Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti (who took all the credit) directed the first shockumentary, Mondo Cane. Following that, they worked on Women of the World before Jacopetti moved on to make increasingly more insane films with Franco Prosperi. Cavara? He went on to make his own films, including this one, which some place amongst the best giallo ever.

A mysterious killer is killing women who were involved with a blackmail scheme, using a needle to paralyze them before he slices their stomachs open, the same way a tarantula kills a wasp. Even worse — the victims are awake and can feel the pain, but are unable to move or scream.

Cavara uses one of the queens of giallo for his first victim, Barbara Bouchet (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Don’t Torture a Duckling, Amuck!). Soon, it’s up to Inspector Tellini to solve the case before he or his girlfriend is killed. He’s a totally likable character, rare for a giallo, who mainly argues with his wife, who buys too much furniture while worrying if he’s good enough at what he does. He hits a little too close to home.

There is plenty more eye candy in the film, with Claudine Auger (Domino from Thunderball) and Barbara Bach (The Spy Who Loved Me, The Humanoid) showing up. And there’s an excellent Ennio Morricone score.

You can check this one out on Amazon Prime.

Jonathan Demme (Married to the Mob, The Silence of the Lambs) impressed Roger Corman with his writing ability and was asked if he wanted to try a motorcycle movie. His idea? Rashomon on motorcycles. He turned to his friend Joe Viola, a commercial director, and created this film.

Is a biker movie not enough action for you? What if I told you that a biker gang named The Devil’s Advocates happen upon some warlocks and then one of them is bitten by a female werewolf and transforms under the full moon? How’s that sound?

I literally just told you the entire plot of this movie. Soon after the cult members cast a curse on the biker leader’s (Stephen Oliver, who was married to Lana Wood, sister of Natalie Wood and also the star of Motorpsycho and Angels from Hell) girlfriend that makes her turn into a werewolf, she turns him as well. Soon, the bikers are being killed one by one until they see their leader and his girl transform.

The bikers head back to the church for revenge, but suddenly stop when they see themselves in the cult lineup.

This movie has been sampled by Rob Zombie repeatedly, including the line “We all know how we’re going to die, baby. We’re gonna crash and burn.” It’s also better than anything he’s done since The Devil’s Rejects. Actually, it’s probably better than that, too.

Real bikers were used for all the stunts in this movie, so it has a real authenticity to it. And the weirdness of the cult’s rituals breaks into that so nicely, giving this movie a real air of pure strange. The cult leader, One, is played by Severn Darden, who played Governor Kolp in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. He’s so great in this movie!

The soundtrack is also so good. It’s very blues country rock with a bit of doom. It’s perfect for the action on the screen. This movie gets a very high recommendation!

A man is stabbed on a train, leading the police to question Nicole (giallo queen Nieves Navarro) about diamonds that are missing. Her life turns upside down, as she begins to receive disguised phone calls asking about the diamonds and a blue-eyed masked man attacks her in her boudoir. She then remembers that her jealous lover Michel owns contact lenses in that color, so she runs away with an older eye surgeon to the coast of England. But Michel isn’t far behind…

The first of three giallo directed by Navarro’s husband, Luciano Ercoli, this is what the genre should be: shocking, lurid, bloody and oh so fashionable. It also makes a deft turn from what we expect from the form into an actual mystery film.

There’s a plot twist here that honestly shocked me, so I won’t spoil it. While the other two films in the Ercoli giallo trilogy — Death Walks at Midnight and The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion — are much better, this is still a quality film worthy of your time. Some critics decry them as Ercoli making movies just to feature his wife, but if you had a quality woman like Navarro in your life, I bet you’d do the same.

Want to see it for yourself? It’s on Shudder along with plenty of other great giallo films!

Also known as Ecology of Crime, Chain Reaction, Carnage, Twitch of the Death Nerve and Blood Bath, Last House on the Left – Part II and New House on the Left, this is the most violent and nihilistic of all of Mario Bava’s films. It started as a story idea so that Bava could work with Laura Betti (Hatchet for the Honeymoon) again, with the original titles of Stench of Flesh and Thus We Do Live to Be Evil, but had a virtual litany of writers get involved, including producer Giuseppe Zaccariello, Filippo Ottoni, Sergio Canevari, Dardano Sacchetti (who co-wrote all of Fulci’s best films, like Zombi 2 and House by the Cemetery) and Franco Barberi.

Bava was devoted to the film and its low budget meant that he would also be his own cinematographer, often creating innovative tracking shots with a toy wagon and relying on in-camera tricks to make it seem that the location was much more expansive than reality. 

There are thirteen murders in the film — many of which are incredibly gory thanks to the skill of Carlo Rambaldi — occur as several characters in the film vie to inherit the titular bay. The film divides critics and fans, who see it as pure gore versus the nuanced films that Bava is known for. For example, Christopher Lee went on record stating that he found the movie to be revolting.

It also gave rise to the slasher genre, as every film that follows owes it a debt of gory gratitude. And some owe it plenty more, in particular, Friday the 13th Part 2, which copies two of the kills in this film shot for shot.

The story is all over the place and has a mix of dark humor and pure meanness at its core, starting with Filippo Dontai strangling his wife, Countess Federica, before being stabbed and killed scant seconds later. His corpse is dragged to the bay, where his murder goes undiscovered as detectives begin their investigation into the death of the Countess.

That’s when we meet Frank (Chris Avram, Enter the Devil), a real estate agent, and his girlfriend Laura, who plot on taking over the bay. They were working with Donati to kill his wife and now need his signature, but don’t realize that he was killed.

Meanwhile, four teenagers hear about the murders and break into the mansion. One of them, Brunhilda, skinny dips in the bay until the dead corpse of Donati surfaces and touches her. She screams and runs toward the mansion, only to be killed by an unseen murderer holding a billhook. That killer uses that same weapon to kill her boyfriend, Bobby, then he impales Duke and Denise together with a spear while they’re having sex. Here’s a good lesson that I always yell: don’t fuck in the woods, don’t fuck in a haunted house, don’t fuck when a killer is about.

The killer ends up being the Countess’ illegitimate son, Simon, who is wiping everyone out under the orders of Frank. Renata (Claudine Auger, Thunderball) shows up to throw a wrench in the work, as she’s the Countess’ real daughter. Along with her husband Albert, she begins to make plans to kill her half-brother.

What follows is a near Grand Guignol of back and forth murder: Frank attacks Renata, who turns the tables and stabs him with a knife. Paolo, the entomologist who lives on the estate grounds, sees the killing but is strangled by Albert before he can call the police and his wife is decapitated with an axe. Laura shows up, but Simon strangles her to death before Albert kills him. Frank shows up again, but Albert takes him out, leaving Renata as the sole heir.

They return home to await being awarded the money, but as they get to the front door, their children shoot them with a shotgun, thinking they are playing with their parents. Bored with the game and how long their parents are playing dead, the kids run out to play another game in an ending that can either be viewed as pure comedy or a sad comment on humanity. Maybe both.

Bay of Blood isn’t the art of past Bava films, but it’s not trash. It’s also been claimed to have been Bava’s favorite film that he directed. And Dario Argento adores the movie so much that he literally stole a print of it from a theater!

You don’t have to resort to larceny. You can just watch this on Shudder.

Emilio Paolo Miraglia created two giallo — this film and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. This one goes more into the horror realm than the typical themes of the genre.

Lord Alan Cunningham starts this movie off by running away from an insane asylum, a place he’s been since the death of his redheaded wife, Evelyn, who he caught having sex with another man. To deal with his grief, Alan does what any of us would do — pick up redhead prostitutes and strippers, tie them up, then kill them.

A seance freaks Alan out so badly he passes out, so his cousin — and only living heir — Farley moves in to take care of him, which basically means going to strip clubs and playing with foxes. Alan nearly kills another stripper before Farley gives him some advice — to get over Evelyn, he should marry someone that looks just like her. Alan selects Gladys (Marina Malfatti, All the Colors of the Dark) as his new wife and comes back home.

Sure, you meet someone one night and marry them the next. But nothing could compare Gladys for the weirdness of living in an ancient mansion, along with a staff of identical waitresses, Evelyn’s brother and Alan’s wheelchair-bound aunt. Our heroine is convinced that Evelyn is not dead. And the other family members get killed off — Albert with a snake and Agatha is eaten by foxes!

Gladys even looks at the body in the tomb before Alan catches her and slaps the shit out of her, as he is going crazier and crazier. Finally, Evelyn rises from her grave, which sends him back to a mental institution.

The big reveal? Gladys and Farley were in on it all along. But wait, there’s more! Susan, the stripper who survived Alan’s attack, was the one who was really Evelyn and Gladys has been poisoned! Before she dies, the lady who we thought was our heroine wipes out the stripper and Farley gets away with the perfect crime.

But wait! There’s more! Alan had faked his breakdown and did it all so that he could learn that it was Farley who was making love to his wife and killed her when she refused to run away with him. A fight breaks out and Farley gets burned by acid. He’s arrested and Alan — who up until now was pretty much the villain of this movie — gets away with all of his crimes!

This is a decent thriller, but it really feels padded in parts and tends to crawl. That said, it has some great music, incredibly decorated sets and some twists. Not my favorite giallo, but well worth a Saturday afternoon watch. There are some moments of sheer beauty here, such as the rainstorm where Alan sees Evelyn’s ghost rise.

Loosely based on the Parker–Hulme murder case of 1954 (which also inspired Heavenly Creatures), Don’t Deliver Us from Evil is about Anne de Boissy and Lore Fournier, two post-pubescent Catholic schoolgirls that come from rich, conservative families. They’re both growing up to be maniacs, thanks to a love of death poetry, mocking people, pranks, petty theft and one another.

They believe that when they are together, they are special and beyond the law, which allows them to escape punishment. Anne’s parents go on vacation and leave her at home, which allows Lore to move in and their love affair to grow. Their pranks also grow, including setting fire to a perverted farmer’s house, killing all of the birds of the school’s groundskeeper and stealing the Eucharist and performing a Black Mass where they marry themselves to Satan.

There’s a really off juxtaposition in the film where the girls use their sexuality to be adults and when men take it too far, they instantly appear to be what they are — really young girls. It’s disquieting and upsetting in a way that no movie I’ve ever seen has pictured — before or since.

For example, when the girls attempt to seduce a motorist, he takes it as an invitation to rape Lore. Anna saves her and murders the man, who they dump in the river. A detective begins asking questions and the girls are sure they will be discovered, so they enter into a suicide pact. They know that when they go to Hell, Satan will reward them for their service.

In front of their entire school, they read a Baudelaire poem to a cheering crowd before lighting themselves on fire.

This film was known as “the French movie banned in France.” It lives up to its controversial reputation — one assumes that the film was near incendiary when it was originally released. Yet it’s not strictly an exploitation film. It’s quite beautifully shot and has a definite message against the censorship of the Catholic Church and unfairness of the French class system.

Whether you call it In the Eye of the Hurricane, Lusty Lover or Suspicion, this film starts with plenty of style and 70’s morality.

Ruth and Paul are a new couple, but Ruth is still married to Michael, who thinks their trial separation will get them back on the same page. Ruth obviously has no interest in that — she instantly runs away with Paul to a seductive Mediterranean beach.

Their love is shot in crazy colors, upside down kisses, swans in the hot tub being given as gifts, discotheques for two, making pottery together, a stone swan filled with caviar and champagne…yeah, Ruth isn’t going back home.

This is a film of bad memories, strange moments of a new relationship, not getting introduced to people and it feeling weird, swirling camera shots around a dancing couple ala DePalma’s Body Double (but 13 years early), bearskin rugs in front of the fire (it is 1971) and suspicion.

Soon, Ruth is involved in a couple of accidents; her brakes fail while driving and her oxygen tank runs out while diving for an octopus (while Paul drinks wine on the boat with his dog and pours wine all over the coral!). Ruth gets paranoid and believes that Paul may be trying to kill her. Or is it his war buddy Roland, who seems to care about Paul a little too much (and the dude has scars from a lion on his chest!)?

Oh yeah — Paul even goes underwater to get her some coral, where we reveal Danielle, a redhead who is a rival for Paul’s affections. And Michael, Ruth’s husband, comes back to visit.

Oh hey! There’s Paul and Roland, just randomly shooting things in the yard. Nothing strange there! There’s a great ending where Michael challenges Paul to show him how good he is. He holds up a magazine as the camera goes from the model’s face to his to Ruth’s. A shot rings out and it goes right between the model’s eyes…and the hole reveals Ruth! What a great shot!

Oh wait — Paul, Michael and Danielle are all in it together, as they are working together to kill Ruth, who tearfully listens to their plans. Ruth runs back to the house, debating calling the police, before deciding on grabbing a gun. From there on out, it’s all big zooms in on the eyes and ominous music!

Ruth writes a note to Paul that says that she knows he is coming back to kill her and she won’t stop him. He was the man she was looking for all her life and she put all of her faith, trust and love into him. He represented her whole being, but now, she knows why he approached her. She never imagined anyone could be capable of such hatred and it all makes her exhausted. Now, she feels that she has to pay the price for her mistakes, as she has lost all of her faith and willpower. She sees this act as suicide and begs him to hurry.

What follows is a selection of quick cuts — a black gloved hand with a gun, swans, red faces, worried faces and then Paul appears behind her, telling her that he was going to curl up with her. A phone call breaks the silence and the police call to say that Michael has been killed.

But wait — does Ruth have a plan of her own? The dog has died and the ice cubes she made earlier are the culprit. Paul moves Danielle into their home and they begin bullying her, trying to make her confess to the fact that she murdered Michael to protect Paul. They even force themselves on her in bed in a scene that’s shot more like a horror film than a romance. Ruth just lies here, mouth wide open in terror, trying to fight them off. She finally runs and hides in a corner before her ex-husband and his new love consummate their relationship.

Ruth calls the police, who come with the news that Michael was killed with a chemical from Ruth’s pottery supplies that she had just asked Paul to get for her. She set everyone else up to survive and walks down the beach with Michael’s friend Roland as the film closes.

I’ve read that this film steals a lot from Umberto Lenzi’s Orgasmo and A Quiet Place to Kill, which I need to find and watch. That said — there are some moments of interest here and once you get past the slow opening, it all gets rather exciting. If you’re looking for a copy for yourself, Mondo Macabro has released a new DVD that’s available right here.

I promised to get to another Sergio Martino movie this week and I hope that I have not betrayed your trust, dear reader.

While she makes love to someone else, Lisa’s husband dies in a jet crash. She stands to inherit all of his money, despite them being basically separated. An ex-lover has a confrontation with her, threatening her with blackmail. She pays up — some money now, then some when she gets the letter where she wished that her husband was dead. But a gloved hand finds the letter and kills the ex-lover!

Lisa has to go to Athens to collect the money, but runs into one of her husband’s ex-lovers, Lara Florakis (Janine Reynaud, Succubus) and a knife wielding maniac. Peter Lynch (George Hilton from All the Colors of the Dark) saves her and takes her to the hotel. She asks for all of the money in cash, despite warnings to how dangerous that is.

That same maniac tries to kill Peter, then comes back to kill Lisa, sharp jazz wails staccato punctuating each stab of the knife, each rip across her body. Jump cuts and flashes and the room is covered by the police, who question him.

An INTERPOL agent, Inspector Stavros (Luigi Pistilli, The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I Have the Key), offers to help Peter with the case and the moment he goes to talk to Lara, he’s attacked by the gloved man.

That brings in Cléo Dupont(Anita Strindberg, Who Saw Her Die?), a journalist who pretty much instantly falls in love with our hero. They go up to his room, but it’s been turned over by the police, with even the bed sliced open looking for the million dollars that went missing when Lisa was killed.

Turns out the gloved man wasn’t on Lara’s side — he or she slits her throat, then runs up a spiral staircase as a guard gives chase. This reveals a room full of one eyed baby dolls and a strange oil painting. Between the woman’s face against the glass with blood spraying everywhere and these reveals, this film is really tipping its hat toward Argento.

The bodyguard chases after the killer, but is knocked off the roof. One slash across the fingers and we have another dead body. It’s 45 minutes in…and most of the IMDB cast is already dead!

That said — there’s a stewardess that gets the gift of scorpion earrings from an unseen lover. So there’s that.

Meanwhile, Peter and Cléo make love on an orange shag couch while a peeping tom watches from the window. You know how Bruce Banner always has on purple slacks and you wonder, “Who wears purple slacks?” Peter does.

The peeping tom wants him to move his car, which is blocking the garage. That said — he’s awfully creepy about it. Peter moves the car and then gets back to business time. PS — if you’re into late 60’s/early 70’s patterns and fashions, you may fall in love with this movie.

While George was out, the killer snuck in. Good thing he forgot his keys! He stumbles in at the last second, but Cléo has already been sliced up. The cops suspect Peter — but they also find a scorpion cufflink that looks just like the earrings we saw earlier.

Oh yeah — about that stewartress’s boyfriend? Yeah fights the killer, only to get his eye hacked out. Somewhere, Fulci was smiling.

Cléo is out swimming off Peter’s yacht and finds the money buried in a cave. Like a Republic serial villain, he reveals his entire plot. He worked for years to make money and saw rich people just throw it away. He put everyone against one another and even had a partner who would do the killings while he was in the room. It’s all rather simple as the police find and kill him before he can hurt her.

I’m rather glad this wasn’t the first of Martino’s giallo movies that I watched. It’s very by the numbers where his other fims seemed to try new stylistic touches. It’s not a waste of your time, but in a world where we get so little of it, you may be better off watching something else.