I’ve often bemoaned the death of the giallo as much as I’ve worried about it’s return over the last few years. So many movies are influenced by it to the point of slavish devotion that keeps them from becoming their own unique films. Or even worse, they are more inspired by American films like Basic Instinct and look boring and lifeless when they should be neon-hued punches to the face.

I’m pleased to report that Tulpa is the movie that I’ve been looking for.

Lisa Boeri (Claudia Gerini) is obsessed with her career, but in the evening, she visits the club Tulpa to unleash her darkest fantasies. The club, led by a Tibetian guru — well, that’s a first — allows her to indulge in all manner of aardvarking potential, but then her lovers start getting killed the day after she makes love to them.

Once those murders start uniting her day and evening hours, she decides to track down the masked killer on her own.

Tulpa was written by Giacomo Gensini and director Federico Zampaglione, whow also made the film Shadow together, along with Dardano Sacchetti, the Italian writer who wrote, well, just about any genre film worth a damn out. I’ll give you three, but he has a huge list of credits: The Beyond, Shock and The Cat o’Nine Tails. So yes, this is a movie with an eye toward the past and the future, as well as an ear. That’s because the soundtrack, by Zampaglione and Andrea Moscianesca, sounds like Goblin.

I had a blast with this film and it felt like a real discovery. And that’s why I spend so much time writing about movies, in the hopes that I can help you do the same.

You can watch this on Amazon Prime and Tubi.