The Night Child (1975)
Directed by: Massimo Dallamano
Written by: Franco Marotta, Laura Toscano, Massimo Dallamano
Starring: Ida Galli, Joanna Cassidy, Nicoletta Elmi, Richard Johnson
HCF REWIND NO.76. THE NIGHT CHILD AKA IL MEDAGLIONE INSANGUINATO [Italy, 1975]
RUNNING TIME: 90 mins
REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera, Offical HCF Critic
Michael Williams, who works for the BBC, is working on a documentary entitled Diabolical Art: A Documentary. Since his wife’s mysterious death, his daughter Emily has been emotionally disturbed and her father gives her a medallion that belonged to her mother, but she start to have flashbacks where she is a witch about to be executed. When a curious art slide of a painting turns up with no form of identification accompanying it, Williams chases the trail, which leads him to the town of Spoleto in Italy, where a local countess (who doubles as a psychic) warns him about pursuing the truth behind the painting. Of course, he doesn’t heed the warnings…..
The 1970’s and the first half of the 1980’s were undoubtedly the Golden Age of Italian horror, where there was the impression that the country seemed to consist of little more than black-gloved killers, sexy models trying to be actresses, American and British actors trying not to look lost, ambiguous psychics, outlandish fashions, groovy music, bilious colours and, last but not least, imitations of popular American hits. William Friedkin’s The Exorcist spawned a large number of Italian imitations like Beyond The Door and Enter The Devil. Mario Bava’s arthouse horror masterpiece Lisa And The Devil was re-edited into House Of Exorcism. The Night Child just about belongs in that category as it features a girl who get possessed, but it’s actually nothing like Friedkin’s film. Not knowing much about the film, I expected lots of pea soup, swearing and blood, and instead got a more subtle, graceful effort which may disappoint some, but which, once I adjusted to the mood of the film, I found quite pleasing.
Indeed ‘graceful’ is probably how I would most describe this film which moves at a very slow pace but almost immediately creates a subtly chilling mood with its beautiful photography by Franco Delli Colli, careful direction by Massimo Dallamano [probably best known for his gloriously sleazy giallo What Have They Done To Solange? and not a filmmaker I’ve had much experience of] and ambiguous story which is content to hint rather than explain. The possession aspect doesn’t really come into the film until half way through and even then it’s not made clear if it is actual demonic possession or not. Important things such as the painting and the medallion are not satisfactory explained, and this is clearly intentional. The film does take a laboriously long time to get going, with Michael’s affair with his agent something in particular that could perhaps have hit the cutting room floor, though it helps show Emily’s frustration with what is going on around her. If you enjoyed Don’t Look Now though, I reckon you’ll enjoy The Night Child. There’s even some chasing around nocturnal town streets very reminiscent of Nicolas Roeg’s Venice [though the town is just like the one in Bava’s Kill Baby Kill.
Dallamano seems to emphasise beauty rather than horror, or combine the two. Emily appears to the Countess playing the piano as light streams in on her through a window, bathing her in white and making her look like a porcelain doll of an angel. A woman’s charred body waves for help atop a balcony as her room burns behind her. Emily’s ‘visions’ are in dreamlike soft focus even though she is being pursued by people who usually have long noses. There are individual shots of immense complexity, such as somebody’s reflection appearing in front of the painting while still casting a black shadow. The painting itself is almost a character in the film with the way it is constantly referred to and shown, casting its spell over every scene even when it’s something innocuous like people having breakfast. And all the time, Stelvio Cipriani’s score repeats the same haunting, gorgeous theme over the over again, helping to create the rather nostalgic mood of the piece. Its constant repetition might drive some viewers mad though, of course.
The second half does seem to build up to excitement which doesn’t really occur. Emily’s possession is mostly limited to her getting angry and smoking a cigarette. Two murder scenes are interestingly shot, with the camera ‘falling’ with the victim, but the effect looks awful and here, as occasionally elsewhere, Dallamano’s ambitions exceed his capabilities. Certain Freudian aspects become omni-present and are perhaps one half-explained ingredient too many, while the climax is over before you know it. The eagle-eyed will easily spot some continuity mistakes such as scenes going back and forth from night to day. Dallamano’s efforts in making an artistic film were obviously constrained by the short amount of time he had in which to make it.
The Arrow DVD contains both English dubbed and Italian and English subtitled versions, and I watched the dubbed one; most of these movies were shot silent with different audio tracks added later so even the Italian version is not automatically the most ‘authentic’ one. The dubbing is okay and not really distracting. Sometimes the print goes into Italian with English subtitles; these were bits obviously removed for the US version and now put back in. One of the things that I was most looking forward to in this film was seeing Nicoletta Elmi in a major role. You may not know the name, but if you’ve watched lots of old Italian horrors and thrillers you’ll certainly recognise her. She made a number of small but memorable appearances in films like Deep Red [remember the little girl who has a problem with lizards?] and Flesh For Frankenstein. A distinctly odd, rather scary-looking child who actually grew up to be quite a beauty though doesn’t appear to have been in anything since 1988, she proves herself in The Night Child to have been a great little actress, giving the part of Emily a certain depth while still not letting on too much what is actually happening.
The cast in general should interest cult movie fans with Zombie Flesh Eaters’ s doctor Richard Johnson acting alongside Blade Runner beauty Joanna Cassidy [and she really is a stunner in this film] and faded Hollywood ‘near’ star Edmund Purdom. The Night Child doesn’t really succeed in becoming the great art house/ horror movie it’s straining to become, but it’s full of interest, has much to recommend it and I would definitely recommend it if you’re after something a little different. And before you ask, yes; the obligatory [to 70’s Italian films of this ilk] bottle of J & B whisky is present and correct, in fact it appears four times in this one!
Rating: 
Arrow’s DVD includes:
* New widescreen transfer in the original ratio
* Newly translated optional English subtitles
* Optional English and Italian audio tracks
* EXORCISM ITALIAN-STYLE: Author and critic Paolo Zelati, filmmaker Luigi Cozzi and screenwriter Antonio Tentori reflect on the brief boom in pasta-possession movies which rushed out of Rome in the wake of William Friedkin’s classic THE EXORCIST
* Original Italian and US trailers
* Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Calum Waddell
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
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