There are very few giallo that i truly love. the "whodunnit" angle usually comes across as tired and unoriginal. But "All the Colors of the Dark" was absolutely brilliant; chilling, creepy, and endlessly strange. It's a very different approach to a worn out formula. I find this and "Le Orme" to be the finest entries in the genre. but i think 'colors' is the only movie that can give me nightmares as an adult.
have a drink twat-
Helmut Berger, "Mad Dog Killer"
Yeah, it's a very entertaining and suspenseful film. AND it's got Edwige Fenech, the most beautiful woman in the entire giallo genre, as the main star! But this film NEEDS to receive a quality blu-ray release sometime in the near future!
"Life IS pain highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something".
“AND it's got Edwige Fenech”
Absolutely one of the most beautiful women in all of Italian genre film. I must say I really like Nieves Navarro as well.
Edwige is outstanding. Definitely the first female that comes to mind when I think 'giallo'.
I really enjoy Nieves Navarro as well. I only recently watched her three giallo films directed by her Husband (The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Death Walks on High Heels & Death Walks at Midnight) and really enjoyed them.
It was a treat rewatching this and realising she was in it. The first time I watched this years back I had no idea who she was and hadn't seen any of her other work.
Another to check out, if you haven’t already, is Navarro in Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977). Being it’s an Emanuelle with Laura Gemser entry, you know what your getting into. 😀
Oh, also there is a really interesting spaghetti western where she runs a homestead and uses the men for sex, if I’m remembering things right. I’ll remember the name sooner or later and I think Tomas Milian might have been in it too. I need to look it up.
I haven't seen that film. In truth I've barely seen any Italian cannibal films (I think Cannibal Holocaust is the only one I've watched), something I should rectify.
Thanks for the recommendation.
I would like to recommend one that is much different than Cannibal Holocaust, and most of the others for that matter. The Man From Deep River (1972) is my favorite in the genre. Umberto Lenzi directs this jungle adventure / love story with just a sprinkle of cannibalism thrown in. This is my favorite role of Ivan Rassimov, who was in All the Colors of the Dark also. It’s great story with wonderful characters and a really nice score. I find it to be elevated in many ways above the rest in the genre.
shareNoted.
From googling it there, Man From Deep River is supposedly the first cannibal film (at least with regards to Italy and in the manner that the genre has became known for). Definitely worth checking out if that's the case.
I know the name of Umberto Lenzi and recognize the titles of many of his films (Nightmare City, Nightmare Beach, Seven Blood Stained Orchids)...I haven't seen a single one of his films though. I see he also directed Cannibal Ferox and Eaten Alive!, two cannibal films I've also heard of.
I really should get around to checking his films out. I do see that Man From Deep River and Nightmare City were in your top 30 films list on Letterboxd.
I'll probably do a Lenzi binge at some point.
Didn’t you just finish watching The House With the Laughing Windows?
shareI did. That was decent enough, I had my hopes too high for it though. THWLW was directed by Pupi Avati. (Hard to keep track of who directed what with some of these dudes, they were ridiculously prolific. So many films.)
shareThat’s another that it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen that I’d like to revisit. I can’t even remember who’s in it but I rated it fairly well.
shareI did think it was good, the only problem is it was high on my watchlist for a few years, it was seemingly the highest regarded Giallo I'd yet to see, so it didn't quite measure up to my hopes.
A good film, no doubt, just I was expecting something special with all the praise it gets. One of those films I'll have to rewatch in a few years time with expectations tempered.
I didn't recognize any of the cast in it, though your personnel knowledge of Italian flicks seems to be notably greater than mine, so you may know a few of them.
So many films to watch... I need to revisit some of Sergio Martinos films of the back of All the Colors of the Dark (and check out a few more of his other films I've yet to see). Now I need to delve into the filmography of Umberto Lenzi.
I'm currently working my way through some Audrey Hepburn films (still a few I'd like to see) and I'm awaiting rewatches for The Funhouse, Friday the 13th, Poltergeist & The Lost Boys (all of which are coming to 4K in the next few weeks). Add in new upcoming releases like Pearl and Hellraiser...I just don't have enough time for all this.
I don't have issues finding new films to watch (as some people seem to), I have issues finding the time to watch them all. I have a big watchlist at the moment, films sometimes sit on it for literal years. The Dead Pit (1989) is another I've decided I'll check out. Lord help me.
It does indeed sound like your watch list is lengthy. I honestly don’t know where people come up with the “I can’t find any good movies to watch” thing either. It just seems never ending for me. 😀
share