Seven Blood Stained Orchids (Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso) was released in 1972 and was the last of a series of four Italian/German co-productions (fun fact: in Germany, the equivalent of gialli is “Krimi”) based upon the works of prolific British crime writer Edgar Wallace. It was directed by Umberto Lenzi, probably most infamous (at least … More Movies: Seven Blood Stained Orchids (1972)
Here we are on the fourth installment, and once again, a particular year provides too many delectable options to cram into one top five list, so for the first time in this series, I’m going to have to give a tip of the hat to a couple of honorable mentions before we get into the … More My Favorite Horror Movies from Every Year Since I Was Born: 1975
Italian maestro Lucio Fulci could make a pretty decent film in any genre you’d care to name, and as fun as his horror gorefests are, some of my favorite movies of his fall more into the giallo or thriller genre. One of these is the subject of today’s post, and I feel very strongly that … More Movies: The Psychic (1977)
1976’s The House with Laughing Windows (aka La casa dalle finestre che ridono), aside from its completely rad title, is considered a classic of the giallo subgenre, even though many of the more lurid, baroque elements present in the better-known giallo films of Dario Argento and others are notably absent. Directed by Pupi Avati, the movie actually bears … More Movies: The House with Laughing Windows (1976)
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
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)
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)
While the giallo genre has a fairly rigid set of tropes that most films falling within its parameters adhere to (masked killer with gloves, a murder mystery element, ultra violent killings committed with bladed weapons, etc.), that isn’t to say that some directors didn’t try to do something a bit different within the loose confines … More Movies: All the Colors of the Dark (1972)
No one would ever accuse notorious Italian gore master Lucio Fulci of being a particularly subtle filmmaker, but even in the wide Fulcian seas of splinter eye gougings, coughed-up intestines, and little braided girls getting their heads half blown off by shotguns, his 1982 giallo thriller The New York Ripper gives even his ardent fans … More Movies: The New York Ripper (1982)
Dario Argento is of course no stranger to horror fans, being the mastermind behind such seminal giallo films as Deep Red and Tenebrae, as well as more lurid supernatural fantasias like Suspiria and Inferno. 1971’s The Cat O’Nine Tails (aka Il Gatto a Nove Code), only Argento’s second film, shows many trademarks of the director’s … More Movies: The Cat O’Nine Tails (1971)
The Scare Salon 