iRewind Talk: Any giallo fans/experts??

»	iRewind Talk » Movies » « 70's Movies » Any giallo fans/experts?? (Page 2)

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Author

Topic: Any giallo fans/experts??

JAY LEE
Rewind Jedi
Member # 6345

3 Updates!

Member Rated:

posted

Im gonna look into to some Bava stuff! Only seen one or two from him. A lot of people (mostly internet, filmsnob cretins) say that his later works were too cheesy. But hey, I do likes me cheese.... [Smile]

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

Mario Bava was a fantastic director, one of the very best ever, horror or any other genre. I will second Helen's comment that "The Girl Who Knew to Much" a/k/a "The Evil Eye" is great, really the first giallo. (In my opinion it's as good as an Alfred Hitch**** film.) "Black Sunday," of course, is an acknowledged horror classic, and "Black Sabbath" is one of the scariest films ever made. Beyond that, I really like "The Whip and the Body" and "Blood and Black Lace" (The only movie you will ever see where you will say to yourself, "Hey, he makes violent death look beautiful." [Smile]

)

Don't be put off by the snobs and cretins who say that his later stuff is cheesy. "Twitch of the Death Nerve," with a murder about every five minutes, I find to be good fun along with "Baron Blood" and "A Hatchet for the Honeymoon." (The problem with later Bava is his diminishing budgets and overuse of the zoom lens.) And "Rabid Dogs," released posthumously, is, as Helen and I both agree, terrific. Also, don't overlook "Danger: Diabolik," a really entertaining, trendsetting comic book film beloved by folks like Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese (Scorsee did an homage to Maestro Bava in "The Last Temptation of Christ"--simply amazing--that he freely admits) and "Planet of the Vampires," where you will see Bava do a super-spooky, atmospheric science fiction/horror film with basically one soundtage, some spacesuits, a few fake rocks, and a fog machine.

Bava is someone I always rave about because, outside of film-lover circles such as ours, he's basically unknown or known only as a director of cheaply made, badly dubbed Italian horror films. That couldn't be farther from the truth. He was a true artist.

[ 17. February 2011, 20:02: Message edited by: Crash ]

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

Indeed. Amazing director. Along with all the ones you mentioned I also have a lot of love for Lisa and the devil. I've heard about the different cut where they've put in exorcism scenes and called it House of Exorcism, what the [Confused]

Have you seen that version? I need to pick up that Bava vol2 boxset.

I even like Knives of the avenger [Razz]

Nope, haven't seen Watch me while I kill.

[ 16. February 2011, 17:10: Message edited by: Helen_S ]

JAY LEE
Rewind Jedi
Member # 6345

3 Updates!

Member Rated:

posted

Well why don't you two Bava experts hook me up with a reccomendation list [Smile]

List your 5-10 favourites!

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

Hmm..

1. The Girl Who Knew Too Much
2. Black Sabbath
3. Lisa and the Devil
4. Blood and Black Lace
5. Hatchet for the Honeymoon
6. The Mask of Satan
7. The Whip and the Body
8. Rabid Dogs
9. Kill, Baby..Kill
10. Knives of the Avenger

[Big Grin]

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

You asked for it...you got it. (Note that Helen's list and mine are almost the same because great minds think alike!)

1. Black Sunday (The Mask of Satan)
2. Black Sabbath
3. The Girl Who Knew Too Much
4. Blood and Black Lace
5. The Whip and the Body
6. Rabid Dogs
7. Kill, Baby, Kill
8. Danger: Diabolik
9. Twitch of the Death Nerve
10. Planet of the Vampires

[ 17. February 2011, 14:02: Message edited by: Crash ]

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

quote:
Originally posted by Helen_S:
Along with all the ones you mentioned I also have a lot of love for Lisa and the devil. I've heard about the different cut where they've put in exorcism scenes and called it House of Exorcism, what the Have you seen that version? I need to pick up that Bava vol2 boxset.

I have a DVD set in an old clamshell case, I believe from Image years ago, that has both versions. I wouldn't bother with "House of Exorcism." It has Elke Sommer puking up pea soup in some added footage that doesn't really make any sense. I agree that "Lisa and the Devil" is quite good, maybe number 11 on my list. [Smile]

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

Wow, I just watched Don't torture a duckling. That was pretty special. Would definitely go straight into my top 5 giallos. I could just start it over again it was that good. Thanks for those recommendations, so glad I got them [Smile]

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

quote:
Originally posted by Crash:
It has Elke Sommer puking up pea soup in some added footage that doesn't really make any sense

Oh dear, that's just wrong

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

quote:
Originally posted by Helen_S:
Wow, I just watched Don't torture a duckling. That was pretty special. Would definitely go straight into my top 5 giallos. I could just start it over again it was that good. Thanks for those recommendations, so glad I got them

Great! And people think that Fulci's gore films are good. Not by comparison to his early giallo stuff... [Smile]

I really like Florinda Bolkan in Duckling. She's wonderful. She's even better as lead in a really obscure film called "Flavia, High Priestess of Violence." It is more a historical epic with gore scenes, which are so nasty that they were heavily censored in just about every country. I finally picked up the uncut special edition, and it was so nauseating in spots that even I was flinching. Lots of riding horses across the countryside, talk, and then scenes that make "Hostel" look like a Christmas pantomime...

[ 17. February 2011, 19:49: Message edited by: Crash ]

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

Yikes haha

I totally agree. Whilst I enjoy the gore stuff they're not a patch on these giallos.

One of his worst films is a guilty pleasure of mine, The Sweet House of Horrors lol [Smile]

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

"Sweet House of Horrors" is terrible. Actually most of his stuff post "The Psychic" a/k/a "Seven Black Notes in the Key of Death" isn't really good, despite the rabid fan praise. I have a certain nostalgia for "Zombi" and "The Beyond," but past that, those early giallos can't be beaten. They are just so very, very good that they dwarf the gore stuff.

I didn't mean to sound so critical of "Flavia." You should probably check it out. It's actually a beautifully made film, obviously done with a good budget and a lot of care--fantastic cinematography, music, acting (you even have Anthony Corlan from "Vampire Circus"), and very impressive intellectual ideas about feminism, religion, and society--yet there are images in it that are so cruel, meanspirited, and despicably vile that I have mixed feelings. I'm hardly a prude and do see the director's point, but for me, this film is a litmus test of tolerance as I think that it's more explicit and realistically violent than even some of the most notorious films of the era, like "Bloodsucking Freaks" and "Last House on Dead End Street." ("Flavia" was so obscure that it didn't make the DPP Video Nasties list of the 1980's.)

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

Ok, I'm gonna give it a shot. I've put it in my Lovefilm queue. If I'm sick I'm coming after you [Razz]

Love The Psychic, that was my fave Fulci until watching Duckling [Smile]

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

(Getting airline ticket to run away to a far off land becuase I'm not sure you won't be sick...) [Smile]

When I worked as the drive-in theatre projectionist, we showed a double feature of "The Psychic" and "Amuck," so I've seen both of those films seven times each. "The Psychic" is actually three for me after "Lizard" and "Duckling," but all are wonderful.

[ 20. February 2011, 10:36: Message edited by: Crash ]

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

I'm about to watch Flavia [Eek!]

Jay, when you gonna get watching some Bava's? [Smile]

JAY LEE
Rewind Jedi
Member # 6345

3 Updates!

Member Rated:

posted

Im smack dab in the middle of a move, so my movie watching is sort of on hold till I get settled in my new place.

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

Good luck with all that. Moving's such a pain.

I loved Flavia. Certainly did have its demented moments and that ending made my mouth water, yuck. Don't think I'll get that image out my head all night now. But like you said it's so beautifully shot, actings spot on etc. I would buy it.

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

Yay! You liked it. I don't have to run away. [Smile]

Flavia is really something, isn't it? Not your typical Euro-exploitation. Florinda Bolkan is magnificent, her best role! (Boy, did she get abused in films like this and Duckling!) I had the cut US version on VHS for years, then I got the special edition DVD, and the last scene uncut really rattled me the first time I saw it. For those reading this thread, be careful. Flavia is just nuts and makes those Saw films look like a girl scout picnic.

[ 24. February 2011, 19:11: Message edited by: Crash ]

Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804

Member Rated:

posted

It was just so lovely to watch. Well you know, the non demented parts. The scenery was beautiful. It kinda felt like watching a western in that way.

JAY LEE
Rewind Jedi
Member # 6345

3 Updates!

Member Rated:

posted

quote:
Originally posted by Helen_S:
Good luck with all that. Moving's such a pain.

It's a royal pain.... haven't even moved any of the big furniture yet, and im already soooo over it!

aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575

7 Updates!

Member Rated:

posted

Remember the problems Richard Pryor had in "Moving" and you´ll feel better [Cool]

Crash
Rewind Jedi
Member # 7484

Member Rated:

posted

quote:
Originally posted by Helen_S:
It was just so lovely to watch. Well you know, the non demented parts. The scenery was beautiful. It kinda felt like watching a western in that way.

I never thought of it that way, but it is like western. The musical score is wonderful too. A lovely looking and sounding movie--with demented parts. [Smile]