Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Like you could resist that title either. This is, all around, a pretty unremarkable giallo. It has all the staples of the genre, but not enough of a sense of style, or energy, or how to build suspense. Of course, for me, even a below average giallo like this one is at least watchable.
Showing posts with label Giallo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giallo. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Murder Rock: Dancing Death
Monday, October 27, 2008
An open letter to my brother Andy:
Hey Andy, have you seen this one yet? It's one of Fulci's mid-80's efforts. You and I have both plowed through the ass-end of his filmography, including Aenigma, Demonia, Voices From the Beyond and Sweet House of Horrors, so if you haven't seen this one, you probably should. However, if you still need convincing, here is a list of reasons of why you should see Murder Rock:
1) It is an attempt to cash in on the 80's dance movie craze, but it's still a horror movie. So what I'm saying is that Fulci made a giallo in the style of Flashdance.
2) The opening credits show a bunch of people (who I don't think are characters in the movie) breakdancing to some 80's music. When the credits end, they are immediately followed by another dance sequence. It's like a good 6 minutes of screen time before there's any dialogue and people stop dancing.
3) There are several dance sequences in the film, and they are pretty much all extraneous.
4) Remember the classic song "Head Over Meels" from Fulci's Aenigma? Well, Murder Rock's entire soundtrack consists of crap like that.
5) Garetta Garetta, the black chick from Demons and Rats: Night of Terror has a supporting role.
6) There are several dramatic speeches made by characters, and the movie seems to take them pretty seriously.
7) There is a lot of nudity for a Fulci film, although most of it is of dead chicks. So we're talking Torso territory here, although no lesbians.
8) The killer chloroforms women so they pass out, then sticks some weird ceremonial needle through their heart.
9) I don't know if he had a decent budget or what, but this is, from a technical standpoint, one of Fulci's best shot, best lit, best edited, best constructed films. It doesn't have his normally foggy, soft-focus nightmarish feel, it's more of a classic giallo.
10) Despite that, it still has a lot of accidental comedy.
So there you go, 10 reasons why you should consider seeing this one if you get a chance. I wouldn't bump it to the top of your queue or go out of your way to see it, but if you like this kind of crap (and I know you do) then it's worth your time.
An open letter to my brother Andy:
Hey Andy, have you seen this one yet? It's one of Fulci's mid-80's efforts. You and I have both plowed through the ass-end of his filmography, including Aenigma, Demonia, Voices From the Beyond and Sweet House of Horrors, so if you haven't seen this one, you probably should. However, if you still need convincing, here is a list of reasons of why you should see Murder Rock:
1) It is an attempt to cash in on the 80's dance movie craze, but it's still a horror movie. So what I'm saying is that Fulci made a giallo in the style of Flashdance.
2) The opening credits show a bunch of people (who I don't think are characters in the movie) breakdancing to some 80's music. When the credits end, they are immediately followed by another dance sequence. It's like a good 6 minutes of screen time before there's any dialogue and people stop dancing.
3) There are several dance sequences in the film, and they are pretty much all extraneous.
4) Remember the classic song "Head Over Meels" from Fulci's Aenigma? Well, Murder Rock's entire soundtrack consists of crap like that.
5) Garetta Garetta, the black chick from Demons and Rats: Night of Terror has a supporting role.
6) There are several dramatic speeches made by characters, and the movie seems to take them pretty seriously.
7) There is a lot of nudity for a Fulci film, although most of it is of dead chicks. So we're talking Torso territory here, although no lesbians.
8) The killer chloroforms women so they pass out, then sticks some weird ceremonial needle through their heart.
9) I don't know if he had a decent budget or what, but this is, from a technical standpoint, one of Fulci's best shot, best lit, best edited, best constructed films. It doesn't have his normally foggy, soft-focus nightmarish feel, it's more of a classic giallo.
10) Despite that, it still has a lot of accidental comedy.
So there you go, 10 reasons why you should consider seeing this one if you get a chance. I wouldn't bump it to the top of your queue or go out of your way to see it, but if you like this kind of crap (and I know you do) then it's worth your time.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Torso
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Yes, this is what I'm talking about. You have to sift through a lot of mediocrity to find a giallo this good. This is one from Sergio Martino, and it's easily the best one of his I've seen. I'm thinking the quality of his films is inversely related to the greatness of their titles. i.e. Torso is the best movie, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I have the Key is his worst, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colors of the Dark fall somewhere in the middle.
I can't remember the last time I saw this many sexy, sexy naked women in a giallo. Maybe never. Maybe this is the record. The first 2/3rds of Torso is entertaining if standard giallo fare, but then in the last act one of the supporting characters wakes up, and goes downstairs to find that all of the other major characters have been murdered, and oh shit the killer is still in the house, sawing the limbs off of the corpses and sticking them in a bag. And I must say, the last chunk of the film, where this character tries to hide from the killer, genuinely manages to stir up a little excitement and suspense.
Did I mention all the nudity? Also: lesbians.
Yes, this is what I'm talking about. You have to sift through a lot of mediocrity to find a giallo this good. This is one from Sergio Martino, and it's easily the best one of his I've seen. I'm thinking the quality of his films is inversely related to the greatness of their titles. i.e. Torso is the best movie, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I have the Key is his worst, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colors of the Dark fall somewhere in the middle.
I can't remember the last time I saw this many sexy, sexy naked women in a giallo. Maybe never. Maybe this is the record. The first 2/3rds of Torso is entertaining if standard giallo fare, but then in the last act one of the supporting characters wakes up, and goes downstairs to find that all of the other major characters have been murdered, and oh shit the killer is still in the house, sawing the limbs off of the corpses and sticking them in a bag. And I must say, the last chunk of the film, where this character tries to hide from the killer, genuinely manages to stir up a little excitement and suspense.
Did I mention all the nudity? Also: lesbians.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tenebre
Monday, September 22, 2008
Firstly, kudos to me for watching 3 movies on a week night. That's a rare feat for me lately.
Next off, seems the current trend is that my appreciation for an Argento movie goes up when I see it for a second time. And I love Argento as it is. I liked Tenebre the first time I saw it, now I think it rocks even more.
I think the key is, there's something about Argento's movies where the flaws seem less severe with time. You learn to forgive them or ignore them during subsequent viewings. Hell, sometimes the supposed "flaws" make the movie better... a lot of the plot holes and weird storytelling make his movies seem more nightmarish. I would say this fits into that category. And I also appreciated this time around how suspenseful Tenebre is. Argento's movies are normally strange, fascinating, stylish, entertaining, awesome, but not often scary. This is no classic, mind you, but there are a handful of sequences that pretty deftly increase the tension. It's not white-knuckle suspenseful, but it's at least perk-you-up-in-your-seat suspenseful.
Firstly, kudos to me for watching 3 movies on a week night. That's a rare feat for me lately.
Next off, seems the current trend is that my appreciation for an Argento movie goes up when I see it for a second time. And I love Argento as it is. I liked Tenebre the first time I saw it, now I think it rocks even more.
I think the key is, there's something about Argento's movies where the flaws seem less severe with time. You learn to forgive them or ignore them during subsequent viewings. Hell, sometimes the supposed "flaws" make the movie better... a lot of the plot holes and weird storytelling make his movies seem more nightmarish. I would say this fits into that category. And I also appreciated this time around how suspenseful Tenebre is. Argento's movies are normally strange, fascinating, stylish, entertaining, awesome, but not often scary. This is no classic, mind you, but there are a handful of sequences that pretty deftly increase the tension. It's not white-knuckle suspenseful, but it's at least perk-you-up-in-your-seat suspenseful.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Trauma
Friday, August 8, 2008
This might be Dario Argento's most unfairly underrated movie. There's really a lot to love here, with a lot of great sequences of violence, suspense and high style that rival some of his best work. It also happens to have some pretty atrocious acting, some weird technical mistakes and the worst plot twist ever. So it misses the mark of being a great movie, but there's so much to love here that I still think it ranks with his better work. There's a sequence where a little kid sneaks into the killer's house that's one of the most exciting things Argento has ever filmed. And all sorts of other cool touches, like the butterfly POV shots, or the killer's particularly unsettling means of dispatching their victims. Definitely a must-watch for fans of this type of stuff.
This might be Dario Argento's most unfairly underrated movie. There's really a lot to love here, with a lot of great sequences of violence, suspense and high style that rival some of his best work. It also happens to have some pretty atrocious acting, some weird technical mistakes and the worst plot twist ever. So it misses the mark of being a great movie, but there's so much to love here that I still think it ranks with his better work. There's a sequence where a little kid sneaks into the killer's house that's one of the most exciting things Argento has ever filmed. And all sorts of other cool touches, like the butterfly POV shots, or the killer's particularly unsettling means of dispatching their victims. Definitely a must-watch for fans of this type of stuff.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Mother of Tears
Sunday, June 8, 2008
It's a great time to be alive. This weekend saw the release of not one, but two highly anticipated horror movies from two of the greats of the genre, Dario Argento and Stuart Gordon. I have the coolest girlfriend in the world, who was not only willing, but actually enthusiastic about doing a double feature. Life is sweet.
First up is Dario Argento's Mother of Tears, the completion of a loose trilogy of films about evil witches, following Suspiria and Inferno. And the main thrill here is... well, Argento is an all-time favorite of mine, and for the first time in my life I saw one of his films in the theater. That's a real joy right there, and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity. One day I hope to catch a revival of one of his klassiks, but if that never happens then at least I'll have been to one. It's a milestone.
As for the film itself... I'm gonna have to go ahead and label it "For Argento Fans Only." It's got serious problems. You have to take it for granted that 9 times out of 10, in an Argento picture, the acting won't be too hot (and often poorly dubbed), and the story won't always be entirely coherent. Sometimes this actually works in the movie's favor. I mean, it's all the strange acting and weird, counterintuitive plot developments that give Opera a real unique feeling. And Inferno probably wouldn't be any good at all, if it weren't for it's dreamlike, illogical story. But the problem here is that there is SO MUCH acting and plot, and none of it is good, and it dominates much of the movie.
There's this part in Suspiria that I absolutely hate, where this one guy, in a rather long winded fashion, explains the backstory to the heroine, which essentially boils down to "witches exist." But then he tells the heroine that he knows someone else who is more of an expert, so this other guy comes out and even more longwindedly explains that, um, there are witches. And the thing about Mother of Tears is, it's probably made up 30% of scenes like that. Maybe more. People rambling on and on and a plot that isn't particularly hard to grasp, and not very interesting. All performed by characters who seem over-developed, yet completely without personality.
As far as the triolgy goes, this isn't as beautifully shot and stylish as Suspiria (in fact, I'm super dissappointed that Argento dropped the over-saturated color look of the first two films), and it's not as nightmarish and structurally fucking crazy as Inferno. It's easily the worst of the three.
Yet, I still liked it. It's true that I'm more forgiving of some of his recent work than most others (I'm actually quite fond of The Card Player) but it's clear that Argento isn't what he used to be, and will probably never reach the heights of greatness/style/lunacy that he did in the 70's and 80's. So once you accept that his klassiks are behind him, you can watch the movie for what it is, and enjoy what he does well.
And what he does well here is extended sequences of batshit crazy violence and debauchery. This is probably his most violent film, and at times really wallows in some gross-out moments. In places it's almost like a slicker, more skillful version of a Lucio Fulci movie. There's disembowling, flaying, baby murder, cannibalism, hacked-off limbs, slit throats, a spear up the vagina, not to mention scads of copious sex and nudity, including lesbianism and some extreme sadomasochism. This is an obvious comment I'm going to make, but the best parts of the movie are when Argento plays to his strengths, i.e. contrasting his classy (though baroque) visual style with his impulses towards lunacy and sleaze. There's an electricity to all the scenes of lurid sex and violence here unqiue to Argento; nobody does debauchery quite like him.
He's not the stylist he used to be, but he's still got some of the old magic, and he'll never stop being a fucking nutcase. I mean, even his shitty movies are more interesting than 90% of other horror movies. No one else has ever quite captured his brand of weirdness, so it's comforting that Argento is still churning them out.
It's a great time to be alive. This weekend saw the release of not one, but two highly anticipated horror movies from two of the greats of the genre, Dario Argento and Stuart Gordon. I have the coolest girlfriend in the world, who was not only willing, but actually enthusiastic about doing a double feature. Life is sweet.
First up is Dario Argento's Mother of Tears, the completion of a loose trilogy of films about evil witches, following Suspiria and Inferno. And the main thrill here is... well, Argento is an all-time favorite of mine, and for the first time in my life I saw one of his films in the theater. That's a real joy right there, and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity. One day I hope to catch a revival of one of his klassiks, but if that never happens then at least I'll have been to one. It's a milestone.
As for the film itself... I'm gonna have to go ahead and label it "For Argento Fans Only." It's got serious problems. You have to take it for granted that 9 times out of 10, in an Argento picture, the acting won't be too hot (and often poorly dubbed), and the story won't always be entirely coherent. Sometimes this actually works in the movie's favor. I mean, it's all the strange acting and weird, counterintuitive plot developments that give Opera a real unique feeling. And Inferno probably wouldn't be any good at all, if it weren't for it's dreamlike, illogical story. But the problem here is that there is SO MUCH acting and plot, and none of it is good, and it dominates much of the movie.
There's this part in Suspiria that I absolutely hate, where this one guy, in a rather long winded fashion, explains the backstory to the heroine, which essentially boils down to "witches exist." But then he tells the heroine that he knows someone else who is more of an expert, so this other guy comes out and even more longwindedly explains that, um, there are witches. And the thing about Mother of Tears is, it's probably made up 30% of scenes like that. Maybe more. People rambling on and on and a plot that isn't particularly hard to grasp, and not very interesting. All performed by characters who seem over-developed, yet completely without personality.
As far as the triolgy goes, this isn't as beautifully shot and stylish as Suspiria (in fact, I'm super dissappointed that Argento dropped the over-saturated color look of the first two films), and it's not as nightmarish and structurally fucking crazy as Inferno. It's easily the worst of the three.
Yet, I still liked it. It's true that I'm more forgiving of some of his recent work than most others (I'm actually quite fond of The Card Player) but it's clear that Argento isn't what he used to be, and will probably never reach the heights of greatness/style/lunacy that he did in the 70's and 80's. So once you accept that his klassiks are behind him, you can watch the movie for what it is, and enjoy what he does well.
And what he does well here is extended sequences of batshit crazy violence and debauchery. This is probably his most violent film, and at times really wallows in some gross-out moments. In places it's almost like a slicker, more skillful version of a Lucio Fulci movie. There's disembowling, flaying, baby murder, cannibalism, hacked-off limbs, slit throats, a spear up the vagina, not to mention scads of copious sex and nudity, including lesbianism and some extreme sadomasochism. This is an obvious comment I'm going to make, but the best parts of the movie are when Argento plays to his strengths, i.e. contrasting his classy (though baroque) visual style with his impulses towards lunacy and sleaze. There's an electricity to all the scenes of lurid sex and violence here unqiue to Argento; nobody does debauchery quite like him.
He's not the stylist he used to be, but he's still got some of the old magic, and he'll never stop being a fucking nutcase. I mean, even his shitty movies are more interesting than 90% of other horror movies. No one else has ever quite captured his brand of weirdness, so it's comforting that Argento is still churning them out.
Monday, May 19, 2008
All the Colors of the Dark
Sunday, May 18, 2008
I can't resist a good giallo. Or a bad giallo, for that matter, but this was a good one. Like the way some people can always watch a western even if it sucks, I can pretty much always watch a giallo.
This one is good for the same reasons a lot of giallos are good, which is to say there is a lot of sex and violence, juiced up with ridiculous visual bombast. And it's got Edwige Fenech, my favorite/the sexiest of all the ladies that showed up in a lot of these movies. She displays an acceptable amount of nudity, although perhaps not as gratuitously as I would have liked.
The director has done 2 other giallos I saw, the great titled but only OK Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh and the awesome-ly, top 10 best titled Giallo, but pretty lame as a movie Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. (Which, believe it or not is one of the many Italian/giallo versions of Poe's The Black Cat). This one doesn't have a title nearly that awesome, but it's definitely the best one of his that I've seen. It's not as insanely violent as I would have liked, but it is entertainingly lurid and has an over-the-top visual style (this is definitely one of those slightly psychedlic, hippie giallos) and a silly-ass satanic cult plot filled with dreams within dreams within hallucinations, etc.
The acting in your typical giallo is usually pretty bad and the shitty dubbing doesn't help, and it tends to add a lot of accidental laughs to these movies. But, still, I have to say that my enjoyment is mostly genuine. All the Colors of the Dark isn't a good movie in many senses, but it's fun and stylish and kinda well-made for what it is. I think it's like that saying (Pauline Kael's, maybe?) about great art being so rare that it's important we learn to appreciate great trash. This is at least good trash, maybe a little more emphasis on trash than on good. With giallos, you occassionally get some great trash from the king himself Dario Argento like Opera, and maybe even trash so great that it trascends trash and becomes art, like Deep Red. But mostly you get average to good trash, and I find that immanently watchable.
I can't resist a good giallo. Or a bad giallo, for that matter, but this was a good one. Like the way some people can always watch a western even if it sucks, I can pretty much always watch a giallo.
This one is good for the same reasons a lot of giallos are good, which is to say there is a lot of sex and violence, juiced up with ridiculous visual bombast. And it's got Edwige Fenech, my favorite/the sexiest of all the ladies that showed up in a lot of these movies. She displays an acceptable amount of nudity, although perhaps not as gratuitously as I would have liked.
The director has done 2 other giallos I saw, the great titled but only OK Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh and the awesome-ly, top 10 best titled Giallo, but pretty lame as a movie Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. (Which, believe it or not is one of the many Italian/giallo versions of Poe's The Black Cat). This one doesn't have a title nearly that awesome, but it's definitely the best one of his that I've seen. It's not as insanely violent as I would have liked, but it is entertainingly lurid and has an over-the-top visual style (this is definitely one of those slightly psychedlic, hippie giallos) and a silly-ass satanic cult plot filled with dreams within dreams within hallucinations, etc.
The acting in your typical giallo is usually pretty bad and the shitty dubbing doesn't help, and it tends to add a lot of accidental laughs to these movies. But, still, I have to say that my enjoyment is mostly genuine. All the Colors of the Dark isn't a good movie in many senses, but it's fun and stylish and kinda well-made for what it is. I think it's like that saying (Pauline Kael's, maybe?) about great art being so rare that it's important we learn to appreciate great trash. This is at least good trash, maybe a little more emphasis on trash than on good. With giallos, you occassionally get some great trash from the king himself Dario Argento like Opera, and maybe even trash so great that it trascends trash and becomes art, like Deep Red. But mostly you get average to good trash, and I find that immanently watchable.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Seven Notes in Black
Monday, April 14, 2008
This movie was packaged under the title The Psychic, but Seven Notes in Black is the onscreen title, and it's frankly a much cooler one. The Psychic sounds like it could be any generic, crappy horror movie. Seven Notes in Black sounds like exactly what it is: a 70's giallo.
This is Fulci, but it's not one of his surreal, soft focus, gore heavy, illogical, batshit insane, gates to hell horror films. It's more along the lines of a (relatively subdued) giallo, a little more like his Don't Torture a Duckling or A Lizard in Woman's Skin (see what I mean about these titles) only maybe even more straightforward than those. And not nearly as violent.
Well, I'm gonna say it, this is probably Fulci's best movie. I don't mean it's my favorite; it lacks that weird, fascinating nightmarish quality of The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, etc. But it's probably his best made... it's an entertaining thriller with a number of memorable scenes. It has some bad acting here and there, and goes a little slow for a while, but that's true of a lot of giallo, even some of Dario Argento's best.
No orgies in this one, though. Shame. Any time a hippie shows up in a giallo (which is often), there's usually an orgy to follow. No hippies here, sadly.
The "seven notes" refers to the little tune that the lead character's watch plays when wound, and the tune kept nagging at me. I knew I had heard it somewhere before. For a while I was convinced that it was the music that the guy's watch played in For a Few Dollars More... until it hit me that Tarantino used the music in the first Kill Bill. Nice.
This movie was packaged under the title The Psychic, but Seven Notes in Black is the onscreen title, and it's frankly a much cooler one. The Psychic sounds like it could be any generic, crappy horror movie. Seven Notes in Black sounds like exactly what it is: a 70's giallo.
This is Fulci, but it's not one of his surreal, soft focus, gore heavy, illogical, batshit insane, gates to hell horror films. It's more along the lines of a (relatively subdued) giallo, a little more like his Don't Torture a Duckling or A Lizard in Woman's Skin (see what I mean about these titles) only maybe even more straightforward than those. And not nearly as violent.
Well, I'm gonna say it, this is probably Fulci's best movie. I don't mean it's my favorite; it lacks that weird, fascinating nightmarish quality of The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, etc. But it's probably his best made... it's an entertaining thriller with a number of memorable scenes. It has some bad acting here and there, and goes a little slow for a while, but that's true of a lot of giallo, even some of Dario Argento's best.
No orgies in this one, though. Shame. Any time a hippie shows up in a giallo (which is often), there's usually an orgy to follow. No hippies here, sadly.
The "seven notes" refers to the little tune that the lead character's watch plays when wound, and the tune kept nagging at me. I knew I had heard it somewhere before. For a while I was convinced that it was the music that the guy's watch played in For a Few Dollars More... until it hit me that Tarantino used the music in the first Kill Bill. Nice.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Short Night of Glass Dolls
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
That movie Awake (I think it was called) that came out earlier this year seemed to have a similar premise to this one. It's one of them stories where the main character appears to be dead, but he can still see and feel everything that happens to him, and he's trying to bring his body back to life and remember how he even got here in the first place, and every moment he's getting closer to his autopsy, etc. Short Night of Glass Dolls mostly takes place in the character's head, as he flashes back to the events leading up to this. I can't speak for what Awake's approach was to the material, but there is something about the odd, subjective, eerie tone of this one that I think is ripe for remaking. Imagine a horror movie version of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Sometimes I toy with the idea of writing it, for shits.
This is not quite a giallo, but it's an Italian horror flick by the same director as Who Saw Her Die? and I like it, although it's a bit too talky in places. It strikes the right tone, has a lot of cool ideas, and a really great ending (although the last shot is a little corny).
I'm considering, maybe as a break from my K2K, doing a "Giallo Month" or "Italian Horror Movie-a-Thon" because there are just too damn many that I want to see. But I feel like a bitch about abandoning the K2K... still, if I did this as an interlude, maybe when the semester ends as a way to celebrate the start of summer, it wouldn't be so bad. We'll see.
That movie Awake (I think it was called) that came out earlier this year seemed to have a similar premise to this one. It's one of them stories where the main character appears to be dead, but he can still see and feel everything that happens to him, and he's trying to bring his body back to life and remember how he even got here in the first place, and every moment he's getting closer to his autopsy, etc. Short Night of Glass Dolls mostly takes place in the character's head, as he flashes back to the events leading up to this. I can't speak for what Awake's approach was to the material, but there is something about the odd, subjective, eerie tone of this one that I think is ripe for remaking. Imagine a horror movie version of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Sometimes I toy with the idea of writing it, for shits.
This is not quite a giallo, but it's an Italian horror flick by the same director as Who Saw Her Die? and I like it, although it's a bit too talky in places. It strikes the right tone, has a lot of cool ideas, and a really great ending (although the last shot is a little corny).
I'm considering, maybe as a break from my K2K, doing a "Giallo Month" or "Italian Horror Movie-a-Thon" because there are just too damn many that I want to see. But I feel like a bitch about abandoning the K2K... still, if I did this as an interlude, maybe when the semester ends as a way to celebrate the start of summer, it wouldn't be so bad. We'll see.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Who Saw Her Die?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
I do enjoy a good giallo. I saw this one a while back with my uncle and my brother, where we kind of made fun of it even though it's actually a decent one. I ended up with my own copy, and popped it on while relaxing on Thursday night, as a way to hole up in my room and maybe relax my brain a little after watching Persona. This one is no Deep Red... hell, it ain't even a Case of the Bloody Iris, but it's an entertaining one, and it stars worst James Bond ever George Lazenby. IMDB audaciously claims that he lost 35 lbs for this role... I have no idea why that would be necessary, but I'd like to think this guy was pulling crazy weight loss/gain shit years before DeNiro tried it, only he did it for Italian b-movies.
A few things I've picked up about Italian horror flicks:
- Most protagonists are American or British dudes who are living in (or just happen to be in) Italy. Apparently, intrigue doesn't happen to the native Italians.
- If a priest shows up in the movie, 9 times out of 10 he will be the killer.
-If a priest shows up and is not the killer, he will die a violent death.
- If the killer appears to be a woman, most of the time he will turn out to be a transvestite. (Who Saw Her Die goes the extra mile and makes the killer a transvestite priest).
- If there is a little girl in a major role, for some reason she always has red hair, and all children, boy or girl, will have their voices dubbed by an adult woman.
This one looks good, but isn't a visually stylish as my favorite giallos. Much of the entertainment comes from the weird details that director Aldo Lado (silly name!) throws in. Like when the main character is investigating his daughter's death, and he's asking this one dude questions, and they suddenly both start playing ping pong during the heated exchange. Or when the main character appears to be getting stalked by a man on crutches.
It's got the requisite violence (not too gory, but good stuff like when a guy gets lit on fire and falls out a window and they show it like 5 times) and more than its share of naked ladies. It strikes a nice balance between classy and trashy (although doesn't make it an extreme dichotomy, like in an Argento flick). I enjoy this one, and also Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls, which I've thought would make a good remake and I should watch again soon. Supposedly, his Night Train Murders is really trashy and I'm a little curious to see that one because these other two are relatively well made genre entries. Maybe after my K2K, I'll do an Italian Horror Movie-a-thon and check that one out.
I do enjoy a good giallo. I saw this one a while back with my uncle and my brother, where we kind of made fun of it even though it's actually a decent one. I ended up with my own copy, and popped it on while relaxing on Thursday night, as a way to hole up in my room and maybe relax my brain a little after watching Persona. This one is no Deep Red... hell, it ain't even a Case of the Bloody Iris, but it's an entertaining one, and it stars worst James Bond ever George Lazenby. IMDB audaciously claims that he lost 35 lbs for this role... I have no idea why that would be necessary, but I'd like to think this guy was pulling crazy weight loss/gain shit years before DeNiro tried it, only he did it for Italian b-movies.
A few things I've picked up about Italian horror flicks:
- Most protagonists are American or British dudes who are living in (or just happen to be in) Italy. Apparently, intrigue doesn't happen to the native Italians.
- If a priest shows up in the movie, 9 times out of 10 he will be the killer.
-If a priest shows up and is not the killer, he will die a violent death.
- If the killer appears to be a woman, most of the time he will turn out to be a transvestite. (Who Saw Her Die goes the extra mile and makes the killer a transvestite priest).
- If there is a little girl in a major role, for some reason she always has red hair, and all children, boy or girl, will have their voices dubbed by an adult woman.
This one looks good, but isn't a visually stylish as my favorite giallos. Much of the entertainment comes from the weird details that director Aldo Lado (silly name!) throws in. Like when the main character is investigating his daughter's death, and he's asking this one dude questions, and they suddenly both start playing ping pong during the heated exchange. Or when the main character appears to be getting stalked by a man on crutches.
It's got the requisite violence (not too gory, but good stuff like when a guy gets lit on fire and falls out a window and they show it like 5 times) and more than its share of naked ladies. It strikes a nice balance between classy and trashy (although doesn't make it an extreme dichotomy, like in an Argento flick). I enjoy this one, and also Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls, which I've thought would make a good remake and I should watch again soon. Supposedly, his Night Train Murders is really trashy and I'm a little curious to see that one because these other two are relatively well made genre entries. Maybe after my K2K, I'll do an Italian Horror Movie-a-thon and check that one out.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Opera
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Mmm mmm. I love me some Argento, and despite some really bad dubbing/acting, this is one of his best. Violent, stylish and bizarre... love it.
Mmm mmm. I love me some Argento, and despite some really bad dubbing/acting, this is one of his best. Violent, stylish and bizarre... love it.
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