The rich colorization, hyper-editing, odd camera angles'& POV's, beautiful woman, psychedelic murders, non-linear story telling and red herrings and oh, the titles of the films, the titles alone are a story on there own. Combining these rich artistic elements can either make a normal horror viewers head spin and shake your fist at the screen or only cry out for more.
The Godfather of this movement came from Mario Bava. He exploded on the scene in 1960 with moody and thick atmosphere black & white supernatural masterpiece Black Sunday, then moved into rich color and lighting with Black Sabbath and Blood and Black Lace. These films had the suspense of a Hitchcock film but also incorporated a level of Art House horror by paying attention to special set and lighting details.
In 1970 Dario Argento, who was heavily influence by Bava, redefined the Giallo films with Bird with the Crystal Plumage. The financial success of that film created a frenzy of Italian film makers to shoot more colorful and gory films. Which launched the success of other Italian film-makers such as Sergio Martino and Lucio Fulci and then later Lamberto Bava (son of Mario) and Michele Soavi, who many credit his film Dellamorte Dellamore 1994 to be the last of the true Giallo films.
Thanks to the cult following of these films, many of the reputable films have been beautifully transferred to DVD and and have come out of obscurity. Now, Giallo fans can clutch onto copies of their favorite Italian Slashers that have the clarity and color treatment those films deserve.
Recommended Giallo's and Supernatural Italian Horror.
Black Sunday
Black Sabbath
Blood & Black Lace
The Whip and the Body
Twitch of the Death Nerve
Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Cat O' Nine Tales
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Suspiria
Inferno
Tenbre (Unsane)
Opera
Two Evil Eyes
Macabre
Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only Have the Key
The Strange Vice of Mrs.Wardh
Case of the Scorpion's Tail
Case of the Bloody Iris
All the Colors of the Dark
Black Belly of the Tarantula
Torso
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
Seven Blood Stained Orchids
Who Saw Her Die?
What Ever Happened to Solange?
The House with Laughing Windows
Short Night of the Glass Dolls
The Beyond
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Don't Torture a Duckling
Stagefright
The Church
Dellamorte Dellamore
