#Giallo

I don't get the low rating. Black Belly of the Tarantula both embraces the explicit violence of giallo and wades into the likewise violent poison of poliziotteschi & crime film. It dips its fangs into our sensory perception of violence with its Argento-level 1st person POV killings, and then condemns its own violence by focusing on the investigation and narrating the story from the police investigator's perspective.

It is a brutal film on all fronts - but it is also a humanistic film. It dehumanizes the killer by trapping him in his own web of insanity but humanizes the inspector through his disillusioned struggle with the brutality he's helpless against. The killer has one of the most gruesome killing techniques…

From the director of Mondo Cane, this red herring filled post Crystal Plumage yarn opens with an erotic massage and delivers stylish suspense, impressively shot murder setpieces, and lush soundwaves courtesy of the legendary Ennio Morricone. 

A perfect recipe for a lurid linguini murder jam.

Giancarlo Gianinni is wonderful here as a cop heading down a labyrinth of dead bodies, blackmail, and drug trafficking—in fact the cast of genre staples (Claudine Auger, Barbara Bouchet, and Barbara Bach) are all solid, and the rest of this is loaded with all kinds of glorious euro hokum: beautiful Rome locations, crazy foot chases, swanky apartments, red herrings galore, an adorable cat, latex gloves... but to me the real standout is the intense murder…

Spooktober IV: Morte all'italiana

Dreamy, glossy, lusty, and deadly—some of the best ingredients for a great giallo. Paolo Cavara’s first of two contributions to the genre sees him delivering an intriguing film that would go on to inspire better movies, such as Dario Argento’s successful debut “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage”.

Technically speaking and acting-wise, the movie delivers. T As I mentioned, the cinematography has the glossy, dreamlike aspect that seems to be characteristic of the genre; this makes many of the scenes feel somewhat ethereal and adds a great level of surrealism that works wonderfully with the psychological approach these films take. This is underlined by yet another fantastic Morricone score, whose penchant for sound effects and minimalist melody…

“How was work?”
“Well, there was a nude woman.”
“Pretty?”
“Someone had killed her.” 

[A] fine example of a cash-in done just right….emerges as one of the strongest gialli of its period. It may be beholden to an earlier example but it is no slavish imitation and manages to stand on its own merits.
— Troy Howarth, So Deadly, So Perverse

Tears in my mustache. Love in my paralyzed heart. The most giallo opening: animal-themed title screen, wordless Edda Dell’Orso moaning over Morricone, Barbara Bouchet getting her naked ass massaged by a blind man.

Noted mondo film director Paola Cavara dips his poisoned needle into the Argento-style filone with this quintessential example of the subgenre, with all the juicy toppings:…

“The tarantula stung and disembowled by the wasp in order to put her larvae there… …I wanted you to see because of its analogy to the method of the two murders.”

Somehow some gialli films manage to be simultaneously so sleazy as fuck, but so classy at the same time… it’s actually quite an accomplishment! 

Pure vibes all around on display here, thanks to tight editing and sense of visual opulence that sets this thriller into feeling like a lucid nightmare. Filled with the avante garde sets, gorgeous and well composed women who populate the spaces and the policia on the hunt. The gloved killer is never far behind the calming Morricone score and dark crevices that litter Black Belly,…

Well, hi there.
Let's get out of my comfort zone for a bit. Yes, still a giallo but spiders? Yuck!! And lord, was the one on screen creepy.

In this 70s giallo, an inspector investigates a series of murders where victims are paralyzed while having their bellies cut open with a knife. Yikes!

Add this to "how I would like to not die". Barbara Bouchet, Claudine Auger, Annabelle Incontrera and Silvano Tranquilli - some of the familiar faces - are part of the gorgeous cast. Another familiar crew member pops up again though, Ennio Morricone provides one of the horniest scores ever. It's a good one although I gotta say the moaning caught me off guard at first. I know,…

The tag line that resides on the back of the DVD for The Black Belly of the Tarantula reads as such: “A little seen gem with nudity, gore and Three Bond Girls!”. These are the clear cut draws of this mightily underrated giallo, but you can add to that list a splendid score from maestro Ennio Morricone, the regular slick black gloves traded in for shiny gold ones, a uniquely depraved killing method, ultra-euro-‘70s telephones, eye-grabbing psych wall art, swankishly chic architecture, costumes and decor, and even a touch of poliziotteschi thrown in for good measure. Yes, you can definitively say The Black Belly of the Tarantula has it all, and the thing that blows my mind is how few people…

1st Paolo Cavara

Giallato Taster Notes: Don't believe this mouthful's allusions to low-calorie health; this is a full-fat Giallate experience, heavy on that rich strawberry sauce as many a victim is gutted while paralysed by a nerve agent. Nice ripples of honey all the way through the taste, with the delightful appearances of Barbara Bouchet (doing her best Janet Leigh), Claudine Auger and Barbara Bach to create a triple-Bond Surprise, though the presence of Stefania Sandrelli is a welcome addition to the mixture. After the titillating tip of the taste, BBoT suffers from that problem often found in the Giallato, namely a cacophonous overwhelm of notes that obscure the overall experience. So many twists and turns are thrown the taster's…