Four Flies is the weirdest one from the Animal Trilogy. Totally different framing and editing gives this one a bit of an experimental feeling to it. The whole thing also has a disjointed feel to it because of the jarring cuts, but it works nonetheless. There are also some non-giallo elements thrown into this one that further confirms the feeling that Argento experiments more with Four Flies than he did with his two first films. Not that it’s anything wrong with that. Four Flies is a fabulous film, and of the three films in the Animal trilogy, the most unique.

The story is quite good. Unquestionably a giallo, and you can really see that Argento had to have had more time to perfect this script, unlike The Cat. This one, like both the previous two films, has less focus on the violence and more on our main man's confusion and feeling of not knowing what the hell is happening around him.

As fas as the acting goes, it’s decent, but more uneven than both The Bird and The Cat. Michael Brandon is a bit lacking in the lead role, but it doesn’t really ruin anything. Mimsy Farmer as the lead's better half works a lot better, and is my favourite from Four Flies.

Ennio Morricone’s third score for Dario Argento is just as understated as in The Cat, and really disappears in most scenes, but it works better than I remember it. I don’t know if it is Argento's heavy use of music when he starts to collaborate with Goblin that colour my opinion, but I prefer the scores he made with them over these, more understated, ones.

I really like Four Flies on Grey Velvet. It’s not as “important” in the grand scheme of things as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, but in many ways, it’s just as good. The only thing that makes me rate this a bit lower, is that I like the acting performances and music a bit more in The Bird. Four Flies is also essential viewing when it comes to Argento, and should not be missed.

This could have worked better for me had Dario Argento not cast the pretty hapless Michael Brandon in the lead. He is "Roberto", a drummer in a mediocre rock band who gets it into his head that he is being followed! One night, he lies in wait for and apprehends this man in a derelict opera house - but in the ensuing struggle he manages to stab his phantom and kill him. If that wasn't bad enough, the next day he receives some photographs of him doing that very deed and his is now, of course, ripe for blackmail. But by whom? Why? In any case he'd better find out pronto as gradually we discover that many associated with him are falling foul of his new nemesis too! At times this is actually quite (deliberately) funny. Perhaps a little contrived at times, but there are moments that raise a smile as the characters all trip over themselves to get in (and out) of the action. The ending - well that's a turn up for the books that really does make the film worth sticking with. Not Argento's best work, though quite possibly Brandon's, and though it's a bit too long and a bit thinly spread, it's still just about worth a gander.