The Possessed is the directorial debut of Luigi Bazzoni who also directed one of my favorite Gialli of all time, The Fifth Chord, a film that falls into the “drop everything and watch” category for me. The Fifth Chord is a stunningly beautiful film, every frame seems as if it was meticulously composed. Most Gialli are known for their visual style, but the Fifth Chord is head and shoulders above an already-high standard.

For the longest time I assumed this visual superiority over other Gialli could be attributed mostly to the films cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro, who not only won three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography but who also shot Argento’s equally gorgeous The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. But it only takes a few minutes of watching The Possessed to realize that Bazzoni was a master of visual composition in his own right.

In 1965, the characteristics of the Giallo film that we all eventually regard as genre defining were not yet fleshed out. Italian filmmakers entering the thriller, mystery, and crime genres were still experimenting with various tropes and devices to achieve success at the box office. Bazzoni’s influences for the Possessed undoubtedly came from Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much, but nods to Italian Neo-Realism and the French New Wave are also evident in the film.

The result is a loosely constructive narrative that plays out like a fever dream. A murder mystery told from the point of view of a (possibly) unreliable narrator, with so much style to burn that a non-Italian speaking viewer could watch the film with the subtitles turned off and still find it enjoyable. And while some Gialli from this period resorted to black and white for budgetary reasons, The Possessed wouldn’t be half as effective in color. The contrasts and depths of field that Bazzoni and his crew achieve is a masterclass in filmmaking. 

Even more impressive than everything mentioned thus far is how the film fared against The Giallo Score. Released less than a year after Bava’s genre defining Blood and Black Lace, The Possessed racks up a higher score with a whopping 72 points! Admittedly I had to improvise with a few of the criteria since the film’s ending is a bit ambiguous, but many of the elements that would become “must haves” during the Giallo’s golden period are on display here.

But the high score is just icing on the cake. The Possessed is a must-see for anyone interested in the art of cinema. It's the first of three films that Bazonni would direct in the genre, all of which are equally beautiful.