KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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

qmtv Excellent Cinematography & Music. Story is lacking, maybe in the English Translation.This is the same director and cinematographer who made Footprints on the Moon, excellent movie.This movie also has great cinematography and the directing/editing is a fine job. Music is good as well. The acting is good. But the story is lacking. Maybe the story is lost in the English translation. Best suspense is when the killer was going after the kid. It's a good thing the kid didn't get killed, that would have been bad, and sick! Maybe in the original Italian, the story holds up better. And maybe some graphic scenes were cut out for the English release. If so, then this is a great film, and great production. But as it stands I can only give it a C, or B -, 6 stars. Worth checking out for the camera work.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS**** Great atmospherics keeps the movie "The Fifth Cord" from putting its audience to sleep with the plot at times making no sense at all as well as those who ended up being murdered in it. It all started at a New Years Eve party where all of the victims as well as their killer were attending. It's downtrodden and drunk reporter Andrea Bild,Franco Nero, or Mister Bill as he's called all throughout the film who ends up doing the work that the local police are supposed to do in finding the killer. The deranged killer who mails audio recordings to the police about his crimes as well as amputate the fingers of his victims in some kind of sick rituals on his part.There's also Mister Bill's estranged wife Helena, Silvia Monti, who by her standing by her man-Mister Bill-despite all the abuse she takes from him makes her a target of the masked, with what looked like a sock pulled over his head, killer. It's Mister Bill who soon discovers that only the people who attended that New Years Eve Party were the ones who ended up being murdered with their fingers chopped off by their killer. What'e even more amazing is that the killer for some strange reason choose Tuesday as the day of the week to murder them! It takes a while for Mister Bill to realize who the killer is but by then it's almost too late for him. That's when the masked killer ends up crashing into his wife's house and threatening to not only murder her but her 6 years old son Tony as well! ****SPOILERS***** With her estranged husband Mister Bill coming to her and Tony's rescue the killer who seemed to have, like a trapezes artist, excellent acrobatic abilities turned out to be a hard nut to crack or catch. That's until he lost his footing and fell down some 50 feet from the deserted factory loft landing flat on his back. It's then that we discover who the hell he or for a moment, with what looked like his face heavily and cosmetically made up, she is. And as we and Mister Bill also learn is that all his killings were for sheer revenge. But to throw the police and Mister Bill off his tracks he murdered four other persons who had nothing at all to do with his hang-up, the person who set the crazy guy off, only just to try to cover his tracks.

fred-83 A stylish, atmospheric giallo. Great score, great locations, superb cinematography by the great Storaro. The story, however, is quite muddled, but here, the mood makes up for that to a large extent. The cheesiest moments are the killings, where the cinematography jarringly becomes quite sloppy and day/night continuity goes out the window. This film makes me more curious about Luigi Bazzonis Footprints On The Moon/Le Orme, which I came across on VHS in a second-hand store many years ago. I was intrigued by the cover and the summary on the box, but I stupidly did not buy it. Regretting that the day after, I went there again and it was gone. Now my hope lies with Blue Underground, may they soon release it on DVD. Back to The Fifth Cord, its interesting to watch the blocking of some dialog scenes. What could easily have become, in a lesser director and cinematographers hands, simple crosscutting between two talking heads, here often becomes beautifully composed wide shots, sometimes with a dolly, sometimes static, using the rooms, spaces and architecture in a very cinematic way, and with great variety of the framing. A great lesson for aspiring filmmakers.

bensonmum2 Much of The Fifth Cord is what I would call average for a Giallo. The death scenes aren't that original, the murder investigation is often muddled and confusing, and, other than Franco Nero, I've seen far better acting in other Gialli. As for the mystery elements, The Fifth Cord doesn't really play fair. It seems all but impossible for the average viewer to figure out "who done it" based on the clues presented. Finally, the score is one of the more non-memorable pieces from Ennio Morricone I've heard recently.But it's not all bad. In fact, when The Fifth Cord is good, it's very good. First, there's the look of the film. Director Luigi Bazzoni and Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro have successful made one of the best looking Gialli I've seen. Through a combination of brilliant framing, lighting, and location choices, almost every frame is like a work of art. There are some remarkable uses of light and shadows that are simply stunning. Second, the final scenes are as tense as any of the better known Gialli I've seen. It's real "on the edge of your seat" kind of stuff. Third, Franco Nero is a real professional and does a lot to bring life and realism to his role. I always enjoy his performances.Overall, The Fifth Cord may not be the best Giallo in the world, but for fans of the genre, there's enough here to enjoy to make the film worthwhile. Also, today's filmmakers could learn a thing or two about making a film really standout visually from watching what Bazzoni and Storaro did in The Fifth Cord.