Paganini Horror

Summary

“I know the difference between a hit and the mundane!” 

Every now and again I have an itch that can only be scratched by watching some form of insane Italian genre film. Thankfully Severin Films seems to understand this desire completely and has a strong track record of releasing bizarre artifacts from low budget Italian exploitation films from the golden age of the VHS era. Films such as Strike Commando, Zombi 4, Raiders of Atlantis, Cruel Jaws, and many more have shown that nobody understands and revels in these films more so than Severin. This also does not mean that Severin is bound by the confines of releasing traditionally heralded films. They understand that film collectors like myself are just as intrigued if not more so by the misfires from creative people. Such is the case for Paganini Horror. Directed by Luigi Cozzi who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, Paganini Horror seems like a film cobbled together of various different elements without any real worry over if any of it makes perfect sense. I was in the mood for this type of madness, so I watched the film last night.

In Venice a young girl carrying a violin case boards a gondola. The gondola takes her to her house. Her mother talks to her from a bath to tell her that one day she will be a great musician. The girl dips her doll’s hair into the bath, and then she throws a hairdryer into the  bath electrocuting her mother. The title of the film is shown and then it cuts to a female rock group led by Kate (jasmine Maimone) as they sing a song in a recording studio. The recording engineer let’s Kate know that she is incapable of recording a hit anymore. She tells Kate that she has lost the touch and is no longer a viable act. Pianist Daniel (Pascal Persiano) meets with Mr. Pickett (Donald Pleasance) in an abandoned building. Pickett hands over a case that has a lock combination of 666. Inside the case is an original score from a long deceased musician, Nicolo Paganini, written on a scroll and sealed. The name of the score is Paganini Horror. It is an unreleased score that was written by Paganini for a religious sect after Paganini supposedly sold his soul. His score was never released. Kate and her group love the song. They decide they can make a music video at a house and release the song as Paganini Horror as their big comeback. At the house, Kate awakens in a dress. She hears a man say “Kate come to me.” She walks to a room where Paganini’s violin is placed. She is stabbed to death… until the cameras stop rolling. The owner of the house, Sylvia Hackett (Daria Nicolodi) explains that Paganini killed his bride Antonia and used her intestines as the strings to his violin. That gave him a “unique sound.” In Venice, Mr. Pickett approaches a tall church tower via gondola. He goes to the top of the church tower and releases money into the air to release “the demons.” He claims that this will allow the devil himself to claim what is his. At the house where the group is filming music videos, a killer begins to stalk and murder members of the entourage with a golden violin with an attached knife. Is it Paganini himself or just an impostor? 

I think when evaluating a film like Paganini Horror, it is important to understand what you are watching. The film is an in-cohesive mess that is not going to make sense in any real satisfying way. This film is a bit of a misfire from writer Daria Nicolodi who also helped write the scripts for the classic Suspiria and its sequel Inferno. The most compelling reason to want to view Paganini Horror is out of curiosity to see what she worked on next. If you can get past the script’s obvious shortcomings, the film is definitely entertaining. This is an extremely Eighties affair that seems to be geared towards the MTV generation. Big hair, synth and guitar rock and roll music, video shoots, spandex – it all has its place in the film. This is where a lot of the entertainment comes from while watching the film. In one scene, for example, there is a song so similar to Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name,” that it will make your ears perk up. It is funny when that song is called “rehashed bullshit” and “not a hit” by the record producer after it is performed by Kate’s band. Another example would be that when the “Paganini Horror” song is played by Daniel and the band, it sounds like a very contemporary song instead of something classically influenced. It is out of place from what it had been described to be, considering it was written on a scroll, and this struck me as funny. If none of this sounds of interest to you, then this movie will probably not be for you.

While I don’t think this is the best of the Italian B-movie horror films that Severin has released, I did enjoy some aspects. First and foremost, Daria Nicolodi seemed like she was having a blast in the movie. Nicolodi passed away in 2020, and it was nice to see her in a role where see seemed to be having so much fun. I loved seeing Donald Pleasance in another strange performance. He always brought something interesting to his roles and he filmed this role around the same time as he appeared in Nosferatu in Venice. The violence is pretty tame in the film and there is no nudity or sex, so this is a pretty light spirited affair overall aside from a couple gooey moments. The film’s tone is definitely not dreary. The big issue with the film that I had is that the character development was very light – even less than I am accustomed to in other slashers like Friday the 13th. There is not a single character that the audience will latch onto with hopes that they survive, and therefore the film can not develop any real sense of tension. Even at 82 minutes, the film feels like it drags slightly. I can understand why this entry is not mentioned in the same breath as Suspiria, but I am glad that Severin has given the film a nice release.

Video

The film has been lovingly restored, but the affair is a little bit on the grainy side. Severin Films has provided a transfer in 1080p of Paganini Horror in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode from a 2K scan of the original negative. There is no issue with the work that Severin has put into the release, the issue lies in the elements themselves which seem to have been in only decent shape. Grain is persistent and at times is overly noticeable. That said, sequences of the film look great. I give Severin an A for effort, while awarding the elements a C.

Audio

Severin Films has provided DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono tracks in both English or Italian. The sound quality on the tracks is essentially reference quality, but it faces the limitations that one would expect from a low key Italian production. The score by Vince Tempera is very fun and comes through well. Fans will not have any reason to be unhappy with what has been provided here.

Supplements:

• Play it Again Paganini — Interview with Luigi Cozzi – the extremely interesting Luigi Cozzi weaves together a story that involves Colombian drug money (?), Christopher Lambert’s flop Greystone, how he originally edited in some stills from Starcrash into the film to give the film something extra, and how he was forced to use Fuji film stock instead of Kodak for the picture. This is a great interview and well worth your time.
• The Devil’s Music — Interview with Actor Pietro Genuardi – Pietro looks back fondly on the making of the film.
• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending 
• Trailer
• The limited edition of 3000 units features a Soundtrack CD of Vince Tempera’s score.

Overall Scores:

Video – 3.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Paganini Horror is another entertaining Italian horror brought to light by the wonderful team at Severin. This is not their best Italian horror film by a long shot, but for collectors of Italian horror it is a notable film as the third picture co-written by actress Daria Nicolodi. Nicolodi had co-written Suspiria and Inferno with Dario Argento in the years prior. The film struggles to maintain tension and its plot mechanics are absolutely ridiculous. Even at 82 minutes, the film drags a little. That said, I am happy to have seen it and been able to add it to my collection. As is usual with Severin’s releases, the transfer has been given great attention (even if the elements were not the greatest) and the special features are enjoyable. The interview with Luigi Cozzi is really entertaining and interesting. Fans of the film will be elated, whereas newcomers to Italian B-movie madness may want to start with some of the other excellent material in Severin’s catalog.