Four Flies on Grey Velvet
4 mosche di velluto grigio
Roberto, a drummer in a rock band, keeps receiving weird phone calls and being followed by a mysterious man. One night he manages to catch up with his persecutor and tries to get him to talk but in the ensuing struggle he accidentally stabs him. He runs away, but he understands his troubles have just begun when the following day he receives an envelope with photos of him killing the man. Someone is killing all his friends and trying to frame him for the murders.
Why it matters
A moody, labyrinthine giallo that twists paranoia and guilt through Dario Argento’s early signature style, even if its lead can’t quite anchor the chaos.
- A masterclass in atmosphere: fog-drenched streets, shadowy opera houses, and a score dripping with suspense.
- Practical effects and inventive murder set-pieces that flirt with Argento’s emerging visual flair.
- For giallo completists and fans of 70s Euro horror’s blend of mystery and stylized violence.
- Michael Brandon’s underwhelming lead performance undercuts tension but enhances the film’s unsettling, dreamlike detachment.
Director
22 horror films in catalog
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage 1970
The Cat o' Nine Tails 1971
Four Flies on Grey Velvet 1971
Deep Red 1975
Suspiria 1977
Inferno 1980
Tenebre 1982
Phenomena 1985
Opera 1987
Two Evil Eyes 1990
Trauma 1993
The Stendhal Syndrome 1996
The Phantom of the Opera 1998
Sleepless 2001
The Card Player 2004
Do You Like Hitchcock? 2005
Jenifer 2005
The Mother of Tears 2007
Giallo 2010
Dracula 3D 2012
Dark Glasses 2022
CVLT 2023
Cast
Horror DNA
Gore
71
Slow Burn
50
Psychological
71
Supernatural
0
Creature
0
Disturbing
100
Fun Factor
33
Cerebral
57
Survival
66
Serial Killer
