After seeing Luigi Bazzoni’s debut film The Possessed earlier for this marathon, I was even more eager to check out The Fifth Cord, his second foray into giallo, particularly as that film straddled the line between dreamlike noir and paranoid Lynchian nightmare more than what we would come to define the genre as. But in the wake of Argento’s Bird With the Crystal Plumage Bazzoni adopts some of the same visual cues and geometric framing that would become trademarks of the movement. He also – just as Argento did in his follow-up The Cat o’ Nine Tails – emphasize the mystery and thriller aspects more than the visceral blood and horror, in the process creating a great star vehicle for his lead and capturing an often overlooked essence of the form: the spiraling madness of a situation intent on sucking you into its design.

Reviews

Hooptober 12.0 – The Possessed (1965)

Being Film #4 for Hooptober 2025

Films like The Possessed, or La Donna del Lago in its original Italian, are the reason I constantly try to seek out new films whenever Hooptober comes around. A proto-giallo that also functions as an Italian noir evoking the dream-like narratives David Lynch would forge just over a decade later, it’s a gorgeously shot film that takes the plot mechanics of what the genre would come to be known for, but drapes it under a blanket of striking black and white photography and ambiguous sequences that play as both dream, premonition and clues to the mystery surrounding its characters.

ChrisSeptember 17, 2025September 20, 20251 Comment

the iguana with the tongue of fire header

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire (1971)

Being Film #22 for Hooptober 2024

Sometimes a film is so generic, so typical of its genre trappings without standing out there’s very little to write about. I’m actually kind of curious as what the two critics on the audio commentary for Riccardo Freda’s The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire would talk about, because as a giallo perhaps its only standout components is 1) it primarily takes place in Ireland, and 2) the plot is so nonsensical it reaches the point of distraction. Is that a selling point for you? It wasn’t for me, so I’m left to do little here other than summarize and post some random thoughts.

ChrisOctober 6, 2024Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (1971)

Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2024

Last May I went on a big giallo kick, and out the vast number of new films discovered one of my favorites was The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, a great title for a gothic tale that had all sorts of twists and turns and some truly gorgeous cinematography. So when I checked out and saw that director Emilio P. Miraglia had done another giallo the year before, I jumped at the chance to check it out. And…it’s fine? The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave does a lot of similar things, a few that were even surprising, but still stands a step below Miraglia’s other, greater horrific work.

ChrisSeptember 15, 2024September 16, 2024Leave a comment

two evil eyes image of the dead wife and the zombie cat

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – Two Evil Eyes (1990)

Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2024

Despite having worked together on Dawn Of The Dead, it still feels a little odd putting George A. Romero and Dario Argento together on a film. Those are two styles and aesthetics that just don’t taste right bumped up against each other. That would imply Two Evil Eyes, their mini anthology (does it even count as an anthology if there are only two stories?) doesn’t work. Each filmmaker brings their unique vision to these adaptations or inspirations of Poe, and if it’s not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, it has its moments of gore and fun.

ChrisSeptember 15, 2024September 16, 2024Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 10.0 – Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)

Being Film #31 for Hooptober 2023

And so we come to end of the 10th annual Hooptober Marathon. And it had to end with a giallo, the mixed up genre I’ve been feverishly catching up on this year. The second I saw the title Strip Nude For Your Killer I knew I needed to see it: with a salacious title like that how could you not? By 1975 the genre was waning, and directors started blending in other genres (see Sergio Martino’s The Suspicious Death of a Minor, reviewed here) like police procedurals to give their films boost. Others, like Andrea Bianchi went the software porn route, and sadly, despite a great Edwin Fenech performance, it does this film no favors.

ChrisOctober 23, 2023Leave a comment

Cinema Dual (TEST SITE)

Examining a life through the media we consume. In other words, I’m reviewing all of my physical music media in alphabetical order, one day at at a time. Except when I don’t, as has been the case for the past few years. Still, we march onwards…Coffee essential, but not mandatory

Tag: giallo

Hooptober 12.0 – The Fifth Cord (1971)

Hooptober 12.0 – The Possessed (1965)

Hooptober 11.0 – The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire (1971)

Hooptober 11.0 – The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (1971)

Hooptober 11.0 – Two Evil Eyes (1990)

Hooptober 10.0 – Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)