Pupi Avati Returns to Horror with 'Il signor diavolo'

Pupi Avati's new horror film 'Il signor diavolo' arrives in Italian cinemas on August 22, 2019, distributed by 01Distribution as part of the Moviement campaign. The story is set in autumn 1952 in northeastern Italy, where an investigation into the murder of a teenager, believed by locals to be possessed, unfolds. Inspector Furio Momenté travels to Venice to review interrogation transcripts. The killer is 14-year-old Carlo, whose friend Paolino dies after a series of events triggered by a deformed boy named Emilio. Avati describes the film as a return to his early career, with a therapeutic effect, evoking a sense of freedom and the unknown. The film is based on Avati's own novel. Critics note its meticulous aesthetic, with cinematography capturing 1950s rural atmospheres, and attention to details like dandruff on a minister's jacket or torn stockings. The film explores themes of good versus evil, religion versus politics, and fate versus choice. Avati calls it a 'sacred' gothic film, where every movement and silence carries ancestral weight.