The Giallo Thread

[classic_horror_fan]

Planet Of The Vampires

In the near future the two spaceships Argos and Galliot are sent to investigate the mysterious planet Aura. As the Galliot lands on the planet her crew suddenly go berserk and attack each other. The strange event passes, but the crew soon discovers the crashed Argos - and learns that her crew died fighting each other! Investigating further, the explorers come to realize the existence of a race of bodiless aliens that seek to escape from their dying world.

This one has a lot of amazing scenic shots, lighting, and visual effects, more so for being from 1965. It also has a lot of very good drama, dialogue, and well developed characters. The vampires' ability to possess their victims makes this one even more intense than a lot of other vampire movies. This is yet another example of how Mario Bava was pure cinematic genius for his time.

[classic_horror_fan]

I just looked back at Lucio Fulci's "Zombie" for the first time in years, and it is always fun to look back at that one. The large zombie continuing toward the NYPD officer even after being told to stop repeatedly and the classic zombie vs. shark scene are timeless and classic. That is not to mention many other epic and eye opening scenes in there. That is definitely still one of the best zombie films out there.

[classic_horror_fan]

I just discovered an Italian and British co-production from 1977 called "The Chosen." It is about a nuclear power plant being built on Hallowed Ground in the Middle East, troubling the locals and a lot of other people about violating and invading the Holy Land. As the construction continues, more signs of the Apocalypse and the coming of the Antichrist begin to appear, and everybody who speaks out and/or tries to take action against that nuclear power plant suddenly keep getting killed off in very bizarre out of the ordinary ways that almost never happen in those ways. They even discover a cave below those grounds where somebody had carved Jesus' name on the stone wall. When they try taking pictures inside of that cave, it begins to shake and crumble with their lights suddenly going out. The owner and CEO of the upcoming plant then has nightmares of the Apocalypse and the rise of the Antichrist happening in that plant, and they seem so real to him, he is unable to forget them after he wakes up. More links to the prophecy of the Apocalypse begin to appear, and it eventually looks like his upcoming baby who is still not born yet might actually be the Antichrist himself. This one has a lot of great mixings of reality and the prophecy that could even make Atheists stop and think about the Apocalypse and wonder if it is real or myth. The nightmare scenes are very artsy and intense, and the death scenes are a bit different from what you might see in most other horror films. There are also plenty of good twists and turns, including one on who the Antichrist actually turns out to be. This might not technically be giallo horror, but it is similar to some of them, and it is overall well done and definitely keeping interest all the way through. It should appeal to those into the giallo era and the like.

[classic_horror_fan]

I just got to look back at "Inferno," the sequel to "Suspiria," and Tenebrae," another good cult classic from Dario Argento! It is always good to look back at those when getting a chance! From the appearance of Death to the entire tall New York City building setting afire in "Inferno," and the obscene phone calls to the attack dog's jumping over high fences to the actual killer(s) finally getting revealed in "Tenebrae," these are a couple of fine quality classic horror films that deliver a lot of what you don't normally see in too many others. They also make a great Dario Argento double feature any time.

[Lon of the Dead]

I have a deeper appreciation for Inferno than I think most Argento fans. I would never say it's his best film (that would be Tenebrae for me) but I think it has a lot more interesting facets to it than casual fans might realize. For one, the choice of title: it refers to a blazing fire but the movie is rife with with allusions to water. There is of course the underwater ballroom sequence that starts the film; when the hero blacks out at one point, he dreams of crashing waves; a character is killed in a pond while trying to drown a sack full of cats. When the titular inferno does finally come during the climax it actually feels out of place (a key Argento trademark; he likes to defy expectations, though admittedly not always for the movie's benefit). Then there are the spacial anomalies. Such as the aforementioned ballroom scene, where a small puddle leads to a large water-filled room that could not possibly exist there. Or when the hero crawls beneath the floorboards to find what is essentially a whole other world below, which also could not possibly exist there. I could go on and on but suffice to say there's a lot more going on in this flick than might first seem apparent.

[The Mutilated]

I agree with you Lon, and would add that Inferno is very under appreciated by many. I feel like giving my disc of Inferno a spin tonight; really an exceptional film.
There was an old podcast, now discontinued, called Terror Transmission. They did an excellent episode on this film, if you can still find it, its well worth listening to.

[classic_horror_fan]

"Terror At The Opera" aka Dario Argento's "Opera," is another great Italian giallo style horror cult classic that is always fun to look back at. The killer, dark, and artsy scenes with the crows, the eye blade scenes, the heavy metal music on the background to make the kill scenes all the more intense, along with the shocking scene when the actual killer is finally revealed, among other parts, all make this worth a look back at, still keeping interest all the way through. Out of all the great cult classics from Argento, this id definitely one of the better ones.

[Lon of the Dead]

^^^I commented above that Tenebre is my favorite Argento flick, but Opera is a VERY close second. IMO, it's Argento's last legitimately good movie.

[classic_horror_fan]

^^^I commented above that Tenebre is my favorite Argento flick, but Opera is a VERY close second. IMO, it's Argento's last legitimately good movie.

Opera and Tenebrae are definitely two of his best! You didn't like Phenomena, Stendhal Syndrome, or Mother Of Tears? Phenomena is my favorite by him overall, but they are all great in my opinion.

[classic_horror_fan]

"Endgame" from 1984 is an Italian horror film mixed with comedy and great action and adventure. It is like a mix of "The Running Man," "New Gladiators," "Cyborg," and the "Mad Max" series. It is also the best I have seen from Joe D'Amato. It should appeal to those into the other movies mentioned above.

[classic_horror_fan]

"The Devil's Honey" is definitely something different from anything else I have seen. It is also not what I would normally expect from Lucio Fulci, not that I don't like it.

Dr. Wendell is a troubled surgeon with a nagging wife, Carol, and a stressful hospital job, who botches a surgery on an injured young man, Johnny, who then dies under his care. The man's dangerously disturbed girlfriend, Jessica, abducts the doctor and holds him captive at her apartment and subjects him to mind games and sexual torture because she holds him responsible for the death of her boyfriend.

There are a lot of very erotic, eye opening, and bizarre scenes throughout this whole film. It is more psychological thriller than anything else. It is definitely the weirdest of anything I have seen from Fulci, including "Door To Silence." I found this one worth a look, but am very limited to who I might recommend it to.

[Lon of the Dead]

Opera and Tenebrae are definitely two of his best! You didn't like Phenomena, Stendhal Syndrome, or Mother Of Tears? Phenomena is my favorite by him overall, but they are all great in my opinion.

I love Phenomena (which was a couple years before Opera). I call it Argento's "kitchen sink" movie, because it feels like Argento threw every errant idea he could think of into it. Monkey with a straight razor, girl with bug telepathy, deformed kid killer, sheet metal decapitation, Donald Pleasence in a wheel chair, world's longest telephone cord, maggot-ridden-corpse pool, you name it. IMO it's his most outlandish movie, but in a good way.

I liked Stendhal Syndrome but didn't love it. I'd rate it about even with Trauma and The Card Player, though it did have more imaginative visuals than both. Incidentally, it was also the first Italian film to feature CGI.

Mother of Tears, no, didn't like it. By that point Argento had already proved his best years were behind him, so I went in with my expectations low, and it still managed to disappoint me. It's like Argento has forgotten how to translate the disturbing ideas in his brain to equally disturbing ideas on the screen. The whole movie came off as unintentionally comical to me. Like, I actually laughed out loud when the mother threw her baby off the bridge. It was supposed to be startling, but it felt campy.

[classic_horror_fan]

I love Phenomena (which was a couple years before Opera). I call it Argento's "kitchen sink" movie, because it feels like Argento threw every errant idea he could think of into it. Monkey with a straight razor, girl with bug telepathy, deformed kid killer, sheet metal decapitation, Donald Pleasence in a wheel chair, world's longest telephone cord, maggot-ridden-corpse pool, you name it. IMO it's his most outlandish movie, but in a good way.

I liked Stendhal Syndrome but didn't love it. I'd rate it about even with Trauma and The Card Player, though it did have more imaginative visuals than both. Incidentally, it was also the first Italian film to feature CGI.

Mother of Tears, no, didn't like it. By that point Argento had already proved his best years were behind him, so I went in with my expectations low, and it still managed to disappoint me. It's like Argento has forgotten how to translate the disturbing ideas in his brain to equally disturbing ideas on the screen. The whole movie came off as unintentionally comical to me. Like, I actually laughed out loud when the mother threw her baby off the bridge. It was supposed to be startling, but it felt campy.

I have not yet seen "The Card Player." Do you know where that's available? I like "Trauma" a lot. I also like his takes on Dracula and Phantom Of The Opera. I know the idea of Dracula turning into an owl and a grasshopper instead of a bat or wolf sounds stupid, but I thought the way he did it looks awesome, intense, and very creative. I wouldn't call his last one, "Dark Glasses," any of his best by any stretch of the imagination, but it does have its share of killer moments, and I love the music score for the kill scenes. I also love how the dog saves the day. The killer being revealed only halfway through the move, along with it being so easy to guess who the killer is did not ruin it for me like it may have for some others.

[Lon of the Dead]

I did a streaming search and it doesn't look like The Card Player is available through any streaming services, but I have a digital copy I can upload and share. I'll try to remember to do that tomorrow after work.

[classic_horror_fan]

"Death Walks At Midnight" is a 1972 Italian giallo horror film about a model who witnesses a murder, but the police believe she is thinking of a murder that took place six months earlier and that she had forgotten about it until something just put it back into her memory during the shooting. It turns out she saw accurately, and keeps trying to solve the murder and convince the police that she saw right. This story also has a lot of twists, turns, and shockers. It also includes a gang member with an intense high pitched laugh that is original. It even has a big shocker on who one of the secret gang members turns out to be. This should definitely be worth a look to those into the old school done right Italian giallo horror films and those into murder mysteries.

[classic_horror_fan]

"Death Walks On High Heels" is another intense Itailian giallo film with lots of twists, turns, and eye openers from the beginning through the ending, along with a shock on who the killer actually turns out to be. After a heist, the notorious jewel thief Rochard is murdered in a train. In Paris, his daughter Nicole Rochard, who is a stripper, is summoned by the police that wants to know the whereabouts of valuable diamonds that her father had stolen. She goes with her boyfriend Michel Aumont and tells that does not know anything about the missing diamonds. During the night, a blue eye masked man breaks in her apartment and threatens her, asking where the diamonds are. Nicole seeks protection with Michel but in the morning she finds contact lens in his bathroom and she suspects Michel may be the masked man. She seeks out her costumer Dr. Robert Matthews, who had hit on her, and she asks him if she could go with in to London. Matthews, who is married, brings Nicole to a house by the sea in a village and she poses of his wife. But soon the masked man comes to England and begins a crime spree. The Scotland Yard Inspector Baxter and his assistant are assigned to investigate the case. Those into the Italian giallo era and murder mysteries should be disappointed with this one.