Grand Piano

Wow...wow...wow....GRAND PIANO was so intense!

Now, this is not straight horror. This is a Hitchcock-like...neo-giallo with flavors of Argento, Fulci, and Bava. It's going to be polarizing for sure. It has elements that some people will just not be willing to stand for - like it all taking place in pretty much one spot and having dialogue moving much of the plot forward. However, I loved every minute of it.

Elijah Wood plays Tom Selznick, a pianist returning to the stage after a disastrous performance five years earlier. Nervous to the point of distraction, he travels from the airport directly to the theater, changing into his tux in the limo and cutting it very close for his arrival time. His wife Emma (Kerry Bishé), a star in her own right, tries to guide him through the best she can while dealing with her own celebrity status and crowds within the theater. As he calms down enough to venture forward - trying to ignore the mean jokes and remarks behind the scenes at the theater, he's shocked to find that someone has left notes in his music pages...and that same someone has vicious plans for him.

I'll say no more. 

I was hooked on this film at the AMAZING credits (I was happy to see that they just weren't pretty visuals, too!) and as Wood rushes sadly through to the theater and we start to find out more and more about his backstory, I became more nervous and more anxious. I looked at this as a great thing because it showed that I actually cared about my lead character, not like one of these toss aways one tends to see in horror cinema. As the story went on, I became more and more concerned for Wood's safety.

The film itself is a total throwback to Argento in many ways from the camerawork to the color schemes, but it also had it's unique style and differences that made new and interesting, not just an homage. The Damien Chazelle's story was super solid, though it did have some very "giallo trope" aspects that were easily forgiven. Eugenio Mira's direction was kinetic and slick. I hope to see more from them - Grand Piano was made way back in 2013. His soundtrack for Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes (2007) was released by Mondo on a special limited edition vinyl.

As I said, I loved this film. It was a fun and interesting ride!   Thanks to Agent Tish for getting it on my radar! Currently on SHUDDER (U.S) at the time of this posting.

GIALLO - Recent reviews so far

I've been watching a TON of gialli lately. I figured I'd lump all the links to what I've reviewed so far into one page to keep track of them.

ENJOY!

STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER

One of my favorite that encompasses TONS of gialli tropes...STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER! A rather nasty sounding title, but a fantastic film...PACKED with J&B references! :)
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/10/strip-nude-for-your-killer.html


A great, slow burn.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-house-of-laughing-windows.html

PERFUME

Strange mind games.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-perfume-of-lady-in-black.html






"So bad, it's good." :)
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-blade-in-dark.html

BLACK BELLY of the TARANTULA

Creepy and fun.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/black-belly-of-tarantula.html


More mind games with Mimsy Farmer. Totally insane.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/autopsy.html


Classy and cool.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-fifth-cord.html


Engaging, strange little tale.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-bloodstained-butterfly.html

DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK?

This was made in the "Remember when Argento made great films?" era, but I have to say that I really enjoy it. It's solid and interesting and well made. Well worth a viddy!
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/11/do-you-like-hitchcock.html



"There were also many lovely WTF?! moments that I found endearing"
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/10/seven-deaths-in-cats-eye.html

 

DEEP RED

Another WAY up on my TOP OF GIALLI list. A fantastic film by the masterful Dario Argento!
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/10/deep-red.html


I'm sliding this nutty film onto the giallo list, but it's more slasher. And, it's full of crazy.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/10/pieces.html


T and A and Blood. Another classic giallo.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/10/torso.html

CAT 'O NINE TAILS

A fantastic mystery. And, yes, also from Argento!
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-cat-o-nine-tails.html


Another "SO BAD IT'S GOOD"    Yikes. :)
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/09/nightmares-stage-fright-1980.html


Loose plot and acting, but a highly entertaining mystery with some stunning visuals.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-killer-reserved-nine-seats.html


This film nails the giallo world. A fun and hilarious giallo spoof of sorts. Well worth the watch if you are a gialli fan and are familiar with the giallo world.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-editor.html

STENDHAL SYNDROME

More Argento goodness with the lovely Asia Argento. A tight, Hitchcock style mystery.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-stendhal-syndrome.html



Another favorite of mine. While not strictly giallo in nature, there are gialli elements in here for sure. The visuals are a delight.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2015/01/amer.html

This one gets beat up a lot with the "style over substance" argument, but I found it to be utterly engaging, unique, and strange in a wondrous way.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-strange-color-of-your-bodys-tears.html

 The Bava classic - a must see!
 http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-bay-of-blood.html

Another brilliant gialli classic from Argento. Grand!
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2013/10/tenebre.html

SUSPIRIA

Tops in giallo loves, SUSPIRIA hits the paranormal side of giallo. And it does it marvelously. It's a beautiful nightmare.
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/11/suspiria.html

A comedic moment from STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER

HE'S IN THE HOUSE! : What came first?

I recently watched DON'T HANG UP (aka DON'T OPEN THE DOOR) from 1974    and something came to mind: What the heck came first - this one of BLACK CHRISTMAS?! IMDB has BLACK CHRISTMAS coming out in 1974, but December, while DON'T HANG UP is May of the same year. I thought this was really interesting. There are elements of both that are very similar.


Of course, BLACK CHRISTMAS is the better film by far. DON'T HANG UP is entertaining, but slow and amateurish with acting that's...well...fit for the stage of a college play, really. But, it does look like it came out before BLACK CHRISTMAS. I just never heard about it before.


DON'T HANG UP is very giallo - even down to the lighting with it's bright red and green lights blasting from time to time. SO Bava it hurts with it's old dark house feel and who done it nature. It follows in the BAY OF BLOOD styling.

There are family goings on and murders and sick grandmothers and memories of past events that happened to the lead when she was a little girl. And, someone (an obvious someone) who wants to get the lead and her grandmother out of the way. That someone makes a series of phone calls and seems to be very aware of where our heroin is, what she's wearing and what she's doing when he's talking to her. VERY much like old Creepy Giggle Voices from BLACK CHRISTMAS. That's pretty much it.
 

The reason why this film doesn't come rocketing into people's minds when they think back on the genre is due to the fact that S.F. Brownrigg just is NOT Bava when it comes to direction and Schaefer and Newcomb don't really bring much to the table on the writing side. The pace is slow and the style is VERY B movie. However, it does have something to offer and should be viewed if you're into the genre from a historical standpoint. It's an entertaining watch, albeit slow.

Check it out if times allows!

DON'T HANG UP (Don't Open The Door)

Mario Bava Movie Mash

I recently checked out for more Mario Bava films. I'm a huge fan of THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and BLACK SABBATH. A BAY of BLOOD is always a hoot as well, that strange film. I wanted to add some more titles to my list to get a good feel for Bava's works. The lighting and camera style is always pleasing and I wanted to see if it carried through to his other movies. It seems like it does!

I didn't love these films like I loved the work above, but they were good to see. They held my interest and some where so strange and crazed that they seemed like the stuff of nightmares. Pulled from someone's bad dream and placed on film. Rather cool if you dig that style.

And, as with this years new change, I'm going to keep these reviews short, sweet and to the point.




LISA and the DEVIL (1973)
This was a strange one for sure. Elke Sommer plays Lisa who stumbles her way through the streets of Italy and bumps into Telly "Who Loves Ya, Baby" Savalas who is buying a mannequin in some shop. And, oddly, that's not the strange part. SOMEHOW, Lisa gets lost again and....oh man....
Lisa ends up in a spooky mansion with a strange, Bava cast of characters including Telly again. The dummy he purchased is real....then it's not. There's a blind woman...but she's not blind. Her son...who seems.....not sane.  More dummy action. More crazy Telly WITH signature lollipop (KOJAK was in full swing in 1973).
This film had me wondering WHAT was going on out loud several times and I had to push through in some areas, but then the cool factor came into play. The film is bonkers, but it seems like a dream or nightmare. It has dream logic throughout and that makes it interesting and worth a viddy.

 

5 DOLLS for an AUGUST MOON (1970)
This was the weakest in this group for sure. I wasn't invested at all. There's a plot that had me yawning and at one point - I'll be honest, I wasn't watching at all. A group of people at a beach house and a plot to get a load of money. People die. :::shrug:::  The end. Not for me.

"He didn't like us, Dear. Stop writhing around and get me another drink."   :)

KILL BABY, KILL (1966)
Back on the dream logic train! WHOOO WHOOOOOOOOOOO!   :)
This is a very HAMMER feeling piece. Three years after SABBATH, this film has a similar feel -  a turn-of-the-century Carpathian village. Spooky ally shots, fog and the signature Bava lighting and shadows had me smiling. This small town has a ghost going round exacting vengeance. People in town are dispatched in various, bloody ways as a small ghost child peers through windows 32 years before the ghost of Sadako crawls out of the well in THE RING. :)

The dashing doctor and the ravishing blonde have to find out what's going on in Villa Graps before they are dispatched as well.
Fun story and some great visuals here for sure.

 
HATCHET for the HONEYMOON (1970)
Again, 30 years before Patrick Bateman in AMERICAN PSYCHO, there was John Harrington in HATCHET. More mommy issues and crazy, dashing dudes in this thriller. But, they do the same American Psycho deal here - not the classic giallo black glove killer treatment. We know dude is crazy right from the start. HE tells us he is. He's bonkers and hates his wife. However, things take a few interesting turns as the cops try to catch the killer cat and mouse style. Fun stuff.

AMERICAN PSYCHO

HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON

"I'm a winner."

So, I think the winner here was KILL BABY, KILL because it was the most consistent and steady with a solid story and some really creepy shots. The nightmare feel was strong and the lighting rang the BAVA BELL - light and dark, shadows and colors that I just eat up with a spoon! :) LISA and the DEVIL was fun as well, but in a more wacky vein. It's a strange one.



Bava is still up there in my top Horror Director list. 

All of these are available on NETFLIX STREAMING as of the time of this posting.

A Bay of Blood

Mario Bava is so damn good. I love his classic, giallo style. A BAY OF BLOOD aka TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE is a giallo lover's dream. It has all the classic elements.

The plot is super basic. There is a property by the bay owned by a wheelchair bound older woman. She's not selling, but many folks want the property. And...the the killing begin. Neighbors, traveling hippy types and more fall prey to greed and villainy. It seems like everyone has a hidden agenda.

The film is well shot and has that Bava feel. Glamor, lighting and kinetic camera work keep the film moving along even though there isn't much in the way of plot when you really dissect it. Some of the shots are fantastic. The lighting in Bava's movies always gets me.

I love the beauties in his films as well. Classic 70s lovelies. Brigitte Skay (in all her curvy glory :::sigh:::) , Anna Maria Rosati and Claudine Auger to name a few.



And, if you're a horror lover, you might want to add this to your list because many of Bava's deaths in Bay of Blood were stollen...borrowed?....later by other films. There are two that appear in FRIDAY THE 13th films in this alone.  And the film just runs off the rails on the death scale towards the end. And the phrase "Trust No One" is top of mind in this for sure.






Well worth a viddy! The Bay is certainly bloody.

ONE LAST DIVE

Jason Eisner - you got me. :)
Not sure why, but this friggin short short REALLY gave me the creeps. Loved it.
And, loved his VHS2 and ABCs of DEATH work. I need to track down some more Eisner goodness!

So damn creepy. What a great storyteller. Great, "Bava-like" colors as well. Grand!


One Last Dive from jasoneisener on Vimeo.

Black Sabbath

This 1963 gem is "trilogy of terror" type film - three stories with a loose (and sometimes rather silly) hosting by Boris Karloff himself. The great Mario Bava (Black Sunday) is credited as Director, but Salvatore Billitteri shares directing credit. While the whole film looks the same artistically for the most part sporting Bava's amazing color pallet, the time periods and quality of story vary greatly.

The first and strongest segment is The Drop of Water and it's by far the most chilling of the three tales. It tells the story of Helen Chester (Jacqueline Pierreux) - a woman tasked with helping prepare the body of a medium for burial in what looks like a time period around the early 1900s. We're told by the servant that the woman must not touch anything in the room because the medium said a horrible curse would befall anyone who did. Heavy handed and clunky, true. Let's move on. :) Of course, the woman sees something she just has to have...and the ensuing nightmare conclusion is friggin' horrid and so damn creepy it gives me chills just thinking about it!  I wish the film ended with this segment - it's the strongest of the three tales and packs the biggest punch. It also plays with shadows and light very well. It has deep, dark areas that push things back while bright and colorful lights illuminate the foreground and add to the nightmare look it has.

The second, more modern segment is called The Telephone and I think I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. :::grin:::  I think I got a little caught up with the delicious curves and beauty of Michèle Mercier who plays Rosy in the segment. I kept thinking, "Man...she's really gorgeous" and "Ah, that's when women looked like WOMEN" as I watched her dive deeper and deeper into the terror of...phone calls. Yes, poor Rosy is getting calls from someone who definitely should not be calling her. Disturbing from a stalker standpoint for sure, but the segment pales in comparison to the Drop of Water tale.


The last story is a tale based further back in time again - around the 1800s. We've been shepherded along by Karloff, remember, so the switching of time periods isn't as jarring as it could have been. Plus we have Bava-color to tie everything together nicely. Now we hear about The Wurdalak  - a vampire, basically - and how it has a VERY adverse affect on it's family. Will Sdenka (Susy Andersen) make it to safety with her boyfriend? Maaaaaaybe. We get Karloff being very "Karloff" and a series of passionate deaths, but most of this tale fell flat to me. All but one scene in particular where a family member comes back...walks toward the family home...and calls out...that it's cold. So cold. :::shiver:::  That moment rang through me and was the closest to capturing the chills the first tale had. However, that's where the chills ended for me. The tale even wraps with a strange, comical scene with a horse running away in "comical fast motion" with a wacky, dark musical score. Similar to the "Da da da - da da da - DA!" wrap up, punchline tune used for jokes. Jarring. 

I might have enjoyed this film a bit better if I had not just finished watching a bunch of Hammer films recently. I hold them in high regard and it was hard to see the Bava version of gothic afterward. However it's worth watching - available via Netflix streaming as of the time of this posting. The Drop of Water alone is worth the price of admission! (And, the triple bill of Pierreux, Mercier and Anderson is easy on the eyes!)

A DROP OF WATER