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The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Didja ever watch a movie and afterward get the uncontrollable urge to track down the people who made it and, when they answered their door, to just punch 'em right in the head?Just asking.ME: Your Honor, I present the following evidence in my defense.Exhibit A: Exploiting a genetic condition and equating it with mental illness.Exhibit B: Characters who do stupid time-wasting things while waiting to get killed.Exhibit C: Characters who talk to each other as if they were talking to 2-year-olds.Exhibit D: Killers who sing nursery rhymes while killing.Exhibit E:JUDGE: (Bangs his gavel) That's enough. Sentenced to time served. You are free to go.

Red herrings abound in this Video Nasty which was released around the same time as Happy Birthday To Me. They have similar endings and apparently it can't be agreed upon as to which film was released first and who stole from whom. Most people will probably prefer the better known Happy Birthday and will forget this film, but I found it to be one of the better Nasties.Aside from a bogus score, this slasher film is a semi-giallo(OK, not really except for maybe a few scant scenes and you have to pay attention) that has some good moments and, as you might expect, some decent gore. Trish Everly plays Julia, a woman approaching her 25th birthday and her nut case twin sister lives in the mental ward at the hospital. Their parents are dead and the only relative they have left is their uncle, a priest. And, as you'd expect, the director takes the high road and the priest is, of course, involved to some extent in the subsequent murders. Everly, who went on to do nothing after his film, lives in a large house that's been renovated into apartments, and various workers and inhabitants at the home get bumped off. She thinks her sister is planning something for their 25th birthday, and lo and behold, her sister escapes from the mental ward. Her sister, Mary, also has a trained Rottweiler who will kill on command. A surprisingly touching scene shows Julia explaining to the deaf students in her class how a fellow deaf student was killed by the dog. These are real deaf children with varying degrees of speech impediments and other problems, and it brings a tear to my eye. Sniff. But, I digress. Back to the murders. There are actually three killers in this film: two humans and the dog. As others have noted, the dog is the star of the show as he bites throats and rips off hands. Sadly, an obvious puppet is used too often during these scenes as the director obviously didn't know how to handle animal shots.Julia herself is even a suspect, though not outright to the other characters, but to the viewers; her comments in certain scenes make her an unreliable narrator of her past. Be warned if you are an animal or puppet lover: the Rottweiler gets his due towards the end of the film. This is one of the reasons the film made "the list" though there are a few other scenes, such as repeated blows to the back from an axe later on with plenty of chunky goodness to go around.As previously stated, this Video Nasty is some of the better fare on the notorious list and I'll recommend it as a Nasty fan. The film's greatest flaw is the abominable soundtrack. I am rather surprised that Everly never made any other films.

The plot..a school teacher for deaf children, Julia(Trish Everly), whose life has developed swimmingly since detaching herself from a malicious, demented twin sister, Mary(Alilison Biggers), must contend with the crazy, diseased bitch when she breaks from the mental hospital which held her. It seems this freak kills anyone who is associated with her sister in any way..the poor maintenance worker, for instance, or even a deaf male child she wishes to adopt. This twisted psycho is preparing for their birthday, and has this mean-ass rottweiler which tears the hand off/throat out of the asylum security guard, in turn allowing her to escape.Oh, and Julia has this relative, a priest, Uncle James(Dennis Robertson), always preaching to her about the treatment towards her wackjob sister, as if the terror she was put through as a child should be brushed aside. Father James also seems little concerned with Mary's departure from the asylum, as if it wasn't anything to worry about. Along with James, Julia's boyfriend, surgeon Sam(Michael MacRae) doesn't buy into her frightening theory that Mary's behind the murder of student Sasha(Richard Baker).Like other movies, Julia seems all alone in her suspicions, worried about her safety. There's even one of those scenes where Julia gives strict instructions to not open her door to her best gal pal, Helen(Morgan Hart), and guess what she does anyway? Helen decides to even walk up stairs to find an escaped cat, and so fill in the gruesome details. There's quite a twist, regarding a third character involved in the madness, seemingly sane, and anything but.The lush cinematography(camera work and lighting are top notch) by Roberto D'Ettore Piazzoli, provides this movie with a fantastic look, the impressive wide-screen transfer only compliments Madhouse..simply put, technically this is superior to many of it's ilk. I think many slasher fans will have problems with the pace. Director Ovidio G. Assonitis seems interested in applying a more methodical approach, building suspense(..when will strike and how long does Julie have before sis makes her presence known?). There are knife stabbings and vicious rottweiler attacks which should appease the slasher faithful, although the predatory attacks(..or two specific ones)are rather lengthly. I was quite amused at how the screenplay adopts it's strategy for providing Julia help when it appears she's in deep, deep trouble. This has one of those maniacal finales where the "birthday celebration" commences and Julia is treated to it, unprepared for what awaits her. This finale, set in the basement where the "party guests" are present, with Julia and Mary meeting face to face(..along with another who was also important in setting up the festivities), is beautifully lit with candles and blue Christmas lights, off-setting the macabre atmosphere of it all. Dog lovers may find a particular scene rather grueling.

There Was a Little Girl often falls into the Giallo category, and while there are definitely Giallo elements in the film; I personally would say it's more of a twisted psychological thriller. The influence from Argento is clear, as the film features all of the absurd lighting of one of Argento's masterpieces, and the stylish way that many of the murders are presented reflects this also. This is the first film I've seen from director Ovidio G. Assonitis, and based on the strength of his directorial work here, I'm definitely interested in seeing his Jaws rip-off 'Tentacles', and his Exorcist rip-off 'Beyond the Door'. The plot follows Julia Sullivan; a young woman who is a teacher at a special school. Her childhood memories are haunted by her maniacal sister, who now resides in a mental institution. When visiting her sister for the first time in years, Julia discovers that she has been hideously deformed by a skin disease. Her visit to the hospital happens around the same time as a couple of murders, apparently committed by an insane dog; the same dog that Julia's sister apparently had control of as a child… My main problem with There Was a Little Girl is that it just doesn't feel much like an Italian film; and this isn't helped by the fact that the majority of the cast is made up of American actors. The production values are very good, however, and the cinematography is crisp and clear; and a delight to watch overall. The film does feature a fair amount of blood, although the murders aren't as shocking or as nasty as the ones featured in a number of other popular Italian films, and this makes it rather odd that There Was a Little Girl was a part of the DPP's infamous Video Nasty list back in the eighties. As you might expect given the plot line, a lot of the action centres on the sickness of it's main characters; but the best thing about this is the fact that even though the film presents it's murderer right from the beginning; there are still some surprises contained within the plot, and the film also manages to stay away from becoming too convoluted, and while the final twist requires the viewer to stretch their imagination a little; it just about makes sense. The locations used flatter the plot line in that they're morbid and macabre, and while this film is certainly no masterpiece; it's still worth seeing.