Pupi Avati’s Zeder has been
an odd enigma of an Italian horror film to me. I’m not really sure what it is
trying to do, but its mystique and mismatched place in the genre are part of
what make it special. While watching it, I usually wonder what it is we are
looking for or what the lead character is so obsessed and serious about, and yet I can't help always feeling drawn in. It’s a
movie searching for something deep and menacing, and it does eventually find it, but the journey along the way is a challenging, unsettling, and memorable one with an
impressively creepy payoff and a serious lead performance from Deep Red’s
(1975) Gabriele Lavia. I also like the way it alludes to a kind of
sinister underbelly to the city in a way that is similar to Perfume of the
Lady in Black (1974).
What I buy most about Zeder is the academic
and research side, fixating on knowing and overcoming death. The scientific field
approach, with shady occultist researchers and their cameras and experimental
equipment is pivotal to one of the best scenes.
Stefano’s (Lavia)
investigations become a paranoid obsession that he never really lets up on once
he starts on it. Being a writer and a college student (overdue for graduation
it seems), his focus feels like a thesis from hell.
