The Psychic is a well-crafted Giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci, who is best known for helming horror films that were notorious for their gore and brutality.
The Psychic begins with young Virginia (Jennifer O’Neill) having a vision of her mother committing suicide by jumping off a cliff. When she grows up, she marries a wealthy businessman, Francesco Ducci (Gianni Garko), whom she one day drops off at the airport as he departs for London on business. During the journey back home, she has visions of a room, a woman murdered, a wall torn down, a letter under a statue of a woman, etc. She confides in Luca Fettori (Marc Porel), a parapsychologist, who reminds her that many of her previous visions have not come true. As Virginia chooses to renovate Francesco’s old home, she discovers that one of the rooms is identical to the one she had envisioned. As a result, she breaks down the wall, discovers a skeleton, and insists that the body belongs to a 50-year-old woman, but forensics reveal that it belonged to Francesco’s older lover, Agneta Bignardi, who was just 24 at the time of her death. The police detain Francesco on suspicion of murder, and Virginia is determined to prove his innocence.
The main flaw of this film is that it employs the overused trope of other characters disbelieving the unique talents of the protagonist. In movies like these, when a person has extraordinary powers, the individuals closest to them always refuse to believe their story. Even in this setting, Virginia’s friends and family, especially her husband, refused to take her visions and theories seriously. The Psychic’s screenplay would have benefited from tightening up on this specific aspect.
Virginia begins her investigation despite everyone’s warnings because she becomes captivated by the case, and her visions become more frequent. She follows up on leads from her inquiry, including a woman who appeared on a magazine’s cover, Italian yellow taxis in 1972, and Emilio Ropsini (Gabriele Ferzetti), whom she believes is the prime suspect in the murder. The main twist occurs at the beginning of the third act, and it is surprisingly effective, leading to the best sequence in the film, a chase scene between two characters. It is a superbly shot scene with the right amount of color and darkness that is both scary and unsettling.
When the film reaches its climax, it almost becomes clear who the real bad guy is, and the movie moves into the suspense genre. Typically, when a film gets to this point, most directors fail to sustain the suspense until the end, but not Fulci because he leaves a lot at stake, making the climax suspenseful up to the last shot, reminding you of how Hitchcock dealt with suspense.
The score of The Psychic, composed by Sergio Salvanti, is one of the key highlights of the film since it perfectly complements the mood of the picture, especially that one tune that plays a significant role in the climax. The tune is so addictive that even Tarantino could not resist using it in Kill Bill. Tarantino was keen on remaking the film with Bridget Fonda in mind, but it never materialized due to concerns over the film’s rights.
If you enjoy the Giallo genre and can overlook the awful dubbing and performances in favor of the story, mood, style, and music, this film will not disappoint. Despite my love of Giallo flicks and familiarity with the works of luminaries such as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, Luigi Bazzoni, etc., I have somehow avoided exploring Lucio Fulci’s body of work until now. After seeing “The Psychic,” I am going to change that.
The Psychic movie link: IMDB
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