An early slasher classic

A Bay of Blood (1971)

Even though the influences of the genre come from even older movies, this one is probably the first true slasher film which fits the genre completely. Sure this film by Mario Bava is missing the masked murderer but the similarities for example to Friday the 13th (1980) are quite clear. Last time I saw this about 15 years ago I couldn't really understand much from it, the VHS had a horrible audio track and no subtitles, so all I could understand was that some people were getting killed and that of course didn't impress me much back then. Now luckily the DVD by Future Film has nice audio with subtitles and the image quality is good as well. But I must say I still didn't really understand everything. Now sure I understood the motives and the plot, but at points I was quite lost with who's killing who. The movie jumps timelines and there are multiple killers (not a spoiler, so don't worry) so I got lost quite a many times. Anyway that didn't matter much as there's a nice giallo-like atmosphere and plenty of quite graphic kills which kept me entertained. At points the soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani sounded great, but unfortunately most of the time it was rather dull. The ending is just something special, shocking and absolutely hilarious in a dark sense of humour and that alone is worth watching the whole movie. As a curiosity piece for seeing the baby steps of the slasher genre this is pure brilliance and as a fun late night shocker this works quite well even today, despite the few flaws.
73%

An atmospheric giallo

The House with Laughing Windows (1976)

This is one of those movies which divide people's opinions, you either hate it or love it and there seems to be no middle ground. Well I must say I love it as it's an atmospheric giallo which builds tension slowly but surely. In a way this reminds me of The Wicker Man (1973) even though there's no folklore in this one and not really any dark comedy either, but it's the tension building and the similarities in the settings that make me quite sure Pupi Avati has taken quite a few ideas from it. Anyway it's a story about a restorer called Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) who is called to a small village to restore a painting in a local church made by an insane painter. As he gets intrigued by the story of the painter he stumbles onto a mystery and it seems someone wants him to stop poking around the past. The less you know the better as the story unravels itself in a nice way. The camerawork is quite stylish and one of the nicest shots in the movie was actually a real earthquake caught on camera. A lucky moment yes, but the way it fits the scene is just brilliant. The acting is surprisingly solid for a movie like this so no complaints on that one either. The music didn't really strike me in any way and thinking about it now after just watching it I can't even remember what kind of music it was. Anyway this is a great slow paced thriller which builds tension better than most of the newer movies.

88%

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

This is the last of the “animal series” of giallos from Dario Argento, the others being The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) and The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971). This time a drummer (Michael Brandon) ends up killing a man after an unfortunate encounter. Then someone who witnessed and photographed the killing starts blackmailing him and soon bodies start piling up as he tries to cover his tracks. Well the “accidental” killing at the start was extremely far fetched and the rest of the plot isn't exactly great either. But as so many times it's the mood Argento sets up which is the driving force of his movies and this was no exception. The score by Ennio Morricone wasn't bad, but really it wasn't used as well as it could have been. The visual side however was well in hand, the compositions were quite great and the camerawork by Franco Di Giacomo was pretty much perfect. Some of the scenes are extremely memorable, whether that's a good thing or not is for the viewer to decide, I sure loved them. The biggest problem of this movie is the long and unneeded explanation of the motives at the end and in this Shameless release of the extended cut it's even longer than in the American cut. It's a shame as the ending is otherwise great it just drags on way too long on the explaining part. Apart from that and the misuse of Morricone's talents, this is a great giallo.

80%

A giallo on the countryside

Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)

This is one of the most notorious giallos, right up there with Lucio Fulci's other sleazy “stab” at the giallo genre, The New York Ripper (1982). Though this time it's not the brutal and graphical murder scenes, but the targets of the murders which makes this one infamous. In a rural town somewhere in Italy someone is killing the children of the village. There are plenty of suspects, a weird mentally disabled man, a woman who's believed to practice black magic and an ex-drug addict woman who has just moved there from a big city. Maybe the murderer is none of the above, but the villagers want justice to be served so they take the law in their own hands as the police are too slow at solving the case. I must say this movie has one of the most memorable murder scenes I've ever seen, it was actually the only scene I remembered since the last time I saw it over 10 years ago. It involves chains and most memorable music switch I can think of and it will imprint itself into your mind forever. Speaking of the music, apart from that one absolutely brilliant scene the music didn't really impress me that much, it's not bad but nothing to rave about either. The cinematography wasn't bad either, but nowhere near the better ones of the genre. The ending was just hilariously over the top which kind of turned the otherwise quite intriguing thriller into a comedy, but other than that it keeps it's form nicely. So all in all this is a good giallo with some memorable moments.

73%

A little giallo gem

 The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)

Well if the last six movies from the Shameless collection were not that great, this movie pretty much makes up for all of them. This movie by Sergio Martino is among the best giallos I've seen. Life is not easy for Julie Wardh (Edwige Fenech), she is troubled by nightmares of her violent ex-lover Jean (Ivan Rassimov) and one day Jean returns to haunt her. While her husband Neil (Alberto de Mendoza) seems to never be around a lover, George (George Hilton), steps into her life, but when Neil returns things become even more complicated. Amongst this mess of relationships there is a serial killer on the loose and it seems the killer is also after Jean. Sure as in many giallos the story isn't this movie's strongest point, but in this one it's surprisingly intriguing. That even despite the multiple twists at the end which almost turned into comedy in their out of the blue way of pulling the rug under the feet of the viewer. But like in most giallos, the style and atmosphere make up for what the story might be lacking. The cinematography in this one is pure brilliance and very diverse, even amongst other giallos. That in addition of the great music by Nora Orlandi, which was a surprisingly strong effort from her, makes this one a true beauty. And then there's Edwige Fenech. Probably the best giallo actress in the whole genre and certainly the most pleasing for the eyes. The rest of the cast wasn't bad either and somewhat surprisingly for the genre there were even some great performances in this one. For every giallo fan this is a must see as it's one of the best in the genre.
98%

A sci-fi giallo?

Footprints on the Moon (1975)

Well it's not really a giallo and it's not really sci-fi even though there are elements from both of those genres in it. It's a true Hitchcockian mystery done with the audio-visual style of giallos and involving sci-fi side plot. Alice (Florinda Bolkan) is troubled by weird dreams of astronauts being left stranded on the moon. One day she wakes up to see that she has missed two days and not knowing what has happened in those days. She starts to investigate the past and ends up in a nearly deserted island town called Garma which looks strangely familiar to her. When people seem to remember her being there before she starts to question her own sanity. I really like this movie and even though I had seen it before it didn't trouble me at all that I already knew the mystery behind all this. When I think about it, there's actually not much happening in this movie, apart from the beginning and the ending, but the atmosphere is just so magnificent that it doesn't matter one bit. It builds tension brilliantly right from the start and it even nears horror at times even though there's no serial killer on the loose or anything like that. I must say that the Shameless release of this one was a bit of a miss, I mean it's good quality as always and the added scenes were mostly good, though again they were in Italian only, but the ending is where this one goes wrong. The American cut didn't have the text at the end which gives you the answer to the biggest question this movie leaves you with, but this Shameless release has it and it kind of waters down the otherwise strong ending. Like I've always said, it's better to leave some things open for the viewer to ponder on and not overly explain everything. Without the text this would have been a brilliant movie, now it's “only” very good.

88%

An executioner without judge and jury

Watch Me When I Kill(1977)

Antonio Bido is a lesser known name amongst the giallo directors, mostly because did this movie, his first feature film, in the late 70's when the whole genre was starting to fade after it's glory days. That doesn't make him a bad director, on the contrary, for a first film this is absolutely brilliant. He has the giallo style well in hand and the music choices to boost it, hell even Dario Argento would be proud of some of the scenes in this movie. The plot goes something like this, Lukas (Corrado Pani) gets mixed up in a murder mystery when his girlfriend (Paola Tedesco) sees a murderer leave a crime scene. Someone seems to be after his neighbor as well and it looks like these two cases might be connected as someone seems to be after the jury members of a certain court trial. The story isn't half bad, sure there are some idiotic parts in it as usual, but it manages to stay quite interesting all the way to the end. I really loved the music in this one, especially how it's used, the operatic twist in the bathtub scene was pure brilliance. The cinematography is quite nice as well, not the most stylistic from the genre, but still some shots looked great. The biggest problem in this movie is the pacing, even though the first murder happens before the titles, it takes it's time to get started. But luckily towards the end it picked up quite nicely. Even though this movie had most of the things right for a giallo, I was still left hoping for more, apart from a few scenes it looked a bit too familiar. But it's still a good movie and well worth watching.

78%

Never trust the strangers you steal from

Oasis of Fear (1971)

Dick and Ingrid are two poor hippies who support themselves by selling nude pictures of themselves. Once they get money they spend it away as fast as they can and start all over again. One day they end up to a big mansion, or oasis as they call it, and end up stealing some gas from a car in the garage. The lady of the mansion, Barbara, catches them stealing the gas but decides to invite them in and offer them something to eat and drink. But things don't seem somehow right and soon the couple find out that Barbara had some quite different plans for them. Even though this movie is usually categorized as a giallo, I wouldn't say that. It's more of a Hitchcokian thriller with some small references to giallos. The cast was quite good, all three main characters did a good job and that was a great thing as this movie is very character driven. The pacing is a bit off and the movie has some tedious moments, mostly because of the somewhat shallow script. I liked the story but maybe the big twist should have come a bit earlier to get the real tension going sooner. I mean, I liked the fact that the characters are given time to develop, but still there were some quite boring moments before the real tension starts to build up. The cinematography was quite good and the music wasn't bad either, so nothing to complain on those parts. I actually liked the fact that this wasn't a typical giallo and that it was a character driven thriller, but it could have been done a bit better.
66%

Beware the lady in black

Who Saw Her Die? (1972)

A young girl is murdered in a ski resort somewhere in France. The killer seems to be a lady dressed in black with a veil on her face. The story moves to Venice where one year later a daughter of a sculptor gets killed by the same lady. After the initial shock the parents start to investigate the murder and soon the killer strikes again. This is quite a typical giallo with very little surprises despite the guessing game of who the killer is. George Lazenby, most known for his role as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), plays the sculptor father and does a solid job at it. There's actually another familiar face from the Bond franchise in it as well, Adolfo Celi, but he didn't really shine out in any way. Anita Strindberg is always great and the rest of the cast isn't bad at all either, so nothing to complain on that department. The music by Ennio Morricone is quite great, but it's used way too repetitively which is a shame as it works brilliant before it starts to annoy you. I have to give a special mention to the cinematography as this movie looks absolutely gorgeous. Franco Di Giacomo has captured the mood quite brilliantly on film. So there are many things right in this one, but unfortunately in addition to the thin story, the pacing is a bit off. The movie gets quite boring at times and even the beautiful cinematograpy with good music can't save it at those points. None the less this was well worth watching, but not too keen on watching it again any time soon.
55%

When giallo met poliziesco

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974)

Another mix of giallo and poliziesco (Italian crime movie). This time it's more in the poliziesco side, even though it has most of the giallo elements also. The police find a teenage girl who has apparently hung herself, but soon it turns out that there's a lot more to it than just a suicide. The detectives stumble onto a child prostitute business that seems to have it's claws all the way up to the highest officials of the city. This is one of the better crossovers of it's kind, though die hard giallo fans might be a bit disappointed as it's more on the crime movie side of things. But there are a couple of stylish suspense scenes that even come close to being horror at parts. That doesn't mean that the rest of the movie wouldn't be stylish, on the contrary, it's a very stylish thriller all the way. The cinematography is at parts pure brilliance and despite the movie being a bit "stiff" at times, it has a great mood to it. The soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani is one of the best I've heard. The main theme in it self sounds quite silly and light hearted, but once you combine it with the theme of the movie it'll start to haunt you. That's absolutely brilliant. The dubbing of course made the acting seem a bit bad at times, but still I quite liked the casting. It's not a perfect movie by any means, but still it's one of the best crossovers and a very good movie in itself.
81%

My dear, is that a power tool in your pocket or are you just excited to see me?

My Dear Killer (1972)

This is another crossover from a poliziesco (Italian crime movie) to a giallo. It's a murder mystery and we follow the investigation from an inspector's (George Hilton) point of view. What starts out as an accident investigation turns into a murder spree and the only clue is a child's drawing. I quite liked the story, I mean it's very basic, but it reminded me of those detective stories from the 50's of course this time spiced up with the giallo style brutal murders. The viewer is given all the leads as the inspector discovers them so it's quite fun to try and guess what has happened, though you don't need to scratch your head too hard for it. The cast is fairly ok, none of them made an impression but they weren't bad either. The style is not the most artistic, but there are some scenes that looked quite great and Ennio Morricone's music spiced them up nicely. This movie is far from the best from either of the genres but still it has it's moments and was worth checking out.
67%

Fulci on Poe

The Black Cat (1981)

When you think about Lucio Fulci doing an adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story, what this movie ended up being isn't surely the one you'd first think would spawn from that combination. Funny thing that this movie is one of my favourites from Lucio Fulci even though it's not even close to what he's usually known from. I mean sure it's horror and it does have some gruesome scenes, but nothing like the brutal and sadistic gorefests the man is known for. It's not even the best adaptation of Poe's story, but still it has it's own unique feel to it which I like. So it's really more in the Edgar Allan Poe side of things. The biggest thing is that Fulci is actually taking some proper time for suspension building and not just feasting on the murders. And it seems that when he can focus on something else than the gore there's a very stylish film maker underneath. This movie looks, sounds and feels quite brilliant, even so much that it's quite close to the masters of the genre, Argento and Bava. Sure it has it's flaws like the bad acting and some of the dialog is quite corny, but still the mood saves a lot from the campy side of it. Actually about the acting, the cat itself is the best actor in this one, scary as hell. Well worth watching even if you're not a fan of Fulci.
83%

The sister in blood red

The Killer Nun (1979)

This is a weird crossover between a giallo and nunsploitation, but it kind of fails to be either. There's not enough sex for a nunsploitation and there's very little thriller to be a good giallo either. Though I guess giallo fans will get more out of it than sexploitation fans as it at least tries to bring some stylish murder sequences into the mix. The plot is quite ridiculous with this morphine addict nun who is going crazy while killing patients in her hospital. There's all the cliches of both genres and the movie brings very little new to the mix. The cast is ok, Anita Ekberg being the most notable of the lot. I wonder why this ended up into the video nasties list as there's very little sex and the violence isn't too bad either. All in all I got quite bored watching it.
31%

Modelling is a dangerous business

Nothing Underneath (1985)
A park ranger in USA feels a psychic connection to his twin sister who is working as a model in Milan. When the park ranger feels her sister being murdered he travels to Milan to find out what's going on. As there's no sign of his sister and the police don't believe the psychic link, he starts to investigate the cocaine flooded model industry himself. But as soon another body is found killed in the same manner with scissors as the man saw his sister being killed, then even the Interpol gets interested. Soon enough there seems to be a serial killer on the loose killing beautiful models. The story is quite basic giallo with a setting that suits it perfectly. There are couple of twists to the story but it's nothing special as you see them coming a mile away. Lots of nudity as usual, but this time the murder sequences are quite mild which doesn't bring down the mood at all. The cast is fairly ok and even Donald Pleasence manages to break out from his Halloween manners. The score by Pino Donaggio is quite great and fits the movie perfectly. The pace is a bit slow and as there's not much story to be told it tends to get a bit boring at parts. Still I didn't have too much trouble getting through it, mostly thanks to the beautiful ladies, the music and at parts quite nice cinematography. So all in all this is a very average giallo, not good but not bad either.
51%

Getting old is never a good thing

Phantom of Death (1988)

Well I'm not going to waste too much time into reviewing this one. Had to watch it as I'm going through giallos for a project I'm working on and this is among the worst of the genre. The first 30 minutes or so were actually quite ok with some great scenes and good acting by Michael York, but the last 60 minutes were quite bad. It loses it's stylish touch to the intriguing story and becomes a dull police thriller. Donald Pleasence didn't really put any effort into his part, Edwige Fenech was good looking as usual and like I said Michael York did a good job. Deodato does what he can with the stupid script but unfortunately it doesn't save the movie.
32%

Style without content

Amer (2009)

I wanted to see this movie after I saw the trailer which really blew me away. It looked like a perfect homage to giallos and turned out the style of the movie surely was. So the movie looks and sounds brilliant and there is that great giallo mood to it, but to be honest I didn't get the movie. The story is divided into three parts each focusing on a moment in a woman's life. The first part where the woman is a young girl is like a surreal ghost story and this actually is the best part of the film. It's truly scary at parts and it's done in the good old way of suspension building and not cheap scares. Already at this point I had no idea what's going on in the "plot". Second part focuses on her finding her sexuality, at least I guess so as that's how I interpreted it. On the third part the woman returns to her childhood home and gets stalked by a man with a knife. As a whole I'm kind of disappointed at the movie, was expecting an intriguing "whodunnit", but got some nonsense surrealistic art. Sure the style is great and the mood is brilliant most of the time and the soundtrack is awesome and it's well made, but the story is completely missing. I know most giallos have a very bad story and that's not the main thing about them, but at least they have something that glues the art together, this one doesn't so it tends to get quite tedious after a while. And since there's no reward in the end you are left with only one question, why? Why do a brilliant looking and sounding movie without any story? Anyway I didn't get bored watching it, but left me with a bit of a disappointed feeling in the end.
57%

This torso is a full grown slasher thriller

Torso (1973)

Someone is murdering young college girls in Rome and a woman recalls she might have seen the suspect. She travels to the countryside with three of her friends, but the murderer follows them there. There's no shortage of nudity or blood and guts in this one so the entertainment values are well in hand. The story however is a bit ridiculous, but to be honest it doesn't really matter that much. The cast is quite beautiful, acting however could have been a bit better at parts. The style is quite straight forward at the start with only a few somewhat great scenes, but towards the end around the last 15 minutes or so there's some proper tension building. And that end is really worth the whole movie, there's really not much dialog and mostly just the killer and a victim but the way it's built is something well worth seeing. Takes the thriller on levels that even Hitchcock would have been proud. But getting there might not be easy if you are looking forward to a scary thriller. The beginning is a sleazy fun slasher and luckily quite fast paced so you won't get bored. The score didn't really strike that special, though it wasn't bad either. Same goes for the cinematography which at parts worked quite great, but most of the time was quite basic. This movie is kind of special also because it helped to influence the slasher genre which became hugely popular during the 80's. Sergio Martino is not as big in giallos as for example Argento, but still I'd put him up there with the best of them and this movie is only one proof of his greatness.
79%

Sometimes amnesia is better than bad memories

Puzzle (1974)

This lesser known movie is a strange mix of giallo and italian crime movie. It's a story about a man who has lost his memory as a result of a car accident. He finds out he has a wife who is being stalked by someone who breaks into her house, drugs her and turns the whole place upside down. As fragments of memories start to return to the man, we slowly start to see the bigger picture which looks quite grim. I really love the story in this one and how it's told. Surprising for a giallo that this actually has a good script and the thriller is very gripping. It's told in a slow manner where the viewer gets just what the main character can remember. This builds the movie into a very intriguing mix of crime thriller drama and even horror at parts. It's not as stylish as most of the giallos and actually this script in the hands of some of the masters like Argento, Bava or Martino would have been one of the best giallos ever made. Now it's definitely not bad either, but still as it's missing a bit of the style it didn't work as well as it really could have. Still it's a good movie and well worth watching, even if you wouldn't be that much into giallos.
73%

An early bird catches the style

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)

This is Dario Argento's first take on the giallo genre which he himself helped to create and later became known as the master of the genre. This is also Argento's first feature he directed and as such it's quite a brilliant effort. The influence of Alfred Hitchcock can be seen very clearly as he frames some scenes just like Hitchcock did, but he still gives them his own unique style. Sure it wasn't as refined yet as it would become during the years, but you can still easily see his touch on this one. The story is quite simple as usual for giallos, a man witnesses a murder attempt and soon gets a serial killer stalker on his tail. Being a writer, he starts to investigate the case as the police seem to not be able to solve it. So basically it's your typical "whodunnit" but spiced up with the stylish storytelling of Argento. The stylish camerawork by Vittorio Storaro and the music by Ennio Morricone surely had their own impact on the mood of the movie which is absolutely brilliant. The cast is fairly ok, certainly nothing to complain about. Some of the scenes are just mind blowing in all their beauty and attention to detail. Even though it's not perfect as it loses track a few times, it's still a great movie and a must see for every giallo fan.
85%

The duck that hates women

New York Ripper (1982)

Well if I had to name an infamous movie this would be one of the first that comes to mind. Though as always the rumours you hear about it are way worse than the movie itself, but that doesn't mean this is an easy movie to watch. It's the most nihilistic, sadistic and brutal giallo ever made. Lucio Fulci has never shyed away from violence and shocking gore effects, but on this one he goes totally over the top. A killer who speaks like a duck stalks women in New York and makes fun of the police who seem to be quite incapable of doing anything to stop the killer. So a basic giallo plot and while there are many typical giallo moments, it's not a typical giallo in any means. It's not exactly stylish, it's gritty and aiming for brutal realism, something not common in giallos. The main thing in this one seems to be the violence and the sheer hate towards women. I really wonder what the director tries to say with this movie as I didn't understand the point. Unless the point was that it's cool to brutally cut up women in graphic closeups. So it's basically nothing but a brutal sleaze fest dressed as a giallo with a bad script and below average acting. Friends of sleaze should get their fair share of entertainment, but giallo fans should maybe look elsewhere. Horror fans with weak stomach might want to pass this one all together.
40%