BLACK GLASSES – I doubt many will see this as a fabulous return to form, but if you squint for a while it might seem daft enough to be entertaining. Ilenia Pastorelli is a prostitute who ends up on the receiving end when a serial killer decides to up the ante with an RTA. The resulting crash blinds her and orphans a kid – what follows is possibly the most bizarre ‘buddy’ movie ever after she befriends the de-parented child and the two unite with a trusty guide dog against the bad dude. Argento throws in some odd references to his previous work including an inversion of the fate of the blind piano tutor from ‘Suspiria’, only this time we're treated to a full-throttle throat mauling. Not that it’s a particularly bloody film – there’s not even that much horror if you discount the usual hand wringing. That might disappoint anyone in search of brutality from the old days, but there’s still plenty of low-key strangeness for those with a hankering for the off-beat, including vaguely dream-like forest escapades, random snake attacks and a killer whose only identity is that he’s a bit smelly. Other than that, ‘Black Glasses’ is an OK thriller. I can’t say I was enthralled, but at least Argento’s giving slightly freer rein to his wacky imagination.
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