Giallo

[Dan Warburton]

Maybe there's already been a thread on this before, but if not, as I'm new to the genre - vague memories of seeing a few Fulcis and Bavas years ago, but can't recall much - and very much enjoyed Profondo Rosso last night (see other thread), was wondering if there were any great giallo freaks here (paging The Rita!) to point me in the direction of some others I might like.

[leroysghost]

i'm not really a freak (i've seen a lot of these things but hated the majority of them) but there are definitely some good stuff out there.

Profondo Rosso & The Phantom Of The Opera are the only good Argento save for the crane shot in Tenebre (1982) and the first five minutes of Suspiria (1977).

Fulci is even worse, Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino (1972) & One On Top Of The Other (1969) are the only worthwhile ones.

Bava has made a number of great films, but the ones that count as Giallo are Blood And Black Lace (1964) and Chain Reaction (1971). i highly recommend both of those (as well as the non-Giallo Black Sabbath (1963), Terror In Space (1965), Operation Fear(1966), Diabolik (1967) and Rabid Dogs (1974)) .

after Bava, my three favorites would have to be the ultra-cool The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh (1971) & La Ragazza Dal Pigiama Giallo (1977), and the more serious What Have You Done To Solange? (1972)

[holy ghost]

I'm no expert but I did really enjoy The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, In The Black Belly Of The Tarantula, Blood And Black Lace, Don't Torture A Duckling, Suspiria, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Torso and a few others, but I have a list of lots more I'd like to see.......

[Dan Warburton]

Thanks for the tips guys. Off to Gotham then, coolest DVD store in Paris (rue Dante, if you're interested - rather appropriate for hellish Italian stuff, I think)

[Dan Warburton]

Thanks to Massimo Ricci - the real one, not the gay lover in the Argento film - for pointing out to me that it's Profondo Rosso not Profundo.. a mistake I also made in that recent Wire review of the Russian throat singing thing on Stephen O'Malley's label. Hmm, noone spotted that at Wire HQ it seems. Damn. But errors have been duly corrected here thanks to that wonderful edit button.

[Ricci]

the real one, not the gay lover in the Argento film

I remember having a very good time with Dario and all the guys at that time

[WCrap]

i enjoyed some of William Bennett's recommendations in his Giallo Specials
http://williambennett.blogspot.com/2010 ... ecial.html
http://williambennett.blogspot.com/2010 ... ial-2.html
http://williambennett.blogspot.com/2010 ... ial-3.html
http://williambennett.blogspot.com/2010 ... ial-4.html

[Dan Warburton]

Cool set of links, thanks Daniel. Doubt I'll agree with everything WB says (I rarely do), but he clearly knows this particular murky corner better than I do so I'll check out his recommendations

[leroysghost]

well i have yet to find anyone with whom i agree with everything they say either, but WB seems have pretty good taste aside from his obvious love of cheesy subcultures.

there are a few in there that i'd suggest you avoid, but he aced all my above recommendations so you'd be best served just checking those out

i haven't seen The Red Queen Kills 7 Times, Giallo A Venezia or The Killer Is Still Among Us. curious about those now...

[Dan Warburton]

Dario Argento, L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, 1970

I spoiled myself by starting with the much better Profondo Rosso, of which this is, in many ways, a forerunner. Fun stuff, but the "surprise" ending (wrapping up the whole story while our hero's plane taxis out on to runway to fly him and his gal back to the USA) is a bit of a cop-out. The again, I suppose you could get all postmodern and trendy and argue that plot resolution doesn't matter, it's the journey of discovery - the hero's (foreign artist turned amateur sleuth once more) and ours as the viewer / voyeur - that counts. The HItchcock influence is clear - especially Rear Window and Vertigo - and there are MacGuffins galore. Leone's too (those huge close-ups of eyes, or maybe the Morricone soundtrack). Thoughtful review here (even if they do spell "plumage" wrong and add apostrophes to the possessive adjective "its"):
http://www.horrorview.com/movie-reviews ... ummage-the

[Dan Warburton]

Dario Argento, Il gatto a nove code, 1971

Swiped the photos from this review of the film http://www.gotterdammerung.org/film/dar ... tails.html which more or less sums up my thoughts about it. James "Naked City" Franciscus, with his Burt-Lancaster-meets-Robert-Redford good looks, is very much of the Charlton Heston "Too Wood To Be True" school, and Catherine Spaak's hopeless. Karl Malden's cool though. As usual, plenty of Hitchcock in there (poisoned milk, anyone?), and a great Morricone score, but the Agatha Christie tell all confession plot tie up is a drag.

[Dan Warburton]

Flavio Mogherini, La ragazza dal pigiama giallo, 1977

ignore the haters, this is a masterpiece: stunning original giallo which, stylistically, is decades ahead of its time predating the clearly derivative styles later employed by Rob Zombie, Tarantino, and others; a geriatric Ray Milland slurs his way through his lines whilst Dalila Di Lazzaro provides classy female glamour to the sleazy proceedings set in beautiful Sydney - as if that wasn't enough we get a phenomenal soundtrack from disco queen Amanda Lear and composer Riz Ortolani (including the staggering Moroder-on-acid electronic maelstrom Il Corpo Di Linda)

Well, bought this on WB's recommendation, but I can't say I share his enthusiasm (I do like the Amanda Lear songs though).. There's certainly enough actual meat in the plot - true story, Australia's Black Dahlia if you like - for another remake. Mogherini has some nice ideas - immigrant outsider Tonio's lonely prowls round genteel Aussie bowling clubs, and the masterstroke of the coachful of cheerleaders at the end (not spoiling anything here, don't worry). But Milland is really hopeless, a kind of cross between Monsieur Hulot, Columbo and Lemmon & Matthau in Grumpy Old Men... Hard to imagine the super suave villain of Dial M for Murder giving someone the finger, really. Anyway, if you see it lying around for a couple of bucks, worth a pop.

[Dan Warburton]

Lucio Fulci, Non si sevizia un paperino, 1972

Thanks to LG amongst others for pointing me in the direction of this one. The Blue Underground print is pretty shitty (they all seem to be), but this is a goodie, with plenty of red herrings, black gloves (well, a few) and voodoo dolls. The attack in the cemetery (not spoiling this, as I won't tell you who gets attacked) to the accompaniment of cheesy Top 40 Italian radio is particularly disturbing. Fulci should have directed Death Wish instead of Winner. Dumbass title though. Don't torture a duckling? Wha..?

[leroysghost]

Fulci should have directed Death Wish instead of Winner.

you're spoiling yourself again. Fulci generally makes films as shitty as anybody's.

[Dan Warburton]

Sure, but I'm reminded of an old acquaintance of mine who ran an extremely chic restaurant in San Franciso and who liked nothing better on his rare nights off than eggs and sausage and a side of toast coffee and a roll, hash browns over easy chile in a bowl with burgers and fries

[leroysghost]

for a second there i thought you were going to say you had an old acquaintance who liked to get chain whipped on his days off .

just because he liked burgers and fries doesn't mean they didn't taste delicious. Fucli only grilled a decent burger (or duckling i suppose) this once. his urban pervfest The New York Ripper is only marginally better then Death Wish.

[leroysghost]

Dumbass title though. Don't torture a duckling? Wha..?

Paperino is Donald Duck's name in Italy, an important plot point in the film

[johnson]

Look for La morte ha fatto l'uovo, probably the weirdest giallo.
I also highly recommend Aldo Lado's Chi l'ha vista morire?, not least of all for the Morricone score.

I'm not really a fan of this genre, though. I don't care who dunnit, I just like straight-up horror.

edit: Man, whatevs, Fulci's gothic horror films, The Gates of Hell, The Beyond and The House By The Cemetery are pure genius.

[evil_scientist]

Half (or even more) of all giallo films are rubbish (they were mass-produced in great numbers after all). Sometimes they don't even qualify for "so bad it's good". The rest are great! Watched Fulci's "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin" ("Una lucertola con la pelle di donna"). It's bloody, sensual, erotic, well-made (visually creative)... The first half is amazing with all the visions and dreams, but the second half is dominated by slasher-esque "run from the guy with the knife" sequences. On the roof of Alexandra Palace in London, that's good.


Also, here's a tongue-in-cheek giallo plot-generator:
http://www.braineater.com/misc/giallo_intro.html