giallo

Spirits of Death

Spirits of Death (1972)

Mariale (Ida Galli AKA Evelyn Stewart) has recurring visions of her mother’s murder at the hands of her father when she was a child. The grief and the horror of this incident has turned her into something of a shut-in. Her husband Paolo (Luigi Pistilli) keeps her in their castle away from others and keeps her doped up for her own good. When Mariale decides to throw a party with a bunch of she and Paolo’s wacky friends, things quickly get out of hand. The party turns into a decadent feast. Did I mention that Massimo (Ivan Rassimov), Mariale’s old flame, is one of the guests attending this little soiree? Oh shit! Tensions begin to rise and soon the party guests start dropping like dang flies at the hands of a brutal murderer.

The languidly paced yet beautiful Spirits of Death creeps across my TV screen and I can’t help but love it. Stuck somewhere between giallo and gothic horror, this film is both eerily nightmarish and sleepily dull (thanks to its substandard ironic plot). Unfortunately, director and cinematographer Ramano Scavolini would go on to direct only one other horror outing: the elusive slasher Nightmares in a Damaged Brain. Because you know what? I really liked where he was going with this one. Then there’s the haunting and phantasmagorical score by Fiorenzo Carpi and Bruno Nicolai which is impossible to forget once you’ve heard it.

I can’t recommend Spirits of Death (AKA A White Dress for Mariale) for anyone just getting into Italian horror films starting with this one but I think this is worth a look for you seasoned experts out there. The cast kicks ten different kinds of ass with Galli, Rassimov and Pistilli on hand. There’s also plenty of sex and violence to make up for some of the drowsy bits. But the pacing is really out of whack with its moments of noise and freakishness followed immediately by scenes of shaky and strange calmness. This would make a fine double feature with Francesco Barilli’s The Perfume of the Lady in Black.

“Mariale, what is on your mind?”

Something Creeping in the Dark

Something Creeping in the Dark (1971)

During a terrible storm, a group of obnoxious strangers are stranded at a mysterious house in the middle of nowhere occupied only by a lone hippie butler named Joe (Gianni Medici). Among them is a murderous criminal named Spike (Farley Granger) accompanied by two police detectives trying to haul him in. While playing a haunting melody on the piano, Spike makes a strange connection with Sylvia (Lucia Bose), a bored bourgeois lady, much to the dismay of her husband Donald (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart). Things get really strange when Sylvia holds a seance and they make contact with Sheila Marlowe, the recently deceased owner of the house. It seems that Sylvia’s spirit is not the restful type and she wants a new body to possess. People start dropping like flies under strange circumstances and the chances that anyone is going to survive until dawn are slim.

I want to love this movie, I really do. Oh yeah, it’s gonna be one of those reviews. The kind where I can’t be trusted. Director and writer Mario Coluuci only directed one horror film and it’s easy to see why. Something Creeping in the Dark has some great and very weird moments but the pacing is so off, it is almost funny. Almost. There is very little blood but there is plenty of violence with all the strangulation, bludgeoning, and shooting going on. What this movie has a great deal of is sex. Most of it is suggested and it’s as subtle as a sledgehammer (the Peter Gabriel kind).

There’s a little skin on display from Joe’s girlfriend, played by the adorable Giulia Rovai (who went on to star in nothing). The cast is also blessed with two lovely vixens: Lucia Bose and Mia Genberg (who plays Susan, the repressed nerd whose inhibitions come out and play once the ghost is in control), who both get to wear some very skimpy outfits. Lucia Bose participates in the film’s freakiest scene. While Spike is charming Sylvia’s panties off with his piano playing skills, the two of them share a disturbing fantasy sequence. In this daydream (?), Spike chases Sylvia around, slaps her around, and is about to rape her when she stabs him with a knife. She stabs him again and again and again while Spike just laughs maniacally. Genius!

The seance is where this film really kicks into high gear. (Don’t get used to it.) As you may have figured out by now, I love seance sequences in horror movies and this one is pretty superb. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart kicks all kinds of ass here when his character Donald, a natural medium, becomes possessed by the spirit they are contacting. Donald is a little ball of misery and rage and the ghost takes advantage of that with deadly results. It’s nice to see Rossi-Stuart actually getting into his role for a change. When directors didn’t know what to do with him, duder really phoned it in. Check out The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance (totally awful) and Death Smiled at Murder (better film, same result) to see what I mean.

I started out looking for a giallo and found whatever this is instead. But I’ve watched Something Creeping in the Dark twice now and I still can’t get a hold on it. Yes, it’s boring. All of the good stuff: the trippy possession and poltergeist sequences, the loungy/eerie soundtrack by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, the painfully obvious model house, the catty and banal dialogue, the always welcome presence of Farley Granger (Amuck!), and general disjointedness, just doesn’t make up for the snooze factor involved. Thanks to a couple of well-crafted scares though, I will be returning to the house of Sheila Marlowe against my will. It’s almost as if she has possessed me as well. What’s that, Sheila? You want me to eat more bacon? Okay!

“This kind of morbid exultation can be harmful to the nerves. I advise against it.”

Shadow of Illusion

Shadow of Illusion (1970)

Advertising executive, Gail Bland (Daniela Giordano), travels to Cairo to do a business deal with a company called Isis Cosmetics. Once there, Gail is beset by all manner of bizarre occurrences and weird people. A cult led by a creepy brother (Antonio Cantafora) and sister (Krista Nell) believe that she is the reincarnation of Isis and want to sacrifice her. Enter Caleb (William Berger), a swingin’ cool cat professor to her rescue. He takes Gail to see the sites, always just one step ahead of the mysterious cult. Every time Caleb leaves her alone, danger rears its heavily eye-shadowed head.

This rather different little film sports some great cinematography from Erico Menczer (The Dead are Alive, The Cat o’ Nine Tails) and a jazzy, fun score from the ever-reliable Carlo Savina (Lisa and the Devil). The plot is very simple and it’s peppered with a lot of foolish behavior on Gail’s part to keep it moving. This gets frustrating after a while but all of it can be explained away by her goofy state of mind (never smoke cigarettes from a stranger in Cairo) so whatever. Luckily, Mario Caiano’s direction is solid and everyone involved delivers decent performances.

There is very little blood but there is some violence and even a little sleaze. Oh and there’s a miserable dance number during a ritual that will have you groaning or cheering depending on your state of mind. I’m sure that the rampant dope-smoking and LSD trip sequence will appeal to a certain type of audience. That’s right, I’m talking to you, druggie!

I can’t imagine that casual viewers will like Shadow of Illusion. But if you’re like me, you’re on a constant quest for every giallo ever made (and I’m not saying this is a giallo) and don’t mind stumbling upon mostly entertaining Italian horror nonsense then you’ll probably get a kick out of this one. This film limps along surprisingly well and just barely stays ahead of its thin premise and awkward dubbing the whole time. About an hour in, I thought to myself, “This is something Jess Franco should have directed.” So you can take that for what it’s worth.

The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance (1975)

It’s 1902, in Ireland, and a group of actresses are invited to stay at the castle of Count Richard Marnack (played by Giacomo Rossi-Stuart). He is especially attracted to Evelyn (Patrizia Webley) because she reminds him of his dead wife. Or maybe she’s missing. Something. Oh yeah, there’s a curse in the Marnack family bloodline where the men go crazy and cut their wives’ heads off. I think that’s what it was. Anyway, it isn’t long before members of the group start turning up with their heads cut off. Ugh, I can’t even summon up the energy to describe this bag of crap.

Man oh man, this is one busted-ass Italian cinematic nightmare. I’ve seen many gialli with weak plots, tepid scripts, awkward actors, painfully over-the-top performances, cheap gore effects, listless direction, bland sets, unimaginative lighting, lame dubbing, and a complete lack of suspense. However, all of these factors rarely occur in the SAME DANG FILM! Alfredo Rizzo, I’m calling you out! The curiously (and severely misleadingly) titled The Bloodsucker Leads The Dance is one dreary movie experience. If you can even get through the longest 89 minutes on Earth, you’ll wonder why you did.

As to why these actors ever showed up to work everyday… Well, it must be some kind of a miracle. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart of The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave and Death Smiled at Murder has certainly been much better in other films. I can’t really blame him for sleepwalking through this one. Krista Nell (Night of the Devils) seems to be the only one having any fun as Cora, the slutty actress. Redhead hottie Femi Benussi (Strip Nude for Your Killer) seems utterly confounded as to the “complex” nature of her role as Sybil, the maid. Shhh, she’s got a secret love for Count Marnack! God help poor Evelyn, played by the beautiful Patrizia Webley in her film debut (ouch).

Comic relief comes from Leo Valeriano as Samuel, stagehand and manager for the actresses. No, wait. I actually have no clue what this duder’s purpose is. Anyway, this sad schmuck is ridiculed by the ladies throughout the film. They refer to him as being “half a man” (?) and never miss an opportunity to remind him that they think of him as a eunuch. As an actor, Valeriano is awful but he does manage to put some of the most bizarre and hilariously inappropriate facial expressions I’ve ever seen into his performance.

The plodding pace of Bloodsucker will destroy your happy thoughts. As for the film’s “finale”, um… no. The big reveal goes off like a wet firework. For those of you brave souls out there who insist on seeing every Italian horror movie ever made and for those that will ignore my warnings about the unfathomable suck that is The Bloodsucker Leads The Dance, here is the only reason to watch this film: sex and nudity. Oh yeah, and there a couple of really pathetic and cheap severed heads. Dang, this may just be the worst giallo ever made. Yeah, don’t watch this… unless you want to.

“The world is a stage but sometimes it isn’t.”

Giallo a Venezia

Giallo a Venezia (1979)

A couple, Flavia (Leonora Fani) and Fabio (Gianni Dei), are found murdered by the shore. Strangely enough, Fabio was stabbed to death with a pair of scissors while Flavia was drowned nearby and then her body dragged out of the water. Police inspector DePaul (Jeff Blynn) begins to slowly piece the case together with the few suspects and clues that he can find. He uncovers that in life Fabio was a voracious sex addict whose tastes were becoming more and more extreme with Flavia being little more than a toy in his games. Suddenly, the killer goes on a violent and bloody rampage against people connected to the murdered couple and it’s up to DePaul and the Venice police to apprehend him before any more lives are taken.

From writer Aldo Serio (Watch Me When I Kill) and director Mario Landi (Patrick Still Lives) comes, Giallo a Venezia, a sleazy, slimy, and truly trashy late 70s Giallo. Heavy on sex but light on plot and logic, this is one dirty flick. Some decent twists help the lame plot limp along until it finally sprints full speed to the end. The gore effects are cheap but nasty enough to keep me from complaining too much. More depressing than scary, Giallo a Venezia is a mean-spirited and sordid little film if there ever was one. The bipolar soundtrack ranges between utterly inappropriate disco circus music over sex scenes to pitch perfect chilling horror string arrangements in the stalking scenes.

The gorgeous Leonora Fani (The House by the Edge of the Lake) plays one of the most heart-wrenching characters I’ve ever seen in a giallo. Flavia’s short life is quite tragic and it really shows just how effective Fani’s performance is when I felt twinges of grief once her story reached its conclusion. The sinister looking Gianni Dei (The Last Round, Patrick Still Lives) who plays her “man”, Fabio, is an equally good actor, able to portray the terrifying aspects of sexual addiction. These two actors’ scenes together are especially hard to watch as Fabio’s addiction becomes ever more sadistic which leads them both down a path which will lead to their eventual destruction. The wildly sexy Mariangela Giordano (Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror) is on hand to make things even steamier. Who or what is Jeff Blynn? Aside from being the worst detective in Venice, Inspector DePaul also eats eggs and sports a non-hetero disco mustache.

Giallo a Venezia? More like Porno a Venezia! So yeah, I guess that the sex scenes are meant to show Fabio and Flavia’s destructive relationship but under the leering eye of cinematographer Franco Villa (Malabimba: The Malicious Whore), things get pretty ridiculous after a while. The brutality of the murders makes up for their somewhat sketchy effects and their close proximity with the lengthy softcore scenes also gives them a creepy edge. Giallo a Venezia is a halfway decent Giallo that is saved by its gory violence, good acting (not from Jeff Blynn), beautiful actresses, a bizarre musical score, and a thick coating of Euro-sleaze. Prepare to feel dirty afterwards, I know I do.

Autopsy

Autopsy (1975)

Mimsy Farmer plays Simona, a student of pathology, who begins to suspect that a string of recent suicides (blamed on sunspots by the media) may, in fact, be homicides. Matters take a downturn for Simona when she begins experiencing grotesque hallucinations which puts a strain on her future career as a pathologist as well as her relationship with her boyfriend, Edgar (Ray Lovelock). After her father’s plucky mistress, Betty (Gaby Wagner), turns up dead of an apparent suicide, she is convinced there is some kind of conspiracy. Betty’s brother, Father Paul (Barry Primus), joins Simona in her search for a killer that might not even exist.

Armando Crispino (The Dead are Alive) directs this tense, hallucinatory, and unsettling giallo. The tension and dread boil over in Autopsy and the viewer gets the sense that death is everywhere. The film is profoundly trashy (with hints of necrophilia and other various perversions) but with yet another brilliant score by Ennio Morricone and precise cinematography by Carlo Carlini (Virgin Terror, Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye), Autopsy is raised above its willingness to wallow in the muck.

Barry Primus gives the viewer their money’s worth with his wild portrayal of the rageaholic and epileptic Father Paul. Ray Lovelock of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and Murder Rock is very cool as Edgar, Simona’s very understanding (he has a porn slide collection) boyfriend. Keep an eye out for Ernesto Colli (Torso) as the bewilderingly creepy morgue attendant, Ivo. The film may run a little long but it’s worth it, even if just for the scene where Farmer finally snaps on this guy.

Of course, the star of the show, Mimsy Farmer, gives us another of her grand, yet flawed, performances. Farmer is truly is an acquired taste and her trademarks (her shrillness, that darn pouty look) can get annoying. However, it’s easy to forgive (and even grow fondness for) Farmer, the perpetually braless staple of so many great Italian horror flicks: The Perfume of the Lady in Black, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, and Lucio Fulci’s The Black Cat, just to name a few.

Autopsy’s disarming credit sequence of the sun, heat, sounds of crying, moaning, and screaming leads right into an excellent montage of suicides utilizing various means (drowning, razor blades, submachine gun, etc.). I would be lying if I said the film keeps up this intensity throughout but how could it without being an endless stream of people offing themselves? Instead, the opening grabs the viewer’s attention and prepares you (somewhat) for a 100 minute stretch of weirdness. Unfortunately for splatter enthusiasts, even the bountiful gore in the first third of the film takes a backseat to the oppressive mood of Autopsy.

Autopsy is a film that delivers its brooding theme of death, insanity, and mystery with change to spare, making it easy for recommendation to giallo fans. Sure, the killer may not be wearing black gloves this time around but the film has its share of priestly malfeasance and crazy twists to make it a solid entry in the genre. Hell, there’s even a rushed and confusing explanation behind the killer’s motive which should make fans of the yellow films feel right at home.

Sex of the Witch

sexofthewitch

Sex of the Witch (1973)

The Hilton family has just lost its patriarch and now the kids are fighting over the big inheritance. Someone has taken the initiative to kill the family off so that their chunk of the cash is bigger than everyone else’s. By using a set of Javanese fingernail covers (?), the killer has managed to harness the power to hypnotize people or something like that.

Why am I being punished? Oh yeah, I actually went looking for this junk. Just by the title alone, I knew that I was going to get screwed by Sex of the Witch (AKA Il sesso della strega) but I didn’t know just how screwed. The film is a supernatural giallo with a weak inheritance scheme disguised as a plot. Daniele Patucchi’s musical score is pretty with its warbling piano pieces and the castle scenery is nice. Unfortunately, there are very few locations, mostly dull lighting and only occasionally inspired cinematography; so the film gets very dull to look at very quickly. At a hippie party/concert, some colored filters are used to liven things up but the scene is so useless, it’s a wasted effort.

The cast is populated by some lovely ladies including Camille Keaton (Tragic Ceremony) and Marzia Damon (Evil Face), but the characters are so indistinct that it’s impossible to care about them or keep track of what’s going on. It almost seems as if there is footage missing or scenes are out of order. Sex of the Witch is just incompetent filmmaking at its most irritating but some very, very desperate viewers might get a kick out of some this flick’s sleazy weirdness.

Ugh, this supernatural giallo is exactly the trashy Eurotrash softcore crapfest that I thought it was going to be but just less interesting. Sure there are hilarious internal monologues, some bouts of pseudoscience and a dog named Twinky but this is just a mess. I’d call the film mildly diverting but that might be too generous. Sex of the Witch is just a baffling murder mystery with lots of sex and a little violence that is impossible to figure out, even if one wanted to. And trust me, no one is gonna want to. For an even more confusing yet actually entertaining giallo, check out In the Folds of the Flesh.

“If you read our entire family history, you’d arrest us all!”

Oasis of Fear

oasisoffear-poster

Oasis of Fear (1971)

Two British teenagers, Dick and Ingrid (played by Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti), set out for Italy. The little scam artists sell porn and pictures of themselves posing nude to pay their way until they get busted and have 24 hours to get out of Italy. Instead of leaving immediately, they get robbed by some rather polite bikers and then get mistaken for a pair of German robbers. When they run out of gas, Dick and Ingrid stop at the house of Barbara Slater (Ingrid Papas), a bored (and strangely suspicious) housewife. The naive pair party with Barbara but soon discover her terrible secret.

Umberto Lenzi (Seven Blood Stained Orchids, Eyeball) does it again with Oasis of Fear, a sex obsessed and rebellious thriller. Though it’s a bit dated with all the hippie themes and some obvious symbolism, this is still a tense and fun film deftly directed by a real stalwart of Italian genre cinema. Oasis of Fear is edited by Eugenio Alabiso who cut many, many gialli including The Case of the Bloody Iris and The Fifth Cord. The score by Bruno Lauzi is a mix between awesome jazz and crappy generic hippie rock.

The cast totally rocks with the seductive and gorgeous Ornella Muti and the lovely but scheming Irene Papas (Don’t Torture a Duckling). Ray Lovelock is quite charming and believable as a desperate but overall good-natured conman. The always dependable Umberto Raho (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave) shows up as a police inspector.

Oasis of Fear is a smart and excellently made giallo. It has its eye-rolling moments of hippie cheese but the grand design of the story is very cynical and intriguing. Lenzi could make some great thrillers and this one is no exception. I got a kick out of the parody of the Italian prudishness and Catholic guilt. The fact that these two kids can make a huge profit off of selling foreign smut to the squares is hilarious. Oasis of Fear is available on a Region 0 PAL DVD from Shameless Films. You should pick it up sometime. Go on, make Mr. Lenzi smile.

“Come on, Dick, kiss her. It’s in the stars.”

Plot of Fear

plotoffear-poster

Plot of Fear (1976)

A sudden series of brutal homicides baffles police but the obsessive Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo (Michele Placido) is determined to catch the killer. The inspector also has to compete with Pietro Riccio (Eli Wallach), the head of a private detective agency who always seems to be one step ahead of his investigation. The only pattern for the crimes is that all of the victims were members of an exclusive sex club called The Fauna Lovers led by eccentric author Hoffmann (played by John Steiner). Inspector Lomenzo falls for Jeanne (Corinne Clery), a beautiful model who just happens to be involved with this club. She witnessed the accidental death of Rosa, a hooker who may be the key to cracking the case.

Paolo Cavara, you amaze me. After the excellent Black Belly of the Tarantula, director Cavara comes back with a vengeance with Plot of Fear. Whoa, dig that abrasive and frightening music score by Daniele Patucchi (Deep River Savages)! One has to assume that Patucchi is also responsible for those horrid disco numbers as well. Wow. The prolific cinematographer, Franco Di Giacomo, responsible for other Gialli such as Who Saw Her Die? and Four Flies on Grey Velvet, shines once again with his versatility. Whether it’s a gritty and hooker-filled police station or a fog-enshrouded stretch of highway, the man has a beautiful eye.

Michele Placido’s performance as Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo has instantly become one of my favorites in all of the Giallo genre. Lomenzo is hotheaded, high strung, egocentric, and yet is a totally brilliant detective. The beautiful Corinne Clery (Hitchhike, The Devil’s Honey) is excellent as Jeanne, the girl of questionable morals that Lomenzo falls for despite her involvement with the case. Eli Wallach (though hideously dubbed) is very good as the scheming and suspicious Pietro Riccio. An inexplicable American actor cameo in this film comes from Tom Skerritt (also dubbed) who does little more than wave his arms around in frustration. Last but not least, one of Italian genre flicks’ elite, John Steiner of Tenebre and Mario Bava’s Shock, delivers another fine performance.

Giallo fans will be quite pleased with this film as it has plenty of plot twists, a few brutal death scenes (immolation!), odious 70s fashion, garish set designs, beautiful ladies, sleazy sex, J&B sightings, and a slew of politically incorrect moments. Plot of Fear also sports a pretty dismal view of the world with its bleak snapshots of urban life and its rather sickening portrayal of the decadent wealthy. Sounds like fun, eh? Don’t worry, the addition of some dry comedy and a fast-paced, entertaining mystery keep this one from getting too serious.

“Criminals want to get caught. It’s a macabre invitation to a treasure hunt.”

Killer Nun

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Killer Nun (1979)

After her recent brain surgery, Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg) is having some trouble readjusting to her life as a nun serving in a geriatric hospital. It seems that the surgery has left her with terrible headaches, a wicked addiction to morphine, and a propensity for casual sexual encounters in the city. When patients start turning up dead and Sister Gertrude’s behavior becomes even more erratic, the staff and surviving patients begin to suspect the worst. With only the unrequited love of Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra) to protect her from herself, Sister Gertrude’s life begins to spin completely out of control. But is she really capable of murder?

Hey there, Sister Gertrude! Why do all the boys pass you by? Is it because you’re a track mark-laden nymphomaniacal Killer Nun!?! What the damn hell did I just watch? As entertaining (for me) as it is mystifying (for everyone else), it’s not surprising that this film has had a hell of a time finding an audience that can appreciate its… um… specialness. Truly a love-hate experience, Killer Nun comes from co-writer/director Giulio Berruti (editor of Corrado Farina’s Baba Yaga) who never directed another feature film. Go figure.

The plot is a coin toss of scenes thrown together with an ultra-thin mystery going on in the background. That’s not to say that Killer Nun isn’t smarter than it looks. Not when there is some seriously twisted religious imagery mixed into all that sweet exploitation to be found here. Killer Nun has a thoroughly strange film score comes from Alessandro Alessandroni, composer for films such as The Devil’s Nightmare and Any Gun Can Play.

Anita Ekberg (Death Knocks Twice, French Sex Murders) friggin’ rocks as Sister Gertrude, a woman torn between her religious conviction, her morphine habit, and her insatiable sexual desires. A highlight in Killer Nun is the dizzyingly hot Paola Morra as Sister Mathieu. I may never, ever stop drooling. The excellent Massimo Serato (Autopsy, The Bloodstained Shadow) doesn’t get nearly enough to do here as Dr. Poirret, a man whose career is going completely to pot as the hospital seems to be self-destructing around him. And yes, that’s Joe Dallesandro of Blood For Dracula in one of his greatest appearances due to fact that he’s been dubbed by another actor! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Alida Galli (Suspiria, Lisa and the Devil) as Mother Superior, who is more annoyed than concerned with Sister Gertrude’s problems.

Killer Nun is a cursed beast trapped somewhere between giallo and nunsploitation and will likely annoy fans of both. The film’s positives barely outweigh its negatives; yet, in some strange way, Killer Nun thoroughly entertained me. Although bloodshed is relatively low, the brutality of the murders is impressive and the seediness of the sex scenes will ultimately impress the rogues’ gallery. Not to mention the bizarre moments of cruelty such as kicking a crippled man to death and stomping an old woman’s dentures to pieces in front of her. Good times! Folks who dig blasphemous Italian garbage should check this one out but please, whatever you do, don’t expect a Eurotrash classic.

“I need more… Morphine!”