Review: Nightmare Symphony

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Nightmare Symphony (aka Nightmare Symphony: The Peacock’s Tale)
Directed by Domiziano Cristopharo and Daniele Trani
Enchanted Architect; 8-Films; DiabolikDVD; Reelgore Releasing; MVD Visual
78 minutes, 2020 / 2022
www.mvdvisual.com

The main director of this film, Domiziano Chrisopharo, is a name that is familiar to me, as I have reviewed three of his many previous films: House of Flesh Mannequins (2009), Museum of Wonders (2010), and Red Krokodil (2012) 

His work is seriously underappreciated, and from what I have seen, his name should be as familiar as Argento or Fulci. They are odd, dark, and eminently enjoyable, on the side of weird and highly influenced by giallo. Hopefully, this one will live up to my expectations.

This was filmed mostly in Pristina, East-Central Kosovo by and Italian crew, but recorded in English (DTS_HD Maser Audio 2.) with some Italian and Albanian, and a German overdub is also available on this Blu-ray. The subtitle choices are English SDH and Swedish. That this us steeped in a giallo, right down to the theme music by Fabio Frizzi (Fulci’s A Cat in the Brain and The Beyond in 1981 among others; Kill Bill Vol. 1 in 2003), should be no surprise as this was written by Antonio Tentori (who penned Fulci's 1990 A Cat in the Brain); this release has a similar theme.

Frank LaLoggia and Antonella Salvucci

After an opening prologue in Rome with a gratuitous and ferocious shower scene (Antonella Salvucci) that is steeped in giallo lighting and mood – and violence – perpetrated by someone in a peacock mask (Federico di Pasqual) – who has no crystal plumage – we are introduced to our central character, struggling film director Frank LaLoggia playing a version of himself (who looks a bit like my dad at a point in his life), an American living in Italy (with a red passport rather than blue) as he travels to Kosovo, giving him a chance to let us know about his charity of spirit (how the film got the rights to a Disney film clip, I do not know; is Mickey now public domain?).

Poison Rouge and Hasan Lushi (foreground)

In a meta-film storyline (the film shoot within a film is getting to be quite common these days), Frank is a director who is trying to finish up a project, The Peacock’s Tale, and make his investor, Fernando (Hasan Lushi), who arrives with his girlfriend Lola (Poison Rouge, who also directed the cult classic body horror, American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice, in 2017) and the screenwriter, Antonio (screenwriter Antonio Tentori), happy. The problem is they both want different things, and Frank is in the middle. He has come to Kosovo to do the post-production work, including with editor Isabella (also Salvucci). LaLoggia actually was a director of a trio of cult classic films in the 1980s and 1990s. We get to see some footage (including backstage) of his Fear No Evil (1981, though he claims it as 1970 in this film). That was a cool addition,

Merita Budakova

Frank is constantly being set upon by a drunk neighbor (Iimi Hajzeri), a hyper-aggressive actor looking for work, David (Halil Budakova), or being stalked by a mysterious woman (Merita Budakova; she could definitely play Monica Lewinsky). As we meet all the characters around Frank, someone else in a peacock mask (Blin Budakova…yes, there is a number of cast members with that surname) is starting to kill people who surround Frank, some close associates, some not as much. But each one is appropriately gruesome, and in various ways, as is befitting a giallo. As for the killer, there are numerous nice red herrings throughout.

Of course, this is a giallo, so the question is bound to come up: what is real, what is not, what is psychosis? Pressure can sometimes make that distinction a gray area left open for the viewer to decide. Lucio Fulci (d. 1996) was famous for opaque endings that did not harm the story proper. Note that this film is dedicated – and rightfully so – to Fulci. After all, the title of this film is a nod to the French name of Fulci’s A Cat in the Brain, which was called Nightmare Concerto.

But more after this commercial break: There are a few extras on the Blu-ray, but nothing too overwhelming. First is the Making Of, which is actually a Blooper Reel (9 min) which was okay, albeit mostly in Italiano. This is followed by a couple of interview tracks. The first is with director Chrisopharo (14 min), which is in accented English. He discusses, among other things like narrow budgets and the growth of the film’s idea to fruition, the influence of Fulci. The other is with screen writer Tentori (6 min), which is in Italian with subtitles. He talks about the actors, and naturally, Fulci. I found the second one more engaging, without taking anything away from Chrisopharo. Along with the soundtrack I mentioned earlier, the last two extras are the Teaser and the Trailer.

Okay, getting back to the meat of the matter, having Americans as leads in Italian giallo films is certainly not new. For example, there was John Saxon (d. 2020) in The Scorpion with Two Tails (1982), and Jennifer Connolly and Donald Pleasance (d. 1995) in Argento’s Phenomena (both these films to be reviewed here, soon).

The cinematography by co-director Trani, is exquisite and arty without being overdone. The scenes of the city, and the like are just lovely, even the slummy areas. Long tracking shots abound, rather than MTV-ish quick-cuts that have become the norm, sadly. Giallo has proven that Sergi Eisenstein (d. 1948) is only sometimes right, that editing equals action, but not always, or here.

There were two distractions for me. The first was that so many of the scenes were filmed either at night or in an unlit room, using a dark blue filter, which made the action (and some killings) hard to see. The second, and I do not really blame anyone because it helps with the budget, there were obvious product placements, such as a particular soda-pop, whose logo is seen prominently in a number of times in more than one place.

This release gives me every reason to stay a Domiziano Chrisopharo fan.

IMDB listing HERE