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?

Um, spoiler alert.

Question

Today's question is short and sweet. What was the last great Italian Horror film? Hit me up in the comments.

Interview With A Jeffrey

Jeffrey Canino of nessuntimore.blogspot.com has assented to be interviewed by yours truly. How smart is Jeffrey? He is a professor, that's how smart he is. Heck, his cat is a high school teacher. Jeffrey gave some excellent answers to my questions and I've found that when we learn more about Jeffrey, we learn more about ourselves. Dig on that my friends!

1. Tell us something about yourself. Anything.

My middle name is Clark. Everyone reading this is now one step closer to thieving my identity.

2. What is your favorite horror film?

Way to start with an impossible question. At the moment I'll say Jean Rollin's Iron Rose, but I'm sure that's wrong.

3. Give me 5 other favorite horror films

Also subject to a moment's notice change: A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Deep Red, Trouble Every Day, Next of Kin, Lisa and the Devil.

4. What is the best album of the 90's?

There was a point in my life during which I would have had an answer for this without having to think about it. But at this moment I have to think about it so I'll just say the Batman Forever soundtrack.

5. What 5 horror films should I watch right now?

I'm taking this to mean 5 horror movies that I think that you should watch that you might not have seen. So, in that case: Habit, The Stone Tape, Scream of Fear, Bloody Birthday, Rabid Grannies.

6. Favorite Donald Barthelme story?

"The School" is pretty much perfect. I have other favorites, certainly, but "The School" is the only one I like so much that I adapted it into a short comic book.

7. Favorite film monster? (vampire, zombie, werewolf, sparkly vampire, sexy werewolf, Michael Bay, etc.)

The Boogens from The Boogens. Snot-nosed tentacled turtles rule my world.

8. Favorite giallo?

The House with Laughing Windows, but that's sort of an atypical example. For a more typical specimen: Don't Torture a Duckling, or maybe Seven Blood-Stained Orchids.

9. 5 underrated gialli?

Delirium (not the Lambava), A White Dress for Mariale, Death Laid an Egg, Seven Notes in Black, and that wonderful Spanish Scooby Doo feature-length, Murder Mansion.

10. Do you like Brian DePalma?

No. I love him.

11. If so, put these in order of preference: Raising Cain, Sisters, Dressed To Kill, Obsession, The Fury, Blow Out, Body Double, The Fury

1. Blow Out, 2. Sisters, 3. Dressed to Kill, 4. Body Double, 5. Phantom of the Paradise (surprise entry!), 6. Femme Fatale (another surprise entry!), 7. Carrie (!!), 8. Raising Cain, 9. Obsession, 10. The Fury, 11. Passion (!!)

12. What pre-1950 horror fiction should I read?

The spooky stories of M. R. James or Algernon Blackwood.

13. What is your favorite Klaus Kinski horror/thriller film?

Death Smiles on a Murderer probably shouldn't count, but he's in it, and it's my favorite, so that's probably it. I also sort of adore Venom for its powerhouse combo of genre film titans, but I suppose it's not a very good movie. However, Kinski being felled by the snake is one of the greatest moments in cinema.

14. 5 favorite horror directors?

Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, David Cronenberg, Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci. Sorry Argento: you made Dracula 3-D.

15. What is your favorite horror film franchise?

I guess I'll just answer this by telling you my favorite of the big three, and in that regard the Halloween series has the most entries that I like and has really only ever been truly awful once. Can't say the same for Friday or Nightmare.

16. Scariest film you have seen?

The only film to have scared me in the last 15 years would be Brad Anderson's Session 9. Why should be pretty clear to anyone who has actually seen it.

17. 5 desert island albums?

Five compilations of music featured in '70s Blaxploitation pictures. It's the only way I'd be able to stay cool on that hot island.

18. What do you make of The Smiths?

With the Smiths one makes a Hatful of Hollow.

19. Freakiest Sam Neill film: In The Mouth Of Madness, Event Horizon or Possession?

I'm glad Possession is an option because that's the answer. I have vague recollections of seeing Event Horizon on television and thinking it was pretty freaky, though. But how on earth could a Paul W. S. Anderson film be freaky?

20. How many times have you seen Friday The 13th Part 2?

I've seen Part 2 the most out of any Friday film except for maybe Part 1, which I had a strong childhood fondness for. And yes, Part 2 is the best one. Maybe 5-7 times?

21. Black gloved killer or axe wielding madman/woman?

Black gloves, yo.

22. Argento or Fulci

Argento really pissed me off when I did his later years, so Fulci for now, at least until I watch all of his later films in a row and get really pissed off.

23. Antonio Margheriti or Riccardo Freda?

Really tough. Though I probably like more of Freda's films, Margheriti made Castle of Blood, which is one the Best of All Time, and also allegedly directed a little bit of Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein. He wins.

24. Two favorite Barbara Steele Italian gothic horror films?

Castle of Blood (naturally) and Horrible Dr. Hichcock.

25. Give me 5 found footage films I should see (beyond Paranormal Activity)

There are many great found footage horror films though it's undeniable that the majority blow chunks. Five favorites: The Last Broadcast, Zero Day, Noroi, Megan is Missing, Exhibit A. And also Ghostwatch.

26. What was your first giallo?

Suspiria, if you want to count that one, which I do.

27. What post 1950 horror fiction should I read?

The strange stories of Robert Aickman.

28. The Lords Of Salem: Rob Zombie's best film?

Very, very possibly. House of 1000 Corpses might be my favorite, or the one I'd be most likely to throw on at the moment, but yeah, Lords rules.

29. What do you make of The House Of The Devil?

It is one of the best horror films of our time. But it's not as good as The Innkeepers.

30. Rosemary's Baby or The Omen?

Rosemary's Baby. The Omen ain't even playing the same game.

31. What 5 blurays/dvds would you grab if your apartment/house were about to slide into another dimension, forever lost?

I'd grab Arrow's gigantic Russ Meyer set off the shelf. That would last me awhile. Also probably Twilight Time's Fight Night blu-ray: I could sell that to some sucker and get a head start on re-building my collection.

32. Leon Klimovsky or Carlos Aured?

Aured gave us Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll AND Horror Rises. He is a wonderful man.

33. Do you like Dr. Pepper?

With rum or whiskey especially.

34. You are in New York, I am in Kentucky. How Southern do I sound on Hello! This Is The Doomed Show?

Pretty Southern, but not like Deliverance Southern. Not even Rod & Troy Southern. But Southern.

35. How do you feel about Eurocrime films?

I feel warm fuzzy things for them. Raro's second Fernando Di Leo blu-ray collection arrived in my mailbox a few days ago. I now want to feign illness and spend the day watching them.

36. Spaghetti Westerns?

Equally warm and fuzzy. And dusty.

37. 5 guilty pleasure horror films

Can't really answer this one cause I harbor no guilty feelings about anything I like, bad as they may be. I'll defend 'em all.

38. Is Halloween the best slasher film? If it is what is second best? If not, what is?

In the Halloween/Black Christmas tussle, I take residence in the Black Christmas camp. I love them both, I just love BC slightly more. But the best slasher film is My Bloody Valentine.

39. What is the last 'classic' giallo?

Stagefright, if you want to count that one, which I sort of don't. So I'll say Tenebrae is the capper. After that we get into Lambava territory.

40. What is your favorite film ever? (or top 5 if that is too difficult)

Clue, the movie. Too easy.

First Giallo

This used to mean something

Long, long, long ago in 2007 we watched our first giallo. It was our habit in those bygone days to go to the video store and rent a stack of dvds for the weekend. In this particular stack was two films by a Dario Argento, one I had seen and one I had not. The seen one was Suspiria and the unseen one was a little film named Deep Red.

I had been rummaging around the internet looking for horror films to show my soon to be wife and somehow stumbled across a review (I don't remember whose) of Deep Red. I knew my Hollywood Video had it so while we were there we grabbed it and picked up Suspiria to boot.

Two minutes into the film we were hooked. Hooked. There is a whole genre of these murder mysteries? Sign us up! The colors, the setpieces, the camera angles, the music, the whole dang thing had totally captivated us. So much so that when we watched Suspiria immediately after we were let down. Nothing, no matter how good (and we LOVE Suspiria) was going to top that. We call it the Deep Red effect now but the only thing we heard that night was the call to spend all our money buying giallos. Mission accomplished.

You might imagine that there would be inherent difficulties in watching the best (in my opinion anyway) giallo first. Not so with this viewer. Following immediately on Deep Red's heels were the birthday gifts of The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail and The Black Belly Of The Tarantula. And I went and spent $29.98 on the Blue Underground double disc set of The Bird With The Crystal Plumage at my local FYE. But even so when introducing our friend Heather to gialli I never entertained the thought of showing her Deep Red first. We showed her Bird followed by Death Walks On High Heels and The Case Of The Bloody Iris over a period of a week or so. I think working up to Deep Red is the way to go although I don't think it hurt my appreciation of the genre at all.

Fang Of Joy

Richard of Cinema Somnambulist, Doomed Moviethon and Hello! This Is The Doomed Show can add another title: Richard of Fang Of Joy. That's right, he wasn't content with just conquering the internet, he has conquered a medium thought dead: the zine! And Elizabeth and I were fortunate enough to be asked to contribute as well as some other very talented folks like Jeffrey Canino of Nessun Timore and Scott McDonald of Eurocult AV. LeEtta (Richard's wife and super awesome artist extraordinaire) supplied the gorgeous cover. As well as containing articles on gialli and Italian gothic horror there's an article on Luigi Bazzoni, an article on Borocwyk's Bloodbath Of Dr. Jekyll and interviews with Death Metal band Druid Lord and super groovy soundtracker Orgasmo Sonore! 22 pages including the front and back covers, you need to OWN this! It's just $4!


Link to zine goodness:



Fang Of Joy!