Door Into Darkness: The Doll (1973)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Recently watching the two Dario Argento directed eps of the TV show Door Into Darkness again,I realised that for some reason I have never got round to seeing the final (non Argento directed) ep,which led to me deciding that it was time to finally close the door into darkness.The plot:Escaping from a mental hospital,a patient goes on the run.With the patient having spent their whole life in the hospital,the police and doctors rush to find the patient before they kill someone.Locating the patient,the doctors start to think that this might offer a chance to "cure" the patient of their madness.View on the ep:For the longest ep in the series (61 minutes),co-writer/(along with Marcella Elsberger) director Mario Foglietti (who unlike the other two directors,only worked on TV) displays cinematic flourishes,from the ultra-stylised first person opening allowing the viewer to escape from the hospital,to jumpy,hand-held shots unravelling the patient's instability.Given the longest running time of the 4 eps,the screenplay by Foglietti & Elsberger aims to mix Giallo investigating with psychological chills.Whilst the detectives stomp round the city gives the ep a firm Film Noir edge,the writers are disappointingly unable to get a grip on the running time,with the search for the patient having a wandering mood which sadly stops the excellent twist from truly fitting into a pair of Giallo gloves.Being the biggest name to star in the series, Erika Blanc gives a wonderful performance as Elena Moreschi,thanks to Blanc giving Moreschi a sweetness which impressively chimes with the twist ending,as the door into darkness closes.

A mental patient escapes from an asylum. The police try to find said patient before someone in the outside world gets hurt or killed. Director/co-writer Mario Foglietti uses an unusual and imaginative fragmented style to relate the pretty standard story; it's this very odd, disjointed, and energetic bravura style which in turn gives this particular episode its singularly creepy and unnerving edge, with weird tilted camera angles, a wonky score, and inspired use of a jumpy hand-camera all combining together to create a highly tense and uncertain atmosphere of dread and instability. Kudos are also in order for the able acting by a solid pro cast, with stand-out contributions from Robert Hoffman as a handsome and mysterious doctor, Mara Venier as the fetching and fragile Daniela Moreschi, Gianfranco D'Angelo as a no-nonsense police commissioner, and Pupo De Luca as the bumbling vice commissioner. Ravishing redhead Euro cinema cult siren Erika Blanc has a small, but memorable role as Elena Moreschi, a victim of the escaped mental patient who gets killed in an excellent set piece that occurs in a garment factory. The lunatic's true identity is a genuine surprise. A refreshingly different and intriguing episode.

The fourth and final episode in the Italian cult TV-series "Door into Darkness" is literally a world of difference compared to the three previous segments. The other ones are straightforward and dealing with complex murder investigations, whereas "The Doll" is a hugely ambitious and psychological tale of terror focusing on the mind and behavior of an escaped mental asylum's patient. During the opening sequence, we witness how an individual nervously walks out of a secured institution towards freedom. We can't see who it is, or even determine the sex, as everything is filmed using ingenious and convincing POV-shots. The action then moves to the big city, where a suspiciously behaving man meets with a ravishingly beautiful young girl in a toy store. Their relationship develops rather curiously, as they're both distant and very asocial. Meanwhile, the police are investigating the murder of a female fashion designer, presumably committed by the escaped mental patient. Their paths all come together during an intense – albeit fairly easy to predict – finale at the young woman's apartment. The story of "The Doll" is oddly constructed and definitely ahead of its time. Director Mario Foglietti only provides a minimum of background and information and really involves the viewers to help unravel the mystery. This unusual approach, as well as the occasional red herring, is quite successful! Even though you figure out the patient's identity rather quickly, Foglietti still manages to confuse and even make you doubt sometimes. Although a slight bit tedious, the bizarre interactions between the man and the girl are eerie and uncomfortable. Dario Argento probably deliberately saved the most experimental and awkward segment in his successful TV-initiative for last, if only to avoid losing the audiences uninterested in watching the more psychological trademarks of psychopath killers. Still, for open-minded and versatile horror fans, "The Dolls" comes with just as much recommendation as the other installments.