mitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” the great Oscar Wilde once mused. An irrefutable game-changer for scary movies, it’s no real surprise to spot the aesthetic witchery — and, indeed, narrative kernel — of Roman Polanski’s 1968 satanic stunner looming palpably over The Perfume of the Lady in Black (Italian: Il profumo della signora in nero, 1974), an arresting and gorgeously dreamlike jigsaw of a giallo conceived by co-writer/director Francesco Barilli. From the painterly appliance of bold primary colour, to an employment of extreme close-ups, illusory mise en scène and offbeat framing, comparisons between this spiritual double bill are plenteous — and, as the following visual essay exhibits, a veritable banquet for the eyeballs.

_{THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL – VIDEO:}