As any self-respecting lover of cult cinema knows, giallo is the term used
to describe the wonderfully lurid, sexy and bloody suspense shockers that suddenly began
appearing from Italy (usually as co-productions with Spain or Germany) in the late
sixties. Originally named after the yellow color (that’s giallo in Italian) of
the covers of the racy mystery paperbacks at Italian bookstalls, Mario Bava is credited
with helming the first two gialli – THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1963) and
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964). But it was not until Romolo Guerrieri’s SWEET BODY OF
DEBORAH (1968), starring Carroll Baker, that the genre really took off as a
self-sustaining phenomenon, first at European, then international box offices. Once the
floodgates opened, scores of gialli made it into cinemas every few months, going
like gangbusters and only slowing down to a casual, but constant trickle in the early
1980’s. Some were brilliant, some so-so and some just terrible. But all were
entertaining in a very special way, re-inventing the mystery thriller in a deliriously
twisted universe of black-gloves-and-trenchcoat-clad killers, saucy and often volatile
heroines, bizarrely convoluted & perverse subplots, and, last but not least, legions
of so many red herrings it could make even the most devoted fan’s head spin.
Directors who went onto gorier, more notoriously infamous fare – such as Dario
Argento, Umberto Lenzi, Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci (to name but a few) –
learned their craft and made some of their finest films in the giallo genre. Please
join us for this frissons-filled weekend with some of the best of the very
hard-to-find prints available, including Argento’s BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE
and ultra-rare FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. (Please note: Because these are all
original 35mm prints from the era, though in reasonably good condition, there has been
some slight fading of color.)(All films are dubbed-in-English.)
Friday, April 21 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (L’UCCELLO
DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO), 1970, UMC, 96 min. Director Dario Argento’s debut
feature film was a huge success all over the world and served to codify the classic giallo
thriller formula like no picture before or since. Visiting American writer, Sam Dalmas (Tony
Musante) witnesses an attempted murder when he becomes trapped in the foyer of a small
art gallery. Although our hero has failed to glimpse the assailant’s face, the
black-clad killer nevertheless starts dogging his trail when not busy dispatching
beautiful, young women. Suzy Kendall, as Musante’s girl, is stupendous as
always, and a great catalogue of character actors join in the fun, including disturbed
gallery owner Eva Renzi, hitman Reggie Nalder and itinerant, cat-loving painter Mario
Adorf. A pure giallo lover’s delight from beginning to end, with perhaps Ennio
Morricone’s all-time greatest giallo score.
THE DEAD ARE ALIVE (L’ETRUSCO UCCIDE
ANCORA), 1972, National General, 105 min. Is embittered, alcoholic archeologist, Alex
Cord, the unseen murderer slaughtering people in the vicinity of an Etruscan burial
site? Or is it an ancient, demonic deity? Or could it perhaps be gay, hippie theatrical
producer, Horst Frank? Cord’s estranged wife (Samantha Eggar), who is living
with a hot-tempered orchestra conductor (John Marley) in his lush villa, also seems to be
not too far away whenever the murders occur. Director Armando Crispino (AUTOPSY)
skillfully keeps the red herrings coming as well as the goose-pimply atmosphere in this
rarely-screened suspense shocker.
Saturday, April 22 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
THE PSYCHIC (SETTE NOTE IN NERO), 1977, Group 1, 90 min.
Twenty years after watching her mother commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, clairvoyant Jennifer
O’Neill has visions of a walled-up woman inside the unused summer villa belonging
to her husband (Gianni Garko). But who is the killer, and is it a vision from the past,
the future, or maybe both? Lucio Fulci (LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN) directs one
of his creepiest pictures, building the terror inexorably in an escalating atmosphere of
claustrophobic doom. With Marc Porel, Gabriele Ferzetti. NOT ON
DVD.
PARANOIA (ORGASMO), 1968, Commonwealth United, 91 min. Dir. Umberto
Lenzi. Superbly entertaining Euro-trash psychodrama with love-starved widow Carroll
Baker victimized by an unscrupulous, smart aleck playboy (Lou Castel) and his
vixenish, bi-sexual "sister" (Colette Descombes) in an escalating series of mind
games. A tremendously enjoyable mix of Hitchcockian suspense and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS-style
histrionics, fueled by Baker’s wonderfully uninhibited performance. NOT ON DVD.
Sunday, April 23 – 6:30 PM
Mimsy Farmer Double Feature:
FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (4 MOSCHE DI
VELLUTO GRIGIO), 1971, Paramount, 104 min. Dir. Dario Argento. Michael Brandon
is a rock drummer who thinks he may have accidentally killed the strange man who was
following him, but he’s not sure. Mimsy Farmer is his high-strung wife (in a
truly unnerving portrayal), and Bud Spencer (part Thoreau and part Paul Bunyon) is
"God," Brandon’s opinionated best pal who lives in a shack by the river.
Soon a homicidal maniac blackmails Brandon with photos of the "killing," and
begins murdering people in horrible ways, all set to the tune of a creepy Ennio Morricone
score. One of Argento’s all-time best, this last entry in his "Animal"
trilogy is also the hardest-to-see of all his pictures. (It’s never had a legitimate
video release anywhere!) Don’t miss this super-rare screening! "A remarkable
view of the sexual world as some kind of nasty moebius strip." – Maitland
McDonagh, Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento. NOT ON DVD.
AUTOPSY (MACCHIE SOLARI), 1975, 100 min. Mimsy
Farmer, one of the stressed-out coroners in a busy city morgue, is so overworked
she’s starting to hallucinate that her deceased charges are coming back to life. But
that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A rash of suicides, rumored to be caused by
sunspots, is plaguing the city, and the girlfriend of Mimsy’s playboy father (Massimo
Serato) has turned up dead. Enter the brother, a hot-tempered,
ex-race-car-driver-turned-priest (!) (Barry Primus) who thinks his sister’s death was
murder. And just what does Mimsy’s rich, sexist, hippy beau (Ray Lovelock) have to do
with all this? Director Armando Crispino has a way of amping up the nightmarish
dread that waits just around the corner like few other filmmakers and deserves much wider
recognition. Stylish, sick and expertly plotted from start to nervewracking finish, with
another eerie Morricone score.
