Off Balance — Off Balance( Blu Ray)
Off Balance (aka The Phantom Of Death) is a decidedly wacky & often camp euro-horror/Giallo crossbreed from the late 80s helmed by Ruggero Deodato. It regards a ‘handsome’ & talented pianist played by Micheal York been diagnosed with a rapid ageing disease- who then goes on a killing spree. He’s been tracked by a bewildered-to-ranting police investigator played by the wonderful Doland Pleasence. With the whole thing topped off with Giallo legend Edwige Fenech, as the film's love interest. The film is a blend of hamming-it-up acting, ridiculous/ erratic plotting, arterial spray-bound murders, and a big dose of 80’s camp. Here from Cauldron Films is a Blu-Ray release of the picture- featuring a new/ fully uncut scan of the film, a commentary from genre experts, and an interview with the director.
Off Balance ( The Phantom Of Death, Un Delitto Poco Comune, An Uncommon Crime) appeared in the year 1987. It was the 19th feature film from Ruggero Deodato- who is best known for the brutal proto-found-footage film Cannibal Holocaust (1980). Though he had a total of twenty-five features to his name- these went from catastrophic & kinky thriller Waves Of Lust (1975), to nasty home invasion film House On The Edge Of The Park(1980), cheesy sword-and-sorcery The Barbarians (1987), sleazy and twisted thriller The Washing Machine (1993).
The film is centred around the two leads- Robert Dominici ( Micheal York)- a ment-to-be-thirtysomething( more like 50!) pianist. And Inspector Datti (Doland Pleasence) a rather shambling, though at times expressive with his hands policeman.
At the start of the film Dominici is seemingly at the height of his career- admired by music lovers & women alike. He also is rather fit often sparring with bamboo swords in some form of masked martial arts. Datti is a city cop, who lives with his flute-playing teenage daughter- his life is largely ok, though, at the start of the film, he’s brought in to investigate the case of a woman who has had a throat brutally slashed- we see this murder playing out from the killers POV during the films darting credits.
As things unfold Dominici meets/romances/beds Hélène Martell (Edwige Fenech) who runs a fashion house owner. However his luck suddenly turns when he finds out he has an ageing disease- a very rapid one, which has him seemingly ageing many years over a few weeks.
It’s revealed fairly early on that Dominici is our black-gloved killer. And a big part of the film's makeup regards taunting Inspector Datti on the phone- and at points this gets laughable ridiculous. For example, at one point the inspector is doing a live TV interview, and the killer rings- so he goes off the TV screen to answer the call.
The idea of an ageing killer being the main reason he’s not caught is rather neat/ original. And the bloody spurting is very impactful/ jarring. Acting wise both leads often ham things up- York with his croaky old man voice & ageing make-up. And Pleasence has some great twitchy moments, as well as a few moments of anger- including an unintentionally amusing swearing-in-the-street breakdown.
Deodato's directing/ scene placing is often a little choppy- with Pino Donaggio’s largely full/ orchestral score becoming rather too overbearing often. The tone of the film does slip into 80’s soapiness at points, with one or two puzzling plotting decisions along the way. All in all Off Balance is certainly entertaining enough- as both a late 80’s horror/Giallo crossbreed, and an (unintentionally) so bad it’s a great film.
The locked region A Blu-ray features a 2k scan of the film- this looks very nice, with a good & even balance of colours, as well as general clarity of picture. We get one new extra- a commentary track with Italian cult film experts Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth- this is very researched and informed. They begin by talking about the various cast members in the decidedly darting/ choppy opening credits. We find out that director Deodato had a rather rocky relationship with the film- he didn’t want Fenech as the female lead and was looking at younger actresses like Kelly Labroke, and there were several issues with the film's producer/ writers. We find out early in the 80s the film was going to be shot by Fulci- but for one reason or another, it never happened. There are quotes from interviews with Deodato was very impressed with Pleasence- as both an actor & a man, saying he was the best actor he ever worked with. They move on to discuss the actor's career- touching on that he did a fair few films in Italy, including the only real/ official sequel to Django. Later on, they discuss the career of Deodato- talking about how his cannibal films helped focus/ develop his style with its bittersweet mix of violence and melancholia. We find out the film was shot between August and September 1987- getting a general release in March of 1988. And of course much more- so a track well worth a play.
Otherwise, we get a 2022 interview with Ruggero Deodato( 32.50) which is in Italian with English subtitles. The director starts by talking about how it was difficult to find a producer to work with after the controversy Cannibal Holocaust. He talks about how Off Balance wasn’t really his type of film, how he felt it was overlong/ boring, and other issues with the film actors' choice. Though he is very positive about Pleasence, and more. Again, well worth a play.
In finishing if you either enjoy 80’s euro-horror/Giallo, so bad it’s good filmmaking, or are a fan of either Pleasence or Fenech then Off Balance is well worth a look. With this new Cauldron Films presents us with a great print, and a small-but-but good selection of extras.