Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes is the last of Fulci's pre-gore flick Giallo's, and it has to be said that it's the lowest quality of the bunch. That, however, is more down to the fact that the others are such brilliant films rather a shortfall with this one. Having already done straight murderers with A Lizard in Woman's Skin and Don't Torture a Duckling, Fulci has resorted to a supernatural plot line for his fourth Giallo feature and the plot draws its mystery and intrigue from it. Fulci has taken influence from the more psychological Giallo films made before this one, as well as a plentiful helping of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat". The plot kicks off properly with the uncovering of a skeleton inside the walls of a villa belonging to the husband of our young lady protagonist. Clairvoyance is the reason for finding the skeleton, and naturally it isn't long before the husband is put under suspicion for the murder given that the body was uncovered inside his house; and he finds himself on the inside when it turns out that the body belonged to one of his ex-lovers...
Despite the fact that this film serves as something of a prelude to the latter half of Fulci's career, there is a surprising lack of blood and guts, and this film isn't even as gory as the earlier Don't Torture a Duckling. Fulci presents his plot with a surprising amount of restraint, and doesn't even take the opportunity to show a heavily decomposed corpse as he did in the largely gore-less One on Top of the Other over a decade earlier. While the plot itself does serve up intrigue, it has to be said that it's a little too bare to cover the running time properly. The suspense is there throughout, but Fulci's script certainly could have benefited from adhering a little more to the common convoluted Giallo plot. The technical side of the film makes up for this shortfall, however, as Fulci's use of the camera is excellent and he continually presents a morbid and foreboding atmosphere, particularly inside the central villa location. The tension mounts as we approach the ending, and Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes boils down to a satisfyingly macabre - if a little abrupt - conclusion. This film may not be Fulci's best Giallo attempt, and it is liable to disappoint fans of his later, bloodier films; but if you like your atmospheres grim and your plots suspenseful; Fulci's fourth Giallo comes recommended.
