Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)

 

I had to produce a video in defense of one of my favorite giallo films (...with one of the hardest titles to speak about in public...) STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER  ( Nude per l'assassino ) from 1975. A wild ride I really enjoy PACKED with giallo goodness and J&B!  And....the lovely giallo Queen Edwige Fenech.

Giallo A Venezia (1979)

If you like your gialli sleazy, naked, and gross, have I got one for you! GIALLO A VENEZIA from 1979 is all that and then some!

Jeff Blynn is the untra-hip Inspector Angelo De Pol and he just got a case that has him pealing eggs and waving his hands around like crazy. :::grin:::  I'm not sure what Jeff was up to in the film, but his character eats eggs throughout as he tries to sort things out. He's the only thing bigger than his constant hand gestures is his amazing hair. But...I digress.

Fabio (Gianni Dei) and Flavia (the stunning Leonora Fani) are found dead near a canal and there are several odd points in the crime scene that get the giallo crime gears moving. The story itself is rather straight forward when the film starts, but it takes a few grim turns that make this film a challenge to watch. See, we find out in flashback that ole Fabio is a bit of a pervert. He loves being watched when making love to his wife and the stakes keep getting higher and higher as he turns his flailing sex life around by acts of violence and swinging. Flavia loves him, so she plays along, but her enjoyment drops rapidly as the stakes are raised.


We're "treated" to some really sleezy and naughty sex scenes that reveal some of Director Mario Landi's sexy cinema movie stylings. A  failed sex attempt leads to a lengthy masturbation scene which dives RIGHT into rape. We have explicit wife sharing in a theater and a really, REALLY nasty murder scene involving a prostitute, a classic mirrored sunglasses killer,  and a pair of scissors that was one of the most sexually violent scenes I've seen. The film leans more towards a sex thriller, really.

The only thing that really made it worth a watch to me was the De Pol character and the madness that surrounded him. I mean...the friggin eggs all the time was a strange character highlight. It's just bonkers. And when he comes up with theories, he gesticulates and emphasizes with his hands so much it's a beautiful distraction. And lastly, it seems like he has one outfit that he wears all the time. Very wild.

As a giallo, Giallo A Venezia is not high on my re-watch list. I doubt I will ever watch it again. It's a fine mystery and the story is well done even if it's SUPER dark and disturbing. However, it does fit the gialli criteria for VIOLENCE and SEXUALITY, so if you have a strong stomach and like your crime giallo packed with sex and hip organ music, this is the film for you.

Death Laid An Egg (1968)

DEATH LAID AN EGG has to be one of the most odd of the gialli films. There's a special level for some of these films. They have all the aspects you'd expect to see in a giallo film, but they also have a few extra bits and bobs that push things into a very strange space. That's Death Laid an Egg for sure.

We have a group working on a sort of...super chicken project. They are trying to create the perfect chicken on this high tech chicken farm. We have the husband, Marco (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and wife, Anna (Gina Lollobrigida) - scientists working on the project. And they have a lovely little beauty staying with them - the alluring Gabrielle played by Ewa Aulin. Of course, a love triangle forms and things go off the rails rather quickly. However, there are other aspects of the film that come up that are just...bonkers. Chicken talk turns to wild ramblings about chickens in smoking jackets. The "perfect chicken" is created at one point, but it's a headless, legless, living chicken mass that's a mutant. Very odd. The music is odder still - discordant and grating. It really helps to create a on-edge atmosphere.

All the odd chicken madness aside, it's actually a rather interesting little mystery with a lot to offer. Big thanks to the DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS PODCAST for their coverage of the film in their three part, art giallo series FOOTPRINTS IN DELIRIUM: Exploring the Art Giallo! If you have not heard it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's fantastic. (linked above)

The House of the Yellow Carpet - La Casa del Tappeto Giallo (1983)

What an odd little movie this is. I think I liked it, but it's odd.


Running very much like a play with four actors, we meet Franca and Antonio and the titular yellow carpet. The two are trying to sell the massive carpet and they have someone coming to look it over. Antonio runs off to do something leaving Franca home by herself when the man in need of a carpet arrives. And then...things go sideways. I'll say no more about it.








Like I said, it runs like a three act play. There are only four characters in the whole of it and it takes place in an apartment that is rather small, so there's a claustrophobic feeling throughout the film that adds to the tension. It's a slow burn, but I really liked it.




All four actors are grand. Erland Josephson, Béatrice Romand, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, and Milena Vukotic were all super solid in their roles. That really needed to be the case here. If one or two of them failed, the whole film would fall to pieces. 

Carlo Lizzani's direction is grand here as well. The man has 73 director credits and another 48 writing credits. I'd love to see more of his work.

If you are looking for a giallo style mystery with less blood and guts and more story and acting, you'll want to check out The House of the Yellow Carpet! It's a great watch.

Eye In The Labyrinth

Now this was a fun little giallo for sure! I'm not going to say a whole lot about this one for fear of spoiling it.

EYE OF THE LABYRINTH is the tale of Julie (played by the enchanting Rosemary Dexter) and her search for her missing husband. She follows a series of clues and the guiding hand of Frank (the awesomeAdolfo Celi of Bond villain fame)  that eventually leads her to a lovely beach house occupied by an odd little cast of characters including the curvy Sybil Danning (billed as Sybil Dunning) and SUSPIRIA's Alida Valli.

The film is a complex "who-done-it" that worked really well for me. Poor Rosemary Dexter is really put through the ringer on her hunt - slaps and unwanted affections abound. The story zips along and things unfold in a fun way. Trope upon trope is piled on to wonderful effect. Characters interact with each other in nasty and fun ways as the tensions build to the thrilling conclusion.




The look of the film is grand. We're treated some some lovely vistas and a fabulous beach house that I'd love to visit. The actors and actresses chew the scenery and move through the story in a highly entertaining way. All in all it's one of my favorite mystery heavy giallo films.

I definitely have EYE IN THE LABYRINTH on my re-watch list. It was a fun one.

Worth a viddy! Check it out!

Trailer does have some spoiler elements in it - be warned! 

A Virgin Among the Living Dead

There's gourmet chocolate. It's refined and delicious. It melts in your mouth bursting with wondrous flavor combinations and sensations. Think SUSPIRIA or BLOOD AND BLACK LACE or DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING.

Then there's A Virgin Among the Living Dead - the M&Ms brand of chocolate that's not magical or expensive, but still tastes pretty darn good and makes you happy.

A young woman's relative is ill, so she pays a visit to her estranged family at their villa in the country to see her before she passes away. She makes it just in time to say her goodbye and gets a sinister warning. "Run. Run far away!"

It took me a while, but I'm a big Jess Franco fan now. I kinda get him. He loved horror. He loved women. He loved film making. He just went up to 11 on everything. Nude women romping through horrific situations as his wild camera followed them kinetically. They are so much fun. And this "Old Dark House" style film delivers all of the above and more as the mystery unfolds. And of course, Jess is right in there as one of the family members, so that's fun too.


And the film as some fantastic, Franco dialogue as well as his wild storyline and convenient situations.

"Poor soul! Beyond words! You must get away from here. You'll fry in your own hell, believe me. Ask me no questions, just get away from here."

"Run! Get out of the valley! Can you see everything here is dead?! Get out of here!"
"Come on. You're not going to believe a crazy old man."



"Come and try it. There's nothing like the taste of blood. Try it. Try it, Christina. hahahahahahah" 

It's a warm blanket of a film that delivers up some crazy characters, giggles, lot and lots and lots of camera zooms, and....yeah...a lot of nudity.  The film does have a great, shadow filled look to it that makes me happy. Everything is lit by candles and dim, but then you'll enter a room and it's bright as day in the middle of the night! heheheh  I love it.

Seventies horror lovers need to check this one out for sure. I don't know what else to say here. Is it a good movie? Well, it's very entertaining and fun, so I'd say yes. But, it's not good in that "good" way. It's good in a "what the hell am I watching here?!" sort of way that I love. You watch things unfold and giggle as you mutter little quips and jokes as the film plays on. I dare you to give this a go!

I think I might have to snag a Franco box set. His films are so strange and interesting.

Murder Obsession

Ok...this is not one of my favorite giallo films. Not by a long shot. It's ponderous, super slow, all over the place....but the ending is somewhat comical and amusing, so it MAY be worth a watch for some of you true genre fans.

The plot is rather straight forward. A movie star named Michael Stanford goes back to his home with some movie folks and his girlfriend to spend the weekend at the family villa. But, of course things can't just be simple, right? He doesn't want his mother to know about his girlfriend, so he has her pretend to be his assistant. Odd, right? People start dying - that's never good. And...there was something else. OH!  Michael stabbed his Father to death! That's it! :)

Some of the standout items in this fun little romp are the way Michael and his mother interact - cringe inducing for sure. He's talking to his mother and she's nearly falling out of her shirt all the time. :::cringe:::   The beautiful Laura Gemser is mesmerizing. And then there's the other star of the film - Stefano Patrizi's FUCKING MUSTACHE! HOLY COW is it distracting! heheheheh It's like that thing some folks do to look older, but in this case he just ends up looking like a five year old boy with a mustache. heheheheh

The film stumbles and limps along, but does manage to ramp things up to 11 for the thrilling climax. I had to really make an effort to push through this one, starting and stopping it a few times over the course of a month or so. However, it hit a stride at one point and I was able to make it through. And boy was I happy that I did. hehehe. What a nutty flick.

Check it.

Uh....say what?

All the Colors of the Dark (1972 aka Tutti i Colori del Buio)

And we're into another Sergio Martino classic with All the Colors of the Dark starring the :::heavy sigh and swoon:::  wondrous Edwige Fenech. So lovely. Those eyes. :::sigh:::   AHEM! Uh....

A CLASSIC....that's where I was. :)

Edwige plays Jane Harrison who has lost her unborn child after a car accident. She is having SUPER strange nightmares and is really slipping into a state of depression and madness. Her husband pushes her meds on her, but her sister Barbara (the awesome Nieves Navarro) wants her to try some less medicinal ways of dealing with her loss by talking to a Dr. and leaving the pills behind. But, who is the mysterious man (Ivan Rassimov) that is following her around town...and peeking at her? Is her neighbor really trying to be her friend...or is she involved in some other way herself?




We have a lot of Martino goodness in here as well. Handheld, kinetic camera movements and dramatic shots with great lighting make this a great giallo sampling, though it's not one to start with if you're new to the genre. It's pace and sometimes confused storyline may turn off those that are not obsessed with gialli.





This film is wacky for sure, but it has some fun moments. And...you know...I'll stare at Edwige on the screen no matter what she's up to! heheheh.  The film runs off the tracks a few times, but manages to stay on course for a fun and diabolical ending.

Well worth a viddy!

In The Folds Of The Flesh (1970)

Oh my goodness. Lordy.

This is another fantastic gem of a giallo. Another OLD DARK HOUSE like situation here with a family up to no good. Twists and turns after twists and turns.

I have to admit, I was confused - happily - through most of the film. Long and the short is there is a family with a secret. A dark and sad secret. It looks like the Father was a bit handsy with the daughter, so the daughter killed him. Mom goes and buries him, but....yes, bare with me....and escaped convict sees her bury the body. He's caught, but keeps the place in mind for future endeavors.

Everything slips into normalcy and 13 years go by. But, something isn't right with the daughter, Mom seems a bit off as well, and old brother seems to keep forgetting sister is sister and not girlfriend.

It all keeps getting more and more insane as we have the return of the escaped convict from the beginning,  wild police goings on, murders all over the place, and twist after twist as we watch things play out.

I had a fantastic time with this madness. The screenplay by the films director Sergio Bergonzelli is all over the place crazy and I love the idea supplied by Mario Caiano and Fabio De Agostini. If you are fond of madness and mystery with a bit of the holocaust slipped in for good measure, you'll want to check out this wild ride.

Check it!

The Big Racket

Ok...this isn't horror, but it made me SO FRIGGIN' HAPPY that I had to write a little bit on it. 

James Hancock posted a scene from the film on Twitter and it was brilliant. It showed Fabio Testi (What Have You Done To Solange?) being rolled down a hill in his car by an angry mob. But, they don't just show the car rolling down the hill. They have cuts to Testi in the car rolling with debris flying around in the car as he rolls! It was amazing. I had to see the film.

The plot is classic crime gialli. A good cop named Nico Palmieri is tracking down these hoods that are shaking the store owners in a small town down for protection money. He's trying everything in his power to get this racket dealt with, but he's not getting any support from his department. And, if people happen to brave the mob and come forward to help Nico, horrible things happen to them and their loved ones. Tensions run high as things don't get any better. Finally, he needs to take things to another level.

This movie was so much fun! I found myself cheering for the good guys and booing the bad guys. As things escalate, I thought I had an idea about just where the film was going, but it took it to a whole new level and kept upping the thrills until the bullet ridden conclusion.

I need to see more of Enzo G. Castellari films. I've heard a lot about his work, but after doing some looking i found out that this was the only film of his that I've seen. I've heard of others like The Inglorious Bastards, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, and The House by the Edge of the Lake, but I have not seen a single one. After seeing his work on this film, I'm going to seek more out right away. And the guy is still making movies! Amazing.  I just saw that he did a film called The Heroin Busters in 1977 with Testi and David Hemmings. I think that might have moved to the top of my list.

It took me a minute to place Testi. I loved him in Solange, but there he was rocking this wondrous beard. I don't recall seeing him in anything else. I've heard that Contraband is a good one. I'll have to seek it out. He has this super cool, tough guy thing going in this film that I loved. At one point - after the car rolling - he has a cast on his arm. He goes to arrest some of the hoods and gets into a fight where the cast turns out to be a super solid shield and weapon! Just fun, fun, fun through and through.

We have a classic cast of characters in the film as well. All the hoods are grand, flat, bad guy bad guys. There are some other folks who take on roles as victims that have various sides to them from vengeful spirit to sad broken man to one foot out the door and they are work really well.

If you love crime thrillers along the lines of The French Connection, gun fights, and classic good guys verses bad guys, this film is a must view. I plan to own it in the near future. I can tell that this will be in rotation often! WELL worth a viddy!