South by Southwest Film Festival 2026 – Writer/director Eric Jackowitz‘s The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much is very much a love letter to giallo films of the 1970s. The movie features a Goblin-like score, a black-gloved killer on the loose, and plenty of gore. Unlike a Dario Argento film, however, the movie merges the comedy with the horror, creating an over-the-top short film that’s a rollercoaster of blood, guts, and laughs.
The movie stars Gabrielle Montes de Oca as Anne, a blind violinist who ascends to the first chair of the Rome symphony. She’s waited for this moment her entire life. Unfortunately, however, the killer starts picking off others in the orchestra, and the only one who knows the murderer’s identity is Anne’s seeing eye dog, hence the movie’s title. Before anyone gets hacked and slashed on screen, there’s some absurdly humorous dialogue. At one point, when Anne asks the Maestro (Ethan Edenburg) why she was chosen as first chair, he compliments her beauty with the most ridiculous accolades. For example, he compares her beauty to “homemade bolognese” and her body to “a pound of ground beef mashed up in a pan.” The food and Italian culture jokes really land, especially since the film is set in Rome in 1975 and features mostly Italian actors. Of course, before his string of weird compliments, the Maestro mentions that he and Anne are sleeping together. There’s one or two times during this exchange when Jackowitz pans in on the dog, watching the couple, with his tongue wagging. It adds to the wildly comical tone.
While the movie contains plenty of jokes, it also has a heck of a lot of gore. People get slashed and stabbed through the throat. Blood spews everywhere. One character loses a hand and gushes blood. Yet all of the gore is so over-the-top that it matches the rest of the tone. Overall, this is one cohesive short film that maintains its great humor and riotous dialogue. It even gets to a point where Anne meets with a scientist who somehow taps into the dog’s mind to identify the killer. It’s silly, but again, it fits with the movie.
The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much is great fun. It’s a clever tribute to giallo movies that’s peppered with some sharp humor. I would love to see this turned into a feature-length movie. We can all use more laughter right now.
