Knife + Heart (2018) ***1/2
By virtue of its synopsis alone, Knife + Heart (2018) sets itself apart—a French giallo about a gay porn producer set in 1979 with a score by M83. Let that all sink in. You'd be hard-pressed to name more than a handful of other films with that combination of unique elements.
Director Yann Gonzalez's (the brother of M83's primary member Anthony Gonzalez) sophomore feature stars singer/model/actor Vanessa Paradis as Anne, the producer/director of low budget gay blue movies. Her relationship with her former lover Lois (Kate Moran)—who edits her films—is what you might call strained, due to Anne's extremely obsessive and inappropriate behavior toward Lois. As members of her regular cast and crew start to get offed by a crazed killer who wears a gimp mask and wields a unique killing weapon (which I won't spoil), Anne eventually sets out on a quest to investigate the mystery with the aid of a clue (a nice tie back to Dario Argento) given to her by a police officer when his department fails to help her.
K+H is filled with beautifully-lensed visuals, well-staged set pieces, strong production design and a moody, effective soundtrack. The narrative arc is a bit of a mess but the dream-logic is part of the charm (plus the same can be said for plenty of Argento films). A couple of scenes could have been better executed and some wonky editing falls short of the quality that the rest of the film exhibits, but fortunately none of that spoils the film as a whole. Apart from the novelty, it delivers as a giallo and as a piece of horror cinema.
You can find my Giallo Feature Films Ranked list here.
Director Yann Gonzalez's (the brother of M83's primary member Anthony Gonzalez) sophomore feature stars singer/model/actor Vanessa Paradis as Anne, the producer/director of low budget gay blue movies. Her relationship with her former lover Lois (Kate Moran)—who edits her films—is what you might call strained, due to Anne's extremely obsessive and inappropriate behavior toward Lois. As members of her regular cast and crew start to get offed by a crazed killer who wears a gimp mask and wields a unique killing weapon (which I won't spoil), Anne eventually sets out on a quest to investigate the mystery with the aid of a clue (a nice tie back to Dario Argento) given to her by a police officer when his department fails to help her.
K+H is filled with beautifully-lensed visuals, well-staged set pieces, strong production design and a moody, effective soundtrack. The narrative arc is a bit of a mess but the dream-logic is part of the charm (plus the same can be said for plenty of Argento films). A couple of scenes could have been better executed and some wonky editing falls short of the quality that the rest of the film exhibits, but fortunately none of that spoils the film as a whole. Apart from the novelty, it delivers as a giallo and as a piece of horror cinema.
You can find my Giallo Feature Films Ranked list here.
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