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Midweek Movie Free Talk
Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
Over the past week or so, I’ve been getting into giallo, a genre I had never seen anything of before. But I enjoy slashers and classic horror in general, so I was intrigued. Btw, I watched all of these with Italian dubs and English subs.
Blood and Black Lace (1964) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
This is the film I started with, and I’m super glad I did, because it’s my favourite so far. A prototypical giallo film, it has all the main features: a black-gloved killer (and what an iconic-looking one at that), gruesome deaths, and luscious colours I’m not even sure I’ve ever seen before – the use of contrast and lighting in this movie is unmatched. I watched the 4K Arrow remaster, which probably added to the experience. Also, I quickly realised that plot and characters are secondary to other conventions in this genre.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) – ★★☆☆☆:
I will probably be hated for rating this one so low, but it didn’t impress me as much. I did appreciate the art gallery scene in the beginning; it opened a lot of possibilities for where the story might go. But it went in another direction I hadn’t anticipated and dragged on for a while. It wasn’t bad overall; maybe I just went in expecting something else and people see things in this film I didn’t. I did like the resolution though.
The New York Ripper (1982) – ★★★★☆:
After the slower pace of the previous film, I was ready for more vibrant visuals and brutal killings, and this one did not disappoint. Very graphic at times, but I liked it. The Donald Duck voice made it kinda weird but it was charming in its own way, I guess. What I didn’t care for at all was the nudity, which was everywhere throughout the entire film. Hard to look past, but the cinematography made up for it.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) – ★★★★☆:
By this point, I was curious about the genre’s beginnings, so I went all the way back to the very first entry: another Mario Bava piece. After Blood and Black Lace, I was sure to find this black-and-white picture just as riveting. And I was right! A bit of a deviation from what was to follow in the genre, but a gripping story with a likable protagonist nonetheless.
All in all, I’m now very interested in exploring more gialli! I seem to like Bava’s movies in particular, so I’m probably going to watch (and hopefully review) more of his work next. But if anyone has any other recommendations, please tell me!!
Another Bava I'd recommend, although not a giallo, is Lisa and the Devil. A very strange movie, and featuring a great performance from Telly Savelas! My favorite Argento would probably have to be Tenebrae. Another Italian horror that is definitely not a giallo but kind of fits in that same strange environment is Cemetery Man, which I can't really adequately describe.
I know you said you saw these with the Italian dubs, in general I always recommend seeing giallo movies in English, since it's always dubbed anyway but usually the lead actors are American or English so the dubbing tends to line up a bit better for them at least since everyone is speaking in their native language on set.