Italian giallo and Gothic horror (3rd session)

I’ve finished the films I hadn’t already seen from the Arrow Giallo Essentials and have watched a few more from YouTube and kanopy (the streaming service from the public library system). The problem with those public sources, besides the risk of Extremely Low Quality, is they are rarely in the original Italian and so you have to suffer through the dubbed version. However, the new year brings with it an attempt to stay on budget so I won’t be buying any more Blu-rays if I can find it streaming.

L’iguana della lingua di fuoco (1971) [ ★★★☆☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Francesco Mazzei. Poliziotteschi with retired detective who’s-seen-too-much (Luigi Pistilli, also in La tua vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave as a retired writer who’s-lost-his-muse) brought back in to solve a crime involving a dead body in the trunk of an ambassador’s car. I don’t think I’ve seen a happy family life in this genre before, yet we have it here; he, his half-deaf mother, and his likeable daughter take up enjoyable time in the movie and in the plot.

L’arma l’ora il movente (1972) [ ★★★☆☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Francesco Mazzei. Very interesting and a bit twisty story (as per): an attractive priest (Maurizio Bonuglia) is involved with two women and, pained by holy guilt, breaks off the relationships yet the news is not received favorably. There is flagellation and exploitative naked nunnery–or was I imagining it?–but the story is generally solid. Not the prime giallo.

Che avete fatte a Solange? (1972) [ ★★★☆☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Massimo Dellamano. Except for the extremely uncomfortable murder scenes–not what you normally get from these otherwise anodyne-ly violent 70s films–this hit the right notes of murder, perversion, and taboo. Interesting trivia about the discovery of the actress who is the titular Solange (yet who has no speaking scenes) is that she, a non-actress, sat beside the director and was hired based on their conversation. Or his fascination with her looks; answer your own questions. Some more obvious sexism than the baseline of the 1970s, but you buy the ticket…

Il sorriso della iena (1972) [ ★★★☆☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Silvio Amadio. A movie whose elder characters’ bitter moral decay surfaces as they age, or those young and fresh seemingly revel in moral decay. The odd tone of this movie comes from the cheery 60s/70s soundtrack that plays against semi-exploitative photo sessions with Jenny Tamburi (the actress was 20 at the time, but looking somewhat younger, also has a small part in Fulci’s Sette note in nero). It’s a battle between aging and youthful monsters. Everyone is guilty.

Jenny Tamburi from Il sorriso della iena

I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (1973) [ ★★★★☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Sergio Martino. Rewatched this with Lisa and, although it is one of the best examples of gialli and much better than L’assassino ha reservato nove poltrone that she watched, I still don’t think it converted her to a fan of the genre. A red-and-black scarf (or maybe black-and-red?!) marks the killer of college girls. Several friends leave town to relax at a villa but somehow the killer has followed them. Red herrings abound. When I first discovered Martino’s films he immediately became my favorite director in the genre and his movies hold up on rewatch.

Nude per l’assassino (1975) [ ★★★☆☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Andrea Bianchi. (I haven’t looked but I really think the posters for I corpi and tacchi alti ((both above)) have the same artist.) I’d read a review casting this with anti-feminist tendencies but I don’t see it. Jesus though, all of these films could be anti-feminist so what do I know. That being said, it is one of the lesser good roles for Fenech. She’s still very Fenech, but mis- and under-used. I could reference another abortion-related giallo but spoilers etc.

If I understand culturally though, the abortion is not the real issue. However I could very likely be misreading.

Sette note in nero (1977) [ ★★★★☆ | IMDB | Wikipedia ] – Lucio Fulci. There are aspects that I’m unhappy with but it’s still worth it. The opening scene is a classic everything-you-need-to-know yet still leaving it up to the viewer. The character dynamics are good; decent to madness is good. This is one of those “why the hell weren’t these exported to America?!? Maybe they were an didn’t survive.