Dellamorte Dellamore (lit. "of the death of love," English title Cemetery Man) was amazing!! Creative plot, very funny dark humor, smart dialogue, great practical effects, and plenty of sex appeal (starring hotties Rupert Everett and Anna Falchi) -- the whole package.
Also, I was struck while watching this film by the similarities to my boy Dario Argento... come to find out, Michele Soavi was his protégé! Definitely worth a watch.
Megan and I plunged into the abyss with Dario Argento's insane giallo Phenomena (1985). My all-time favorite horror film, Suspiria (1977), is by Argento, and this film stars the exquisite Jennifer Connelly one year before her appearance in Labyrinth, so I was pretty psyched for this movie. The narrative has been called "muddled," but that's a dramatic understatement. It starts out as a rational and linear (if fantastic) story, but abruptly devolves into visual and narrative chaos and depravity. The aesthetics of the film are great and characteristic of the genre, with intense colors, crazy zooms, and wild music (Iron Maiden, anyone?). I LOVED the movie until its utterly strange denouement... now need to sit with it a bit. Still, I'd recommend! // Oh also, there was some weirdness with the release of this film (they cut out 20 min and re-released in English as the widely-panned Creepers). We watched the so-called "hybrid" version, with ~6 min of footage where no English audio exists, so there were random Italian scenes. 🙄 These were supposed to appear with subtitles, but did not on Amazon prime, so brush up on your Italian!
Enjoyed The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Dario Argento's directorial debut, which I had never seen before. Gorgeous gallery scenes with fascinating sculptures, wish I knew who'd made them.
Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966) had some gorgeous shots -- the townsfolk carrying the coffin, silhouetted against the sky, is amazing -- but overall this movie feels a little ludicrous to a modern viewer. Not Bava's best. (And I'm pretty sure I've seen this before, or maybe it's just totally predictable? haha)
Suspiria (1977) is my favorite horror film, so it was LONG overdue for me to watch Argento's Profondo Rosso, aka Deep Red (1975), also scored by Goblin. This movie has excellent shots and some very memorable dialogue. One of my favorite exchanges, after a woman is brutally murdered in her home:
Prof Giordani: Who could have done this?
Old housekeeper: A maniac, of course! It's always a maniac, and they never catch them.
I enjoyed this film, although to me it felt kind of all-over-the-place.
Watched Dario Argento's Opera (1987) tonight. WOW, it was amazing! Soo many incredible shots (love the crow's eye at the beginning), gorgeous music, and the series of strangely beautiful yet utterly grisly murders. I don't want to include any spoilers, but there was at least one shot I've definitely never seen before - honestly not sure how they did it. 😱👍👍
Mark and I did not quite make it all the way thru The Beyond (1981), aka "...and you will live in terror! The Afterlife." The title was the best thing about this utterly ridiculous film. The dialogue (dubs) is so bad that it seems like a porno. This movie is ripe for hecklevision. (Normally I never wimp out on finishing movies, but we were busy and our streaming rental expired, and I just couldn't bring myself to spend another $3.99 on this nonsense. 🤣🤣)
Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (1972): Beware of genealogy, you might just bring back your sadistic 16th-century ancestor! Not my favorite Bava flick but Baron Blood (English title) was still a fun, weird horror movie.
First horror movie of the season: Black Sunday, aka The Mask of Satan. Awesome! 200 years after she is burned at the stake, local witch comes back to wreak her vengeance! Hold tight to your crucifixes!
