Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Simply Perfect

One of my all time favorites.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Toby Jones' sound man travels to Italy to work on a horror film, and slowly becomes overwhelmed by his experiences.Unfortunately this does not happen to the viewer. Marketed as a horror film, this is a film without shocks or barely any suspense. It tries to ape David Lynch in its narrative obscurity, but never gets anywhere. In the end it's just another UK failure funded by National Lottery money that might have been better spent somewhere else.Toby Jones is pretty good, and the sound design is very well done. Along the way we get lots of shots of rotting vegetables (used in creating the sound effects for hair being ripped out and heads being diced) Daddy Long Legs crawling, Jones' failed attempts to be recompensed for his flight fare, people screaming while dubbing the film, bitchiness, etc. The first 30 minutes or so are actually quite absorbing.But what is the point? The film seems confused about what it is meant to be. And after watching some other very poor British movies recently like Under The Skin and Bronson, which also sink in their own pretentiousness, the UK film industry seems similarly sunk.Can we get back to making films people actually want to see?

The 1970s: Gilderoy (Toby Jones), a meek English sound mixer, travels to Italy to work on an 'equestrian' film (as it is described to him) which turns out to be a shockingly violent horror movie. At first, studio engineer Francesco (Cosimo Fusco) is pleased to see Gilderoy, but as they proceed to work on the film together, Francesco's nature begins to change, and he becomes rude and intimidating. With constant exposure to the horrific images on-screen, and an increasingly unfriendly co-worker to contend with, the pressure starts to get to Gilderoy…As a big fan of Italian horror and an avid supporter of home-grown movies, I really wanted to like Berberian Sound Studio, a UK production that centres around the making of a splattery supernatural giallo. The dark, claustrophobic setting (the whole film takes place within the confines of the studio) and the nature of the film on which Gilderoy is working on make for some moody moments, but the soporific pacing, lack of scares, and completely baffling pay-off (there are several attempts at explaining matters on the film's IMDb message board, none of them very convincing) go to make the movie an excruciating test of endurance.I was equal parts bored and confused by this dismally dull and possibly pretentious snooze-fest (I watched the film over the course of three nights because I kept falling asleep) and am at a complete loss to see how this has gleaned so many positive reviews (IMDb current rating: 6.2/10).My rating: 1/10

I have watched many giallos and find many of them quite good. There's not so many other film genres that have so much oddities and as a distinctive feature they have very good musical scores and chilling audio effects and atmosphere.Even the old giallos were much better than this film. At least they had substance and somewhat plausible script. In Berberian sound studio there's just a man who works at the sound department and that's all. I couldn't believe how slow the film was and for the most of the time just screaming was being recorded. That appeared to be the shock effect used in this film. It's sort of tiring to realize that the film's not going to advance anywhere. It didn't appear to have an ending either.I have to say that this isn't much of a giallo homage and it's actually made in the UK, not in Italy. It's got nothing to offer for the fans of giallo. Distracting sound effects, ambient and screaming in the editing room. That's really everything what there is to this film.

OK, so first I have been watching many recent British films and generally I have been impressed. I am a big giallo fan. 2 recent movies supposedly have been inspired by giallos, this one and Amer. I have not been satisfied with either. Both of them have the same problem. Pretentiousness. That is one thing giallos didn't have. The one thing I like about giallo films is that they were unashamedly trashy and enjoyable. They didn't try to make a Cannes film award winning film or anything like that. They didn't try to confuse people for the hell of it. They made confusing stories, yes, but it all came together in the end. That's what made them great. Anyway I didn't like it. First I don't mind if you are going to make slow burner horror or anything pretentious. But at least something needs to happen. Which doesn't mean somebody cutting vegetables or anything like that(you will get what I am saying when you see it). I don't think the filmmakers really cared to make a direct horror film anyway. I didn't enjoy it. 4/10