Oh V/H/S franchise…after so many entries have you finally gotten to the point where there’s nothing left to say? The rapidly diminishing returns of the shorts, the frayed ends of commitment to the format…all of that caused me to drop out after the initial run of film that ended in 2014. I don’t know what it was about V/H/S/85 that brought me back for another look, but I will say that like almost every other entry in the increasingly frustrating series it’s a mixed bag, albeit a bag where the lows and high are much closer together. Make of that what you will.

ChrisOctober 17, 2023October 17, 2023Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 10.0 – Bay of Blood (1971)

Being Film #27 for Hooptober 2023

NOTE: Using this opportunity to revisit a review I wrote for this film fifteen years ago, slightly cleaned up and reflecting my recent re-watch of this classic.

Although now armed with with experience of many of the Master’s films, prior to my first viewing of Bay of Blood, aka the much better titled Twitch of the Death Nerve, most of what I know about Mario Bava came from reading: the grandfather of Italian Horror, a founding father of giallo as a film genre and a prime influence on generations of filmmakers, notably Dario Argento (and now Sergio Martino), who would go on to refine and bring the genre to legions of fans across the globe. But my practical film experience with Bava was limited to Black Sunday, a terrific film with tons of mood, but not indicative of what I would later come to see in his colors films, or in the proto-slasher mayhem he would unleash in this nasty piece of work.

ChrisOctober 15, 2023October 15, 2023Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 10.0 – The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975)

Being Film #14 for Hooptober 2023 And so I come to end of my giallo journey with Sergio Martino, whose films I started digging into back in May when I went on a spree with the Italian killer flicks. The Suspicious Death of a Minor was the last of Martino’s films to really have anything to do with the genre, mixing the “unidentified killer stalking … Continue reading Hooptober 10.0 – The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975)

ChrisSeptember 27, 20231 Comment

Reviews

Hooptober X #4: Knife+Heart

Film can represent the external and internal life of humanity in ways no other art form outside of maybe comic books. Films can attempt to mimic every day life and they can attempt to mimic the imagery of dreams. The two can exist both separate or together on the silver screen. The modern giallo horror film Knife+Heart uses both worlds. The film documents a gay … Continue reading Hooptober X #4: Knife+Heart

ChrisSeptember 21, 2023October 23, 2023Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 9.0 – The House With Laughing Windows (1976)

Being Film #12 for Hooptober 2022 There are certain things we come to expect when we sit down with a giallo, named for the yellow color adorning lurid tales of sex and murder popular in Italy as far back as the 30s: twisted violence and garish colors. Point of view kills. Hands covered in black gloves. Women in peril. We tend to stick to the … Continue reading Hooptober 9.0 – The House With Laughing Windows (1976)

ChrisSeptember 28, 20222 Comments

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 10.0 – V/H/S/85 (2023)

Hooptober 10.0 – Bay of Blood (1971)

Hooptober 10.0 – The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975)

Hooptober X #4: Knife+Heart

Hooptober 9.0 – The House With Laughing Windows (1976)