31 Days of Horror: Le Parfum - Histoire d'un Meurtrier (2006)

Here's a beautifully creepy one for you. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer here in the US is an equally artful and terrorizing film centered around smell

Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman bookend a phenomenal film with unknown {to me} Ben Whishaw as our demented serial killer. As Jean-Baptiste, he is a shudder-inducing, spine-tingling creep.

Perfume has a etherial, almost erotic, aesthetic created under the direction of Tom Tykwer. Visually arresting, the film balances gore and morbidity {that pushes the viewer's sensibilities} with a gentle and artful touch. I think Tykwer is intentionally enigmatic--it's hard to quantify, but the film works beautifully.

Our killer is a victim of circumstance and the film builds pity for him, but as his innocence gives way to madness, Perfume takes on a wholly different tone which is documented nicely. I love how the sense of smell becomes palpable, something touchable, albeit weirdly touchable. Jean-Bautiste is pitch perfect.

18th Century Europe is rich with a menacing touch of Gotham City. Strange. Additionally, the black humour is almost inappropriate, but it works.

Le Parfum - Histoire d'un Meurtrier is surreal and down right odd. Still the film provides delicious gore with a haunting story that's perfect this time of year.