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Can we say Phenomena and Nine Seats are at least 80% giallo?
Our points leader is Blow Out, which to me is a “political paranoia”
film like The Parallax View.
DePalma’s lesser works Raising Cain and Femme Fatale qualify more.
“What do you mean, dead, Patrick?”
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DePalma’s lesser works Raising Cain and Femme Fatale qualify more.
I'd say only in an honourary capacity.
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Posted: |
Feb 12, 2024 - 5:59 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Hatchet for the Honeymoon (Mario Bava 1970)
Just too early for most of the usual tropes, but any Bava is worth a watch for the style if not the J&B. This one, set in a fashion house like Blood and Black Lace, centres on mother’s boy John Harrington who feels obliged to kill new brides (as long as they’ve already paid for the dress) and has to go on doing it until he figures out WHY he’s doing it.
Funky music - yes, in a bar scene (and described as such in the subtitles)
Twist ending - yes
Witness of murder - not really
Striptease - no
Killer’s POV - yes but no. No.
Man slaps woman - no. Woman slaps man, but doesn’t count.
Overloud or inappropriate music - no
Outrageous title - yes, as it’s a meat cleaver, not a hatchet at all
J&B bottle - no
Naked woman - no
Death by stabbing - not stabbing, no
Red herring - yes
Black-gloved killer - no
Goofy police inspector - no, quite a competent one in fact
Important picture - no
Woman takes bath or shower - a bath is threatened but not taken
Blackmail - no
Gay/lesbian character - not obviously
Important memory - yes, very much so
Random scene in Italian - watched in Italian with subbies
Ooh ooh music - hard pass
Death by razor - no
Childhood trauma - yes
Killer’s footsteps - yes
Hilariously the credits include “Screemplay “ by Santiago Moncada.
Sante Maria Romitelli’s score is fairly run-of-the-mill for this kind of film, and although I had the sound turned way down, I thought I heard some Tchaikovsky in the main theme.
Nice joke of having the main character watching Bava’s own Black Sabbath when the cops come calling - with the dialogue replaced to make it a soap opera!
Seven points for Meat Cleaver for the Honeymoon…
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Posted: |
Mar 2, 2024 - 1:53 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Trauma (Violación Fatal) (León Klimovsky 1978)
From the “Forgotten Gialli vol 1” collection comes this Spanish tale of a writer turning up at a remote lakeside hotel in rural Spain. He’s getting away from unspecified problems at his Madrid home and looking for a quiet place to do a bit of writing. He’s met by the lovely Veronica who runs the hotel with her disabled husband and has loud one-sided rows with the poor beggar in their living quarters upstairs.
She takes a curious liking to the visitor, who frankly no sensible film heroine would look twice at, being paunchy, weak-chinned and a bit handsy. He’s the only guest, but others arrive and mysteriously vanish during his stay.
It’s actually a very entertaining film, somewhat in the style of Hitchcock, with lots of clues, over the top razor-related gore, a fair dollop of nudity, red herrings and handheld camera work. Klimovsky is no Buñuel - but who is?
The ending rather self-consciously leaves several questions unanswered and is designed to make you ponder what might happen next. Not sure it succeeded…
Funky music - not really, just a bit cheap and not that good
Twist ending - intended to be but telegraphed from the start, I suppose if you’ve never seen a film before you could be taken in, so yes.
Witness of murder - no
Striptease - yes, partial and under mental duress, but still counts
Killer’s POV - yes
Man slaps woman - no
Overloud or inappropriate music - can’t claim this, just not brilliant
Outrageous title - no, thoroughly generic in English or Spanish
J&B bottle - plenty of plonk but lacking in the hard stuff
Naked woman - yes, plus lots of male bum, but not in a good way
Death by stabbing - nope, bit of a one-trick pony
Red herring - yes, but fairly heavy handed
Black-gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - no fuzz until the end
Important picture - no, but creepy dolls, which is often a good sign
Woman takes bath or shower - no, but there’s an unintended honeymoon one by a rapey hubby
Blackmail - no
Gay/lesbian character - you’re led to think so: cravat, comb-over, a liking for wet boys - but turns out he’s just a writer
Important memory - yes
Random scene in Italian - heh, no, it’s Spanish and there’s no English dub anyway
Ooh ooh music - only as in “ooh, this isn’t very good”
Death by razor - yes
Childhood trauma - not really
Killer’s footsteps - yes
A respectable 9 GB points. I’ve seen far worse films, deserves to be better known.
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Posted: |
Mar 3, 2024 - 1:19 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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The Killer is on the Phone (Alberto De Martino, 1972)
I’m sure they could have dreamt up a better title for this film, caught this morning on Amazon Prime for nothing. However I imagine that just the words “L’Assassino” would sell tickets in 1972 Italy. And it being 1972, it was the height of the giallo, and this film had lots going for it. Just seeing the contemporary cars alone is worth it, the Stelvio Cipriano score is excellent (but neither funky nor overloud) and best of all, Telly Savalas is a brooding, immaculately-dressed presence.
Funky music - no, as mentioned
Twist ending - yes
Witness of murder - yes
Striptease - no
Killer’s POV - yes
Man slaps woman - no, and in fact the surprisingly non-violent. Apart from the killings, obviously.
Overloud or inappropriate music - rarely with the refined Stelvio
Outrageous title - yes, pretty meaningless and gives no idea about the plot other then to place it in the genre
J&B bottle - yes!
Naked woman - yes, save for a huge wig
Death by stabbing - yes
Red herring - yes
Black-gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - surprisingly little police presence
Important picture - not really
Woman takes bath or shower - no
Blackmail - this isn’t Agatha Christie, thank you very much
Gay/lesbian character - yes, upon which the flimsy plots hangs
Important memory - yes
Random scene in Italian - I watched it in its native language with subtitles
Ooh ooh music - nooh nooh
Death by razor - nope
Childhood trauma - not this time
Killer’s footsteps - not going to count it, they all have footsteps and the killer’s weren’t especially prominent.
This film is definitely more style than substance, but it rollicked along and entertained for it entire running time. What more can you ask?
11 giallo bingo points. Nice!
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Posted: |
Mar 4, 2024 - 1:06 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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The Police are Blundering in the Dark (Helia Colombo, 1975)
Boob-heavy “Models in peril” giallo, starring nobody you’ve ever heard of, by a director who’s really a composer and only made this one film, with a score by a composer (who isn’t the director) who only wrote one film score.
Add to the lacklustre acting a stilted and padded out script, some terrible subtitles (“I’m scared and frightened!”), a film poster that gives the game away and some pseudo science enabling photos of the soul to be taken by a bubble-permed paraplegic photographer, and you’ve got a giallo as far removed from Bava, Martino and Argento as you’re ever likely to get. And I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it. One of those so-bad-it’s-brilliant films, what would we do without them.
Funky music - after an elevator-by-Mantovani opening title, nothing materially good or bad to mention, and nothing funky at all.
Twist ending - yes, apart from whodunnit, which is obvious when you’re standing on the pavement outside the cinema
Witness of murder - not by a character
Striptease - almost every female ends up topless, but not in this particular way
Killer’s POV - yes
Man slaps woman - nope, although I can think of a couple of likely candidates
Overloud or inappropriate music - not really, just blah
Outrageous title - yes, taken from a newspaper seen right at the start of the film and later repeated by a character, but otherwise irrelevant to the unfolding - they’re just absent
J&B bottle - didn’t see one, despite a couple of scenes in a bar and some of the characters never being without a glass in their hands
Naked woman - yes
Death by stabbing - yes
Red herring - not when it’s so obvious
Black-gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - despite the title, the police only show up right at the end, thereby allowing some exposition
Important picture - yes, of YOUR SOUL (woo-oo-oo!)
Woman takes bath or shower - yes, and after seducing the village idiot you’d want one too
Blackmail - nothing so smart
Gay/lesbian character - yes, kinda: as the photographer’s frustrated wife says - “I found a different kind of release in your niece’s body”
Important memory - this film will live long in mine but otherwise no
Random scene in Italian - watched it in Italian anyway
Ooh ooh music - nothing that good
Death by razor - nope, all scissors here
Childhood trauma - no
Killer’s footsteps - no
Nine GB points. Probably the worst giallo ever - a must-see!
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Posted: |
Mar 6, 2024 - 1:40 PM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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The Killer is One of Thirteen (Javier Aguirre, 1973)
The most chaste giallo I’ve seen, with a couple of dalliances but zero nudity, man is this EVEN a giallo? The tropes below say yes. Agatha Christie style, a young widow gathers 12 of her late husband’s friends and acquaintances together in her remote Spanish country house on the second anniversary of his death to work out which of them caused his death.
There’s the dodgy industrialist and his flighty wife; the penniless husband whose jealousy about his wife is matched only by his 18th century facial hair; the playboy best friend of the late husband who within seconds of arriving is trying to seduce the maid, the impoverished artist who survives by forging masterpieces; the porn-addicted Oedipal cousin and his overbearing mother; a selection of others.
The murders don’t start until well into the film, and the killer’s MO changes with every kill; knife, axe, knitting needle, garrotte, poison. I’m not good at guessing whodunnit, and didn’t again. The enjoyment of the film is getting to know the foibles and relationships between the characters and slowly learning how each of them have motives for wanting the hubby dead. And figuring out how the hostess could tell that a car had crashed some miles away without any possibility of knowing…
This was the last of the Forgotten Gialli volume 1. I hope to add other volumes before long.
Funky music - no, pretty ordinary
Twist ending - yes
Witness of murder - nope
Striptease - really not
Killer’s POV - yes
Man slaps woman - EDIT - yes, very much so
Overloud or inappropriate music - on the cusp but VAR says no
Outrageous title - yes
J&B bottle - not in Spain, apparently
Naked woman - teased but not delivered
Death by stabbing - yes, amongst others
Red herring - yes
Black-gloved killer - yes
Goofy police inspector - suspiciously no police at all
Important picture - no
Woman takes bath or shower - yes
Blackmail - not a trace
Gay/lesbian character - statistically there should have been, but there wasn’t
Important memory - no
Random scene in Italian - again, watched in Spanish with subbies
Ooh ooh music - not
Death by razor - one of the few methods not employed
Childhood trauma - no
Killer’s footsteps - no
So considering this was an atypical specimen, and following the correction signalled below, it garners a solid eight GB points.
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Posted: |
Mar 6, 2024 - 11:18 PM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Actually, I beg its pardon; despite the characters driving on the wrong side of the road in left-hand drive cars, and the countryside being so Iberean, the film is supposed to take place in England.
One of the guests remarks that they’ve driven for three hours since seeing a town, which is impossible in England unless you have an average speed of five mph! The subtitles do refer to pounds sterling, which I initially took for a translation of the local currency, but the weather is much more southern European than British. Also, the villa/pool combination is still rare in Blighty.
They do play croquet, however, which of course we English all do on every possible occasion. That alone should have given the location away…
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They do play croquet,
I find that the potato ones don't last very long.
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I'm not familiar with these 'forgotten' sets. Are they readily available?
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