La porta sul buio (TV Series) Testimone oculare (1973) User Reviews

The Lightest Door into Darkness

[Coventry · 6/10 · 28 February 2007]

The third chapter in Dario Argento's "Door into Darkness" TV-series is undoubtedly the least impressive of all four. "Eyewitness" still contains some adequate moments of suspense and good acting performances, but the story overall lacks originality and effective surprise-twists. Especially if you've seen your share of thrillers and film-noirs already, the climax can easily be anticipated. The short movie opens with a thirty-something and attractive woman driving down a lonesome road at night and she suddenly has to brake for a girl who dangerously runs in front of her car. Roberta doesn't hit the girl, but she lies on the ground unmoving and bleeding. She notices that the girl was shot and that the killer watches her from the bushes. She flees and informs the police, yet when they arrive there's no evidence of a crime at all. The police inspector advises Roberta's husband to keep her under supervision, as she probably suffers from hallucinations. She doesn't, naturally, and she soon becomes the target of more stalking and attempted murder. Sure you can predict how it'll end, but Argento (uncredited as director) nonetheless maintains a good pace and a constantly ominous atmosphere. Marilu Tolo ("Django, Kill", "Candy") is very likable as Roberta and she gets good feedback from Glauco Onorato ("The Big Racket") as the friendly police officer. Riccardo Salvino is a bit wooden as her husband, though. "The Neigbor" is extremely tense and realistic, "The Tram" is fascinating & insightful, "The Doll" is odd and very creepy, but – finally – "Eyewitness" is rudimentary and rather mediocre. Recommended to Argento's fans, nonetheless.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 4 July 2011]

Due to having been recently finding out about Dario Argento,I felt that it was worth looking at his list of credits on IMDb,to see if there were any projects of his which may now,mostly be forgotten.

As I got closer to the end of the list,I suddenly saw a writer/director credit for two episodes of a Giallo TV show,which ran for a grand total of four episodes (!),before it sadly got cancelled. When the very good DVD set arrived,I tried to watch the first episode where Dario is credited. Sadly,my DVD player suddenly began to struggle playing the disc.

Not giving up,I decided to switch DVDs over,and I was thrilled to see this disc play fine,which gave me the chance to watch the episode the Argento "unofficially" directed,and although the ending does not completely work,I still found this episode to be a very enjoyable Giallo,with a strong influence of Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much (also reviewed.)

View on the episode:

Out of the four episodes to the series,this episode is easily the one with the most production trouble,due to the original director being replaced by Dario Argento. Thankfully,even with the behind the scenes problems Argento is still able to create a very entertaining Giallo,with Dario brilliantly giving the scenes where Roberta is attempting to anticipate the worst, a strong sense of urgency.

For the script,which Argento co-wrote with Luigi Cozzi,the influence of Mario Bava's landmark Giallo,The Girl Who Knew Too Much is extremely noticeable for the whole episode,with the scenes where Roberta is attempting to get people to believe that she has witnessed a murder,very much feeling like a more updated version of Mario Bava's film.

With the ending of the episode,Argento really seems to struggle,to make the two twists in the ending feel dramatic,with the first one being a rather clever,unexpected surprise,and the second twist sadly being very muted,due to having hints about made from the second half of the show,which led to me correctly predicting the "twist",about 15 minutes before it got announced in the episode.

Final view on the film:

A very entertaining,Bava influence Giallo,with some clever directing from Argento and a mostly gripping script,that is sadly let down by a twist ending,which is very easy to predict.

Good Performance from Tolo

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 6/10 · 15 December 2023]

This is a show that I learned about when looking up Dario Argento. It appears that this aired in Italy and only had 4 episodes. Each are feature-length and appeared as a work I hadn't seen from this co-writer/co-director. Since it qualified as a Traverse through the Threes from 1973 and for Italian horror month, I decided to do an Argento double feature with his two episodes of this show.

Synopsis: Roberta (Marilù Tolo) discovers the corpse of a young woman while driving down a remote country road late at night. She reports the incident to the police, but the corpse disappears from the crime scene. Is she insane? Or is someone trying to drive her crazy?

Now this kicks off with Glauco Onorato, who is a police inspector. He chats with Argento. It gets brought up that this is the only episode of Door into Darkness that was based on a true case. That is the draw here of how bizarre this is.

Then to get into the story, Roberta is driving on the road from the synopsis. She comes around a corner and almost hits a body in the road. This person is Altea De Nicola. She sees blood coming out of her mouth. Roberta is checking for signs of life and discovers there is blood on her side. She looks to the woods and sees a figure. They chase her to a nearby pub. It is there that the police are called.

The inspector interviews Roberta and tries to get all the facts. He is having trouble though and we see why. They go to the crime scene and there isn't a body where she said there was. There isn't any blood on the pavement either. This makes Roberta question her sanity. She goes back to the station to see if she can identify the woman from missing people. That is until her husband shows up, Guido Leoni (Riccardo Salvino). He takes her home.

This isn't something that she can give up though. She tries to figure out what happened to this woman she saw and Roberta believes that the killer is following her. She can't prove it though. She then gets odd phone calls, making her question her sanity even more. There also is an attempt on her life that makes her know that there is someone after her.

That will be where I leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is an interesting giallo. The mystery here is who was the woman that Roberta saw in the road. It is then followed by the question, was there a woman in the road or is she going crazy. I know I'm seen a premise like this before. The difference here is that this is the focus of the story and there aren't any additional kills.

Now I do want to say that the reveal here was a bit generic. I won't give it away, but my problem here is that we don't get many players. I made a guess as to who was behind this and was correct. The one that I'll say is the explanation as to why it was being done was interesting. Again, not something that we haven't seen before. I wasn't expecting it and when I heard the voice, it shocked me. I will give credit there. I also wonder, is this based on a true case and is that holding it back? I could also just see them using that this is based on a true story to pull in viewers as well.

I'm going to shift to acting now. That is what carries this. Credit then to Tolo as she is the focus here. We follow her through this and that makes sense. I thought that her husband was fine. Salvino when he is on screen seems like a loving husband. He does disappear to work regularly so that is part of it and he seems to always be out of town. De Nicola is fine in her limited role. I'd say that the rest of the cast is also fine in support of Tolo to push her to where she ends up.

All that is left then is filmmaking. What I found interesting is that Argento is listed as co-director here with Roberto Pariante. It seems like this is his only directing credit. He mostly did assistant directing and 2nd unit stuff. He did this on big projects in Italy like Colossus of the Arena, The Sweet Body of Deborah, Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man as well as Argento's animal trilogy. I thought the cinematography here was fine. There was one scene that annoyed me where it zoomed into something to make sure that we saw it. Just feels like there was a better way to focus on that. There isn't much in the way of effects here. There is a bit of blood in the beginning, but that is it. The soundtrack was also fine. There was one scene that stood out in a negative way. Not enough to ruin this though. I just expect more from Argento, that is all.

In conclusion, I thought that we have an interesting story here. I'm not fully sure if this is based on a true event or not. That could explain why it feels a bit limited. Regardless, this is carried by Tolo. Her performance is great. Everyone else pushes her to where she ends up. This is also made well enough. It isn't working with a big budget. There are odd choices with cinematography and a musical selection. Still a decent enough giallo. I'd recommend if you're a fan of this subgenre or out to see all the movies in Argento's filmography.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

Gripping Mystery

[eibon09 · 16 November 2000]

Testimone Oculare/The Eyewitness(1973) is about a woman who thinks she saw the murder of a young girl by an unknown assailant. No one believes her but the black glove murderer makes an attempt on her life. This was the second episode of Doors to Darkness(1973) that famed Italian Horror Filmmaker Dario Argento directed(even though the film is credited to Roberto Pariante). The final chase scene in the house is full of suspense and surprise. The story sort of reminded me of the classic French thriller of the 1950's Diabolique(1955). The music by Giorgio Gaslini is better then the ones Morricone did for Argento's Animal Trilogy(The Bird With The Crystal Plumage{1969}, Cat O'Nine Tails{1970}, and 4 Flies on Grey Velvet{1972}). It is another Argento film where a person sees a murder but thinks that a crucial piece of the puzzle is missing...ala, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage(1969), Deep Red(1975), Tenebre(1982), and Trauma(1993).

Creepy short

[dopefishie · 6/10 · 19 April 2022]

This is a creepy short.

The atmosphere is filled with dread. There is one particularly memorable creepy scene by the window.

I didn't completely understand the plot. Maybe something was lost in translation.

Annoying plot and heroine

[foosie-2 · 1/10 · 25 April 2021]

This one was written by Argento, but not directed by him. It had the trade-mark close-up of the black gloved hand. But it also had old fashioned iris-in of details the director wanted you to notice, like in silent films. One of the most annoying plot devices in that no one believes the eyewitness, and there is no physical evidence. Even the blood left on the highway is gone, a nice trick, unexplained. Hard to be sympathetic to the hysterical heroine.

Solid and scary episode in the Door Into Darkness venture

[ODDBear · 9/10 · 11 May 2004]

This less than an hour episode in the Door Into Darkness series, directed by Dario Argento, is very good. Considering the limitations put on Argento by the BBC of Italy's television, it's surprising how much suspense Argento could pull of with this little tale. The story goes like this: A woman is driving by the countryside late at night and a figure (woman) falls before the vehicle. At close inspection it seems that this woman has been shot and seems to be dead. The driver goes and reports the incident but when the police visit the scene of the crime, the woman has disappeared without a trace. Did the witness imagine this, or is she the next target? The episode is well written and directed (Argento at the height of his career) and the final ten minutes are "mucho" suspenseful. These episodes did not have big budgets, and it shows, but that only helps to give it the raw look it benefits from. This episode is the best of the Door Into Darkness series, which consisted of four episodes, only two of which were directed by Argento. This one gets 9 out of 10.

Engrossing episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 13 October 2010]

Roberta (well played by the attractive Marilu Tolo) discovers the corpse of a young woman (lovely blonde Altea De Nicola) while driving down a remote country road late at night. Roberta reports the incident to the police, but the corpse disappears. Is Roberta crazy? Or is someone trying to drive her insane? Director Roberto Pariante, working from an intriguing script script by Luigi Cozzi and Dario Argento (the latter also co-directed this episode sans credit), relates the compelling story at a steady pace and does a sturdy job of creating and maintaining an extremely tense and mysterious atmosphere which becomes more increasingly paranoid and unsettling as the narrative unfolds. The sound acting from a capable cast helps a lot: Tolo's adroit and appealing performance holds the whole show together, plus there are fine supporting contributions by Glauco Onorato as a pragmatic police inspector and Riccardo Salvino as Roberta's husband. Elio Polacchi's dynamic cinematography boasts plenty of speedy zoom-in close-ups and equally snappy whiplash pans. Giorgio Gaslinin's spare shivery score hits the shuddery spot. The big twist revealed at the conclusion is admittedly predictable, yet still thrilling and effective just the same, with a nice touch of irony provided at the very end.

Door Into Darkness

[Michael_Elliott · 25 October 2009]

Door Into Darkness: Eyewitness (1973)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Third film in Argento's series has Roberta (Marilu Tolo) driving home one night and as she turns a curse a woman falls out into the street. The car doesn't make contact with the woman but Roberta gets out and notices the woman has been stabbed and she then sees a man, dressed in black, in the bushes. She makes it to a local pub where she calls the police but the main Inspector (Clauco Onorato) doesn't believe her because they can't find a body, a murderer or even a drop of blood at the crime scene. Soon the woman begins to fear that the killer will be coming after her. Apparently Argento was so displeased with the final film turned in by Roberto Pariante that he went back and re-filmed everything himself. There's certainly enough visual evidence here to back up this story as we get several familiar trappings that Argento would use in future giallos. We get the typical killer with black gloves but the sequence where the killer steps out of the bushes was very effective and managed to contain a nice little chill. The rest of the film was good but I must admit that I figured out what was going on within the first ten minutes. I'm not sure if I just get lucky and guess what's going to happen or if the film was just obvious but it didn't fool me for a second. That didn't hurt the film too much as both Tolo and Onorato are very good in their roles and they make the film fun to watch. The ending doesn't pack any suspense, which was a disappointment but Argento made up for this with some nice atmosphere. The visual style of the film is pretty lacking compared to other Argento movies but that's to be expected considering this was made for television. Argento directed two of the four entries in this series and while this is a good one, I think THE TRAM was even better, if flawed itself.

Another fine episode from Door Into Darkness

[Red-Barracuda · 8/10 · 18 November 2023]

This third instalment in the 'Door Into Darkness' TV series was seemingly originally pencilled in for Roberto Pariante to direct but ultimately had series creator Dario Argento step in to finish the job. Whatever the case, this is yet another impressive entry from this series. In this one, In the dead of night on a deserted country road, a woman thinks she witnesses the murder of a young woman but, on returning with the police, the body disappears; threatening phone calls and events follow.

This one peaks mostly at the beginning and end, with the early scenes on the country road at the dead of night quite dreamlike and unsettling and some excellent suspense in the final ten minutes where the heroine is terrorized in her house. This latter section really showcases Argento's consistent ability to generate screen tension which he was so adept at back in the 70's. The film is also helped by some good Acting from Marilù Tolo in the central role and another agitated jazzy score from Giorgio Gaslini which amplifies the tension nicely.

Testimone oculare

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 22 January 2024]

Directed by Roberto Pariante (who was the assistant director for Argento on The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o'Nine Tails and Four Flies On Grey Velvet) and Dario Argento, who wrote the script with Luigi Cozzi, Testimone oculare is my favor episode of Doorway to Darkness. It's so simple and yet succeeds as an example of giallo.

Roberta Leoni (Marilù Tolo, Las trompetas del apocalipsis) is driving on a dark and rainy night when she sees a woman dive in front of her. She doesn't hit her, but does find her dead body. She's been shot in the back. That's when she sees the glint of a gun and runs through the storm to a diner where she breaks down. The police, led by Inspector Rocchi (Glauco Onorato), take her back to the crime scene but there's no body and no blood.

Everyone treats Roberta like a hysterical woman, including her husband Guido (Riccardo Salvino), even after someone breaks into their house while they're out for their anniversary and the next day when someone tries to shove his wife into traffic. Then the phone calls start and never seem to stop.

One night, while all alone, the killer calls and says that they will finally kill Roberta. Guido comes home just in time and says that instead of leaving - the killer cut the phone line - they are going to wait for them and he will shoot whoever is after her. As you can imagine, this isn't the way things end up happening.

Sometimes, a simply told mystery is exactly what you need. That's what this episode gave me. Supposedly Argento disliked the work that Pariante did and went back and filmed a lot of this himself - the tracking of the killer by footsteps is definitely him - and then not putting his name on it.