164 - Tenebre (also titled Tenebrae)

    A writer takes a trip to Rome, and is followed by a series of murders, at least some partly based on his book, titled Tenebre.  He works with police to try to solve the mystery.
    This is a movie I had heard about for about fifteen years at least.  And I never brought myself to watch it.  I don't think I ever saw it for rental anywhere, and I wasn't about to blind buy it.  It's a giallo, and I haven't cared for many of those.  I usually find the pacing to be intolerably slow, and the acting to be overdone.
    This one wasn't nearly as good as it had been made out to be, but it is interesting.  There is some very clever camerawork, and some very nicely staged shots.
    However, this is offset by the awkward script, which would be better if the actors weren't trying so hard.  The pacing is acceptable, although it could use some more tightening.
    There is a decent twist to the story, but all of it seems to be stated outright at the end.  This doesn't quite work.
    The one thing that I'll really remember from this is a strange part where a girl is chased by a dog.  The dog barks at her from behind a fence.  She decides to provoke it for some reason, then walks off.  The dog jumps the fence and chases her.  We see this dog jump fences more than once, and it's an incredible jumper.

    Also, I found the music by Goblin to be really distracting.  I have no idea why their work was so popular.