The Goldsmith (original title L'Orafo) is an Italian home invasion horror directed and co-written by Vincenzo Ricchiuto (in his directorial debut) that turns the tables somewhat by having the invaders swiftly becoming the ones in peril. With a fantastic cast, this low key horror was something I really came to enjoy.
Roberto (Gianluca Vannucci), Arianna (Tania Bambaci), and Stefano (Mike Cimini) are lifelong friends and criminals who have heard about an elderly goldsmith and his wife whose remote workshop is ripe for robbing. One evening, the trio break into the couples home and soon have them tied up. After some persuasion, the goldsmith, Antonio (Giuseppe Pambieri), reveals the secret entrance to his workshop, with the three overjoyed at all the loot for them to take. Soon after entering the windowless room however the door automatically shuts behind them and they discover they are trapped inside. It is then that Antonio and his wife, Giovanna (Stefania Casini) reveal themselves to be far less innocent than they at first appeared, with Antonio displaying a troubling amount of knowledge about who the invaders are, and knowing some of their most guarded secrets...
The film is almost evenly split between two slightly different methods of horror. The first half is far more psychological, with Antonio's revelations causing no end of friction between the friends, causing them to begin to turn on each other. Without spoilers, the second half transitions into something more in common with so called torture porn horrors, here the more messed up moments occur. These messed up moments look great, with much of the camerawork hiding what is taking place out of sight of the viewer. There is a bodycount, but I was surprised just how relatively bloodless The Goldsmith was, with the cool looking kills not really featuring any blood at all, but this didn't detract from what was going on.
The cast were the glue that held this film together, I can't think of a single actor here who felt like they didn't belong. Antonio and Giovanna were crazy characters, but the direction prevented these from becoming over the top caricatures, with instead a low level insanity bubbling through. I would say their motivations when revealed make barely any sense, but this added to the charm of how bonkers they both where. Unlike Don't Breathe, I found it very hard to root for the robbers, they were shown to always have been bad people, straight from the opening prologue that sees them stabbing a man as teenagers. I did think that Vannucci's Roberto was probably my favourite character. A complete coward whose whiny voice and desperate threats made for someone quite memorable. Special mention goes to Matteo Silvestri whose small role as a forest ranger led to a fun scene that gave near Quentin Tarantino levels of suspense, with good use of inset shots to show his increasing suspicion.
The Goldsmith told a simple story in an engaging and enjoyable way. From the design of the goldsmith's home, to some perfectly chosen actors, and the transition into the creepily bizarre later story's twists and turns, I found this to be a neat horror. Final mention goes to the great song that plays over the end credits, which made me sit around for them all. The Goldsmith comes to VOD on Thursday October 12th from Cinephobia Releasing.
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