If it were possible to actually O.D. on a combination of so-bad-it's-good Italian horror cinema and pure, undiluted 80s kitsch, then 1989's PAGANINI HORROR (Severin Films) from writer/director Luigi Cozzi (CONTAMINATION, STARCRASH) might be the fix that could kill us all.
You're really in for it once you start to mainline this heady concoction which begins, after a prologue in which a violin-playing little girl cutely electrocutes her mother in the bathtub, with a recording session by an all-girl trio in a recording studio belting out one of the worst 80s power ballads ever.
Lead singer Kate (Jasmine Main) is told by shrewish producer Lavinia (Maria Cristina Mastrangeli) that her music just ain't cutting the mustard anymore and she'd better find a new songwriter.
That's when Kate's drummer Daniel (Pascal Persiano) purchases a mysterious, unpublished work by famed violin virtuoso and composer Niccolò Paganini from a creepy fellow named Mr. Pickett (Donald Pleasance, PHENOMENA, HALLOWEEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE), who just might be Old Scratch himself.
Naturally, it's a cursed work that Paganini sold his soul for, although you'll wonder what the big deal is when Daniel plays it on the piano for the girls. They, on the other hand, go ga-ga for it and plans are made to shoot a horror-themed music video a la Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in a rented mansion owned by a woman named Sylvia (co-writer and Argento mainstay Daria Nicolodi) which is supposedly haunted by ol' Paganini himself.
This leads to the film's most disturbing sequence--namely, the filming of the aforementioned music video, consisting of cheesy horror visuals set to yet another bland but ear-curdling bad-80s screechfest. Here's where we get our first look at the spooky mansion, which is wonderfully tacky in a Halloween funhouse sort of way.
The film then wastes no time inundating our unfortunate cast of characters with all manner of infernal misfortunes, beginning with the bloody murder of the trio's lead guitarist by a masked killer wielding a knife-sprouting Stradivarius. While searching for her, the others enter a room where a gaping hole erupts in the floor and sucks one of them into the dark pit below.
While the masked killer continues to stalk, director Cozzi gives us more of that sweet supernatural mayhem including an invisible force field around the estate that results in a fiery car crash and a horrific, fast-acting infection which turns another of the girls into a walking fungus.
None of this is especially elegant in execution, but it all comes so fast and furious and with such verve that we're too entertained to care. While lacking finesse, the cast throw themselves into their roles with abandon, often screaming their dialogue at each other with an amusingly overheated intensity. Cozzi is equally enthusiastic as his camera scurries around and hustles to keep up with the action.
A visibly amused Pleasance, who worked for three days on the production, adds his big-name presence a few times throughout the film, finally showing up for the predictable but fun twist ending. Nicolodi (SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, TENEBRE), always a welcome face in any Italian horror flick, adds her own venerable appeal.
Makeup effects are low-budget but effective. While the gore isn't all that plentiful, there are some pretty splattery scenes including one particularly notable setpiece involving a sheet of plate glass turning someone's face into Picasso's worst nightmare.
Vince Tempera's Goblin-influenced electronic musical score (available on CD for a limited time along with the movie) lends yet another layer to the 80s ambience. The print itself has been transferred in 2K from the original negative. Disc extras consist of lengthy interviews with director Luigi Cozzi and actor Pietro Genuardi, deleted scenes and alternate ending, and the trailer.
With none of the film artistry and finesse of Dario Argento but loads of enthusiasm, PAGANINI HORROR is the cinematic equivalent of someone sawing away artlessly on a Stradivarius and then smashing it over your head. Like a funhouse of stupid, it's the sort of screamfest where you have a great time watching it even if you aren't even sure why.
Buy it at Severin Films
Street date: October 29, 2019
Special Features:
Play It Again Paganini: Interview with Director Luigi Cozzi
The Devil’s Music: Interview with Actor Pietro Genuardi
Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending
Trailer
BONUS: CD Soundtrack
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