The Transparent Woman is a 2015 Italian Giallo mystery, written and directed by Domiziano Christpharo, with additional writing from Andrea Cavaletto, Jay Disney, Elio Mancuso, and Francesco Massaccesi. No stranger to Italian exploitation cinema, Domiziano Christpharo is known for his long list of erotic horror films such as House of Flesh Mannequins (2009), P.O.E. Poetry of Eerie (2011) and Lovecraft’s 2 Left Arms (2012) as well as working with some of the most well-known actors in Italian exploitation such as Ruggero Deodato and Romano Scavolini.
Anna is a beautiful, fiercely independent blind woman, whose husband, Carl, needs to sell their current apartment due to financial problems. The couple moves into Carl’s childhood home in a remote location, surrounded by nothing but empty fields. Unfortunately, Anna is not happy in her new domicile and feels even more isolated, having to spend most of her time all alone. But, as eerie noises and strange occurrences increase, this leads her to believe that she may not be as alone as she thought…
The film features phenomenal levels of cinematography, with a strong emphasis on scene framing as well as the manipulation of focus. This implementation of technique displays a stunning attention to detail and knowledge of scenography from the director, the referral of his techniques to a mix of Argento and Fellini are extremely fitting. Furthermore, a comprehensive application of lighting enunciates the tonal change within a scene efficiently; a beautiful interchange between deep blues and reds synonymous with Giallo.
In addition to this, the story follows a traditional representation of Giallo, with less of a focus on violent slashings synonymous with the genre, instead emphasising a deep mystery where all is not what it seems on the surface. In fact, the film depicts barely any violence throughout the majority of its run time, firmly fixating on it’s building story and beautiful cinematography. Moreover, the film’s erotica is easier to approach than the majority, lacking the usual sleaze ubiquitous in Giallo and instead aids as a passionate affirmation of the couple’s loving relationship.
However, a noticeable flaw in design is the film’s length, lasting around 80 minutes. Due to this, the film unfortunately seems to lose the majority of tension intended to be built upon with elongated periods of inactivity, feeling slow overall. Unequivocally, a shorter run time would solve this slight stagnation in pace, assisting in the film’s overall flow and ability to build on this tension.
By contrast, The Transparent Woman delivers a worthy payoff in its conclusion, utilising the characters’ blindness to incorporate a refreshing reveal to this mystery rather than the same played out “they’re behind you” trope (though this is still present). Omitting any spoilers, this final reveal is genuinely creepy, with a great use of special effects to create an intriguing horror twist into the story and is the film’s strongest aspect, by far.
Distributed by Darkstar Films, The Transparent Woman is available on a region free limited edition Blu-ray featuring English, French and Italian subtitles, behind the scenes feature, bloopers interviews and trailers and is available via Goredrome Horror Store here.
Although slow in pace, the film is an amazing example of classic Giallo brought to life in a modern-day setting, displaying magnificent colour and luscious cinematography throughout. The knowledge of the genre exhibited by director Domiziano Christpharo shows a deep appreciation for their content and style. Although the film’s weakening tension may be off-putting to some, the dramatic conclusion more than makes up for this. I look forward to viewing more of this up-and-coming director’s filmography and his particular style of filmmaking.
More From The Purveyors of Extreme Cinema
The Sadness has been a film making some early commotion due to an extreme and graphic nature – a new angle on the zombie genre in the age of our… The Sound of Summer (2022) is a disturbing and suffocating Japanese body horror, written and directed by the UK-born creator Guy. Although this film is his debut feature-length film, he… Making Off (also known as Devil’s Weekend) is a 2012 French extreme found footage film, written and directed by Cédric Dupuis in his feature-length directorial debut. The film is presented… While zombie flicks are a dime a dozen here in the West, the walking dead don’t really occupy the same space in Japanese horror. Not to say that there have… Rave (Svartklubb) is a 2020 Swedish body horror film written and directed by Nils Alatalo in his first feature-length debut after graduating from film school. The film stars Isabelle Grill… There are a lot of bad pants in this movie. Also, bad haircuts, bad sex and, whenever a chair is needed to hit someone over the head, or a table…
The Sadness Film Review – What The F*** Did I Just Watch!?
The Sound of Summer (2022) Film Review – Horror in Crescendo
Making Off (2012) Film Review – Satirical Nastiness
Undertaker (2012) Film Review – Digging the Undead
Rave (2020) Film Review – We’re Off to the Discotech
Cross of the Seven Jewels (1987) – Maybe Everything is Bad, But Half A Werewolf is Better Than None at All
Hey there, I’m Jim and I’m located in London, UK. I am a Writer and Managing Director here at Grimoire of Horror. A lifelong love of horror and writing has led me down this rabbit hole, allowing me to meet many amazing people and experience some truly original artwork. I specialise in world cinema, manga/graphic novels, and video games but will sometime traverse into the unknown in search of adventure.