I wasn't expecting a super gory movie, but I WAS expecting an entertaining Giallo....I didn't get that either.
One of Fulci's "skippable" movies IMO.
***
Recent:
Indiana Jones & Kingdom of Crystal Skull: 7/10
The Slaughter (2006): 5/10
I disagree I think this is very good When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
You completely discredit yourself with the positive review of Indy 4. Egads.
shareThis is Fulci at his best IMO. The reason why it doesn´t get the praise it deserves is because it doesn´t look or feel like a regular Fulci film, being a more patient, atmospheric, mysterious and suspenseful, on the same vein as Nicolas Roeg´s "Don´t Look Now"
The theater is like a faithful wife. The film is the great adventure, the costly, exacting mistress
I must say I find Fulci's movies more enjoyable than Bava's movies, though I won't argue about what you "expected" (expectations are a female dog in heat). That being said I find this movie enjoyable in that almost 70's TV movie kind of way.
shareWell it has the tin-eared, witless dialogue as well as the questionable acting (although Jennifer O'Neill is actually rather serviceable in the lead) typical of these giallo movies, but at the same time it's atmospheric, nicely patient and well filmed, with a streak of lyricism that successfully eschews coming across as dopey. Could have been a lot worse (check out most of Argento's filmography to see just how lousy).
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan
I know this is an old post but watched for the first time recently and was really surprised but in a good way.
I've always preferred Argento over Fulci. I always felt Fuci was mainly gore over anything else. However this film shows he can make something with an interesting plot that is very stylish and very Argento like.
Between Argento and Fulci? No contest. Argento blows everyone away (except for Bava.) This was stylish and it picked up as it moved along but it lacked pacing and verve. Little mentioned is Lizard in a woman's skin which is Fulci's best. Now THAT one is encroaching into Argento territory.
shareNot seen enough Bava but enjoyed blood and black lace.
I do prefer Argento. I recently watched fulci's don't torture a duckling which is often said to be one of his best and while I didn't mind it I wasn't that keen and preferred this one. I've got lizard in a womens skin somewhere and seen it once and can remember enjoying it. Reminded me of early Argento.
I like Duckling but Lizard is much better. If you haven't, see Bava's Bay of Blood and Black Sabbath (the latter considered one of his best.) I also loved his Shock from 1977. Blood and Black Lace is probably his best known along with Black Sunday. Blood and Black Lace is my personal Bava favorite: Absolutely gorgeous to look at and it gallops along without losing steam. A true giallo classic.
shareThanks for the recommendations. Will definitely check them out at some point.
I really want to see the girl who knew too much. I've heard while it's slightly different from what people class as a giallo film it's often considered the first. Black Sunday is another I need to see and often see kill,baby,kill ranked high.
I think I saw Bay of blood years ago. It was entertaining from what I can remember but think I'd saw a bad copy. Can't remember much but once saw Hatchet for the Honeymoon which I believe isn't one of his high rated films.
I'm trying to watch as many giallo films as possible. A few months back I watched the bloodstained butterfly which is a really interesting one because it has a large focus on the court case side of things and police procedural.
Around the same time I also watched The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion which at first I wasn't sure of because for a giallo there isn't many deaths. It involves a women whose recently got married but his businessman husband is always away. She gets attacked at the start of the film which looks like it's going to be a typical giallo murder opening but she isn't killed. She's told by the man her husband is a killer and starts blackmailing her and forcing her to do stuff. It's more of a mystery but in the end I found it really interesting and different from the usual giallo
Yes, myself (along with another user on this site) are giallo nuts. I've seen all the ones you've listed. Kill baby kill had dubbing that was so awful, I couldn't continue. I can handle mediocre dubbing but this was bad. Hatchet was dull.
I love Bloodstained Butterfly. Great ending too.
Another odd one I really liked was Perfume of the lady in Black. Strange. And what an ending! Another lesser known is House of the laughing windows. A rural Italian town has a secret about past murders. Again, what an ending.
Have you seen Torso? That's quickly becoming a favorite of mine (Sergio Martino did many semi famous gialli) I have an instagram page devoted to horror and I just wrote about it.
Not seen perfume of the lady in black but enjoyed the house of laughing Windows. It doesn't have many of the kills I'd associate with giallo but it was a gripping mystery. As soon as the ending came I realised what was happening but still a great ending that reminded me of don't look now.
What have they done to solange is also a great one. Torso is on my to watch list. Think I have it somewhere
You know your gialli! I am shocked you know House of the laughing windows. No one knows that one. Yes, I can see where Don't look now's ending reminded you of it. Don't Look Now is one of my permanent favorites. Beautifully dilapidated Venice. Some of Roeg's shots were incredible.
Perfume of the Lady is another of those a la Mulholland Drive where you don't know what is real and what part is fantasy. It's got a helluva crazy ending. Have you seen L'Orme aka Footprints on the moon? Similar vibe.
I just rewatched Solange. Another top tier giallo. I am not a gore person at all, so I love when a story can creep me out without grossing me out. Solange was salacious but the reveal was unusual for a giallo. I really appreciated that.
Not seen any of those. Mulholland drive is a weird film though and I have a love/hate relationship with Lynch - I've not seen all of his stuff, and I like the style, but I'm not a big fan of experimental film/surreal films and feel I come away from his films knowing less than before I started (if that even makes sense ha). Although a year or so ago I watched the original 2 series of Twin Peaks which I really enjoyed (just watching the last 2 episodes of the newer series right now).
It's weird because Suspiria is one of my favourite films, yet it's not the usual type I go for. I've only seen Inferno properly once, and while it had some good stuff, felt it was too out there and just didn't work for me.
Gore wise I don't mind gore, and love over the top films. However I feel too many newer films use it far too much, and don't have enough other things on offer e.g. suspense, atmosphere etc. One of the first horror films I watched was the original Halloween, which is one of my favourites, and I think part of that is because it is able to scare without really any blood, using things like clever lighting, a simple but haunting score etc.
The only thing Lynchian in Perfume of the lady in Black is we aren't sure if the protagonist is insane or not. It's not intolerably trippy at all.
If you love Argento (he's my fave), then Bava is definitely next. I forgot to mention Black Sabbath, his uber popular anthology. Another good one, although I prefer Blood and Black Lace.
Watched Torso last night.
I've seen a couple of Sergio Martino's film and found some had a little class to them. This was a lot more violent and sleazy. The scene when the females all turn up with all the males staring comes into my mind.
I wouldn't say it was my favourite but I found there where some interesting stuff. I thought the mask the killer wore in the first half had an eerily simplicity, kind of similar to Michael myers mask 5 years later. I actually saw a couple of things that reminded me of Halloween for some reason like the final girl who finds all the bodies of her friends, a great scene.
I found the later parts where really suspenseful like when the female was hiding under the table or was it a chair? The scene where she is trying to use the paper to get the key from the other side of the locked door and misses but then we see the killer pick it up and put it on there was a great little scene, the audience waiting knowing the killer is on the other side waiting while she thinks she's safe.
The whole doll thing also added something different to the film, a kind of creepy weird thing.
The only thing is I found maybe there where too many characters. I found I mixed some up. Also none of the characters seemed that great so there was no one I found myself rooting for surviving. Also the stalker thing was odd. I get it was the typical red herring but wasn't sure what the thing about the promise was and the random doll there, unless I've mixed something up or missed something. May simply have been a red herrings and completely unimportant.
But yeah I enjoyed it. Some good kills and some good locations. I will admit the version I watched wasn't the latest so wasn't the best quality. I can also see this as being a film that influenced the slasher genre
It's also interesting because the city it was filmed, Perugia, was where the whole amanda knox thing happened
Yup, I agree with many of your assessments. I always say, it's really good for what it is. Yes, the Perugia connection was eerie and I do give credit to Torso for possibly creating the last girl standing trope.
Have you seen Blood and Black Lace yet or any others? I also have an all time favorite Spanish horror called Who can kill a child?" from 1975. 70s is the greatest movie decade in my humble opinion. Are you familiar with it? (Running out of room on this board!)
I've seen blood and black lace yeah. Good film that obviously influenced a lot of other Giallo's. Like Torso, I didn't feel like it had a main character which was different but I do prefer when Giallo's have a main character, someone innocent who gets caught up in everything. We then can relate to the character I suppose, as like them we are thrown into this unusual world, and can ask ourselves if we'd do what they had to.
Last week I also watched the perfume of the lady in black. I can see the connection to Lynch you mentioned. It's shot beautiful and actually quite a classy Giallo most the way through unlike say Torso that was quite seedy. I did find the pacing a little off at times but the last part of the film made up for it.
The ending wasn't what I'd expected to. I'd thought originally the people where trying to make her go mad. The end was certainly different and while probably right it seemed odd, like it may also be another hallucination.
And yeah it doesn't like so many posts on here, mobile wise. I'm having to write this via the desktop option on chrome