Blu-ray Review – 5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas

Writer/director Joseph F. Parda was a fan of giallo movies. As one does when they’re young and filled with dreams, he elected to pick up a Super 8 camera and try to replicate the viewing experience, aiming to deliver a little Argento-scented mayhem with his friends in Long Island, NY. 1996’s “5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas” is the result of such labor, offering a homemade version of Italian filmmaking, and such ambition actually gets the endeavor halfway there. There’s a killer-in-black on the loose, a variety of suspects, a handful of victims, and touches of sleaziness to reach exploitational goals. Parda has an idea of what he wants to accomplish, but he’s missing one major thing: screen momentum. “5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas” is a painfully dull offering of giallo turns and unstable characters, going slow and clunky with its presentation of murder and mystery, though the potency of such puzzling is certainly debatable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com