Short Night of Glass Dolls


Short Night of Glass Dolls is an 1971 Italian giallo film. It is the directorial debut of Aldo Lado and stars Ingrid Thulin, Jean Sorel and Barbara Bach. It was first released as La Corta notte delle bambole di vetro in Italy.

Plot

The corpse of reporter Gregory Moore is found in a Prague plaza and brought to the local morgue. But Moore is actually alive, trapped inside his dead body and desperately recalling how the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful girlfriend led to a terrifying conspiracy of depravity. He begins to walk in through his mind. How Mira's sudden disappearance made the police to suspect him instead. He delves more & more into the matter & discovers a mysterious Klub99 which exteriorly practices music but interiorly more occultly sinister. He ends up visiting the club discretely & searches or at least tries to search every corner of the club. But Moore ultimately fails to search the very room where his missing girlfriend Mira's dead naked body is lying covered with flowers with her sightless eyes staring at the ceiling. As Moore leaves, the janitor of the club checks on Mira's body & praises how lovely she is even after death. Ultimately, the entire fact bounces right back at Moore which takes him to even a more sinister and shocking end.

Cast

Alison Nastasi of Shock Till You Drop called it "nail-biting" and wrote, "Lado is at his best when Short Night of Glass Dolls confronts political and social unrest with nuanced symbolism." Noel Murray of The A.V. Club wrote, "Short Night presages Eyes Wide Shut in its account of a man wandering through a shadow city while uncovering layers of sleaze, and the film's simple social metaphor, imaginative setpieces, and unsettling finale make it a prime example of diverting suspense." Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide rated it 3/5 stars and called the ending "a genuine shocker". AllMovie praised the film's use of tension as opposed to the gore and violence common to the subgenre. Mike Long of DVD Talk called it "incredibly boring and poorly paced".

DVD releases

The film was released on DVD by Blue Underground on February 26, 2008.