The Giallo Thread

[MrBarlow]

A Blade In The Dark. 1983.

A composer renting a villa to work on a soundtrack for a new horror film thinks he is being stalked.

Lamberto Bava does try his best with this, after his first solo film Macabre, shows that Lamberto can make a decent film like his father on a scaled budget. The film has one main setting, a villa that the walls hold secrets in which the main character tries to uncover after finding a diary. There is very little suspense, the acting may not be great that could be down to the dubbing being all over the place and a somewhat weird twist ending. I know this one may not be for everyone but it's enough to keep me quiet.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Fifth Cord (1971)

Franco Nero plays a journalist with a booze problem (lucky old J&B) who the police suspect is a murderer. Clearly concerned by this he sets out to discover who is killing seemingly random people but leaving a black glove with a finger removed on each victim.

The Fifth Cord is an enjoyable giallo. It's years since i watched the film and i'd forgotten much of it. Director Luigi Bazzoni keeps us guessing who the killer is throughout and Nero is his usual excellent self. Whilst it's not the greatest Giallo plot wise, one aspect of the production really stands out.

The film is technically impressive. Bazzoni is a fine director and is aided by the visually stunning photography of Vittorio Storaro. In fact it's the photography that makes The Fifth Cord such an awesome film. I genuinely think it's the best looking Giallo i've seen and that includes any from Dario Argento.

The way Storaro frames The Fifth Cord is phenomenal. He makes even the most run of the mill scene look superb such as Nero walking down some steps before getting into his car or two people talking. What Storaro does with his camera here is exceptional.

[MrBarlow]

Strip Nude For Your Killer. 1975.

After a model dies in a botched abortion, those associated with her are being killed.

One of the films that does follow the title as some intended victims are more or less naked and really not shy in showing off their physique including actress Edwige Fenech who knows how to seduce a photographer. Every Giallo always has the black handed killer and this has a leather biker killer that was a borrow from What Have They Done To Your Daughters that was released the year before but the kills are a bit brutal but we wouldn't expect less. It may not be the best but certainly a entertaining Giallo that I like to come back to.

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[MrBarlow]

Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key. 1972.

Sergio Martino's take on Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat which has very little to do with the story apart from a cat and the ending. Anita Strinberg plays the wife of a failed writer Luigi Pistilli who hosted a great party at the start of the film and also a killer who enjoys hacking up females and Edwige Fenech as the lovely niece who has a very close relationship with her uncle.

This was a slow burner of a film yet i still found it entertaining and more watchable this time round than the previous viewing. Full of the usual Italian nudity, orgy, some girl on girl and kills. The kills are far in few at times but they certainly gore galore and a killing of a cat can be upsetting to some. The cast do put on a decent performance even though the dubbing can be out of sync but not very often, the cinematography is decently done through out with a good tense background score towards the final act. One I'd happily watch again.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Formula for a Murder aka 7, Hyden Park – La casa maledetta (1985)

Outstanding Italian thriller with more than the odd nod to Hitchcock.

The story about a man marrying a traumatized wheelchair bound woman then plotting her murder so he can get his hands on her money isn't particularly original but the direction and performances make this an extremely gripping and suspenseful tale.

David Warbeck, here fantastic in his villainous role and Christina Nagy as the crippled heiress are absolutely first rate, fighting it out in a knuckle whitening final third. Being a giallo, violence is par for the course and the blood certainly splatters in this film. We are treated to a throat slashing and Warbeck caving someone's head in in a church among others. The film also has a disturbing back story of child abuse running through it heightened by a doll with a creepy line in songs and a voice guaranteed to make you cringe.

Director Alberto De Martino paces the film superbly, building up tension from the off then never letting you go, nor does he allow your attention to wander. This release from Shameless was an unknown quantity to me the first time i saw it, but after just two viewings i would comfortably place it in my top ten gialli list.

Highly recommended.

[peter alex]

it could do with a new release in the uk because the last time it was released it was by shameless and that was in 2014.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Autopsy aka Sunspots (1975)

A strange Giallo concerning a spate of apparent suicides in Rome among them the sister of mortician Mimsy Farmer. However when a priest (Barry Primus) tells her he suspects her sister was in fact murdered.

Co-starring Ray Lovelock, this has quite an unusual and very hallucinatory opening as the dead seem to be coming back to life in front of Farmer. It's a wild sequence and quite gory in a Fulci-esq way but sadly the film doesn't really follow up on such a memorable beginning but it does hit it's stride in traditional Giallo territory.

Armando Crispino's film is fairly straightforward in Giallo terms and it's gimmick of sunspots, albeit sunspots that i thought were images of a volcanic eruption, before a death certainly different. The film has a lovely score from the great Ennio Morricone and some lovely Rome location work. Like me you'll probably ignore the main conversation and stare in fascination at the imagery when Farmer visits the 'Death Museum'. Some of the images are truly f*cked up.

I hadn't seen Autopsy in years, probably over a decade, and i really enjoyed it once more. Helped no end that it felt like i was watching a new film.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Amuck (1972)

Greta Franklin (Barbara Bouchet) gets a job with a famous but eccentric novelist (Farley Granger) as his personal secretary. Unbeknown to Granger and his equally eccentric wife (Rosalba Neri) Greta is actually investigating the disappearance of her sister who she believes died at the hands of the couple.

As far as giallo cinema goes Amuck isn't at the top end, however it is a reasonably entertaining mystery which slowly builds it's thriller elements. The film sports one or two decent set pieces such as Bouchet being pursued whilst duck hunting across the marshy waters surrounding Venice, but it's the eroticism that mainly stands out.

Amuck is an absolute delight for lovers of female flesh. Both Bouchet and Neri are involved in several nude scenes including a slo-mo lesbian encounter. There's even a feel of the Gothic about it as Bouchet wafts around the big old house in nightwear even more flimsy and transparent than the last. The film unlike most gialli isn't murder centric. Most of the nefarious deeds involve drugged out sex and rape so fans of the sexier side of Italian cinema should find much to enjoy.

It's a while since i saw a nice and sleazy giallo, so this second viewing of Amuck went down a treat.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Card Player (2003)

A serial killer kidnaps women around Rome and challenges the police to a game of online poker for their lives. If the police win the girl goes free if not she is murdered online.

A British detective played by Liam Cunningham is assigned to the case when an English woman is the first to be killed. He teams up with the Rome police, in particular detective Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) in trying to defeat the card player.

I really have no idea why this is disliked so much. Yes, it's certainly more thriller than horror thriller, but that's what gialli are, thrillers rather than horror films, and yes it may lack some of director Dario Argento's more extreme violence, convoluted plotting and innovative camera work but it's still an engaging thriller and i always love Rome set films.

Cunningham and Rocca are a very likable pair of cops and bring so much to proceedings. The story is easy to follow and also possible to work out who the killer might be - it's so long since i last watched it that i picked the wrong person out but it was one or the other, i just happened to think it was the other. The story strands all fit nicely in place and the reasoning throughout fits the outcome (Which can't actually be said of all the directors best work).

The online poker idea seems a little outdated now but still remains relevant, but back in the early 2000's it was quite a phenomenon so there's no wonder Italian film makers jumped on the idea as it's what they do. Whilst the finale may seem crazy it's well played out - i was shocked at one point - and the final poker game, as were a couple of others, pretty tense.

Of all the Argento films i've rewatched this past couple of weeks - Trauma, The Stendahl Syndrome, Sleepless and The Phantom of the Opera - this i enjoyed more than any.

[Justin101]

I?m hoping that my recently ordered German Blu-ray is in my post box when I get home. If it?s I?ll be watching it tonight.