The Perfume of the Lady in Black
The Perfume of the Lady in Black is a 1974 film from Italy, directed by Francesco Barilli, running 105 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1974 · 1970s films
- Country
- Italy
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Director
- Francesco Barilli
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (47/100)
- Also known as
- The Perfume of the Lady in Black
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
Barely a murder mystery. A slow psychological collapse, and superb.
Barely a murder mystery at all. A chemist begins to unravel psychologically, haunted by visions of a woman in black who may be her dead mother, and the film tracks her slow collapse until the horror underneath surfaces in a shocking final act.
It is closer to Repulsion than to a standard giallo, patient and dread-soaked, with a nasty sting waiting at the end for anyone lulled by the slow build. Mimsy Farmer is superb as the unravelling lead.
A psychological horror film wearing giallo clothes, and one of the cycle's best-kept secrets.
Trailer
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The cycle in depth
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
Filed alongside
The Fifth Cord
The best-looking giallo nobody names, shot by Storaro between two Bertoluccis.
Death Walks on High Heels
Ercoli's best. Structurally cleverer than most of the cycle.
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave
A widower lures redheads to his castle to get over his dead wife. Nonsense plot, glorious mood.
Death Walks at Midnight
Ercoli's brighter, faster Death Walks. Nieves Navarro sees a murder and nobody buys it.
Short Night of Glass Dolls
Narrated by a paralysed man presumed dead. Unusual and very good.
The Case of the Scorpion's Tail
Martino at his most efficient. Nobody wastes a frame.
The College Girl Murders
The point where the black-and-white krimi tips over into full-colour giallo delirium.
Pieces
Spanish, incoherent, and gleefully stupid. 'Bastard! Bastard!'
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
A family curse, a killer in a red cloak, and a legend that kills every hundred years.
The Black Belly of the Tarantula
The killer paralyses you first so you feel it. A first-rank giallo nobody name-checks.
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
A bridal-couture killer who narrates his own psychosis, and the best ghost gag Bava ever staged.
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key
Best title in the genre. Poe adaptation with Edwige Fenech and a black cat.