Director Lucio Fulci is best known for his gory splatter films, but, barring the opening suicide death scene (which Fulci fans will recognise as being virtually identical to the finale of Don't Torture the Duckling), The Psychic is relatively blood free. Instead of a cavalcade of graphic violence, we get a twisty tale of intrigue, as beautiful Virginia Ducci (Jennifer O'Neill) attempts to piece together the clues in her visions to try and prove that her husband Francesco (Gianni Garko) is innocent of murder.
A supernatural, giallo-esque whodunnit mystery, topped off with an ending straight out of an Edgar Allen Poe story, this is actually quite a lot of fun, despite the lack of the juicy stuff. Rarely one to worry about trifling things like narrative cohesion or logic, Fulci actually handles the storytelling pretty well here, with any lack of understanding on my part most likely due to extreme tiredness. However, despite being knackered, I managed to stay awake throughout, the story offering plenty of suspense and intrigue, with the expected red herrings, building gradually to an exciting climax that relies heavily on a twist revelation that stands the film on its head.
The Psychic also features an excellent score that makes clever use of a particularly haunting melody (the 'seven notes' in the film's original title, Seven Notes in Black), which was borrowed by Tarantino for Kill Bill.
A supernatural, giallo-esque whodunnit mystery, topped off with an ending straight out of an Edgar Allen Poe story, this is actually quite a lot of fun, despite the lack of the juicy stuff. Rarely one to worry about trifling things like narrative cohesion or logic, Fulci actually handles the storytelling pretty well here, with any lack of understanding on my part most likely due to extreme tiredness. However, despite being knackered, I managed to stay awake throughout, the story offering plenty of suspense and intrigue, with the expected red herrings, building gradually to an exciting climax that relies heavily on a twist revelation that stands the film on its head.
The Psychic also features an excellent score that makes clever use of a particularly haunting melody (the 'seven notes' in the film's original title, Seven Notes in Black), which was borrowed by Tarantino for Kill Bill.