As a child, Lorenzo Manzini (Germán Baudino) witnessed the accidental death of his magician father during a magic trick where he was supposed to catch a bullet. Oh, he caught the bullet all right! Now a grownup magician himself, Lorenzo is preparing his illusions for a big magic show at a swanky theater. Unfortunately, he has both a drinking problem and a gambling addiction that gets him into a spot of trouble. But being beat up by gangsters and pursued by a mysterious smoking man are the least of his problems once a murderer using magic tricks as their modus operandi starts claiming victims. Naturally, Lorenzo is the chief suspect. The only connection between the murders (other than the corpses) is a mysterious pendant on the victims bearing the word “abracadabra”.

Directors Luciano and Nicolás Onetti deliver another love letter to the giallo with Abrakdabra. If you’re looking for a garish film that bends over backwards to set itself in the heyday of the giallo, you’ll have a good time with Abrakadabra. Much like with their previous neo-giallo efforts, Sonno Profondo (2013) and Francesca (2015), Luciano Onetti does another slinky and tense music score in the vein of Ennio Morricone and Goblin. It perfectly complements the trashy and mysterious goings-on. I also dig the film’s short running time of 69 minutes, as there’s little chance of it bogging down.

I don’t mind Germán Baudino’s performance as the haunted, down-and-out Lorenzo, but his character is such an ass. I wish that he’d been given a few lighter moments to make him more likeable. I found it tough to care about what was happening to him. Another minor complaint is that I also wish the detective characters had been given more to do. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Eugenia Rigón’s performance as his long-suffering girlfriend and assistant, Antonella. She puts up with a lot and I almost used the word “beleaguered” to describe her. I’m serious! Just imagine if I had used that word.

I really enjoy throwbacks to bygone eras of filmmaking, and thanks to my ravenous consumption of anything from the giallo genre, I especially enjoy these stylish excursions from a sub-subgenre called neo-giallo. While some diehard Italian giallo fans may not care for them, I’m always game to check out when new filmmakers choose to express their love for the films of Dario Argento, Umberto Lenzi, Sergio Martino, etc. in saturated colors, laced with explicit violence and cool music. Though I prefer something more subtle and weird along the lines of Berberian Sound Studio (2012) -which doesn’t launch into a typical giallo cookie cutter plot- I’m a sucker for these kinds of direct, hearts on their sleeves pastiches of sex, murder, and J&B (especially when there’s a bottle in nearly every scene). If you like that kind of stuff too, give Abrakadabra a look.

This Cauldron Blu-ray presents Abrakadabra in both Italian with English subtitles and an English dub. The Italian track sounds excellent but the English dub is my preferred viewing option because it adds to that old school 1970s vibe perfectly. More importantly, the film looks phenomenal and the colors don’t just pop off the screen, so much as they freakin’ explode out of it. There’s a behind-the-scenes featurette and the film’s trailer on the disc. The slipcase edition comes with 2 lobby cards and the soundtrack CD.

Director(s) – Luciano Onetti, Nicolás Onetti
Cast – Germán Baudino, Eugenia Rigón
Country of Origin – Argentina
Reviewer – Richard Glenn Schmidt