Blu-ray Review: Abrakadabra

Abrakadabra is stylistic horror film about a magician who is haunted by the tragic death of his father, and suddenly finds murder all around him as he makes his debut at the same theatre where his father died. The film begins with a quote from Harry Houdini: “What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.” It’s an interesting line, because by using it, the filmmakers are basically telling you right from the start that they are going to trick you. But of course we get caught up in the film, and though that line might remain in the back of our minds, the tricks still work on us.

The movie opens in 1951, and right away it is clear the filmmakers are going for that classic giallo style, what with the camera movements, those reds that dominate, the close-ups of the eyes, the music. A magician stands on the stage, and a female assistant walks onto the stage, holding a cushion with a gun laid on it. Her footsteps are loud, the only sound we hear, as if the theatre is empty apart from those two people, which is eerie in itself. A bit of voice over narration tells us, “Magic is the art of making the impossible possible.” A third person enters, as if from the audience, and the sequence has a surreal, dreamlike quality. The gun is fired, as a young child watches. And then we hear other sounds, the screams of the theatre patrons. The movie then jumps ahead thirty years, so it takes place in the early 1980s rather than in the present, another way of preserving that classic giallo style.

Magician Lorenzo Mancini (German Baudino) arrives at the theatre where he is to perform. Yet a sort of performance has already occurred there. Someone has staged a strange murder, and the police are there, investigating and taking photos. As Lorenzo leaves, photos are snapped of him by an unseen person. Through news footage, we learn that Lorenzo is the son of Dante The Great, the magician who was killed in the opening scene. Other things put Lorenzo on edge, such as the letter he receives with the numbers “1951” pasted onto it. But of course the show must go on, and he and his assistant Antonella (Maria Eugenia Rigon) perform. Things go well at first, but then oddly, after a particular trick, there is no applause at all. The audience just watches, not even offering some polite clapping. It is incredibly strange, and of course afterward Lorenzo is upset with himself.

He doesn’t have long to dwell on that trouble, however, as soon another murder is committed with a magic trick prop, leading people to believe Lorenzo himself might be the killer. The film does a great job of creating atmosphere, through some odd camera angles, lots of close-ups, and even some interesting use of split screen. The film gives us an unsettling feeling even before much has happened. However, there are moments when it seems a bit like style over substance, such as the scene when Lorenzo finds himself in a poker game with a guy with a white eye and another guy who insists he knows him. The close-up of the white eye reveals it is a not-very-convincing contact lens. But this film gives us a good ride, and things that at first seem to not make sense eventually are made clear.

Special Features

Abrakadabra Raw is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, showing the filming of several scenes, including the magic show that doesn’t go quite right and some of the scenes at the climax. This is approximately eleven and a half minutes.

The film’s trailer is also included.

Abrakadabra was directed by Luciano Onetti and Nicolas Onetti, and is presented in its original Italian, with English subtitles. Of course, as the filmmakers are going for the delicious old giallo style, you can also watched the film dubbed in English. The Blu-ray was released on May 12, 2020 through Cauldron Films.