The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)

The birthplace of giallo on the silver screen seemingly began with a brilliant Italian thriller written, directed and cinematography by cult classic Italian director Mario Bava.  The Girl Who Knew Too Much (also called The Evil Eye which is a slightly longer version with English dubbing) plays out like a well made Hitchcock thriller with the look of Federico Fellni's 8 1/2.

Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) fresh off the plane from America has come to Rome to visit her aunt, is completely unaware that her life is about to turn into the murder mystery novels she loves to read.  In a span of less than twenty-four hours her aunt dies, she's mugged, witnesses a brutal murder and finds herself to be the possible fourth victim in a string of serial murders aptly dubbed the "Alphabet Murders" based on the victims last names being in alphabetical order.  But everyone around her finds it hard to believe her story about witnessing the latest murder they chalk it up to stock over the events of her aunt suddenly dieing and being mugged in the middle of the night.  She finds solace in her aunt's doctor, Doctor Bassi (John Saxon) who eventually comes around to believing her story, but could also very well be the Alphabet Murderer!

For anyone looking to test the giallo waters The Girl Who Knew Too Much is the place to start as it's a splendid blend of suspense and horror with little bits of humor for flavor.  It's a film where literally everyone could be the killer and Bava does a flawless job of making you believe at some point in the film each character is.  Also it's no surprise Bava was such a coveted cinematographer, the film is breathtaking beautiful and incredibly eerie, reminding me of the only aspect I liked about Fellni's 8 1/2.  Both films were released in the same year so the similarities either belong to the Italian flavor or simply Rome itself, and the fact the film was shot in black and white simply added to the haunting motif, it's unfortunate this is one of the few (if not only) giallos shot in black and white.  

The only negative aspects I can drum up tend to be some of the film's over-the-top moments and a few minor confusing scenes.  Also the fact that Nora stuck around in Rome after going through all this in her first 24 hours, most people would have jumped back on the plane home!  But if you're familiar with giallo you'll know that these minor complaints are essentially continuous throughout the entire genre so you eventually get used to them, it's essentially a signature flaw.  For now The Girl Who Knew Too Much stands atop as my favorite in my limited giallo viewing, and has quickly made me a fan of Mario Bava.

8/10