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Fresh and Exciting

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Most enjoyable oddity. This starts off as a cracking giallo and probably continues as such beyond halfway when it begins to turn into a Euro spy film. So far, so good but finally it goes to far with its Bond parody and the final segment is pretty laughable and rather spoils the taste of the bulk of the film. Carole Bouquet gives a great performance, she who starred in Bunuel's last film when she was 20 (her first movie) and amongst many others, 'For Your Eyes Only', only a couple of years before. This may be the reason this was given the alternative title for mine is 'Mystere'. It is such a shame that this veers away from the giallo genre but I guess it was a rather late entry although Carlo Vanzini would go on to have another decent stab, as you might say, with 'Nothing Underneath'. I reckon I'll file this with my giallo films and when watching it again just maybe miss off the Hong Kong set, 'Epilogue'. Score reflects the disappointing denouement.

Mystère is kind of what James Bond would be like if it were made by a sleazy Italian cast and crew. The film just about qualifies as a Giallo, although the spy elements are far more prominent in the plot. Mystère was released in 1983, well after the Giallo heyday, so I'm thinking that writer-director Carlo Vanzina (who went on to direct the more Giallo-like Nothing Underneath two years later) wanted to inject some new life into the genre, and he's almost succeeded in doing that. It's true that Mystère is more than a little bit silly, sometimes even bordering on out and out ridiculousness; but it makes for fun viewing, and that's the important thing. The story is conveyed episodically, and the prologue shows a German photographer accidentally snapping off shots of a political killing. He also gets a shot of the murderer, and before long Russian spies decide that they want the negatives. The photographer hides them in a lighter and proceeds to hire prostitutes Pamela and Mystère, one of which is light-fingered. Pamela and the photographer are killed by an unknown assailant, and Mystère ends up with the lighter in her possession.The film doesn't live up to other genre films in terms of gore; despite the fact that the murders are committed by a man carrying a cane with a blade on the end, we get to see very little blood and the only fairly nasty sequence in the film isn't a murder. There's a few car chases and clever spy stuff thrown in, however, and while this may not necessarily be what a Giallo fan wants; it is fairly entertaining, and at times provides a nice diversion from the common murder-fuelled Giallo plot lines. One of the things that stands out most about this film is Carole Bouquet - the lead actress provides an interesting lead performance, and she's backed up by cult regular John Steiner, who despite being British plays a Russian agent and Phil Coccioletti, who is actually American despite his Italian-sounding name. The music is fairly catchy, but doesn't really provide much in the way of atmosphere. Carlo Vanzina's cinematography isn't particularly stunning either, but it's not too important since this is more of a spy thriller anyway. Overall, this is an interesting film at least; and while I can certainly understand why it hasn't been remembered along with the best of the genre, I'd say it's just about worth tracking down.

A delightfully playful giallo starring the beautiful Carole Bouquet as Mystere,a high class call girl who becomes the target for a couple of assassins.On its initial release Mystere seemed rather twee,especially when compared to Argento's Tenebrae, but the years have been very kind to this excellent little film, and although it is now a little difficult to track down, it is well worth the effort John Steiner as the ruthless hit man,Ivanov,gives one of his best performances of the eighties. Looking slick and menacing as the leather suited killer,Steiner glides through his scenes with ease and flair. Peter Berling turns up as a sleazy old man, and Janet Agren is nice as Mystere's friend. The only drawback is the tiresome Phillip Coccioletti as a mouthy policeman.A great showcase for Bouquets undeniable beauty, director Vanzina captures the actress at her most alluring. Splendid stuff.