I immersed myself with Dario Argento/Mario Bava/Lucio Fulci flicks a few years back (so probably 10 years back) having approached them most likely from my immersion in Italian zombie films of the 70s, which was actually a thing. Relatively recently (so probably a few years back) I watched Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, a stylish thriller and a departure from his standard psychological horror. It hooked me.
And so I became obsessed with Italian giallo films. Their characteristics, generally, include: murder (natch), suggestive supernatural elements, the absolute grooviest clothing and interior design that you could ever imagine from 70s Italy–even if the setting was ostensibly the US or Germany or wherever–and a high breasts-per-scene ratio. The mood will range from thrilling cat and mouse tension to a Gothic molasses of lingering ennui. A more keen eye than mine could enumerate more fully on the shared cinematic tropes. The quality, as with anything of course, is greater-or-lesser but they are never a waste of time if you’re looking for that impossible combination of gritty murder and stylish, iconic 70s.
Actors repeat across director and each director has dozens of films. As illustration, here is an abbreviated match of the movies and the directors and the actors in common (just from the movies I’ve watched):
| Movie | Director | Actors |
|---|---|---|
| All the Colors of the Dark (Tutti i colori del buio) | Sergio Martino | Edwige Fenech George Hilton Marina Malfatti Carla Mancini Ivan Rassimov George Rigaud |
| The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L’uccello delle plume di cristallo) | Dario Argento | Carla Mancini Umberto Raho |
| The Case of the Bloody Iris (Perchè qualle strane gocce di sangue di corpo di Jennifer?) | Anthony Ascot | Edwige Fenech George Hilton Marina Malfatti Carla Mancini George Rigaud |
| The Cat o’ Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code) | Dario Argento | Carlo Alghiero |
| The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba) | Emilio Miraglia | Marina Malfatti Umberto Raho |
| The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (La dama rossa uccide sette volte) | Emilio Miraglia | Marina Malfatti |
| The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (Lo strano vizio della signora Wardh) | Sergio Martino | Carlo Alghiero Edwige Fenech George Hilton Marina Malfatti |
| Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (Il tuo vizio e una stanza chiuda e sono io ne ho la chiave) | Sergio Martino | Edwige Fenech Carla Mancini Ivan Rassimov |