Bruno Nicolai: Eyeball
A stabbing nightmare becomes a living terror
The beauty of Barcelona and an horror consumed at the light of the sun. “Gatti Rossi In Un Labirinto Di Vetro” (1974), known abroad as “Eyeball”, by Umberto Lenzi is one of the first examples of Italian ‘eye violence’, that is, macabre violence based on torning eyes, with inevitable final killer image from the same empty socket, now transformed into a kind of bloodthirsty beast, who has just uprooted the left eye from the last target of his fury. A good product, with low budget but of great impact on tricolor giallo-thriller fans, cheered by Bruno Nicolai’s soundtrack, one of the key figures of twentieth century music, just conductor for Ennio Morricone and author of several fine workmanship scores, including those for the cinema of the ‘blacks worlds’. The vinyl reissue of “Eyeball (Original Soundtrack)” (2015), edited by Dagored, is an excellent opportunity to rediscover one of the least known.
“Gatti Rossi In Un Labirinto Di Vetro”, another title with animals, can be explain in this way: red cats are the tourists who visit the Spanish city after wearing red waterproof (“What I saw was like a red cat that passed in front of me…”); the labyrinth is a trap with no way out where they are the protagonists (“We must get out of this maze at any price…”); while the glass is a macabre detail that is discovered only in the final, with the murderess in the foreground. Umberto Lenzi, forerunner of the cannibal genre with “Il Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio” (1972), did his latest giallo-thriller, before be deeply involved in the hard, but sometimes ironic, poliziottesco during the age of the ‘violent cities’ - think about the Roman trilogy starring Maurizio Merli and Tomas Milian - and recovers a daytime setting, already owned by “Non Si Sevizia un Paperino” (1972), a future classic of Lucio Fulci, inspired by a true story.
“Eyeball” is the chronicle of a complete holiday in Spain by a group of US tourists, which includes a rich Texan with his daughter, a couple in crisis, an elderly priest, a pair of lesbians, a publicist, Mark Barton, ready to divorce from his wife, Alma, and the secretary and mistress of him, Paulette. The man is being targeted by a mysterious maniac who kills and rips the left eye to his unfortunate victims. The killer always affects girls who have things in common with the group and the protagonist suspects that his wife, longtime prey to nervous disorders, because in the past something like this had happened at Barlington, the city where they reside. The man had found his wife unconscious on the crime scene, with a dagger in his hand next to a torn eye. In any case, in his memory there is a detail that initially omitted. Meanwhile, the murders chain does not end.
Mark Barton ends up in the dock, but can remember that Alma is left-handed and the knife was in her right hand. Exonerated the woman, he suggests that someone has hatched a plot to blame. The culprit is his secretary, mad as a result of a childhood trauma when a classmate had accidentally torn his left eye. After each murder, Paulette replaced that of the victim in the empty socket, usually filled by a glass one. The film is inspired by “A Venezia… Un Dicembre Rosso Shocking” (1973) by Nicolas Roeg, borrowing the red raincoat worn by the killer and a certain number of traumatic flashbacks, but cites two main episodes of the ‘animal trilogy’ by ‘master of horror’ Dario Argento. The frame where you reveal the killer identity, a left-handed woman wielding a knife, is a direct link to “L’Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo” (1970).
Beyond the ‘particular’ wrong recovery, but revealing, suggestive and disturbing is also the reference to “Il Gatto A Nove Code” (1971). It is the scene where the photographer of the group, who unwittingly portrayed in pictures the murderer, is killed in a darkroom. Overall, it is remarkable the mechanics of the crimes, the prelude to “Tenebre” (1982) of the same Dario Argento. The screen is stained by the blood of bodies stabbed in the heart of the Alhambra or in a farm. Even the final, with the protagonist who left Spain by plane, after having reconciled with his wife, is similar to that of “L’Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo”, already viewed in “La Morte Cammina Con I Tacchi Alti” (1971) by Luciano Ercoli. Umberto Lenzi cites, in broad terms, also “Torso” (1973) by Sergio Martino, where one of the victims goes out of his temporary shelter and falls right into the arms of killer Paulette.
The screenplay, maybe not very original, keeps alive the attention in a crescendo of tension and casts an ‘eye’ to the viewer with some erotic detail, as some nudity and lesbian lovemaking. The posthumous success of the film is also due by the Iberian location, the international cast, including Veronica Miriel, future Marisol in “Un Sacco Bello” (1980) by Carlo Verdone, and the beautiful soundtrack by Bruno Nicolai with easy listening sounds and jazz inserts. The score is based on the main theme, Gatti Rossi (Titoli), orchestral piece with pop shades over the opening credits. The different executions - Gatti Rossi (# 2), a combination of bass and trumpet, Gatti Rossi (# 3), of harpsichord and organ, Gatti Rossi (# 4), with bows on top, Gatti Rossi (# 5), of the highest trumpet, Gatti Rossi (# 6) with a more sustained rhythm - are taken frequently to follow the course of action, underscoring the warm climate in which it is set.
The ride on the bus with a tour guide. The arrival at the hotel. The visit at the amusement park in the rain looking for the killer after one of his crimes. The transfer in the Siges town. The delivery of passports withdrawn by the local police. Each of these sequences is commented by Gatti Rossi (Titoli) and associated variations, not to mention the final credits, marked by L’Incubo È Finito (Finale). All unreleased tracks until the publication on Digitmovies cds of the soundtrack (2007). A previous release (1999) edited by RCA Original Cast, the only one in twenty-five, had assembly a short selection of tracks drawn from “Gatti Rossi In Un Labirinto Di Vetro” (Eyeballs) and “I Corpi Presentano Tracce Di Violenza Carnale (Torso)”, by the brothers Guido & Maurizio De Angelis. The first vinyl edition offers, instead, thirty ones, including Barlington, a delicate and refined lounge piece, supported by the flugelhorn played by Oscar Valdambrini. The same is taken up with variations to emphasize the romantic moments - Labirinto (Film Version), Barlington (# 3), Barlington (# 4), Barlington (# 5), Barlington (# 6) - and the most ambiguous of the difficult love story experienced by Mark Barton with Alma, as Una Figura Incappucciata, Una Figura Incappucciata (# 2) and Una Figura Incappucciata (# 3).
The horrific side is then entrusted to Prodromi, obsessive jazz with bass, drums and organ, marked by the restless rhythm of the harpsichord. The song is equally resumed in Catena Di Delitti and Catena Di Delitti (# 2), used as a leitmotif for the preludes to heinous crimes and another series of obsessive or suspended rhythmic moments reproduced by vibraphone and bass, with interesting inserts of dissonant guitar, harpsichord, percussion and piano, named Occhi, Occhi (# 2), Occhi (# 3), Nell’Assolata Alhambra, Orbita Vuota, Orbita Vuota (# 2), all useful to describe the unusual ferocity expressed by the secretary Paulette. Finally, Barcelona and Barcelona (# 2), folk pieces punctuated by chords of classical guitars, accompanied by a flamenco dancer performance in front of the men of the party, while the murderess is ready to strike again. The rich score by Bruno Nicolai, who died in 1991 and has been ignored by too many critics, is full of further alternative versions: Catena Di Delitti (Alternate Take - Long Version) and Gatti Rossi (Titoli) (Alternate Take - Long Version). A work of first quality.
