Tag Archives: giallo

Retrospective: Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)

12 Thursday Aug 2021

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The more I delve into the giallo film scene, the deeper I fall in love with the sub-genre. Black Belly of the Tarantula has all the hallmarks of a classic example of the movement with a complex thriller and mystery populated with stylised murders that keeps you guessing to the film’s conclusion. It’s added benefit is that it has a beautiful score from the great Ennio Morricone, providing further substance to the drama as it unfolds.

Italian director Paulo Cavara weaves a cracking tale following Detective Tellini (Giancarlo Giannini) charged with the muder case. The murder in question is centred on Maria, who is killed by an unknown assailant, who is dressed in black and wearign surgical gloves. The killer injects Maria with a chemical that leaves her parlaysed but still conscious while they carry out their deathly needs. Our chief suspect is Maria, husband Paolo, who recently discovered her infidelity

Throughout the film we see Tellini at home discussing the job with his wife and admits that he feels not cut out for the job. This vulnerability that Tellini discloses is part of the film’s appeal, willing to show our protagonist at his weakest and most open allows the audience closer to his character in the process. 

It is when another murder is commited however, that bears no connection to Maria’s death that the case is thrown wide open, and the complexity begins. We also get another insight into the film’s title when Tellini visits a scientist who informs him of a species of wasp that paralyzes tarantulas before eviscerating them.

As the film snakes its way to a satisfying, yet brutal conclusion, the audience is dealt with some highly charged investigation that isn’t afraid to throw a few dead ends into the mix. And like most giallos, BBOTT manages to deliver sublime stylised deaths. Marcello Gatti’s cinematographer captures the visual energy of the piece, lifting the quality of the movie and for me, is one of the better films of its genre and I could happily revisit it again. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971)

08 Sunday Aug 2021

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Another Giallo horror film marks a milestone this year with Emilio Miraglia’s The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave celebrating 50 years since its initial release. 

At its heart the film is a tale that depicts how the wealthy are inescapable of punishment, free to carry out their wims. Where it gets slightly complex is through the unhinged mind of its central character Alan (Anthony Steffen) who is mentally scarred when he finds his wife making love to a man. It’s a bender that sends him into an institution, but upon release his unstable condition is all too apparent when he hires red-haired prostitutes that remind him of his wife, to enact tortuous and murderous acts upon them as a form of warped revenge.

The twist in the tale however, comes when Alan attends a séance where the medium makes contact with Evelyn sending Alan spiralling downwards. It is here that Alan’s cousin George moves into the mansion to take care of him, but does he have an ulterior motive?

To add more oddity to the fold, Alan then meets Gladys (Marina Malfatti) he instantly falls for her charms (maybe a little too easily) and it is not long that they are wed and Gladys too moves into the mansion. Then the sinister nature of the movie takes hold again as Gladys begins to experience some further goings on at the mansion when she meets Evelyn’s brother and his invalid Aunt, who instantly take a dislike to Alan’s new bride. Gladys is convinced that Evelyn may have faked her own death, and is still alive haunting the mansion and sending Alan further into repression.

There are further twists and turns throughout the narrative like most giallos’ of the era before a conclusion is reached. As it unravels, the madness of the piece is on show and its convoluted plot never really awakens in the mind of this writer and leaves me a little unsatisfied as a result. Not nearly as clever or complex as other films in the Giallo genre, and a little more gratuitous for the sake of it. The ending tries to be smart and shocking but instead, it just leaves you feeling cold.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Cat O’Nine Tails (1971)

15 Thursday Jul 2021

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The Cat O’Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code) identified as a Giallo film from Italy, with its themes of mystery and heightened thrillers that became popular through the 70s and 80s boasts the great Italian director Dario Argento.
Despite having some visual traits and symbolism throughout that still tie this movie to the giallo scene, Argento has cited the film as one of his least favoured among his credits.

These may seem like modest words but under closer scrutiny the film does struggle a little under the weight of its exposition and in doing so, can be hard to navigate through its narrative.

The story needs to have some twists and turns along the way to allow the mystery to bear fruit but the telling of that journey can feel laborious at times.

The main context of the tale centres on a mysterious break in of the Terzi Medical Institute where it appears that nothing was taken, and yet one of the doctors, Calabresi believes he knows the culprit, and when he attempts to blackmail the individual is then murdered when pushed before a train.

This opens up the investigation for an unlikely duo, reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) and former hot shot reporter, the elderly, blind Franco “Cookie” Arno (Karl Malden) who still has a nose for a story. Between them, they identify nine possible leads that they could follow in order to identify the killer. The nine leads are the basis of the title Cat o’nine tails and along with it the mysterious journey to our conclusion begins and takes us through the local crypt and a thrilling conclusion on a rooftop. The tension of which is fueled by Franco’s blindness.

Despite the unfavourable comments of his own work, I found The Cat O’Nine Tails an entertaining one despite its complexity. I personally found the intricate narrative added to the mystery and allows the audience to traverse its murky case to a satisfying and thrilling conclusion. The hands of Argento manage to mould his visual style through the giallo lens and produce a worthy addition to the Italian celluloid movement that is well worth your time and satisfies on many levels.

  • Saul Muerte