An American writer is walking the streets of Rome one night when he passes an art gallery with enormous glass doors. Peering inside, he is shocked to see a woman struggling with a black-clad figure holding a knife. The writer rushes to help, but when he passes through the first door of the gallery, it … More A Brief History of the Giallo Movie
I decided to return today not only to my favorite decade for horror movies, but also to my favorite horror subgenre for this post. In short, I’m reviewing two haunted house films from the 1970s, both of which have made numerous appearances on various “underrated” lists around the internet, and both of which happen to … More Double Feature: Something Evil (1972) and The Stone Tape (1973)
Any informed discussion of the best giallo films of the 1970s would inevitably name-check producer/director Sergio Martino, who was responsible for a significant number of great giallo movies during the era: 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, … More Movies: The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975)
The small film subgenre of British folk horror is easily overlooked, with most casual fans only being able to point to a single example, the excellent and well-regarded cult classic The Wicker Man. But there were a few other sterling examples that deserve their place in the earthwork circle, as it were, such as The Devil Rides … More Movies: The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1970)
Director Umberto Lenzi should be no stranger to fans of Italian gore films, as he was the man responsible for such infamous cannibal outings as Man from Deep River, Eaten Alive!, and Cannibal Ferox. But he directed a number of giallo films as well, including Eyeball, So Sweet…So Perverse, Seven Bloodstained Orchids, and the film … More Movies: Knife Of Ice (1972)
Welcome back to the Salon, and welcome to what will (hopefully) be the first in a long series, the idea for which came to me in a flash of inspiration not too long ago. Basically, I’m going to go through lists of all the horror films that came out every year since I was born, … More My Favorite Horror Movies from Every Year Since I Was Born: 1972
Welcome to the latest installment of Silent Movie Watchalong! I’m doing a short one this time, but really, it shouldn’t matter much because this one is just excellent, and I’m sort of baffled at how it doesn’t get as much attention as some of the other films of the period. Clocking in at a little … More Silent Movie Watchalong: The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
The first movie on today’s double feature is one I heard a great deal about after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival years back, and although reviews were somewhat mixed, most of the negative reviews I read complained only that the movie was too slow, spare, and minimalist. Well, to me, that’s like an … More Double Feature: I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and We Are Still Here (2015)
So I’ve been writing about horror for a while now, rabbiting on the way I do, reminiscing about some of my favorite books and movies from my youth and trying to figure out what made certain things stick with me over the years. But in all that time, it never occurred to me to write … More Movies: April Fool’s Day (1986)
The film adaptation of The Shining and the well-publicized blood feud between Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick has been the subject of nearly endless internet debate, but for some reason it’s a subject I’m obsessively fascinated by and often get into long, rambling conversations about, which is why I decided to unburden myself in written … More A Tale of Two Shinings
