Sometimes a movie just doesn’t fit perfectly within its own genre. . . going against a few of the tropes that define what something is, all while hitting enough of them to still be what it is – confusing! That’s the case with this latter-day Italian giallo, Mystère. . . sometimes better known by its English title Dagger Eyes (1983).
Co-written and directed by Carlo Vanzina, the film opens with a rather impressive, though more crime inspired assassination in Rome. . . resembling the real life John F. Kennedy car killing. It will start a chain reaction of murders that will rock the Eternal City.
Witnessed by a portly German photographer, Reinhardt (Peter Berling), the gluttonous greed-ster decides to try some old fashioned blackmailing with his snapshots rather than destroying the evidence of the mysterious assassination. Approached by a yet undisclosed cane wielder, the schnitzel-lover plans to keep the negatives safe in his glitzy 18k gold lighter until he meets the mystery man again – who will this time be bringing the briefcase of money he so desires.
Unfortunately for everybody, Reinhardt decides to hire two very high class call-girls, blondie Pamela (Janet Agren) and the porcelain doll like Mystère (Carole Bouquet – who starred in the James Bond classic For Your Eyes Only a few years earlier) – who is just in from France. After a quick tryst, the former gal decides to steal the lighter on a lark. . . bringing both of the women of the night into this growing political conspiracy.
Soon, bodies start piling up, and an American cop in Italy, Inspector Colt (Phil Coccioletti) starts roughly inquiring about the case. As danger encroaches, Mystère must also deal with her own set of problems, including a fur loving nightclub owner pimp, Mink (Gabriele Tinti – Tropic of Cancer), who starts to infringe on her freedom. . . while her best friend also unexpectedly dies. As things clearly worsen, it does not take long for Captain Levi (Duilio Del Prete) to take over the case. . . but will the cops be as useless as they usually are?
Intriguingly, Mystère plays like a rather tame version of a giallo/poliziotteschi hybrid, a mystery thriller crime conspiracy that instead of having both an 80s sexy and slasher edge, it dials back the kink to refine the picture for a larger audience. Rather oddly though, some of the very un-genre-like decisions made also include Inspector Colt being perhaps the smartest cop ever to be found in a giallo, while the ending takes more of a Hollywood approach compared to the twisty, unconventional Italian conclusions of the time.
Though not the best to be found within either of the Italian sub-genres, Mystère shines when showing off the calm and cool enigma that is Carole Bouquet as she meanders through beautiful Rome in her fast Ferrari (thanks to Vanzina’s work with cinematographer Giuseppe Maccari), while its unconventional surprises – like a handy cop, villainous spycraft (even 007 is mentioned at one point), and so much political posturing makes for quite the change of pace compared to your typical giallo. So, see this mysterious oddball of a film, for as one character says, “never leave anything behind”.
This film can be watched in its original English soundtrack, or in its dubbed Italian version