Prior to the advent of the so-called “eco-vengeance” genre, Italian cinema used animals, or at least the symbolism they naturally encapsulate, in the most disparate contexts, from those coherent with their nature to more unusual and weird derivations. With regard to the singular use of animals in Italian cinema, a reference is certainly owed to Dario Argento’s first films—L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo, Il gatto a nove code, and Quattro mosche di velluto grigio—which were followed by huge commercial success that encapsulated what Argento had learnt from Alfred Hitchcock and the Nouvelle Vague, as well as from the literary heritage of Raymond Chandler, where animals appeared in the titles embodying the characters’ gestures, modus operandi, and personalities—the animal as a metaphor representing the diabolical “human” nature. Although the presence of animals in the titles is often justified, of course, by some narrative solution or gimmick,...
- 8/19/2021
- by Eugenio Ercolani
- DailyDead
[This October is "Gialloween" on Daily Dead, as we celebrate the Halloween season by diving into the macabre mysteries, creepy kills, and eccentric characters found in some of our favorite giallo films! Keep checking back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic, cult, and altogether unforgettable gialli, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Gialloween special features!]
[This piece was done in collaboration with Gian Giacomo Petrone.]
Born in Villa del Conte, near Padua, Antonio Bido fulfills his academic education at the University of Padova, where he graduates in literature with a thesis on Italian horror cinema. His directorial debut arrives in 1970 in the form of the experimental feature-length project Dimensioni (translation: Dimensions), followed a year later by Alieno da (translation: Alien From), a film with a similarly Dadaist approach, both of which were much appreciated at various contemporary Italian festivals. After a brief apprenticeship with director Giuseppe Ferrara, in 1977 Bido gets to work on his first real film, produced and conceived within the structure of the industry and followed by professional technicians and actors, Il gatto dagli occhi di giada (Watch Me When I Kill). The success of this film will allow Bido to have exponentially greater decisional power on his next feature film, Solamente nero, another well-regarded effort. Despite this more than flattering beginning, Bido...
[This piece was done in collaboration with Gian Giacomo Petrone.]
Born in Villa del Conte, near Padua, Antonio Bido fulfills his academic education at the University of Padova, where he graduates in literature with a thesis on Italian horror cinema. His directorial debut arrives in 1970 in the form of the experimental feature-length project Dimensioni (translation: Dimensions), followed a year later by Alieno da (translation: Alien From), a film with a similarly Dadaist approach, both of which were much appreciated at various contemporary Italian festivals. After a brief apprenticeship with director Giuseppe Ferrara, in 1977 Bido gets to work on his first real film, produced and conceived within the structure of the industry and followed by professional technicians and actors, Il gatto dagli occhi di giada (Watch Me When I Kill). The success of this film will allow Bido to have exponentially greater decisional power on his next feature film, Solamente nero, another well-regarded effort. Despite this more than flattering beginning, Bido...
- 10/16/2020
- by Eugenio Ercolani
- DailyDead
I hope you have your wallets ready, horror fans, because this week’s home media releases are ready to break your bank accounts. There are a lot of cool titles hitting Blu on Tuesday, but without a doubt, Criterion’s new Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films set looks to be the best of the bunch, as it has everything a kaiju fan could want and more. Arrow Video has assembled a comprehensive Special Edition release for An American Werewolf in London, and for those of you who love Chuck Russell’s remake of The Blob, you’ll definitely want to pick up Scream Factory’s new Collector’s Edition Blu.
Two Evil Eyes, the Poe adaptation from George A. Romero and Dario Argento, is getting a Limited Edition Blu this week, and there a ton of cult titles also receiving some well-deserved HD overhauls as well: Paganini Horror, Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory,...
Two Evil Eyes, the Poe adaptation from George A. Romero and Dario Argento, is getting a Limited Edition Blu this week, and there a ton of cult titles also receiving some well-deserved HD overhauls as well: Paganini Horror, Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory,...
- 10/29/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
88 Films returns to the fore with our new review of their recent Blu-ray release of Antonio Bido's middle-of-the-road giallo, The Bloodstained Shadow. Bido was not as prolific a director as many during the heyday of this uniquely Italian genre boom. He only had seven films on his CV as a director, and of those, only two of note. His first as a director in 1977 was Watch Me When I Kill, a sleazy little number about a murderous psychopath, and his second was this, a blood-soaked stop along in Italy's peaceful countryside, The Bloodstained Shadow. After that, it seemed to go downhill, and Bido was mostly out of the business by 1991. However, as far as giallo go, this is better than most, with the...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 9/16/2015
- Screen Anarchy
The term “giallo” initially referred to cheap yellow paperbacks (printed American mysteries from writers such as Agatha Christie), that were distributed in post-fascist Italy. Applied to cinema, the genre is comprised of equal parts early pulp thrillers, mystery novels, with a willingness to gleefully explore onscreen sex and violence in provocative, innovative ways. Giallos are strikingly different from American crime films: they value style and plot over characterization, and tend towards unapologetic displays of violence, sexual content, and taboo exploration. The genre is known for stylistic excess, characterized by unnatural yet intriguing lighting techniques, convoluted plots, red herrings, extended murder sequences, excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork and unusual musical arrangements. Amidst the ‘creative kill’ set-pieces are thematic undercurrents along with a whodunit element, usually some sort of twist ending. Here is my list of the best giallo films – made strictly by Italian directors, so don’t expect Black Swan, Amer or...
- 10/26/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
One of the real joys of Back Catalogue is getting to sift through movies I actually want to watch instead of whatever happens across my desk. This look at the older titles available through Vci Entertainment offered a little bit of everything. Mario Bava, made for TV fare, cult classics, exploitation and even documentary. Needless to say this was quite a viewing party.
Kiss Of The Tarantula was a definite first into the DVD player for me as I loves me some campy spider action. The film follows the mold of other movies like Willard, and Stanley, leaving out the supernatural element. Poor misunderstood, constantly picked on Susan isn't able to control spiders, she just raises them in the family mortuary. And when the locals (and her lecherous uncle) get a little too aggressive poor Susan pops a few of her eight legged friends in for visit.
Death by spider...
Kiss Of The Tarantula was a definite first into the DVD player for me as I loves me some campy spider action. The film follows the mold of other movies like Willard, and Stanley, leaving out the supernatural element. Poor misunderstood, constantly picked on Susan isn't able to control spiders, she just raises them in the family mortuary. And when the locals (and her lecherous uncle) get a little too aggressive poor Susan pops a few of her eight legged friends in for visit.
Death by spider...
- 10/26/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (David Canfield)
- Fangoria
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.