top of the Other''), precognition (''A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'') and a character who falls to their death on a cliffside (''Don't Torture a Duckling''); other possible influences on the narrative include the novel ''Night has a Thousand Eyes'' by
Cornell Woolrich
Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley.
His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich th ...
(whose works were possible influences on ''One on Top of the Other'' and ''A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'') and the films ''
Don't Look Now
''Don't Look Now'' ( it, A Venezia... un Dicembre rosso shocking, lit=In Venice... a shocking red December) is a 1973 English-language film in the thriller genre directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from the 1971 short story by Daphne du Mauri ...
'' and ''
Death Rite''.
The film was shot between September and November 1976 under the working title ''Dolce come morire''. It was shot Incir-De Paolis Studios in Rome and at
Arezzo,
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
in Italy and in
Dover in England. Cameraman Franco Bruni commented on the cinematography in the film, stating that "we did a frantic use of zoom in this film" and "often used the tracking shot backwards, to reveal things. The camera was moving all the time."
Style
''Sette note in nero'' is the fourth ''giallo'' film to have been helmed by Fulci, following ''One on Top of the Other'', ''A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'' and ''Don't Torture a Duckling''. Fulci's gialli have been cited as being "a far cry from his later excessive gross-out horrors", showing that the director was able to "put his finger on the free sexuality that permeated the culture at the time and the repercussions that came along with it". The film, along with the rest of Fulci's oeuvre, has been described as "progress
ngas if the characters are trapped in some awful, illogical dream, from which there is no escape". The film's title has been noted as one of many ''giallo'' titles using either numbers or animal references, having been directly compared to ''
Sette scialli di seta gialla
''Sette scialli di seta gialla''/ ''Seven Shawls of Yellow Silk''Luther-Smith,Adrian (1999). ''Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies''. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd. p. 25 (International title: ''Crimes of the Bla ...
''.
Curti stated that the film should "more properly be considered as a 'female
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
'", with a film updated to contemporary times and blended mystery and the paranormal. In 1970s Italy, the
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
was one of the country's most durable obsessions. This included Pier Carpi's popular books about history of magic and
Cagliostro
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (, ; 2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795) was the alias of the Italian occultist Giuseppe Balsamo (; in French usually referred to as Joseph Balsamo).
Cagliostro was an Italian adventurer and self-styled magician. ...
and a book of alleged prophecies of
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
. Paranormal themes were also explored in
adult comics and television miniseries such as ''Il segno del comando'' and ''ESP'' based on Dutch psychic
Gerard Croiset. Filmmakers and screenwriters also delved into these themes such as
Riccardo Freda
Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films.
Freda began directing '' I Vampiri'' in 1956. The film became ...
,
Piero Regnoli
Piero Regnoli (1921–2001) was an Italian screenwriter and film director.
Career
Born in 1921, Regnoli worked in the film industry between 1953 and 1991 where he wrote over 110 screenplays and directed 11 films. Regnoli's work ranged fr ...
,
Demofilo Fidani
Demofilo Fidani (born 8 February 1914 on a steamship bound for Cagliari; died 4 April 1994) was an Italian film director (24 films), set designer (more than 200 films), painter, and a regarded medium and author.
As director, Fidani specialized ...
and
Pupi Avati
Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two giallo masterpieces, ''The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' Zeder ...
.
Music
Composer
Fabio Frizzi
Fabio Frizzi (born 2 July 1951) is an Italian musician and composer. Born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, he is best known for his film scores and was a frequent collaborator with horror director Lucio Fulci.
Frizzi is the older brother of th ...
also contributed to ''Paura nella città dei morti viventi'', ''...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà'', ''Manhattan Baby'', and Fulci's 1990 film ''
Un gatto nel cervello''. The film's score was performed on a
carillon, accompanied by stringed instruments, synthesisers and piano notes. The score has been described as "simple, elegant and gravely beautiful", and has been noted for "steer
ngclear of rampant atonality and shrieking strings", unlike typical giallo film scores.
Some of the film's music was later used in the 2003 American film ''
Kill Bill Volume 1
''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) an ...
'', directed by
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
.
} A medley of the score was later included as part of Frizzi's 2013 ''Fulci 2 Frizzi'' live tour, including the 2014
live album release ''Fulci 2 Frizzi: Live at Union Chapel''.
Release
''Sette note in nero'' was released in Italy on August 10, 1977 where it was distributed by
Cineriz
''Cineriz'' was an Italian media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films, founded in the early 1950s by the businessman Angelo Rizzoli. The company catalogue counts also many films directed by Federico Fellini, Gil ...
. The film grossed a total of 594,648,345
Italian lire
The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...
domestically. Curti described the film's reception in Italy as "nondescript (and therefore disappointing)", stating that it was released during a period where the ''giallo'' was waning, where a film "completely devoid of blood and gore and ultimately downbeat" was not of the interest of moviegoers.
The film was released in the United States in March 1979, where it was distributed by Group 1 International Distribution Organization under the title ''The Psychic''. It has been released under several alternative English titles, including ''Murder to the Tune of the Seven Black Notes'', ''Seven Notes in Black'' and ''Death Tolls Seven Times''. It was released on DVD in English under the title ''The Psychic'' on December 18, 2007. A
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
of the film was released in the United States by Scorpion Releasing in 2019; this release, created from a
2K scan of the
original camera negative
The original camera negative (OCN) is the film in a traditional film-based movie camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure.
The size of a roll v ...
, includes English and Italian audio, an
audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
with film historian Troy Howarth and an interview with Sacchetti. In the United Kingdom, a bilingual Blu-ray distributed by Shameless Screen Entertainment was released on August 9, 2021, featuring a revised subtitle translation for the Italian track, interviews with Fulci's daughter Antonella, Sacchetti and Frizzi, and a demonstration of the film's 2K restoration process.
Reception
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
's Stuart Galbraith gave ''Sette note in nero'' three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a very effective little thriller, smartly directed and engrossing". Galbraith felt that the film "offers few surprises" but moves with "palpable suspense", and added that the final scenes are "genuinely harrowing". Writing for
Allrovi
RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel.
Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...
, Sandra Brennan rated the film one star out of five.
A review in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' by Gary Arnold described the film as "an uneven experiment in terror". Arnold was critical of the post-dubbed nature of the sound, and of Fulci's "excesses of enthusiasm" in direction, but felt that this was more enjoyable than the "laborious tease" of the contemporary film ''
Halloween''.
Bloody Disgusting's Chris Eggertsen included the film as number seven in a countdown of the "Top Ten Underrated Horror Gems", citing its "excellent cinematography
nddeft use of color", though criticising its "poor use of dubbing". ''Sette note in nero'' has been compared to the American film ''
Eyes of Laura Mars
''Eyes of Laura Mars'' is a 1978 American neo noir mystery-thriller film starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones and directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay was adapted (in collaboration with David Zelag Goodman) from a spec script titled ' ...
'', released the following year. Italian film critic Riccardo Strada has described ''Sette note in nero'' as "effectively sinister and disturbing", finding it full of "healthy unease".
Proposed remake
Sometime in the 1990s, filmmaker
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
considered remaking ''Sette note in nero'', with ''
Jackie Brown
''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel '' Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Jac ...
'' star
Bridget Fonda in the role of Virginia. By the year 2000, Tarantino gave an update on the proposed remake: "It's a project in the murky future. I don't even own the rights to that stuff. It's one of those things where it's like if somebody buys the rights to make it, I won't make it. They can totally fuck it up. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen".
No further remarks on the project were made until Sacchetti revealed in an interview conducted for the film's 2019 Blu-ray that he had been in contact with producers from
Sony Pictures, who were interested in having Tarantino or other directors remake the film.
The 1984 Tamil movie
Nooraavathu Naal, is loosely based on ''Sette note in nero.'' Another remake, a Hindi-language 'Bollywood' film titled ''
100 Days'', was released in 1991.
Notes
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
{{Lucio Fulci
1977 films
1970s Italian-language films
Giallo films
1970s thriller films
Italian thriller films
Films directed by Lucio Fulci
Films scored by Fabio Frizzi
1970s Italian films