Wizard-8 I'm not an expert on Dario Argento, having only seen a few of his films, but I do know that his fans generally feel his most recent movies are not up to his older films. From this film (and after earlier seeing his Dracula film), I think I can see why that is the case. As you probably have concluded from the title, this movie is aimed at being a tip of the hat to Alfred Hitchcock, and it does indeed have a number of references to several Hitchcock movies. And the movie does have three scenes (an outdoor scene taking place in the rain at night, a bathtub sequence, and the climatic sequence) that do have a taste of the suspense style Hitchcock was known for. Yet even in those three scenes, the movie doesn't have the impact found in Hitchcock's (as well as Argento's) best films. The movie has three big problems. First, it's really cheaply made. Even though the story didn't require stuff like special effects, the movie has a real tacky look. The second problem is that the movie is really slow for the first two-thirds. Padding abounds. The third problem is that the central protagonist is not very sympathetic. In fact, he's kind of annoying. I could list a number of other problems with the movie, like what the point of that long opening scene was, but that would be redundant. To sum up, this is disappointing stuff for Argento and/or Hitchcock fans. About the kindest thing that can be said about the movie is that it isn't as bad as Argento's "Dracula".

Red-Barracuda In the earlier years of his career Dario Argento used to be referred to as the Italian Hitchcock. So it's not altogether surprising that this latter day made-for-TV thriller is a direct homage to the great British director. Do You Like Hitchcock? is the most playful film that Argento has ever made and it is constructed more or less as a means of referencing material from several Hitchcock classics such as Rear Window (voyeuristic protagonist, the apartments, the girlfriend endangering herself while the broken legged boyfriend watches on), Strangers on a Train (the murder set up theory), Dial M for Murder (the second murder set up theory), Psycho (the protagonist in the shower while something sinister occurs, the bathroom attack) and Vertigo (the thrilling rooftop sequence). I guess because it is a film so committed to paying homage, its plot becomes almost secondary and even a bit clunky. But if you can get past this – and the particularly bad dubbing and dialogue – you could have a pretty good time.The story has a murder being committed in the apartment across the street from a voyeuristic film student whose love of Hitchcock thrillers leads him to believe he knows who the murderer is. Because of its TV origins and in keeping with its Hitchcock influence it puts more emphasis on suspense than on gore. There are a couple of violent scenes but nothing in comparison to the kind of thing Argento is normally associated with. On the other hand, there are some genuinely well-handled suspense scenes; in particular, a climatic sequence on a rooftop was quite thrilling. There is even a little smattering of nudity thrown in for good measure which in all honesty is never exactly a terrible thing. All-in-all, this is a reasonably entertaining if minor effort from Argento. It has to be put into a little bit of context though, given that it's a TV movie and should not in all seriousness be compared too much to his earlier feature films. This one is a light diversion but it's not too bad at all.

Lucien Lessard A bright young man (Elio Germano), who loves cinema... especially Alfred Hitchcock's film. A cross from his apartment, a woman is brutally murdered. He heard the screams but he didn't see the crime. He slowly realized that the dead woman's daughter rents "Stangers on a Train" quite often. He thinks that the dead woman's daughter and another mysterious stranger are copying the crime from that classic picture. But not everything what it seems to this die-hard movie fan.Directed by Dario Argento (Suspiria, Inferno, Mother of Tears) made an interesting plotted but OK suspense thriller with a few of the director's flamboyant touches. Argento's film gives tribute obliviously to Hitchcock but also to filmmaker Brian De Palma and Argento himself. Since this was made for Italian TV with plenty of nudity. "Do you like Hitchcock?" is really about voyeurism but it's the cast really weight down the flick (not mentioning the poor English dubbing).The DVD has an good anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1) transfer and an decent Dolby Stereo 2.0 Surround Sound. The DVD's special features are a brief behind the scenes footage and the director's biography. It is one of Argento's less memorable works but watchable to say the least. The Highlight is Pino Donaggio (Body Double, Carrie, The Howling) music score. Written by the director and Franco Ferrini (Demons 1 & 2, The Card Player, Opera). (***/*****).

Michael_Elliott Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005) 1/2 (out of 4) I certainly do like Hitchcock but Dario Argento's latest film is a complete and utter disaster. Argento has been called the Italian Hitchcock since his first film and this movie tries to pay homage but it falls apart on every level. The film tries to mix elements of Rear Window, Dial M For Murder and Strangers on a Train but it comes off more as an insult than anything else. A nerdy film student likes to spy on his neighbors when he discovers a young girl and her mother fighting. The next day he sees this girl in a video store discussing the plot of Strangers on a Train with another girl. A few days pass and the girl's mother is brutally murdered making the film student believe that we've got a Hitchcock copycat going on. If it wasn't for some nice film buff discussions and some great posters of various Hitchcock films then this would be even worse than the horrid Phantom of the Opera that Argento released several years back. I was pulling my hair out watching this film because it has to feature the dumbest characters in giallo history. Much like American horror films, Argento has cast this thing with young actors but what makes matters worse is that none of them can act. The dubbing is atrocious and the story seems more like a Hardy Boys mystery than an actual Argento story. It's funny this thing was made for Italian television because it features more nudity and sexuality than any other Argento film I've seen. I had really high hopes for this film but it turns out to be probably my biggest disappointment of the year.