441:, praised the film for its "striking, imaginative color photography and deep-freeze pacing and atmosphere" and highlighted the sequence where Amelia is trapped in the park as "spine-tingling", "superb" and "Argento at his chilling best". However, he criticized the plot as "not only old but farfetched" and the dialogue as "banal", and went on to say that "ll that circuitous teasing and those red herrings don't produce a shred of real evidence to nibble on. You're on your own, in pure hit-or-miss speculation."
313:
had wanted to kill him. Because
Roberto bears a striking resemblance to her stepfather, Nina decided to torment and murder Roberto as a surrogate for him. She married him and planned the elaborate, cruel game she had played with him. Nina repeatedly shoots Roberto, but Godfrey arrives, distracting Nina so that Roberto can knock the gun from her hands. Nina speeds away in a car, but she crashes into the back of a truck. The truck's rear bumper decapitates her, and the car explodes in a mass of flames.
312:
As
Roberto realizes Nina is the killer, Nina grabs Roberto's gun and shoots him in the shoulder. Holding Roberto at gunpoint, Nina explains that her physically and mentally abusive stepfather committed her to the Villa Rapidi asylum. His death cured her condition but left her frustrated because she
308:
Knowing the killer will likely come for him next, Roberto waits with a gun in his darkened home. Roberto's friend
Godfrey calls, but the line suddenly goes dead. Just then, Nina arrives home. Roberto urges her to leave for her safety, but he notices Nina's pendant necklace. It is a fly enclosed in
291:
Roberto hires
Arrosio, a flamboyant detective, to identify his tormentor. When Roberto returns home, he finds Nina leaving. She tells him she will no longer stay in the house with someone stalking them. Roberto resolves to remain. That evening, Dalia offers to take care of Roberto in the meantime,
283:
At home that night, Roberto is ambushed by the masked individual, who tells him they are not finished with him before knocking him out. The maid, Amelia, witnesses this from the shadows. When
Roberto's wife Nina returns home, he confesses everything to her but refuses to go to the police since he
279:
Roberto Tobias is being followed by a suspicious figure. He chases and confronts the stalker, who pulls a knife. As they struggle, Roberto accidentally stabs and apparently kills the man. A masked figure snaps several photographs as this happens. In the ensuing days, Roberto receives threatening
295:
Meanwhile, Arrosio visits Villa Rapidi, a psychiatric facility. He speaks with a doctor about an unnamed patient diagnosed as a homicidal maniac. When this patient's father suddenly died, the psychotic symptoms inexplicably disappeared, and the patient was discharged. Later, while trailing the
445:
gave the film a mixed review of two-and-a-half stars out of four, deeming it a "badly dubbed and incoherent murder thriller" with "a conclusion that's so arbitrary we feel tricked." He did, however, give praise to Mimsy Farmer and said of her that she "deserves to get some of those
550:
on 24 February 2009. The disc contains an uncut, completely remastered print of this "lost" film, featuring theatrical trailers, the
English language opening and ending credits and an extensive photo gallery. However, this release omits 30–40 seconds of footage due to print damage.
287:
Elsewhere, Carlo Marosi is still alive: his confrontation with
Roberto was staged with a retractable knife. Marosi is working for Roberto's tormentor. Unnerved by Amelia's murder, Marosi tries to back out of their arrangement, but instead, the mystery figure kills him.
480:
wrote that the film generally "works when nobody's talking and the camera's moving." He thought that several "badly dubbed, broadly burlesqued characters are totally ludicrous and destroy utterly the film's credibility." David Pirie of the
487:
noted it being "full of slick visual conceits and glossy set-pieces, this is clearly
Argento's most expensive and ambitious thriller yet." while stating its still as "flat and predictable as that of the most meager Italian 'B' feature."
284:
will be arrested for Marosi's murder. Amelia, who now knows the masked figure's identity, tries to blackmail them but is killed by them in a park. Despite
Roberto's reluctance, Nina's cousin Dalia arrives to stay with Nina and Roberto.
29:
299:
Looking at family photos, Dalia notices a strange similarity between a photograph of
Roberto and another one whose subject the audience can't see. The killer suddenly appears and stabs her to death. The police use
304:
to generate an image of the last image Dalia saw before death but only get a blurry picture of four dark smudges against a gray background. The technician says the image looks like "four flies on grey velvet."
527:
It was not until early 2009 that the film was made available to home video audiences in a legitimate version, both domestically or internationally, with the exception of the long out-of-print obscure French
464:. Each time evidence overwhelmingly points to a possible threat to our bushy-haired hero that person is bumped off and the guessing game begins anew. I didn't find that rhythm the least bit entertaining."
267:), who accidentally kills a man and is then tormented by someone who witnessed the event. The film was an Italian and French production between the Rome-based company Seda Spettacoli and the Paris-based
554:
To celebrate the film's 40th anniversary and to mark 20 years since it was thought to be lost, Shameless Screen Entertainment released it on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on 30 January 2012.
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gave the film two stars out of four and opined it was an "nabsorbing psychological murder-mystery with performers who walk through their roles in a very disinterested fashion."
513:, that, "the worst movie I ever saw was called Four Flies on Gray Velvet, with Mimsy Farmer, one of your great loves. But to this day I have never seen a worse movie."
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premiered in Italy on 17 December 1971. From 23 December 1971 to 30 January 1972, the film grossed $ 1.2 million from 46 theatres in Italy.
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gave the film a positive review, calling it "an unfortunately overlooked and hard-to-find choice nugget in his oeuvre".
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faulted "a script bogged down with farce comedy, unneeded sex, coarse language and trite dialogue."
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gave the film one star out of four and wrote, "Argento's script contains more red herrings than the
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glass, and as it swings, it gives the appearance of several flies on a grey background.
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unidentified patient, Arrosio is ambushed and murdered with a poison-filled syringe.
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Piere, David (1973). "Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Quattro Mosche di Velluto)".
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Some of the earlier cast considerations for the main role Roberto Tobias were
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683:"Dario Argento's Latest Thriller Another Smash Success (advertisement)".
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831:"High Times Greats: Fran Lebowitz, America's Funniest Femme Fatale"
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874:"Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Mya Communication) – 10,000 Bullets"
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Thomas, Kevin (August 4, 1972). "Argento Directs 'Four Flies'".
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654:
Alan Jones: Dario Argento The Man, The Myths & The Magic,
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529:
532:. The rights to this film (at least in America) are owned by
846:"Quattro Mosche di Velluto Grigio - Review - AllMovie"
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Maltin, Leonard (2014). "Four Flies on Grey Velvet".
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letters about his killing the stalker, Carlo Marosi.
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771:"Film Reviews: Quattro Mosche Di Velluto Grigio".
755:Siskel, Gene (October 18, 1972)."Four Flies".
503:, who had a column reviewing bad-movies, told
960:
8:
908:Art of Darkness: The Cinema of Dario Argento
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953:
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27:
18:
702:"'4 Flies on Grey Velvet,' Suspense Film"
619:. Vol. 40, no. 468. p. 56.
292:and the two start having sexual trysts.
1500:Films with screenplays by Dario Argento
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586:
536:, which had chosen not to release it.
872:Boer, Michael Den (24 January 2009).
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635:Archivio del Cinema Italiano On-Line
263:. The film concerns Roberto Tobias (
631:"4 mosche di velluto grigio (1971)"
700:Thompson, Howard (5 August 1972).
14:
1232:Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die!
1001:The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
806:Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2015
33:Italian theatrical release poster
728:Ebert, Roger (18 October 1972).
689:. February 16, 1972. p. 19.
364:Marisa Fabbri - Amelia, the Maid
182:Cinema International Corporation
1495:Films scored by Ennio Morricone
1485:Films directed by Dario Argento
1222:Pardon, Are You For or Against?
777:. January 19, 1972. p. 6.
1:
564:List of Italian films of 1971
539:MYA Communication released a
259:film written and directed by
1470:1970s Italian-language films
1262:Once Upon a Time in the West
1242:Comandamenti per un gangster
493:Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide
269:Universal Productions France
168:Universal Productions France
1490:Italian serial killer films
730:"Four Flies on Grey Velvet"
431:From contemporary reviews,
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251:4 mosche di velluto grigio
196:17 December 1971
16:1971 film by Dario Argento
1021:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
932:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
616:The Monthly Film Bulletin
570:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
548:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
421:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
408:and even some members of
242:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
26:
22:Four Flies on Grey Velvet
1272:Cemetery Without Crosses
1131:The Phantom of the Opera
1292:Battle of the Commandos
906:Gallant, Chris (2000).
373:Fabrizio Moroni - Mirko
1460:Italian thriller films
1282:Metti, una sera a cena
1161:Do You Like Hitchcock?
250:
1475:Italian slasher films
1465:French thriller films
1121:The Stendhal Syndrome
1011:The Cat o' Nine Tails
484:Monthly Film Bulletin
1427:Dario Argento Panico
1352:The Devil's Daughter
435:, in his review for
383:Stefano Satta Flores
335:Jean-Pierre Marielle
104:Jean-Pierre Marielle
1515:1970s slasher films
1505:1970s Italian films
1455:1970s mystery films
884:on 3 September 2012
507:in a 1978 issue of
1510:1970s French films
1387:Door into Darkness
844:Buening, Michael.
833:. 28 October 2019.
761:. Section 2, p. 5.
707:The New York Times
534:Paramount Pictures
438:The New York Times
427:Critical reception
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1436:
1418:The Three Mothers
1397:Masters of Horror
1373:
1372:
1302:The Five Man Army
816:978-0-698-18361-2
790:Los Angeles Times
660:978-1-903254-70-7
477:Los Angeles Times
349:- Diomede/Godfrey
238:
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127:Franco Di Giacomo
82:Salvatore Argento
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325:- Roberto Tobias
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109:Francine Racette
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370:- The Professor
368:Oreste Lionello
359:Calisto Calisti
353:Aldo Bufi Landi
323:Michael Brandon
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265:Michael Brandon
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164:Seda Spettacoli
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886:. Retrieved
882:the original
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741:20 September
739:. Retrieved
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713:20 September
711:. Retrieved
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671:Gallant 2000
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472:Kevin Thomas
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406:Michael York
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377:Corrado Olmi
329:Mimsy Farmer
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254:
253:) is a 1971
241:
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213:Running time
204: (Italy)
189:Release date
99:Mimsy Farmer
1400:(2005–2006)
990:Written and
809:. Penguin.
452:Gene Siskel
443:Roger Ebert
410:the Beatles
347:Bud Spencer
217:105 minutes
114:Bud Spencer
79:Produced by
67:Luigi Cozzi
39:Directed by
1450:1971 films
1444:Categories
1378:Television
1342:The Church
1191:Dracula 3D
917:1903254078
640:6 November
581:References
523:Home media
510:High Times
448:Mia Farrow
396:Production
302:optography
200:1971-12-17
154:Production
1252:Commandos
1141:Sleepless
1081:Phenomena
735:Sun-Times
222:Countries
156:companies
133:Edited by
1362:Wax Mask
1332:Demons 2
1071:Tenebrae
1051:Suspiria
1041:Deep Red
992:directed
888:3 August
851:AllMovie
558:See also
541:region 1
517:AllMovie
450:roles."
385:- Andrea
379:- Porter
143:Music by
87:Starring
57:Story by
1061:Inferno
901:Sources
857:24 July
774:Variety
686:Variety
499:Writer
474:of the
467:Variety
454:of the
416:Release
391:- Maria
343:- Dalia
247:Italian
198: (
1390:(1973)
1365:(1997)
1355:(1991)
1345:(1989)
1335:(1986)
1325:(1985)
1322:Demons
1315:(1973)
1305:(1969)
1295:(1969)
1285:(1969)
1275:(1969)
1265:(1968)
1255:(1968)
1245:(1968)
1235:(1968)
1225:(1966)
1204:(2022)
1194:(2012)
1184:(2009)
1181:Giallo
1174:(2007)
1164:(2005)
1154:(2004)
1144:(2001)
1134:(1998)
1124:(1996)
1114:(1993)
1111:Trauma
1104:(1990)
1094:(1987)
1084:(1985)
1074:(1982)
1064:(1980)
1054:(1977)
1044:(1975)
1034:(1973)
1024:(1971)
1014:(1971)
1004:(1970)
914:
813:
658:
256:giallo
231:France
1091:Opera
983:Films
228:Italy
937:IMDb
912:ISBN
890:2012
859:2012
811:ISBN
743:2016
715:2016
656:ISBN
642:2021
317:Cast
275:Plot
935:at
573:at
546:of
544:DVD
530:VHS
1446::
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589:^
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