Midweek Movie Free Talk

I have taken a detour from spaghetti westerns into other Italian genre films, the gialli and poliziottesci films of the 70s. In many ways the spiritual successors to the spaghetti western as those were dwindling in popularity in the 70s and there is a great deal of overlap in actors and directors.

Gialli films are noir like slasher thrillers, usually with an anonymous killer with black leather gloves killing young woman with a knife. Aesthetics and style matter more than plot. Plenty of creative camerawork and remarkable scores. One of the big titles is Dargio Argento's Deep Red from 1975, with its iconic theme. It is off to a great start with a, surprise, woman being brutally murdered with multiple knife stabs. A bystander gets obsessed with figuring out who the murderer is, which sets him on a dangerous journey. This is a more "normal" film compared to Argento's other masterwork Suspiria, but still shows he is in a league of his own in this genre. If the trailer doesn't hook you, you probably wont like it.

The poliziottesci films are basically crime stories, but like with the Italians approach to westerns, with a heavier emphasis on style and atmosphere - with great degrees of violence and grittiness. Dirty Harry would be the American counterpart. The Suspicious Death of a Minor starts in gialli fashion with a young woman being killed with a knife, but the rest is mostly standard undercover cop investigation. It is incredibly fast paced, the plot is constantly being moved forward and there isn't much time wasted on stuff like character development or exposition. It is not needed because it is simply just very entertaining, but also has that cynical worldview that is also seen in so many spaghetti westerns.

Weapons of Death from 1977 is a batshit crazy action film, with a plot that could also work in spaghetti western. It is basically just a group of criminals terrorizing a town with multiple robberies and killings, and a lone cop tries to get to the leader of these bandits. There is barely any plot, only enough to keep the various scenes together - which involves gruesome drawn out fatal car crashes, decapitations, castrations and children involved in car chases through the narrow streets of Napoli.

The most serious film was however Revolver from 1973 directed by Sergio Sollima who has directed some rather political spaghetti western, especially Faccia a faccia. Starts off simple enough when a prison warden is pressured into releasing a prisoner because by people who hold his wife as hostage. Everything doesn't go as planned and it gets gradually revealed that there is much more to this than a criminal gang wanting their accomplice released. I am not familiar with Oliver Reed but he does an absolute fantastic job in this. There is a great complexity to his character as the narrative forces him into to deal with much more than just wanting his wife back. He gets disillusioned over government officials who was supposed be servants of citizens, but only serve their own interest. This is were the political undertones from Sollima comes in, as they also did in his westerns. In addition we also get an amazing score by Ennio Morricone.

This week I’d like to highlight three good films I watched.

The first is Warfare (2025), a release I was eagerly anticipating. It delivers an immersive and suffocating experience through tight angles, raw imagery, and graphic psychological violence. The desperation is palpable, every expression and real-time moment conveys the weight of the situation. The standout feature is the sound design: the absence of a score heightens tension while battle noises plunge you into chaos. The result is deeply unsettling with no relief.

Next is The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024). From the start, the impeccable performances shine, especially Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow. The story offers a dark original take set in a retirement home. The psychological horror is amplified by creative framing, vibrant colors, and an intensely tense atmosphere.

Lastly, PVC-1 (2007) is technically outstanding, filmed entirely in one take, a huge challenge for cast and crew given its intensity. The performances are striking, full of realism since it’s based on true events. Raw and gripping from start to finish, the single continuous shot shifts the focus between the characters, reinforcing the shocking situation, all very well directed.

Just watched Dinner In America and absolutely adored it. The first half was a bit slow, but second half more than makes up for it. I'm originally from Southeast MI so it was really cool seeing so many home-town adjacent things as well.

Of course won't spoil it, but I love the veracity of the ending.