Review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) by Tammy W — 26 Mar 2010
Likes to dress itself up as an art house thriller this one but frankly it's got more in common with standard horror fare than it would probably like to admit.
A fine and commanding performance from Ben Wishaw headlines this story of a young Frenchman with an acute sense of smell who embarks on a murderous rampage in a destiny style quest to capture the scent of a person.
The opening of the movie is extremely grizzly and leaves as much of a bad taste in the mouth as any gorno film in recent memory. Thankfully, this nasty part of the film is short lived and the film settles into being a decently compelling thriller with odd touches of dark humour.
It's a testament to Wishaw's skill as an actor than he can make what is essentially a super villain with a rather naff power seem deadly. At times it is difficult to believe just how unfeeling the character is but this is one of the films strengths.
The finale is suitably bizarre but seemingly fitting with the tone of the movie, and the climax satisfying and dark. You can almost imagine this coming out of an Alan Moore graphic novel.
Perfume is a suitably diverting and enjoyable horror movie which has the pretensions of being something different. At times unpleasant viewing and very distasteful but an intriguing idea capped off with a brilliant lead performance.
This review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) was written by Tammy W on 26 Mar 2010.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer has generally received positive reviews.
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