GIALLO
ITALIAN THRILLERS
VICE WEARS BLACK STOCKINGS (1975)-MAJOR UPGRADE WITH 15 MINUTES OF EXTRA FOOTAGE, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Tano Cimarosa, Stars: John Richardson, Dagmar Lassander, Ninetto Davoli. This is one of your sleazier gialli right up there with scuzzy favorites like "Strip Nude for Your Killer" and "The Slasher Is a Sex Maniac". The plot even by giallo standards is hopelessly convoluted and ridiculous with far too many thinly-drawn and similar-looking characters for any non-Italian viewer to keep straight. To his credit, the first-time director, sleazeball character actor Gaetano Cimorosa, obviously tried to inject some visual style into the proceedings, but to little avail. Still there is fun to be had here; at least, if you can get past the unusually homophobic storyline that has any number of heterosexually desirable bisexuals and lesbians being killed for no other reason than their sexual orientation (even as the movie itself hypocritically wallows in prurient lesbian sex).
SEXY CAT (1973)-LETTERBOXED BEAUTIFUL LOOKING PRINT AT LAST!! Director: Julio Pérez Tabernero, Stars: Germán Cobos, Dyanik Zurakowska, Lone Fleming This one has been a long time coming. This obscure and bloody spanish giallo begins when an artist hires the services of a detective because he thinks that a creator (Paul Carpas) of a popular erotic-action comic, "Sexy Cat", has stolen his idea. Then this artist is murdered and the detective begins to investigate his death and infiltrates in the world of Paul (modeling, publishing, television..).As the detective begins to investigate, more dead bodies pile up by a variety of weir ways (cut throats with Venetian knifes, eye-gouging, spear guns, deadly snakes, suffication with plastic bags, iron cat claws...) by a strange figure dressed in a cat suit.
Something creeping in the dark (1971)-Beautiful widescreen print! A group of stranded travelers takes refuge in an old abandoned house, only to find out that they are not the only residents of the building. The cast is quite interesting – not only mixing familiar/international names (including, apart from the American actor Farley Granger, Italians Lucia Bose' and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) with unknown faces, but there are even a couple of behind-the-camera personnel (producer Dino Fazio and renowned composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, who also supplies a fine moody score) in the significant roles of Police Inspector and Professor/Occultist respectively! The plot is the typical 'old dark house' routine throwing myriad characters together, stranded by bad weather in a remote and forbidding environment (adding plenty of atmosphere to the already dour brew); harking back to Agatha Christie's much-filmed "And Then There Were None" prototype rather than the traditional stalk'n'slash formula, it is something of a quintessential offering (thus undeservedly overlooked) in this regard.
The Double
Romolo Guerierri1972
Jean Sorel, Lucia Bose, Ewa Aulin
The film opens with that handsome devil Jean Sorel being gunned down in an underground
parking lot by a little old man. The balance of the film is a flashback as we discover why this
event occured. Along the way we are introduced to his wife played by Ewa Aulin (who does
have nude scenes) and mother-in-law played by Lucia Bose (who does not). Sorel has the hots
for Bose and it's this passion that leads him to ruin. The ending, revealing why he was shot is a
particularly sick twist of fate.
THE ETRUSCAN KILLS AGAIN (1972)-BEAUTIFUL LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directed by Armando Crispino and starring Alex Cord, Samantha Eggar and John Marley. Throw away your crappy version of this minor Giallo classic as here it is beautifully scoped and brilliant colors! A photographer on an archaeological expedition digging up Etruscan ruins in Italy begins to suspect that not all the Etruscans buried there are actually dead. Right from the start this plays like a horror film, we the viewer are led to believe that the killings are being done as an act of vengeance from a recently disturbed demon god with breathing difficulties, There is some great location work within the Etruscan tombs that adds to the atmosphere, the murals on the walls of the tombs showing the depictions of the actual murders before they happened, but Giallo experts will soon see that there are no supernatural forces behind these atrocities. The film also plays like a classic slasher in that sexual liaisons seem to herald the death of those involved, this is an unusual plot point for a giallo but then this is an unusual film. Riz ortolani provides a decent operatic score,
KILLER IS ON THE PHONE (1972)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. A woman whose husband was murdered five years previously, is stalked by his killer, who wants to eliminate her as a potential witness. What he doesn't know is that the shock of his murder caused her to have amnesia, and she doesn't remember anything. Directed by Alberto De Martino, this Giallo has Anne Heywood in the lead role as a woman suffering from amnesia, and Telly Savalas as the cold-blooded assassin who tries to kill her. The film was lensed by Aristide Massaccesi (Joe D'Amato) and, as such, looks good. Stelvio Cipriani’s mournful themes are another asset, as are his effective suspense cues and shock stingers.
The Fourth Victim
Eugenio Martin1974
Michael Craig, Carroll Baker, Marina Malfatti
Eugenio Martin directs this Giallo/thriller that stars Carroll Baker. A man has lost several wives
and is suspected of killing them but the police can't prove. He falls in love with Baker after a
long courtship and they decide to marry. Is she the next in line for death or is she NOT what
she appears to be and should the husband be worried. Lots of twists and turns in this one that
co-stars Marina Malfatti.
THE GLASS CEILING (1971)-FINALLY AN UNCUT ENGLISH DUBBED AND LETTERBOXED COPY OF THIS CLASSIC SPANISH THRILLER!! Director: Eloy de la Iglesia, Stars: Carmen Sevilla, Dean Selmier, Patty Shepard. A housewife (Carmen Sevilla) is frequently left alone by her husband in their apartment, as his business requires him to travel. The woman who lives upstairs (Patty Shepard) is also minus her husband, but Sevilla begins to catch occasional lies and half-truths from her upstairs neighbor, which leads Sevilla to think that Shepard has murdered her husband. Sevilla can't quite keep her mouth shut about the matter, however, and despite the fact that her friends think her imagination is running wild, she does not really begin to suspect the danger until it is too late.
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KILLER WORE GLOVES (1974)-Finally, a Letterboxed print. Gilian Hills plays a young woman whose boyfriend disappears (we apparently see him killed in the opening scene). She has to rent out a room in her flat to a creepy tenant. She then gets a call from her missing boyfriend luring her to an abandoned airport hanger where she is nearly shot. She returns to find the creepy tenant has apparently committed suicide. But then she finds out he was an impostor when the real tenant shows up. And what's up with her boyfriend? Is he alive or dead? Directed by Juan Bosch.
CALLING ALL POLICE CALLS (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Mario Caiano, Stars: Antonio Sabato, Luciana Paluzzi, Enrico Maria Salerno. A teenage girl from a wealthy family mysteriously disappears. After her body is found at the bottom of a lake the police begin an intense investigation that leads to a teenage prostitution ring and several more bloody murders, but the actual killer may be someone much closer to the home. This was one of the Italian films from the 1970's that were inspired by Massimo Dallamano's "schoolgirl gialli" where dissipated, middle-class schoolgirls become involved in drug orgies, prostitution, back-alley abortions, and other sordid goings on, and eventually meet a sticky end.
The Night Of Violence
Roberto Mauri1966
Helene Chanel, Marilu Tolo, Lisa Gastoni
In Italian only, letterboxed print. Here's one of the classics of Sixties Italian horror films, with
beautiful B&W cinematography and widescreen for maximum effect. A horribly disfigured man
is stalking beautiful women and killing them. Here he has a veritable who's who of Italian
starlets to choose from: Helene Chanel, Marilu Tolo, and Lisa Gastoni! Directed by Roberto
(SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES) Mauri.
The perfect Crime
Giuseppe Rosatti1972
Leonard Mann, Gloria Guida, Joseph Cotton, Anthony Steel, letterboxed print
Excellent Italian thriller starring Leonard Mann, Gloria Guida, and Joseph Cotten. A series of
gruesome murders are wiping out the board of directors of an important company. Scotland
Yard hasn't a clue. Could it be Mann who is an amnesia victim with ties to the company or
Guida, who sleeps with every victim right before they are killed?
The Torment
1974
Bradford Dillman, Gig Young, Delia Boccardo, Marina Malfatti
This is strange psychological horror film that was influenced by ROSEMARY'S BABY and
REPULSION. A woman (Marina Malfatti) thinks she's pregnant with the child of a dead woman
she tried to help in a carwreck. The doctors say it's an hysterical pregnancy, there's no baby
inside her. She begins to hallucinate and have conversations with the dead mother. The finale
is very bleak and unsettling. Gig Young, Bradford Dillman and Delia Boccardo co-star.
WHO KILLED THE PROSECUTOR AND WHY? (1972)-FINALLY A MAJOR UPGRADE IN QUALITY, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Giuseppe Vari (as Joseph Warren), Stars: Lou Castel, Beba Loncar, Adolfo Celi. Giuseppe Vari directs this highly-interesting giallo with some heavy crime elements. Series of gruesome murders surrounding a packet of blackmail photos. Fashion photographer Carlo (Lou Castel) and his model Olga (Beba Loncar) know they´re on to a good thing when they happen upon two men beating and setting fire to a third during a shoot on what they thought was a deserted beach. Instead of going to the police, Carlo takes the pictures he surreptitiously took to Olga´s uncle Fifi (Massimo Serrato), an unscrupulous pornographer with underworld connections. After they read in the papers that the victim was a crusading prosecutor for the Republic, Fifi tries to interest the Mafia in the photos while Carlo hawks them to a scandal sheet journalist. Everyone wants the incriminating evidence but none more so than a black-gloved killer who slays the murderers in the photos before setting out to eliminate anyone linked to the pictures and their negatives.
Who Wants To Kill Sara?
1992
Nancy Brill, Antonella Lualdi, Stephane Ferrara in english with portuguese subs
Nancy Brilli, Antonella Lualdi, and Stephane Ferrara star in this Italian thriller. Brilli plays a
lawyer who has some unusual sexual appetites (she enjoys simulated rape in semi-public place
for one!) who finds herself being stalked by a serial killer. Is it someone she knows or is the
killer as anonymous as one of her sexual encounters?
Who's The Killer?
Mario Moroni in italian with english subs1974
Here's an obscure Giallo by one time director Mario Moroni, who shades things
toward the sleazy side. Women are being brutally murdered on the set of a movie, helmed by a
tyrannical director. Is it the director, the script writer, sleazy producer or an actress, bitter
about her treatment? The film's conclusion features a stage play where all the actors are
dressed like Diabolik and of course one of them is actually the murderer who uses his disguise
to kill even more victims. Giorgio Ardisson is a cop and Anabella Incontrera is just one of the
victims.
THE STUDENT CONNECTION (1973)-Letterboxed print. Dr Roger Mell (Ray Milland), a physician and headmaster of a boarding school, is having an affair with the beautiful Sonja (Sylva Koscina), a married woman. He arranges to have the husband murdered, but is mortified to find out that the hitman killed the husband by blowing up a plane on take-off killing 140 people. In a fit of rage, Dr Mell kills the hitman, but realizes that one of the pupils has witnessed the crime. The only question is who...Slightly different giallo by western director Rafael Romero Marchent. You know who the killer is from the very beginning and instead of focusing on finding the killer, we follow Milland as he tries to find and eliminate of the only witness to his crime. It's a fairly slow-moving giallo, but worth seeing. Milland is good in the lead, the script is co-written by revered giallo director Luciano Ercoli and the soundtrack is by Stelvio Cipriani.
You'll Die At Midnight aka MIDNIGHT RIPPER
Lamberto Bava1986
Nicola is fighting again with his rich bitch wife. When she turns up dead (in a bloody sequence in
her shower), he is the main suspect. When he is found dead the suspicion turns to Tribbo, a
madman killed several years earlier in a hospital fire. Nicola's daughter heads off to an
abandoned hotel with a bunch of her friends and of course the killer follows them their and like
in TORSO, begins killing them off in violent fashion. Excellent score by Simonetti.
THE RAGE WITHIN (1969)-In Italian with English subs, letterboxed print. Rare Italian Giallo Directed by Franco Rosetti and starring Anna (EYE OF THE HURRICANE) Gael , who supplies plenty of nudity, and Chris Avram. Very rare stylish and cool giallo - thriller hybrid, apparently linked to the sociopolitical background of '68 student protest, superbly lensed by Vittorio Storaro's magnificent visuals. A famous tennis player and his circle of rich snobby friends are being killed by a black gloved killer. Is his wife involved or will she be the next victim?
HOUSE WITH YELLOW CARPET (1983)-Letterboxed print. Franca and her husband Antonio decide to sell a yellow rug which was a gift of Franca's stepfather. One day, while Antonio is out, a strange man rings saying he wishes to buy the rug. But the man's visit becames a nightmare. He kidnaps Franca and says he killed his wife on that same yellow rug. Then Franca kills the man. But is that really all that has happened? And who was that strange man? Carlo Lizzani directs Erland Josephson and Milena Vukotic in this offbeat Giallo.
A…LIKE AN ASSASSIN(1966)-In Italian with English subs. Rare Black and White Gothic Giallo! Rare early giallo from director Angelo Dorigo. A Murderer is killing off guests in an old castle. Starring Alan Steel and Mary Arden.
THE MONSTER (1977)-In Italian with English subs, letterboxed print. Great unseen Giallo with a terrific score by Ennio Morricone, nudity from Sydne Rome and a brilliant performance by Comedian Johnny Dorelli in a very serios role. This little gem has been overlooked and underrated by film buffs. Maybe the reason was the mixed nature of the movie itself, somewhere between giallo and Italian social satires of Italian contemporary society. Johnny Dorelli brings in a warm and complex character with who we can easily sympathize, and this gives to the end a terrible turn and a smell of despair about human nature that makes you think about for a long time. You will be astonished to discover why the killer was committing crimes.
EYEWITNESS (1990)-In Italian with English subs. This extremely hard to find thriller from Lamberto Bava comes in typical Giallo tradition, except that the identity of the killer is revealed with the first murder scene. The eyewitness of the title is a blind young woman, so she can describe the killer only by sound and smell. The inspector doesn't really trust her and soon suspects her best friend she knows from a community for the handicapped. Meanwhile, the real killer stalks her, but innocent people have to die until she is finally confronted with the maniac. The first half of this stylish film is thrilling, delivering a tense atmosphere that keeps one on the edge of the seat. The second half, however, somehow loses track and becomes a bit overlong, including an unnecessary affair between the blind woman and the inspector. The climax, on the other hand, happens too fast to grip the viewer's attention. Barbara Cupisti of "Stagefright" fame gives a solid performance as the title character, and Simon Boswell's sound track is cool as usual. Lamberto Bava used some of the plot elements of "Testimone Oculare" again in his superior and last Giallo until now, "Body Puzzle" aka "Misteria" (1992).
