- Director
- Dario Argento
- Year
- 1971
- Runtime
- 103 min
Also released as
- 4 mosche di velluto grigio
- Négy légy a szürke bársonyon
- Vier Fliegen auf grauem Samt
- 4 mouches de velours gris
- Cuatro moscas de terciopelo gris
- Quatro Moscas Sobre Veludo Cinza
- Четири мухи върху сиво кадифе
- Fire fluer
- Neljä kärpästä harmaalla sametilla
- Τέσσερις Μύγες σε Πράσινο Βελούδο
- 4 légy a szürke bársonyon
- 4匹の蝿
- 4 moscas de terciopelo gris
- Het mysterie van de 4 vliegen
- Fire fluer på grå fløyel
- Cztery muchy na szarym aksamicie
- Quatro Moscas de Veludo
- Четыре мухи на сером бархате
- 4 Moscas sobre terciopelo gris
- Den djävulska fällan
- Fyra flugor på grått sammet
- Cetiri muhe na sivom barsunu
- Quattro mosche di velluto grigio
Filed under
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Four Flies on Grey Velvet is a 1971 French and Italian giallo directed by Dario Argento.
The third of Argento's Animal Trilogy, and the least seen because it was legally locked away for decades.
Sign in to track what you have survived.
A drummer accidentally kills a man who has been following him and is then blackmailed with photographs by someone in a creepy mask. The clue is an image supposedly retained on a dead retina.
Argento made it right after The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Cat o' Nine Tails, completing the trilogy, and it is looser and stranger than either, with a genuine sense of paranoia and a Morricone score.
The retinal-image plot device is pseudoscientific nonsense and Argento does not care.
It fell into a rights limbo for decades and was almost impossible to see in good quality until a restoration in the 2000s, which is why it is the forgotten one.
The slow-motion final crash, filmed with a camera on the car, is a genuine piece of technical bravado.
Rate this film
No ratings yet. Score it on the five axes and yours will be the first.
Sign in to rate this and add it to your shelf.
Trailer
The sleeves
The same film, sold as a different film in each territory. Click any of them.
Where to watch
Australia
Finland
UK
Legal sources only. Availability data from JustWatch via TMDB.
Checked 10 Aug 2026
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, a plot detail, or working out which cut you are holding.
Adjacent
WATCHknownA Bay of Blood
The hinge between giallo and slasher. Friday the 13th Part 2 lifts two murders almost shot for shot.
WATCHknownThe Cat o' Nine Tails
The middle of Argento's Animal Trilogy, and the one he liked least. A blind man and a reporter chase a killer.
WATCHknownA Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Fulci's best giallo, a fever of LSD dreams and a murder that may not have happened.
WATCHknownWhat Have You Done to Solange?
The most upsetting giallo, and the one with an actual moral centre.
WATCHknownBlood and Black Lace
The giallo template, and still the best-looking film in the category.
WATCHknownThe Girl Who Knew Too Much
Bava's proto-giallo, the film that invented the template, shot in gorgeous black and white in Rome.
- Next in Giallo: A Bay of Blood (1971) →