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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2017 17:17:58 GMT
The blending of the mystery, crime, horror, erotic, and slasher genres into one... Giallo began in the mid-60s and peaked in the late-70s. Overall thoughts on the genre? Do you have a favorite? Mine is Una sull'altra. Inspired by Vertigo and the inspiration for Basic Instinct.
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Post by fujiwarafan on Apr 10, 2017 17:40:29 GMT
Orgasmo, Il tuo vizio รจ una stanza chiusa e solo io ho la chiave, Lo strano vizio della signora Wardh, and more splatter: Cannibal Holocaust, Buio Omega.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2017 23:39:47 GMT
love it
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2017 23:44:42 GMT
Interesting genre.
Tenebre, Deep Red, and Don't Torture a Duckling are the best of the lot I've seen.
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tobias
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Post by tobias on Apr 11, 2017 2:12:02 GMT
Overall thoughts on the genre? Do you have a favorite? It has it's ups and downs and it gets too cheap easily but when it is cotained enough, it can be glorious. My favorite is Bava's Blood and Black Lace because damn, look at those colours and the camera that swiftly dances around murders like a ghost or looms and broods i silent darkness. It is also often considered the first giallo (either this or Bava's The Girl who Knew too Much from one year earlier which is also very good).
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Post by Joaquim on Apr 11, 2017 22:35:01 GMT
Only one I've seen is The Cat o' Nine Tails. Pretty good.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2017 3:05:09 GMT
I'm a fan. Still have a lot to see (and there's a lot). They're almost always entertaining, but somewhat difficult to recommend to others unless they're expressly asking about giallo -- and that's due to the salacious nature of the genre, the gore or blatant sexism can easily turn people off. Or otherwise it could be the dubbing or the absurdly intricate plot (of some) that turns people off. But giallos are important in the evolution of the horror/thriller... and it's quite fascinating to study the films that came before & after the '70s giallo gush. Dario Argento is a must: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, Tenebre, Suspiria... and some of my other favorites: The Case of the Bloody Iris, The Fifth Cord... Curious... Have you seen The Sweet Body of Deborah? Love Jean Sorel and Carroll Baker!
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Post by stephen on Apr 12, 2017 3:25:26 GMT
I generally like the idea of giallo cinema more than I actually like the films themselves. There are some good ones, but I find that I gravitate more toward films that are inspired by giallo more than those that would be classified as such.
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 12, 2017 20:22:28 GMT
I'm a fan. Still have a lot to see (and there's a lot). They're almost always entertaining, but somewhat difficult to recommend to others unless they're expressly asking about giallo -- and that's due to the salacious nature of the genre, the gore or blatant sexism can easily turn people off. Or otherwise it could be the dubbing or the absurdly intricate plot (of some) that turns people off. But giallos are important in the evolution of the horror/thriller... and it's quite fascinating to study the films that came before & after the '70s giallo gush. Dario Argento is a must: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, Tenebre, Suspiria... and some of my other favorites: The Case of the Bloody Iris, The Fifth Cord... Curious... Have you seen The Sweet Body of Deborah? Love Jean Sorel and Carroll Baker! I have not. Sounds interesting tho. And if you're a Jean Sorel fan, Chair de Poule (1963) is a MUST SEE. It's like the French outdoing of The Postman Always Rings Twice.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Apr 13, 2017 17:52:54 GMT
I've only seen Dario Argento's work. Inferno & Terror at the Opera are my favorites.
I'd like to see something by Mario Brava...
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tobias
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Post by tobias on Apr 13, 2017 22:08:14 GMT
but I find that I gravitate more toward films that are inspired by giallo more than those that would be classified as such. Any examples?
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Post by stephen on Apr 13, 2017 22:17:20 GMT
but I find that I gravitate more toward films that are inspired by giallo more than those that would be classified as such. Any examples? The Neon Demon comes to mind. Also elements of Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and much of Brian de Palma's career, for better or worse.
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Post by jimmalone on May 14, 2017 17:08:54 GMT
I've only seen Profondo Rosso of this genre, but liked this a lot.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 17, 2017 19:32:16 GMT
Love it and love Deep Red especially but I will say that conceptually Tenebre may be the most diabolically brilliant of them all in it's own way. The dual killer angle, the device of the writer of horror books and his "fan", the transfer of evil, the "incident" from the writers childhood, etc. There is so much going on in that film that it takes several watches to fully grasp.
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Post by clunkybob on May 25, 2017 13:27:47 GMT
It's ok. I haven't seen that many original Giallos other than a handful of Dario Argento films. I prefer its influence tbh, i.e. Cattet/Forzani. Bigas Luna's Anguish is a fantastic film I saw recently with a Giallo influence (as well as being a sort of Hitchcock parody/homage and a meta film). I highly recommend it.
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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 9, 2018 23:49:09 GMT
I've lately become infatuated (in the last couple of months) with this side undercurrent of giallo which I mostly missed - basically a cut above a straight adult exploitation film. That is not Argento to me at all - he is a genuine artiste and revolutionary figure in cinema imo - but he did go into this area specifically in a brutally nasty later film of his, The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) which I'd call his last good one actually. It's hard to defend but it has a ton of ideas it's addressing and I think it may be an homage to these films that I don't know about.
In general I've avoided this kind of "extreme" stuff but I recently watched What Have You Done To Solange? (1972) on Youtube and had never seen prior and it's amateurish but fascinating, borderline pornographic in its conception and plot. Like it seems this is a very famous giallo that I just missed completely (wtf!?!) and when you see this film, you get signs of how influential the giallo is really - it plays like a straight mix of slasher film, titillating erotica and Law & Order SVU/Criminal Minds.
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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 10, 2018 13:15:05 GMT
One of the things that is fascinating about the giallo films as a whole movement is how "serious" cinema often distances itself from them or the greatest achievements in them anyway. You can discuss Hitchcock and Powell's Peeping Tom with movie fans without ever hearing the word giallo (Psycho and Peeping Tom are both 1960, what a great year for psychological madness, lol) Peeping Tom in how the camera is used and its POV is major in giallo but you will usually only read about how controversial the film was not as much what it meant. If you see an article on the Peeping Tom/Hitchcock link it's at the exclusion of its influence (what do they think the influence of those artists actually was?), almost as if to mention the influence is to degrade Hitch or Powell's work rather than to truly get its (gloriously) tawdry components. Polanski, De Palma, Chabrol, and Carpenter's Halloween have all had a ton written or said about them but again you can read quite a lot of it without ever seeing the word giallo mentioned at all (if you do, that's a good, honest writer), despite them clearly exhibiting much of its characteristics. People often can't tell the contradictions IN giallos because of this - Argento, the real inventor of the form has almost no sex in his peak-years (at all), he is in some ways very progressive in female and gay portrayals, Suspiria gets called a giallo all the time - but it's really not etc. It's an odd thing and it reconstructs our shared film history to a very palatable and boring and safe way for people. It's very much a "let's talk about Hitch's huge influence .........but don't play with those nasty black leather gloves"
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Post by wilcinema on Nov 12, 2018 10:26:34 GMT
I'm surprised to see Tenebre is so praised. It's one of the Argento movies I despise with every fiber of my being.
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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 12, 2018 12:18:40 GMT
I'm surprised to see Tenebre is so praised. It's one of the Argento movies I despise with every fiber of my being. wilcinema - can I ask what did you dislike about the film? I know that it isn't for everyone (to say the least!) - but your post implies you do like some Argento and I would think that one would be a perfect example of everything he ever did well - the complex look of the film, a great score, a complicated but very coherent plot, beautifully choreographed kills/suspense elements, a genuine reason for existing too - where the director is commenting on his own work and criticism of it and mercilessly then implicates the audience (and those critics) in what they expect from film too. I think it's actually his very best work in a way - and even more than that it's his equivalent to De Palma's very best (Blow Out) - the guy he's linked with in a lot of ways to me (in their great period, Suspiria is his Carrie, Deep Red is his Dressed To Kill and Tenebrae is his Blow Out). By that I mean it references his past work clearly, but does it with more serious purpose than ever before (De Palma would even make his own nod to Tenebre overtly in some ways (whether he admits or not) with the fun but lesser Body Double where he is self-referential to the point of near-parody. But I always think that with Argento - maybe there's a way to dismiss Deep Red, Suspiria, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (especially that one) as "silly" if you don't like those films material to begin with (not me, love them) but Tenebrae, like Blow Out you just can't do that with as far as I can see because every cut (so to speak) draws (literal and emotional) blood.
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Post by Mattsby on Nov 12, 2018 20:27:05 GMT
I got lost in this blog last month, it's a pretty interesting and fun breakdown of a lot of giallo movies (though there's no search function so ya gotta Google to find any specific ones).... giallofiles.blogspot.comAs for extreme giallo, I'll just echo the one I mentioned earlier, Case of the Bloody Iris - some could argue it's both overstylized and convoluted, with an extra provocative leaning in terms of sexuality and race (there's one early scene in particular that would cause mass hysteria nowadays). But, even on first watch, I found it endlessly interesting -- with a special influence on De Palma and Dressed to Kill -- with a killer that is meaningful in a frightening way. Slightly related: when I watched Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1931) last month I couldn't help but to think of De Palma and giallo. With all its use of subjective camera and the killer bluntly being motivated by an increasingly violent sexual desire. Also to all, pacinoyes have you seen this?-- The Fifth Cord (brilliantly shot by Vittorio Storaro, scored by Ennio, with a J&B swilling Franco Nero) is streamin' on Amazon Prime in good quality!
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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 12, 2018 21:10:01 GMT
Cool site, thanx Matts. Good point on Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde too! I love when you can find those connections because if you can't what's the point in watching the giallos (or by extension the De Palma's) - it's a genre about style and reference to a large part so finding the reference points is part of the fun. Edwige Fenech is in Iris (love/lust her) so while I've seen it and liked it - might be time for a re-watch. Sometimes I can get specifics of them mixed up - I still can't believe I missed "What Have You Done To Solange?" probably because I thought it was something else and thought (wrongly) that I had seen it Lately I've gone off the giallo and into more Italian horror (60s Bava and The House Of Laughing Windows - which is a flawed but bewitching creation and could use a remake desperately. Posted on that one in "Most recent movies you've seen" btw) I've seen The Fifth Cord and quite enjoyed that - and my beloved Spoorloos reminds me of the tunnel shot in this too! This movie has an obvious but great hook to it, that I assume a lot of giallos have actually but which I haven't seen it done well much - ie is the "detective" character (Nero) the perpetrator? Simple stuff but if you set up your movie the right way you can get a lot out of it and pursue it.............set it up the wrong way it's stupid, but in this type of material you can play with the hero (get him drunk so he passes out, knock him out, etc.)
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 23, 2019 23:25:10 GMT
The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion (1970) - This film is a real oddity - lots of lush sex, almost no blood and it's very plot heavy - almost like an Italian soft core version of a glossy soap opera but with some murders. Vaguely misogynistic, you could give this to De Palma to remake/update and he would probably play with the intentions of the two leads here ...........with much outrage I'm sure to follow. 6/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 5, 2021 23:53:34 GMT
The Case of The Scorpion's Tail (1971) - 7 /10 from the midpoint on...... Look 2021 is all about giallo - Censor and Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho are going to attract bandwagon jumpers who can't tell their murderous piece of piano wire from a bloody killer scarf I'm going to do a marathon of Sergio Martino and his "big 5" - 4 of which are on Shudder and I've seen: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh The Case of the Scorpion's Tail Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key All the Colors of the Dark Torso The Case of The Scorpion's Tale I hadn't seen before .........is a strange movie - the set-up is shaky and takes too long but then about halfway through it becomes sort of inspired, fun and logical (um) and the killings in this movie are really uncomfortable - handheld camera and intense - like the penultimate murder in the The Bird with the Crystal Plumage........the 2nd half of this movie is really well done and actually makes me think I missed the first half......so maybe I'll rewatch all 5 over the next few days.......
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 6, 2021 21:45:03 GMT
Hatchet For The Honeymoon (1970) - One of my favorite Bava's - not sure why this is called a giallo - it's not really......no really it is one of my favorites of his....could have been really great with some tightening up too and a better lead (the suitable but not more Stephen Forsyth).....there is a murder halfway through that's ingenuous as a device and changes the plot trajectory .......you have to stick with it ........and then through stupid parts (dumbest. cops. ever.) I reviewed this somewhere on MAR but it doesn't show up in my searches which is just as well....... I either underrated or overrated it probably both.......I like how simple and direct it is .......and how cut (no pun) and dry: Few extraneous characters.........Psycho........with mommy issues........hatchet......
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 7, 2021 2:28:59 GMT
The Tram from Door Into Darkness (TV) - (1973) - 7 / 10 rewatchArgento directed TV episode is witty and clever but not substantial - also he settles for making you smile at the end instead of a far better and darker ending that he skirts around - wtf maestro ? - by having the police captain be killed by a circumstance he missed Some nice touches from Rope for tracking shots and a great shot in the car after getting a conviction of light and shadow, reason and doubt washing across the police captains face......... Oh and even though Argento is tighter with less gaps in some of his TV work like here and Jenifer this pretty much forgets all about the poor bastard he got convicted
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