best italian giallo

 

Giallo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒallo], plural gialli) is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism. The word giallo is Italian for "yellow" and stems from the origin of the genre as a series of cheap paperback novels with trademark yellow covers.
The film genre that emerged from these novels in the 1960s began as literal adaptations of the books, but soon began taking advantage of modern cinematic techniques to create a unique genre which veered intohorror and psychological thrillers. These films, particularly 1970s classics by directors such as Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento and Mario Bava, are only defined as “gialli” in the English-language use of the term; in Italy they are usually described as thrillers or, as a genre, “thrilling” or “giallo all’italiana.” In the English-speaking world the term “giallo” has become established as an adjective to “thriller” and “horror.”

As well as the literary giallo tradition, the films were also initially influenced by the German “krimi” phenomenon—originally black and white films of the 1960s that were based on Edgar Wallace stories. The Swedish director Arne Mattsson has also been pointed out as an influence, in particular his film Mannequin in Red (1958).

The first film that created the giallo as an Italian cinema genre is La ragazza che sapeva troppo/The Girl Who Knew Too Much (A.K.A. Evil Eye) (1963), from Mario Bava. Its title referred to Alfred Hitchcock’s famous The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), again establishing strong links with Anglo-American culture. In Mario Bava’s 1964 film, Blood and Black Lace (A.K.A. Five Women for the Murderer), the emblematic element of the giallo was introduced: the masked murderer with a shiny weapon in his black-leather-gloved hand.

Soon the giallo became a genre of its own, with its own rules and with a typical Italian flavour: adding additional layers of intense colour and style. The term giallo finally became synonymous with a heavy, theatrical, and stylised visual element.

The genre had its heyday in the 1970s, with dozens of Italian giallo films released. The most notable directors who worked in the genre were Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Aldo Lado, Sergio Martino,Umberto Lenzi, and Pupi Avati.

Avati went as far as satirizing the genre in 1977 with a slapstick giallo titled Tutti defunti... tranne i morti (All Deceased but the Dead).

• The Girl Who Knew Too Much (Mario Bava, 1963, A.K.A. The Evil Eye)



• Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964, A.K.A. Fashion House of Death, Six Women for the Murderer)


• The Sweet Body of Deborah (Ernesto Gastaldi, 1968)


• Naked You Die (Antonio Margheriti, 1968, A.K.A. The Young, the Evil and the Savage)


• Deadly Inheritance (1968, A.K.A. The Killer Has Clean Hands)


• Orgasmo (Umberto Lenzi, 1968, A.K.A. Paranoia)


• A Black Veil for Lisa (Massimo Dallamano, 1968, A.K.A. Death Has No Sex)


• Paranoia (Umberto Lenzi, 1968, A.K.A. A Quiet Place To Kill)


• So Sweet, So Perverse (Umberto Lenzi, 1969)


• The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Dario Argento, 1970, A.K.A. The Gallery Murders)


• Five Dolls for an August Moon (Mario Bava, 1970)


• Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (Lucio Fulci, 1971, A.K.A. Schizoid)


• The Fifth Cord (Luigi Bazzoni, 1971, A.K.A. Evil Fingers)


• The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (Sergio Martino, 1971, A.K.A. Blade of the Killer, The Next Victim, Next!)


• Tail of the Scorpion (Sergio Martino, 1971, A.K.A. "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail")

• Black Belly of the Tarantula, (Paolo Cavara, 1971)



• The Cat o’ Nine Tails (Dario Argento, 1971)


• The Bloodstained Butterfly (Duccio Tessari, 1971)


• Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Dario Argento, 1971)


• My Dear Killer (1971)


• Twitch of the Death Nerve (Mario Bava, 1971, A.K.A. Bay of Blood, Ecology of a Crime, Chain Reacxtion )


• The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire (Riccardo Freda, 1971)


• The Red-Headed Corpse (1971)


• The Devil Has Seven Faces (1971)


• They've Changed Their Faces (Corrado Farina, 1971)


• Slaughter Hotel (Fernando Di Leo, 1971)


• Death Walks in High Heels (1971)


• The Case of the Bloody Iris (Giuliano Carnimeo, 1972, A.K.A. What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood On Jennifer’s Body?)


• Don’t Torture a Duckling (Lucio Fulci, 1972)


• Who Saw Her Die? (Aldo Lado, 1972)


• Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (Sergio Martino, 1972, A.K.A. Eye of the Black Cat)


• The French Sex Murders (1972)


• Smile of the Hyena (Silvio Amadio, 1972, A.K.A. Smile Before Death)


• What Have You Done to Solange? (Massimo Dallamano, 1972)


• Knife of Ice (Umberto Lenzi, 1972, A.K.A. Silent Horror)

• Death Carries a Cane (Maurizio Pradeux, 1973)



• Eyeball (Umberto Lenzi, 1974, A.K.A. The Devil’s Eye, The Eye, The Secret Killer, Wide-Eyed in the Dark)


• Autopsy (Amando Crispino, 1974, A.K.A. Sunspots)


• Spasmo (Umberto Lenzi, 1974)


• A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (León Klimovsky, 1974, A.K.A. Red Killer)


• The Killer Has Reserved Nine Seats (Giuseppe Benati, 1974)


• The Killer Must Kill Again (Luigi Cozzi, 1974, A.K.A. The Spider)


• The Killer With a Thousand Eyes (1974, A.K.A. On The Edge) co-starring Britt Nichols


• Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975, A.K.A. The Hatchet Murders)


• Strip Nude for Your Killer (Andrea Bianchi, 1975)


• Reflections in Black (Tano Cimarosa, 1975, A.K.A. Vice Wears Black Hose)


• The House with Laughing Windows (Pupi Avati, 1976)


• The Psychic (Lucio Fulci, 1977, A.K.A. Murder to the Tune of the Seven Black Notes, Seven Notes in Black)


• The Girl in the Yellow Pyjamas (1977, A.K.A. The Pyjama Girl Case)


• Watch Me When I Kill (Antonio Bido, 1977, A.K.A. The Cat's Victims)


• Killer Nun (1978, A.K.A. Deadly Habit)


• The Sister of Ursula (1978)


• Red Rings of Fear (Massimo Dallamano, 1978, A.K.A. Enigma Rosso)


• The Bloodstained Shadow (Antonio Bido, 1978) (A.K.A. "Solamente Nero")


• Giallo in Venice (Mario Landi, 1979, A.K.A. Thrilling in Venice)


• The Black Cat (Lucio Fulci, 1982)


• Tenebrae (Dario Argento, 1982, A.K.A. Unsane)


• The Scorpion With Two Tails (Sergio Martino, 1982, A.K.A. Murder in the Etruscan Cemetery)


• A Blade in the Dark (Lamberto Bava, 1982, A.K.A. The House with the Dark Staircase)


• The New York Ripper (Lucio Fulci, 1982)


• Murder Rock (Lucio Fulci, 1984) (A.K.A. "Murder Rock Dancing Death")


• Body Count (Ruggero Deodato, 1987, A.K.A. Camping del Terrore)


• Phantom of Death (Ruggero Deodato, 1987)


• Stage Fright (Michele Soavi, 1987, A.K.A. Deliria, Bloody Bird, Aquarius)


• Delirium (Lamberto Bava, 1987, A.K.A. Photos of Gioia)


• Too Beautiful To Die (Dario di Piana, 1988, A.K.A. Nothing Underneath 2)


• Dial Help (Ruggero Deodato, 1988)

source:wikepedia