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| Um, spoiler alert. |
Boris
Monday, November 25, 2013
Giallo?
In his interview, Jeffrey of nessuntimore.blogspot.com mentioned that he considers Suspiria a giallo. Richard and I have discussed this many times and I don't fight hard either way. Want to include it as a giallo? I can see that. Absolutely not a giallo? Okay, fine by me. I'm easy to please. (Inferno has some gialloish moments. What about that?) Suspiria is a giallo. What say you? Yea or nay?
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If a giallo is a crime thriller + something extra that makes it a giallo (style, certain key elements, - you are way better at explaining that than me), then Suspiria (and similiar films) is a giallo + something extra (supernatural elements, sensual overkill, even more over the top horror and/or suspense?). So: a supernatural giallo (as I think it was referred to you and Richard before, wasn't it?). Being more of a novice it's a term/genre definition that helps me to get an impression before buying/watching it.
ReplyDeleteLong time no commenting, I must re-learn how to get rid of all these slashes and brackets in my sentences!!
Cheers,
MLP
While I wouldn't suggest any of these as a good gateway into the world of gialli (being somewhat atypical/unrepresentative of the form), I consider Suspiria, Inferno (not sure about Mother of Tears though, I need to think about that one) and Phenomena to tick enough of the right boxes to be considered gialli.
ReplyDeleteSo technically, Phenomena is my favourite giallo of all time... but having said that, it isn't one I'd generally reach for when I'm in the mood for one. As MLP suggests, it seems more useful to distinguish between gialli and the supernatural variety; I've mentioned it before but I've always liked the term giallo fantastico (more for the sound of the words than for how much it tells the uninitiated), when referring to the latter kind, a label which I think was coined by Kim Newman in his book Nightmare Movies.
I'll have more to say on this subject soon, when I finally pull my finger out...
Giallo + Something Extra and Giallo Fantastico are both great points. I think they both apply. As always I really appreciate such fine gentlemen as MLP and Simon commenting!
ReplyDeleteI think suspiria is more giallo than some titles that are considered giallo, titles like footprints. Phenomena is most certainly one, not so much inferno or mother of tears. Theres quite a few borderline titles out there like amuk, which i think is terrific by the way. Suspiria probably is borderline. I used to think giallo was all black gloved killers but the sub genre has alot more depth and i think is my favorite sub genre of horror along with slashers. There was well over 300 gialli films made and im having fun tracking them all down but theres always going to be films show up that you didnt know about. You also have films like basic instinct, body double, dressed to kill and frenzy but thats a whole new ball game.
ReplyDeleteAmuck! That is digging below the top layer of gialli for sure! And you are dead on with your comment about the genre having a lot of depth. Thanks for reading and commenting!
ReplyDeleteIf Love and Death of the Edge of a Razor is a giallo, anything can be a giallo. Dirty Dancing is a giallo.
ReplyDeleteRazor was awful. Nobody puts Baby in a corner! Slash, slash.
ReplyDeleteI'd consider Suspiria a giallo, but on the outskirts of the genre.
ReplyDeleteMy professor teaches about giallo because of me, and showed it as an example of the genre. I wish I had told him to hold off and let me bring him a more classical example to show.
Justin! I thought you were dead. I'm glad you aren't. And planting gialli into a curriculum, priceless!
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