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  1. #1
    The Lord Caligula
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    Good Italian Horror Films/directors

    I'm writing a piece about how Italian horror became popular in the USA in a big way after the invention of the VCR. (Before this the only way to view italian horror was to watch certain B-film grindhouses at drive-ins, or to watch ridiculously edited television versions.) Only problem is that the only directors that I have any knowledge of are Fulci, Bava and Argento and while i've seen most of THEIR films, i'd like to broaden my horizons in the field of Italian horror a bit more.

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    Last edited by ammityville69; 03-10-2008 at 08:22 PM.

    "If movies are the dreams of the mass culture, horror movies are the nightmares"
    — Stephen King

  2. #2
    Knight
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    Well there's always Bruno Mattei. Known for such masterpieces as 'Hell of the Living Dead' and 'Rats: Night of Terror'...

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  3. #3
    Feed me a stray cat
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    Some of the more notable directors

    Sergio Martino
    Antonio Margheriti
    Ruggero Deodato
    Umberto Lenzi
    Lamberto Bava
    Michele Soavi
    Pupi Avati
    Aldo Lado
    Joe D'Amato (pushing it)

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    ordinary fucking people, I hate 'em.

  4. #4
    Rotting Zealot
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    Okay, obviously the big two are Mario Bava and Dario Argento. There's plenty of material about those two around.

    Probably the most famous director outside of those two is Lucio Fulci, although much of his reputation stems from the films he produced 1979-1983.

    Less prolific than some of his contemporaries but even more talented is Michele Soavi. Probably the last 'fresh' talent to emerge from the Italian horror scene, Soavi attracted lots of attention for his debut, the giallo/slasher Stagefright and followed it up with the excellent The Church. His masterpiece is Cemetery Man, probably the last great Italian horror film. Personal issues get Soavi away from films, and he moved into TV when the market completely collapsed in the early 90s.

    Lambero Bava gets a lot of criticism for not being as good as his father, but his first four films- Macabre, A Blade In The Dark, Demons and Demons 2- rank among the best Italian horror films of the period. Like Soavi, Bava moved into TV when the industry imploded, and his made-for-TV horror films (things like Graveyard Disturbance and The Ogre) are pathetic, especially when compared to his earlier works.

    Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino and Umberto Lenzi were all prolific in the 80s, churning out whatever was popular. They all did cannbal movies and gialli, as well as zombie films, Mad Max clones, Jaws rip-offs, anything that would sell. Antonio Margheriti was part of the same crowd, except that he had been a major talent in the 60s and early 70s, directing some of the best Italian horror films. When things began to slow down, he was forced to make anything her could, including old-fashioned spaghetti westerns, Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now rip-offs, you name it.

    As far as the influence of video, it did indeed push Italian horror into the spotlight in the 1980s. It also kept it alive for a few years longer. In the early 80s, the box-office potential of Italian horror started to decline, and producers/directors began to move into other areas that were still commercially popular. All the major talents started having difficulties: Argento's Inferno never reached theatres in the US, while Tenebre was hacked about and briefly released as Unsane. After Manhattan Baby no Lucio Fulci film was released to cinemas in the USA. Video was still a place where you could find some success though- Lamberto Bava's early films hadn't done very well in cinemas, but Demons and Demons 2 did incredibly well on video and made a lot of money out releases throughout the whole of Europe and the Americas.

    In short, without video, Italian horror would probably died out in the early 1980s. Video kept it alive for nearly ten years after that.

    Part of the problem in Italy was television- before 1976 Italy only had one TV channel, and that was run by the government and only shown in black and white. In 1976 the government allowed people to set up their own private stations and networks. Within five years, Italian audiences got bored of paying to go to the cinema when you could watch movies at home, which is why Soavi and Bava started doing TV work. But video was cheaper than a trip to the cinema and you could still watch at home, so when VCRs emerged in the late 70s, Italian cinemagoers started renting films instead.

    Sorry for the long ramble there- feel free to ignore it lol

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    COMING SOON: Dark Dreams: The World of Anime Horror, by Jim Harper (Noir Publishing).

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  5. #5
    The Idiot
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    That was a nice read, but I gotta say that Graveyard Disturbance is a very charming movie :nod:

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  6. #6
    Smile.Kill.Repeat
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    Since the good directors were named I will name some of my favorite Italian horror movies.

    Cemetery Man (Best Italian zombie movie)
    Deep Red
    House by the Cemetery
    The Beyond
    Demons 1 and 2
    Susperia (Some love it others hate it)
    Zombie aka Zombi 2
    Stagefright (awesome 80's Italian slasher)
    Bay of Blood (Inspired the Friday the 13th movies in many ways)

    there are alot more but these are my personal favorites.

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  7. #7
    Easy like Sunday mornin'
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    "good italian horror movies" is like saying "smelless, tasty feces."

    I know some people really love them, but I have only watched one that I liked, two if you county Cemetery Man, which I thought was British.

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  8. #8
    Smile.Kill.Repeat
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    Quote Originally Posted by GruesomeDuece View Post
    "good italian horror movies" is like saying "smelless, tasty feces."

    I know some people really love them, but I have only watched one that I liked, two if you county Cemetery Man, which I thought was British.
    Cemetery Man is Italian.

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  9. #9
    Diz mutha F'er got banned!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Metapher View Post
    That was a nice read, but I gotta say that Graveyard Disturbance is a very charming movie :nod:
    I hated it the first time I watched but I'd be willing to give it another chance, just to see if I was being too hard on the movie. But I will give Graveyard Disturbance credit, it had some very kickass sets, particularly the catacombs.

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  10. #10
    The Idiot
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    The set is awesome as hell in it.

    SPOILER ALERT
    The thing I love about the movie is that absolutely nothing bad happens to them. The closest thing to bad stuff happening is when the eye (:oogle in the water takes his shoe/boot...but of course he gets it back.
    And the zombies (or was it vampires?) runs and hide when they come :lookarnd:

    I also love how the ending basicly sets up for a twist that they were all dead all the time, which would explain sooo much; their battle against Death in the end and everything. But then they just walk out of the place.

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    Last edited by Metapher; 03-13-2008 at 04:28 PM.

  11. #11
    Savage
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    Are there any good movies like 'seven" that are italian
    I like suspense movies also

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  12. #12
    Diz mutha F'er got banned!
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    If you want more Seven type films then you need to look into Giallo's, which there are a shit ton of.

    I recommend a flick from Spain called The Nameless, very good horror/suspense.

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  13. #13
    Rotting Zealot
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    Dario Argento: Not sure which movies you've seen. His best ones: Deep Red, Suspiria, Tenebre, Opera, Inferno, Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

    Mario Bava: Once again, not sure which you've seen. His best ones: Bay of Blood (AKA Twitch of the Death Nerve), Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, Blood and Black Lace, Baron Blood, Planet of the Vampires, Kill, Baby.... Kill

    Lucio Fulci: His best ones: Zombi 2, The Beyond, House by the Cemetery, Gates of Hell, Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Don't Torture a Duckling

    Sergio Martino: Great gialli director. His best movies (in no order): Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Case of the Scorpion's Tail, Torso, All the Colors of the Dark

    Ruggero Deodato: Cannibal Holocaust

    Michele Soavi: Stagefright, Cemetery Man, The Church, The Sect

    Lamberto Bava: Demons, Demons 2, A Blade in the Dark (very underrated)


    You also may want to do some research on Chas. Balun, the man who helped bring some of these movies to the US in all their gory glory.

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  14. #14
    The Lord Caligula
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    already wrote the paper. thanks tho

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    "If movies are the dreams of the mass culture, horror movies are the nightmares"
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  15. #15
    Good luck out there
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    Gamer IDs

    Steam ID grosvenor
    Any chance of reading the paper? I read a book that had a chapter devoted just to this exact topic, and I'd like to see what a more up to date view is able to bring.

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