Into the Obscuradrome 2
Hello. I’m Bob Pastorella, co-host of the This Is Horror podcast, website manager for This Is Horror, and writer. I’m the author of Mojo Rising, They’re Watching (with Michael David Wilson), and have numerous short-stories and non-fiction online and in print in various publications.
Hello. I’m Bob Pastorella, co-host of the This Is Horror podcast, website manager for This Is Horror, and writer. I the author of Mojo Rising, They’re Watching (with Michael David Wilson), and have numerous short-stories and non-fiction online and in print in various publications.
Previous newsletters can be found here.
Giallo: The Recommendations
I don’t like lists.
Okay, let me backtrack.
I don’t like making lists.
I always forget something. Never fails, I hit post and BAM … how in the hell did I forget about THAT?
There are tons of lists of giallo films. Wikipedia is your friend. The lists are not exhaustive of the sheer amount of giallo that’s been produced. Here’s a long list of books that some consider giallo, often by the thinnest of connections, so your mileage may vary. As with anything else, giallo often refuses to be defined.
These are a few of the giallo films I’ve enjoyed:
Deep Red
Dario Argento’s fifth film as a director, and the film released right before Suspiria, Deep Red is quite possibly the best of the genre. Wide-shots, extreme close-ups, long lingering scenes down dark corridors, the gothic architecture of the settings, creepy mechanized dolls, the deep red blood … this film has got it all. As with some giallo films, there is a paranormal element to the story, though I must stress that is not a requirement. Currently playing on Shudder ( along with many more classic giallo), you can probably find it for rental with a quick search.
The Cat O’ Nine Tales
At last, an Argento film more celebrated in the states than Europe. The Cat O’ Nine Tales is a strange film that really deserves more praise than even Argento will allow. This giallo features an almost science-fiction element to the narrative with a research facility taking center stage. Karl Malden plays a blind man who use to be a reporter, able to put clues together in ways others cannot. While working with another reporter, they deduce their list of suspects down to nine possibles, hence the title of the film. Available on Shudder as well.
The Eyes of Laura Mars
I don’t care what anyone says, The Eyes of Laura Mars is a giallo. Listed as neo-noir, the film is also often labeled as erotic-thriller, thriller, suspense, and yes, sure … it’s all of those things, but it is most certainly a giallo. It released when US studios did their very best to stay away from the term giallo, often using erotic thriller in its place.
Faye Dunaway is Laura Mars, the world’s most provocative photographer. Set in the late 70’s, the film places the slick, glossy shine of fashion photography against a grimy urban backdrop with a woman unafraid to push the boundaries of violence. The theme here specifically is stylized violence, which makes her photography quite controversial. The story was John Carpenter’s first writing credit, and much of his script was used. Featuring a young Tommy Lee Jones and Brad Dourif, this classic is not to be missed, and is currently streaming at the Criterion Channel and available to rent online.
Blow Out
Love him or hate him, Brian De Palma wears his inspirations and obsessions on his sleeve, in full-view for the world to see. Heavily inspired by Hitchcock and giallo, De Palma honed his skills to find his own style, combining multiple shooting styles and storytelling techniques that, when they work, shine brighter than many of the films by his contemporaries. Blow Out is one of the finest examples of when De Palma is firing on all cylinders. Directly inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup, De Palma shifted the medium from film to sound, with John Travolta playing a sound-man for a movie studio. While gathering nature sounds for a slasher film, he hears something he shouldn’t have, capturing a possible homicide on tape. From there, he spirals downward into a world of conspiracy and paranoia that just keeps on sliding deep into the bowels of hell. Currently streaming on The Criterion Channel and available for rental on Apple TV.
Berberian Sound Studio
Got to admit, I’m cheating a little here. Berberian Sound Studio isn’t exactly a giallo … it’s a psychological horror film about making a giallo. But I’d be remiss to not include it here because it is one of those weird, strange films that is really difficult to describe on the page. It is a paranoia filled slow-burn best experienced going in cold. Toby Jones rocks it, as always, as the sound-man (sound again … giallo is truly an assault of ALL the senses) doing special effect sounds for a giallo. Found for rental at numerous streaming outlets.
The Editor
Filling in as both a homage and a parody of giallo, The Editor uses comedy to present the tropes of the genre in a way that’s never really attempted before. The humor hits all the notes of high brow and low brow comedy, often all at once, and the gore is fantastically rendered on the screen. Created by Astron-6, the team behind The Void and Psycho Goreman, this early effort features Paz de la Huerta, Laurence R. Harvey, and Udo Kier. Filled with gratuitous graphic nudity and bloody gore, consider yourself warned. Shudder has this film in their giallo collection.
These are just a few of the giallo I’ve enjoyed. Like I mentioned earlier, the sheer volume of content of the genre is overwhelming. Classic directors to look for include Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Mario Bava, Sergio Martino, and you should definitely check out the more recent films of the husband and wife team of Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani.
Defying definitions as most genres do, giallo traits shift and morph, in both execution and intention. Many, many films listed as erotic thrillers, suspense, even neo-noir, are giallo at their heart. Once you start viewing the films, and see for yourself what makes them tick, you’ll begin to see that so many films you would never believed were giallo actually have many characteristics of the genre.
Next newsletter, I’ll be tackling my thoughts about the glorious return of vampires. Horror’s back Baby, and that means vampires have risen from the grave. But now they’re different (not really), and they’re very hungry.
Stay tuned …
peace&love
Bob
peace&love
Bob