A blocked writer chases after a very active serial slasher in Dario Argento’s terrific first film. It’s all bohemians and blood. Argento’s confidence is remarkable here. He piles on style like an Italian cook deals out tomatoes and olive oil. Knives glisten in the dark, murderers glower in the night and mysterious things happen in the background. Meanwhile, Ennio Morricone’s music score is nicely groovy and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro keeps the splatter red and the shadows black, working his way up to being one of the most prestigious names in his field a decade later. It’s a sleazy winner.