Thrill Me! The Best and Worst of the Giallo Films

I don't have time to go into it, but Umberto Lenzi's EYEBALL (The Secret Killer) is incredible; littered with pedestrian misogyny and homophobia (the hero of the film asks his mistress to stay away from a lesbian photographer, because as we all know, gays are totally predatory, only to turn around and ask said photographer for help) completely nonsensical red herrings and, I believe, the most ludicrous motivation for mass murder to ever appear in any giallo, perhaps in any "serious" film that I've ever seen. I love it.

Wish I could go into more detail about the loves, but The Killer Must Kill Again (The Spider), Death Walks At Midnight, Short Night of Glass Dolls, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Strip Nude For Your Killer, Your Vice Is A Locked Door & Only I Have The Key, The Bloodstained Shadow, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, and Who Saw Her Die? are all fun to incredible and worth tracking down.

P.S., The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Blood & Black Lace, the two Bava lensed pictures that essentially created the genre are, to this day, astonishing and visually lush thrillers.

I was fairly impressed with Sergio Martino's THE NEXT VICTIM (aka BLADE OF THE RIPPER, aka THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH). Stylish, twisted, sexy, good suspense and setpieces. I'm interested in checking out more from Martino (especially YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY, which is just an awesome title and also a phrase that appears in THE NEXT VICTIM).

What about THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS? I mean really what about it, I haven't seen it but I heard it was good. Can anyone confirm or deny?

EDIT: Beaten to the punch

Eli Roth raved about Torso while doing the press rounds for Hostel Part: 2, but I wasn't a huge fan. Then again, I haven't seen a lot of Giallo, so it's hard to tell whether I didn't like the movie or I just don't like the sub-genre.

TORSO doesn't live up to it's rep, and it really isn't the best example of the genre.

PIECES barely counts (I think it's Spanish), but is a favorite of mine.

This Grindhouse trailer entry from the 2007 contest cracked me up.

National origin be damned; PIECES is awesome, and stylistically speaking it's close enough to count. I'd put it in the middle of the giallo-slasher venn diagram along with BLACK CHRISTMAS and some of Argento's work (namely PHENOMENON, I guess)

Speaking of neo/pseudo/homages to giallo, I'm looking forward to seeing this one next week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRsKwktSJY4

Dan, where are you seeing it? That looks fly (on grey velvet) as hell.

Ritz at the Bourse. Part of the little Danger After Dark festival that starts on friday. Next to DOGTOOTH and ENTER THE VOID it's the one I'm looking forward to the most.

Damn it, hope it's not sold out.

I was just on the website earlier and saw nothing about sell outs. Probably gonna want to get your tix soon though.

Jacknife Johnny has some good recos.

Since you liked Solange I would suggest checking out the second in Dallamano's unofficial trilogy What Have They Done to Your Daughters which is almost as good as Solange (but skip the third film, which he didn't get to direct on account of being dead). And if the schoolgirl/giallo thing really does it for you then also see the Spanish giallo The House that Screamed from Narcisco Ibanez Serrador (who directed the evil kids horror classic Who Can Kill A Child?)

The mentioned Torso, ...Mrs Wardh, Your Vice... are all decent, another good one from the Martino collection is All the Colors of the Dark- good style (though sub Argento, as always with Martino) and starring top shelf giallo hottie Edwige Fenech.

If you value sleaze over quality, try The French Sex Murders or the super nasty Giallo in Venice. But if you want a more well made giallo, try Franco Nero in The Fifth Cord, plus you can't go wrong with Stagefright (Michele Soavi of Demons 3: The Church and Dellamorte Dellamore fame giving the genre a fun late 80s shot in the arm)

Apparently Argento called him on it or something and the two of them fucking hate each other. Never really got the whole story though.

I've really got nothing to add, everyone already hogged the good ones. Severin released In the Folds of the Flesh a little while ago. That one isn't strictly a Giallo by my measure, but is usually mentioned among the genre, and it's pretty good, or at least weird as hell. I know you said you knew Fulci, Elvis, but have you watched ALL of his Gialli? They're among the genre's best.

Actually, I just finally got around to finding a copy of Who Saw Her Die myself, and am looking forward to finding the time to watch it.

I suspect he's familiar with Case of the Bloody Iris, the elevator slashing scene in Dressed to Kill is strikingly similar to the one in that 1972 giallo.

De Palma's use of split-screen could be traced to a few of Fulci's early thrillers, namely ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER/PERVERSION STORY and A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN.

Speaking of Fulci, Elvis, a must-see if you missed it is DON'T TORTURE THE DUCKLING: Daring commentary on religious hypocrisy, ignorance and superstition fighting for time with a shocking death-by-chains and Bouchet in the Buff.

Duccio Tessari's giallo/courtroom drama hybrid THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY is also recommended.

I already posted this in the Creature Corner, but it fits here as well: AMER is a 2009 tribute to the Giallo style, it borders on the abstract but it's recommended viewing (if you can find it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF8R6xtav98 (look out, cringeworthy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U5v0Rufhf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTYOT9_t9DA

Tenebrae and Deep Red are two of my favourites.

The Fifth Chord has a great score and some really impressive camera work. And the finale, involving a first person POV camera chasing a TERRIFIED little boy is hilarious and unnerving at the same time. Highly reccomend that one. I also like Lamberto Bava's contributions to the genre MACBRE and BLADE IN THE DARK. If you want to see how NOT to do this right and have a couple of chuckle as well, see Lamberto's DELRIUM. It takes the killer's POV trope to unheard of levels of wackiness. And it has some nice tits.

Despite a few bright spots, I think A Blade In The Dark is practically donkeywork as a viewing experience, I've never liked that film, but I do like Delirium precisely because it's so asburd, sleazy, and visually ostentatious. It's not a good film, but it's Lamberto Bava maximizing his limited talent to create a nice piece of slick, commercial garbage.

The Fifth Cord is a very good recommendation, surprised I forgot it. I wish I could say the same about Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, but I find little to love in that film, despite the presence of Nieves Navarro a.k.a Susan Scott (possibly the second best known giallo starlet behind Edwige Fenech) and a good turn from Simón Andreu.

I can understand your Blade in the Dark complaints. I just like that stupid piece of shit for some reason. Maybe it's Micehle Soavi's involvement.

Now Macabre is another story all together. Not only is it set in New Orleans, it's perverse and twisted, features evil children and sex with a severed head. Sign me up. Is that a giallo, though? There are murders, but none are commited by a black gloved killer. There may be a supernatural element to the proceedings. The "mystery" such as it is is not really the focus of the flick. I dunno. But I know I LOVE that flick. Outside of DEMONI it's my favorite Lamberto Bava picture.

Glad to see Fifth Chord getting some love. Franco Nero is such an asshole in that movie. God I love that man.

Nah, Macabre is not a giallo, but it is Lamberto's most measured and mature work (ironic, considering it's his first full feature), even though I find it a bit glacial at times, that ending makes up for all that though, what an utterly fucking bizarre and left field moment.

Yeah...it doesn't really fit the necessities of the genre. But what the Hell is it then? Is it a straight up horror picture? A ghost story? A (shudder) erotic thriller? Like I said I don't know what it is but I like it. And you're right. It's his best work. I don't know what the worst would be but I nominate The Ogre ( aka Demons 3). But anyway. Giallos.

It's been mentioned above and I always wondered about the Brian DePalma/Dario Argento similarities. DDoes anyone have any info on that? To me it's obvious. But I'd like some more concrete stuff from the filmmakers themselves.

JacknifeJohnny already mentioned it, but I really must second YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM & ONLY I HAVE THE KEY. It's bizarre, unhinged and ohmygod Edwidge Fenech.

I could've sworn I saw The Fifth Chord, but I'm reading a synopsis and now I think I missed it entirely.

I watched the wannabe Aussie giallo/slasher Nightmares the other day. Really sleazy stuff, in a good, no, great way, and pretty much the worst cover-up of the killer's identity in history.

TENEBRAE and PHENOMENA are my favorite Argento films.

DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING definitely a standout.

To be honest, I'm a little iffy on what truly falls into the giallo category and what doesn't. I had a friend in college who was obsessed with Italian genre films and that's where I saw most of them. So to me they all fall under the same umbrella, even though Bava's RABID DOGS (aka KIDNAPPED) isn't exactly giallo, for example.

Are LISA AND THE DEVIL or BARON BLOOD be considered giallo? ZOMBI?

I bitched about it elsewhere, but the film is less interested in paying homage to the genre than it is taking its trappings and telling its own kind of story. A boring kind of story. As I said to Dan, it has all the camera angles, lighting tricks, and looks of a giallo, but it has none of the frenzied love of film that oozes out of every frame of a proper giallo.

I recently got House With The Laughing Windows from Netflix after knowing about it for many years, and I came away from it pretty impressed. It's slow moving (really slow at points that I was seriously getting bored), but the movie had one hell of a trippy last act. The music was pretty good too, and the titular house has some creepy laughing windows.

There's another giallo that I sold off called Autopsy by Armando Crispino (that's a great name) and aside from a cool Morricone score, it did nothing for me.

I posted the awesome trailer on my Facebook page, but The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave is great. The Red Queen Kills 7 Times is also pretty good. They're on a double feature called The Killer Queen Box set that came with a doll of The Red Queen, and now it goes for a good amount on e-Bay. Glad I picked it up way back.


The Case Of The Scorpion's Tale is also pretty good. George Hilton and Ivan Rassimov did a shit load of giallo movies.

Edited to add: I second Stagefright. Any movie that has the killer in a huge bird mask deserves to be seen at least once.

Yeah, Autopsy really isn't very good. Better acting than most gialli, but that's about it. I'm looking through lists and realizing I saw most of these films on crap VHS in college and I really should revisit them all now that they're all digital format.

I'm really glad I didn't run out and by the misframed Lizard In A Woman's Skin. Glad I didn't take interest in it until the good version was released.

I saw Torso on an old vhs tape I rented from Hollywood Video 5 or 6 years back before I picked up the Anchor Bay dvd. The quality was a bit better, but the movie as has already been stated doesn't live up to what it's hyped as. Great score and that chase scene through the mud and fog is great though.

I'm talking, like, pre-Anchor Bay VHS. Like, no widescreen, basically bootlegged pieces of crap I found at various AZ video stores.

And that Lizard in a Woman's Skin DVD was such a fucking joke. Shreik Show swore up and down that there was absolutely no way they could get a widescreen copy of the film uncut, and then charged extra since there were two versions of the film included in that collection. Within a year they released the widescreen version that apparently didn't exist.

That's so fucked up. Did they offer a replacement program? If not, then that's even more fucked up.

The Torso vhs was really old and in fullscreen. I don't even remember which company put it out, but I know it wasn't an Anchor Bay copy. That same Hollywood Video also had a Magnum vhs of Zombie.

Nope, no replacement program. The only saving grace was that it was cheaply priced at like $13. I think the original one cost me $25 though. I bought it for love of the movie and kept both, but resent the shit out of the other release.

Prism issued the edited U.S. version to VHS. The same company also distributed EYEBALL on home video.

Glad you enjoyed it. That wasn't Fulci's original title for the movie; the studio pushed it to cash in on Argento's popularity.

Btw, the actual title for the Franco Nero/Luigi Bazzoni movie is THE FIFTH CORD, though I can't remember how it has any bearing on the plot. The translation of the Italian title is BLACK DAY FOR A RAM (another leap for the giallo gravy train by sticking a color and an animal in the title).

Aldo Lado is a good director, underappreciated, and one of the few directors of gialli who aimed higher than commercial success, you should also check out his Short Night of Glass Dolls with Jean Sorel.

Finally got Who Saw Her Die under my belt. It's a pretty classy flick. It only suffers from following Argento's Bird with the Crystal Plumage formula a little too much. The ending is eerily close to Don't Torture a Duckling, from the killer reveal down to the killer's death. It seems great minds think alike, because the two movies came out about the same time.

Oh, and I missed Worm's old post. I'd call Lisa and the Devil a supernatural thriller, Rabid Dogs a general thriller, but Baron Blood is a little harder. It's more of a gothic body count movie, as there's really no mystery when it comes to the killer's identity, but it shares a lot in common with the genre otherwise.

I know it's not officially a "giallo" but I'm having a hell of a hard time not recommending Donald Cammell's White of the Eye. It has many moments that would make any Argento or Bava fan proud. I think.

White of the Eye is excellent (still a DVD noshow- real pity). David Keith's finest acting, if that means anything.

There's a region 2 import from the Netherlands but I don't know anything about its quality or if it has any extras. I'd like to see Criterion put out an edition.

Yeah, I really like Rabid Dogs and it's supremely awesome Stelvio Cipriani score, but it's definitely not a Giallo. It still contains some of the hallmarks, like black gloves and the switch blade, along with a solid twist ending.

On the subject of Rabid Dogs - avoid the Kidnapped cut. I don't care if Bava didn't get a chance to do a final cut, his son's added scenes are just as bad as turning all the guns into walky talkies in ET.

I've added White of the Eye to my list fellas, thanks for that.

Move it to the top. You'll be glad you did.

I rewatched Pieces again for the first time in a long time the other day, and I've turned around on my genre placement. It still plays more like a slasher, but the filmmakers were clearly trying to ape the Dario Argento school of Giallo, so I calling it a giallo-wannabe from now on. It and New York Ripper kind of belong in their own category.

I'd call New York Ripper a pseudo-Giallo film. The killer doesn't have black gloves (he uses latex gloves instead), but he does use a lot of knives, and has that great Donald Duck voice.

That whole duck undertone, complete with it's explanation, as well as the explanation why he's savagely murdering beautiful women are pure Giallo, but all the gore really makes it more of a slasher.

Gialli are violent, and they celebrate the kill, but most of them aren't definitively mega-gory, which is why I tend to group movies like Pieces and New York Ripper in with slashers. Even Fulci's proper Gialli aren't THAT gory. Argento's films are a clear exception, but the genre mostly died out before he started making stuff like Tenebre.