 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 1971 Italian giallo film short night of glass dolls And this is not like the other giallo films that I've been reviewing or that most people end up seeing Because unlike most giallo films this kind of has a point to it. Some people call this like the most political giallo film I don't know if I'd say it's so much political as it's just it's making a social commentary Which I think is pretty accurate not just for the 70s But for always pretty much and applies to pretty much every country in my opinion But I'll end up talking a little bit more about that as I go along with the review now This one doesn't have a whole lot of backstory information on it that I was able to find when I was doing my research Pretty bare bones with that stuff. It's not done by done by anyone who's like a big name or anything like that But first before I get into things just so you know if you're into giallo I have an entire playlist on my channel of giallo film reviews. So go ahead and check that out when I'm Doing this Review I have about 16. This will be like my 17th Giallo film review, but I'm gonna keep going so just know that Anyway short night of glass dolls was written and directed by Aldo Lotto Who did other films such as who saw her die the humanoid circle of fear and dark Friday? Reviews for this the only bit of information I have is that reviews for this film were very mixed You had some people coming out saying this is a brilliant film This is great, and you had some people coming out saying it's kind of aimless pointless and and slow now Going into it because I knew about these mixed reviews situation I was very hesitant to be hopeful about the film for myself. I was thinking here we go This might really suck but actually after some Issues up front with the film. It really picks up speed towards the end and especially the end I think has great impact in my opinion, and I ended up really enjoying this I was not happy with it maybe about for the first 30 minutes or so because it does have pacing problems for sure It is kind of slow Yeah, it's not a perfect film by any standards But once you hit kind of the halfway point or so it starts getting a lot better the pace is really picking up It's more interesting and the end the end is the big payoff And that's the thing like with giallo films it pretty much is all about the end and then how it changes the context For a second viewing of that film, and I think this does a great job with that And I do want to watch it again. I recommend this to anyone so obviously there's spoilers for this just so you know The lack of music in the very beginning of this film makes the discovery of the body, which is Gregory Moore That's the character Gregory Moore by that. I guess the guy who's kind of like cleaning up the grounds Groundskeeper guy. So the lack of music there I think it makes it a bit more disturbing when the bodies found so once again one of those moments Which like I like to talk about where film is not or sorry film music is not used And it's not used to great effect basically it allows people to just kind of take in what's really happening there without being led By the actual music as to how they should feel which I think is a wonderful thing So they did a good job with that you get a pretty nice tour of the town that they're in or city that they're in when the They're riding along with the ambulance basically that's taking Gregory's body to I guess Was it a hospital at first? I guess it is a hospital at first I mean you mainly just see him in the morgue first when he actually gets there so And it's it's an interesting thing because kind of the tour Continues after that as you go through the flashbacks for what Gregory's remembering about how he ended up where he was and It goes many places and that's one of the great things about this film in my opinion is it's very exploratory It's got that mystery aspect to it It's not just a mystery as in someone staying in one or two locations figuring things out Going to many many locations so it shows so much of the architecture so much of the city And being a person that's from the United States and has never been Outside of I don't want to say it hasn't been outside the United States because I've been to Canada So technically I have but other than that hasn't been outside of North America It's cool to see that architecture and not and also just because of the time period difference as well So I like those types of things in film and it's on full display here. So yeah What is with the narration with this guy? Before he's pronounced dead, you know, obviously it it happens very early in the film One of the things that really threw me off was the narration voiceover by Gregory himself as he's lying there People think dead Some people know he's not dead actually who are involved obviously we find out at the end But the narration is not good. It was not a good choice They could have come up with it with doing it a different way to show the story They could have just done a flashback. I just it's so corny. It's so odd It's just it's weird the way the voiceover goes and just to have like a what you assume at that point dead body talking I don't like it. I just don't like it for this film and I think it's perfectly fine for people to hate that about the film It wasn't a good choice honestly, and they do it too much. That's the other thing and another thing on top of that excuse me is that the flashbacks then where you're getting the Narration basically from the point of view of Gregory not like the voiceover parts What you're seeing as far as what happened in the past during this film is all from his memory Like this is him going back through the events in his head and you're following along with the film so for that reason it wouldn't be nearly as long and drawn out and boring at times and dragging as It is because people's memories don't work like that So for that reason if it doesn't jive with the story and what's actually going on there And I think for that reason they could have easily taken the opportunity to cut the film down a little bit and make it move at A much better pace until they got to the point where they made the film move at a much better pace basically so Just saying So the setup for the story is Gregory remembering what happened as he dies was my question But no he's still alive But he ends up dying as we find in the end and I will talk more about that final scene Which I loved while the final scenes which I really loved so we'll get there. So apparently this is set in Prague Czech Republic during the Cold War You can tell by a lot of the architecture and the feel of how Characters act toward each other and how the dialogue goes that it is steeped in the Cold War at the time and not only that but you can tell that it's east of the Berlin Wall and And Yeah, it just has that feel and it creates this whole situation where you could see that the the killer or you know You think it's probably just one killer at first where you can see that the killer may be tied in something like espionage Maybe they're a spy. Maybe this is something kind of political going on between countries or communists versus not you don't know because of how heavily they steeped this whole film in the Cold War and You know Easter East of the Berlin Wall. It's Yeah, it kind of sets up that possibility Honestly, so that kind of throws you a little bit as to what's actually going on because I don't know if you were like me But I was really not expecting the end of this film It really felt like it came out a left field, but that was a good thing in my opinion The dialogue continually references the Cold War climate. Obviously, they really hammered at home The lady Gregory gets introduced to at the party looks like she's in a quasi zombie state She's the one that his friend Jack or I don't know if they're really friends But at least co-worker Jack another another journalist I guess was like groping her boobs and was just like see and then he's like pointing her head and being like It's just like rocks up here At first I was like is this some sort of like drug that he gave her and she's acting like a zombie Basically, or is this just like terribly done and it ended up just being terribly done Because you see her later and she's much different and it's like there's no explanation as to why she was like that So that's just another one of those moments in the film where I was like that was not good and poorly handled honestly The Cold War political setting. Okay. I already said that that it gives you the idea that Mira's Disappearance may have had to do with something political or espionage related the mysteries of Gregory's condition and Mira's disappearance are intriguing with this film early on But the remembered events are way too drawn out like I was saying and since it is Gregory's narration It should have been a lot more succinct in my opinion I mean this movie was like an hour and 36 minutes basically they could have cut this down easily to about an hour and 20 and It would have moved at a better clip Professor carding Immediately seems suspect as the killer because of his introduction. He ends up not really being the well I was gonna say he ends up not really being the killer But in a way, he is actually the killer in the end the killer of Gregory because in that final scene He's the one who puts the scalpel into his heart and actually kills him So I just that just hit me as I was saying. Oh, he wasn't actually the killer He wasn't the killer of the other of the women. He ended up being the killer of Gregory though So I think it's inter interesting when they introduce him because it makes him suspicious Because of how he's introduced now that's when he's doing this kind of test on a tomato and it sets up for his character this weird morality that you end up Finding out at the end isn't just a weird morality that is for him It's for everyone kind of of his age of his generation in that country or at least in that city And it's this whole thing where he's showing that tomatoes feel things that basically plants just like other living things feel things and they basically make some sort of comment of You know someone says so then you're doing a terrible thing when you're cutting a flower and he says well really in anything You do there's good and evil in it basically and that kind of shows this odd morality where he's You could see that he thinks that killing women is or killing anyone really is actually a bad thing But also a good thing at the same time and that ends up being part of part of the crux of the theme with this Which is this particular generation views it as they need to do something terrible to do something good Which basically is keep control of the city keep control of the political climate Keep control of things in general at the cost of taking the lives and making Taking the lives of the younger generations and making them sacrifice themselves for keeping things the way they have created them So it's all about control. It's like this cabal of old cultists basically There's an interesting idea raised that the old people in power maintain it by sacrificing the youth That is the main theme the main theme and they make they make that comparison by saying it's actually a character Who says it by saying that you know sending younger people to war to physically die for the country and for these? Ideologies that are created by older generations and also the silencing of younger people who have ideas for Changes of policies and the way things should be And that like I said that ends up being basically the whole point of the film Which like I was saying in the beginning is not something that giallo typically does giallo is just typically about Let's create this mystery of people getting killed and in the end will tell you who the killer is and usually it's some sort of whacked out individualized motivation for those killings like a killer who has some sort of Psychological problem because of some event in their past or they have some sort of vendetta like that's what it usually ends up being not This group of an entire generation trying to control a city or an entire country or an entire world and disenfranchise the younger generations just to keep things the way they like it basically and Refusal to kind of become progressive to actually move forward. They want to keep things Maintain keep things preserved Just like they do at club 99 with the preserved dead insects behind glass the preserved Violins and other instruments that they also have behind glass and to a degree the preserved Women that have been killed such as Mira who you see in a room next to this room with the preserved Insects and the preserved instruments behind glass and there she is laying there Displayed in the same type of way as those things with these flowers all over her so yet another sacrificing and Putting on display to keep it Very interesting the old guy whipping Whipping at Gregory with the electrical cord. I thought was really funny when he goes in the club 99 initially His character was just really funny the way they played it and just a funny moment. I like that It was a good reveal like I was talking about Mira's body being next to those preserved things I thought that was a really good reveal that He was there and he did a little bit of poking around but he just happened to miss it And at that point you really don't know where Mira is or if she's alive or dead So when they finally show it and he's like, oh, I'm glad he didn't go in there and then they show her body laying there That is a big reveal and it has impact. It's very interesting. You're like oh man She's dead and she's at this club like what is going on with this club then and that becomes the big mystery It's not whereas Mira it's what is this club like that shifts focus and that ends up being the most important question at that point And tell the end There doesn't really seem to be an explanation of Gregory's love affair with Jessica That's another thing that doesn't make a whole lot of sense in this film and is one of the bad moments of it Jessica being the female co-worker he has who it's obvious he has some sort of a relationship with while he's with Mira and then When she's gone and he doesn't even know she's dead at that point That's never fleshed out. There's no backstory to that. It just seems There and it's not necessary. That's obviously one thing that could just be cut out I'm assuming they probably put it in there so that there's more impact at the end when he gets killed in the You know medical theater area and she reacts to it like it'll make more sense that she reacts so strongly But that's not worth it in my opinion. Just that scene is great except, you know, that aspect of it There's a quote I wrote down this quote because I thought it might end up having some sort of Significance, but it really didn't have a whole lot But I also think it was kind of a funny quote After Gregory and Jessica had sex and they were laying in bed and he's just like kind of zoning out He says too many memories, but they don't have anything to do with you It's kind of cold honestly But yeah, I didn't have as much significance as I thought it might Cool shot when Jack takes off the phone or gets off of the phone when Jack is in the phone booth and he calls Gregory and as soon as he gets off the phone and then all of a sudden the blade of a switchblade Pops up on in the frame from the bottom. That was an awesome shot. That looked really good I love that and then obviously Greg shows up later and he finds blood in that Oh My god phone booth. I'm sorry. I had a hard time. We haven't had phone booths in quite a while So it's kind of hard to pull that one back out But yeah Then he finds blood in the phone booth and then you just know he's dead, you know He got stabbed. He's dead and then you see the body in the garbage So sorry for Jack, which at that point I was kind of thinking, you know Maybe Jack's involved in this because he's kind of a smarmy Character and then also that moment where when the guy got thrown off the bridge at the train station Or where the train was Jack just like randomly shows up and Gregory even questions him on it He's like, where did you come from? So when that happened? I was like, oh, he's a little bit suspect I don't know But then he gets killed. I'm like, well not him So Valinsky is a very sinister looking guy. He delivers his lines in a sinister way as well He just looks that way but also his Introduction to the backstory where he literally steps out of the shadows like a vampire and that's when he's like You know, the the police officers basically said I think there's some mental stuff going on with you Gregory and you should go to a basically mental asylum And then that's when Valinsky steps out of the shadows and says I'll take care of this guy And then things just get so bad That's kind of what ushers in the very end of the film where you really find out what's going on But so sinister from the get-go The medical theater setup is very creepy in my opinion And it's very tense and scary as Gregory ends up getting wheeled out there on the gurney because as an audience member You're very much aware that he is actually alive. He is conscious and who doesn't think that it's Horrifying to to be in that situation of being awake and aware When you're gonna be operated on especially when not only are you gonna be operated on but it's an autopsy You know, you won't come out of it. There's no hope That alone was horrifying and honestly I thought it was very effectively shot with the music with the way the acting was with the camera work the directing it was all Perfect for being super horrifying very scary in my opinion, you know, not everyone's gonna experience it the same way as me But for me horrifying what a horrifying ending to that film and then especially the very end when it gets finally gets plunged into him I actually was half expecting that someone would step in maybe Jessica and be like no And stop things but no the way it ends He literally gets stabbed in the heart with that scalpel and you know the autopsy is gonna actually happen Even though Jessica yells out, you know, he's done It's tough and it's well done very well done in my opinion So it was basically a cult seeking dominance probably world dominance in this Instance and like I talked about before the whole generational thing where it's the older generation Trying to keep control and disenfranchise the younger generation and make them sacrifice them sacrifice themselves To keep things the way they have it and if they won't sacrifice themselves, they will sacrifice them for them If that makes sense It's a pretty surreal turn in a film that otherwise felt very realistic Which I think is a very important thing to say because that's a great Misdirection in that sense the whole tone of it the whole setting of it feels very real to life And then you bring in this ending this theme like out of left field at the very end and it is very surreal It's not a very realistic thing So for that reason you never would have suspected something like that and that's great for the surprise factor And I love that ending of it The scene of the ritual at the club is very weird But I kind of like it it kind of reminded me of even though it was before this film kind of reminded me of the film Society And it also reminded me a little bit of the film all the colors of the dark if you've seen that one Which is also J.A.L.O. You should see that one. It's a good one. So And the last thing I just had to say is that the pacing was rough In the beginning like I already said, but the delivery at the end is so great that it Almost offsets some of that stuff. I mean if you're gonna rewatch the film because you like it like me You still will have to re-suffer through some of the stuff in the beginning, which is tough But yeah, so anyway out of five stars with half stars in play I struggled on where I need to put this but because of the ending and the way they they had a message in this And it was effective. I'm giving it a four-star rating. I enjoy this J.A.L.O. film This is a good one. It is one of the better ones. So, you know, like I said, there are real mixed reviews on it I'm on the end of this is very worth it quite good in my opinion Glad I saw it and I went in with such a negative mindset So maybe that was part of it is not expecting a whole lot but getting a lot So anyway, I want to hear what you have to say about this film Go ahead and put it in the comments or just talk about J.A.L.O. in general because you know, I'm nerdy for the subgenre But do me a quick favor and hit that subscribe button if you can I really would appreciate that Just trying to grow the community here and also just That's how you can pay me back like I don't make money doing this. I'm not monetized at all or anything like that I just want to grow the community and get nerdy with like-minded horror nerds So let's do that. Also, if you could just hit this the notification bell as well And that way you'll know whenever I'm putting up new videos. So yeah, that would be great But anyway, thanks for taking your time to check this out and until next time keep it brutal