It's been 15 years since the disappearance of little Francesca, daughter of the renowned storyteller, poet and dramatist Vittorio Visconti, and the community is stalked by a psychopath bent on cleaning the city of "impure and damned souls". Moretti and Succo, questioned by the ineffectiveness of the police force, are the detectives in charge of elucidating the mystery surrounding these "Dantesque" crimes. Francesca seems to have returned, but she is not be the same girl who everyone knew.
As the film began, I couldn't believe that it was released only a few years ago! Francesca looks at though it was plucked straight from the heyday of giallo filmmaking. The first few moments of the film immediately bring to mind the feel and atmosphere of the works of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. Francesca features all the things that fans of giallo love, leather gloves, scarlet blood, and a score that's heavily influenced by the likes of Goblin. The film was also shot in Argentina and dubbed in Italian for that authentic badly dubbed feel.
I spent a majority of the film trying to find something that would ruin its authentic 70's vibe and literally couldn't find a single thing that did so. You can clearly tell that the Onetti brothers put a lot of time and effort in creating the world of Francesca and it really pays off! The actors also did a damn fine job with their roles, almost too good and convincing for this genre! If I had to pick one thing that Francesca is lacking, it would have to be the gory kills that the Italian classics are known for. The few kills that we do get are rather generic and don't feature much of the red stuff. Though, this is a very minor, rather unimportant gripe and doesn't necessarily take away from the film in any way.
Filmmakers Luciano Onetti and Nicolás Onetti have truly created something special will this film and Unearthed Films has given us another amazing release here. The Blu-ray features some great extras which has some interviews with the Onetti brothers, as well as some behind the scenes showing how the film was made. If you're looking for that next nostalgic rush or are, in the slightest, a fan of Italian gialli films, then this is a must for your collection!
You can order a copy of Francesca HERE.
