The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

(L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, Dario Argento, Italy/West Germany 1970, 96 min., 35mm)

Vittorio Storaro. Cult director Dario Argento’s feature film debut is a heart-stopping sex thriller that earned him comparisons with Hitchcock. This variation on the Jack the Ripper story, about a psychopath who stalks young women through the streets of Rome, is given a boost by the nerve-jangling, dissonant music of Ennio Morricone, and gorgeous widescreen Technicolor cinematography by Vittorio Storaro in his first major production.