Fatal Frames - Fotogrammi mortali

Stefania Stella, a bizarre choice for a female lead, is horrible; she looks unattractive and mannish, has an unattractive speaking voice, and can't act or perform. The male leads are Fabio clones who can't act either. Terrible acting all around! Donald Pleasance's role is so small as to be an unnecessary cameo (I understand he died during production?). He is badly dubbed; his real voice, as good as ever, can be heard in some of the rawer footage included in the "deleted scenes" on the DVD. Terrible directing, scripting, dialogue. Even the cover art for the movie is poor; it looks like a puppet, and guess what - when that scene comes around we discover that it is indeed a dummy, no surprise. Lighting is boring: all cool blues and warm oranges, like in an unimaginative music video. A waste of time; not even a single scene to recommend it.

an insult. It's quite inexplicable how director Al Festa managed to get enough money to shoot this. Not only this movie is worse than anything you've ever seen, but it's also some kind of insult to all the talented b-movie genre players and filmmakers it intends to pay homage to. Thank God, despite some media hyping, it's been a total flop. Sometimes there's justice, out there. Don't even think of throwing away your money catching it on tape. If you want to check out what's left of the great season of Italian B -MovieMaking you should stay in the 80's and search for every Fulci title you've missed. The Art was there. This is simply the kind of boring copycatting trash which led our industry to ashes.

'Fatal Frames' is a curious blend of Italian and American film-making, combining elements of both styles, and actors but one which, ultimately, ends up as a disappointment due to amateurish acting and a general sense of monotony which permeates throughout the film.

To reduce the tedium and monotony, this film should have been better edited and less than an hour and a half long. It should have never exceeded the two hour mark.

To mention a positive aspect, on the other hand, the ending contains an interesting plot twist of sorts which I did not expect. The concept certainly had potential, and it is a shame that this film did not have more overall finesse which would have improved its quality considerably.

Giallo meets the 80s - in a movie made 1996. If Fatal Frames was made in the 80s, then it would be just a styleless 80's movie, but at least contemporary at the time of release (like Le Foto di Gioia by Lamberto Bava). The movie is looking like a music-video from '83, also the score was 100% outdated.

The plot is quite OK if you manage to watch the whole movie - the end is quite logical (for giallo-standards).

Stefania Stella - the lead - also produced the movie, which might be the reason for Festa to cast her. If you are used to female actresses like Daria Nicolodi you could experience serious damage: The acting is practically not present, and her looks - ehh - okay, just forget about her.

So if you are a giallo-collector get this flick, if you're just starting your exploration of the giallo-genre (which you are probably not, if you're reading this on IMDb) please forget about this or you will never catch the giallo-spirit. Start with Argento, Bava(s), Fulci or even Michele Soavi - and then turn to Festa, smile and shake your head.

This movie is utterly boring and tedious to sit through, but there is one good moment, and it's the last scene of the movie. Donald Pleasance is talking on a phone with another detective. He tells him he's heading back to the United States, but he has to be there before Halloween because "it looks like an old case has been re-opened." And then he walks off to catch his train with a cane. In the background, we hear John Carpenter's "Halloween Theme" playing. It's another case of a great ending in search of a better movie to be attached to.