Frightfest 2016: ‘Francesca’ Review

Francesca review: Should be admired for knowing exactly what it wants to be and how to achieve it.

Francesca review, Kat Hughes, Frightfest 2016.

Francesca is director Luciano Onetti’s attempt to resurrect 1970s Italian horror, warts and all. Lots of warts. This means that you’ll be experiencing rough looking footage, dialogue dubbed after the fact, synth score, and other such tropes. It’s a mixed bag to be sure, as part of the charm of such films is their age and the fact that many budget cuts were necessary. Although trying to replicate such quality (or lack thereof) can be hit and miss, Onetti’s attention to detail is so honed, that show this against films from the era and it’s doubtful the majority would be able to tell it apart.

Starting with footage of a disturbed young girl stabbing her baby brother in the eye, we fast forward to 15 years later and a murder of a young woman sees Detective Succo (Gustavo Dallessanro) and Inspector Moretti (Luis Emilio Rodriguez) linking the crimes to a missing girl called Francesca. As the two get closer to the truth they become tangled in a world of darkness.

Onetti’s recreation of Giallo classics (Italian thrillers involving mystery and horror) is quite beautiful, but it doesn’t stop the finished product from being any less ugly. Francesca requires the viewer to have a love and understanding of the genre as a whole and its extensive history, otherwise its cheapness will confuse. It’s fine to aim for a very particular audience however, even if there is little commentary and few twists to modernise it or make it viable for today’s crowds. If you’ve run out of Italian thrillers to watch from the 1970s and have been begging for more, then this could definitely tide you over.

It’s not without its moments of impressive visuals however. The editing is fantastic. Sometimes purposefully shoddy, and other times creative in how it propels the story forward. An early scene has the police investigating the discovery of the body beautifully transitioning into a flashback from the discoverers perspective, when her voice over then becomes a recording the police listen to back at HQ. It’s simple, but also makes you question why so many films have trouble bridging the gap between scenes these days.

The performances are appropriate for the film, with the dubbing just enough to look unnatural, but not so much as to be distracting. The score is another way in which the film links scenes together, while once again having a nostalgic feel without feeling desperate. A niche picture certainly, and one that may not be converting any new fans to the genre, but one that should be admired for knowing exactly what it wants to be and how to achieve it.

Francesca review, Kat Hughes, August 2016.