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It's been a while but isn't the punchline a twist ending?
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Hmm, no, after the last plot explanations, the killer is knocked
off, the heroine is saved from peril, and she goes off with her
boyfriend, the end.
As far as twist endings go, I don’t count a surprising killer
reveal or an unexpected demise for the killer-to me it would
be that the real murderer has escaped detection or it’s
suggested that someone else might pick up where they left
off, something like that.
Of course, no one here is required to fall in with my goofy
opinions.
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Fair enough. Like I said it's been a while.
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Watch Me When I Kill You(1977)- a decent little effort.
Funky music= not really
Twist ending= I think so
Witness of murder=no
Striptease=no
Killer’s POV= yes
Man slaps woman= yes, woman slapped by boyfriend
Overloud or inappropriate music=no
Outrageous title= the original would be more outrageous
J&B bottle= yes , once
Naked woman=no
Death by stabbing= yes, in pre credit sequence
Red herring=yes, I'd say, being sent off the right path by the real killer
Black gloved killer= no flesh cured and rubber, again
Goofy police inspector=no, in fact hardly any coppaz, at all
Important picture=yes , a photograph
Woman takes bath or shower= no but man does n dies in it
Blackmail=no
Gay/lesbian character= yes possibly a whole club full during opening credits
Important memory= yes , possibly
Random scene in Italian= opening credits, cabaret style, was sung in Italian, could count
Ooh ooh music= no, mostly quite restrained
Death by razor= yes , I think
Childhood trauma= yes
Killer’s footsteps= no, not that I remember
So bingo total of 12 -plus 3 of you want to be slack.
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Who knew this thread would get you guys invested so passionately? Lol.
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Posted: |
Nov 3, 2022 - 2:06 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Who knew this thread would get you guys invested so passionately? Lol.
Gotta have a hobby!
Don’t Torture a Duckling (Lucio Fulci, 1972)
Often cited as Fulci’s best film, this is an atypical giallo, being set entirely in a small, rural southern Italian village and featuring child murder. Fulci brings a smothering sense of claustrophobia in the dark interiors and ignorance of the locals, who are fervently Catholic but still mistake illnesses for diabolical possession. A refreshingly subdued Thomas Milian performance. Decent score by Riz Ortolani, which hits the mark without scoring any GB points.
Funky music - no, not in this setting
Twist ending - yes (although I guessed the killer right away on first viewing)
Witness of murder - yes, offscreen but pivotal
Striptease - nope
Killer’s POV - yes, bringing a big clue
Man slaps woman - yes, a right backhander
Overloud or inappropriate music - nada
Outrageous title - yes, but not so much as the concept title of “Don’t Torture Donald Duck”
J&B bottle - yes, repeatedly
Naked woman - oh yes, the marvellous Barbara Bouchet right near the beginning, albeit it in a somewhat uncomfortable context
Death by stabbing - nothing as sophisticated as that!
Red herring - yes, both for the viewer and diegetic
Black gloved killer - not that kind of giallo
Goofy police inspector - not goofy, just modestly gifted
Important picture - not really, some police cine film but hardly important
Woman takes bath or shower - none of the townspeople looked as if they’d know what one was
Blackmail - not really, just a misguided ransom situation
Gay/lesbian character - not that I noticed
Important memory - not to speak of
Random scene in Italian - zero
Ooh ooh music - not even close
Death by razor - see “black-gloved killer”
Childhood trauma - not in that way
Killer’s footsteps - no
So an introverted eight points for what remains one of my favourite gialli.
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Who knew this thread would get you guys invested so passionately? Lol.
It beats the ' list your 10 favourite star wars hairstyle ' type of lists. 
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The Bloodstained Shadow( Solamente Nero)1978, with Craig Hill
This one had some nice use of its Venice locations. Unlike the others the director chose some pretty scruffy parts, for a change. Anyway-
Funky music= I would say so. Stel doin' Goblin
Twist ending=yes
Witness of murder= yes
Striptease= no
Killer’s POV=yes
Man slaps woman= not that I noticed
Overloud or inappropriate music
Outrageous title= maybe
J&B bottle= several , prominent. In fact it needed an equity card for this one
Naked woman= yes
Death by stabbing= yes , off screen
Red herring= possibly
Black gloved killer=yes
Goofy police inspector=no , hardly I the film
Important picture= yes
Woman takes bath or shower=no
Blackmail=yes, though not the main plot
Gay/lesbian character =yes and one was a toucher upper, ta boot!
Important memory=yes
Random scene in Italian= no but one in East European or similar
Ooh ooh music= no
Death by razor= don't think so
Childhood trauma= yes
Killer’s footsteps= yes
So 16 herein
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Formula for a Murder( 7, Hyden Park: la casa maledetta)1985
With Stephen Warbeck and Rossano Brazzi
Murder for money goes awry.
Funky music= yes a bit
Twist ending= no
Witness of murder = no
Striptease= no
Killer’s POV= yes but not as much as the norm
Man slaps woman= yes , I think
Overloud or inappropriate music= no
Outrageous title= not by normal standards
J&B bottle= not a whiff and only one ciggy smoked
Naked woman= yes
Death by stabbing= yes + by shovel, razor, poker
Red herring= no
Black gloved killer= yes
Goofy police inspector= no no a one
Important picture= no
Woman takes bath or shower= no
Blackmail= no
Gay/lesbian character= no
Important memory= yes
Random scene in Italian= no
Ooh ooh music = no
Death by razor=yes , ear to ear
Childhood trauma= yes
Killer’s footsteps= yes but.not as dominant
A mear 10 on the scale
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It's funny that while you were posting the above, Damian, I was trying to make my way through Deadly Sweet with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Ewa Aulin - but, aside from some 1967 pop/mod effects (close-ups of comic book panels, scenes of swinging London), I couldn't really get engaged. It also didn't seem very giallo-like anyway.
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The Scorpion’s Tail (1971,dir. Sergio Martino)
Same-year follow up to Strange Vice of Mrs.Wardh,with G.Hilton in
basically same role, Edwige replaced by stunning tag team of Anita
Strindberg and “Evelyn Stewart” plus Pistilli as no-bullshit “Inspector
Stavros”-similar storyline of the intrigues of the continental Rich and
Beautiful disrupted by scary murders well-presented by the
talented Martino.
Notable for showing what happens when one of those ubiquitous J&B
bottles falls into the wrong hands.
First giallo for Nicolai as composer, leaning heavily on the Argento-
Morricone template, still enjoyable.
Funky music-Morriconesque “urban menace” qualifies, No overloud/
inappropriate or ooh ooh points.
Twist ending-no.
Witness of murder- no.
Striptease-no.
Killer POV-yes.
Man slaps woman-yes, quickly shown.
Outrageous title-not really.
J&B-wow, all over the place, used as weapon in an eye-
opening sequence.
Naked woman-yes.
Death by stabbing-Quite.
Red herring-Of every stripe, yes.
Black gloves-yes.
Goofy inspector-quite the opposite.
Important picture-photo blown up again for clue, yes.
Woman in bath/shower-damn it, no.
Blackmail-short lived but yes.
Gay character-no.
Important memory-no.
Scene in Italian- no.
Death by razor-surprisingly no.
Childhood trauma-no.
Killer’s footsteps-don’t think so.
A meager 10 points, but recommended.
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It's funny that while you were posting the above, Damian, I was trying to make my way through Deadly Sweet
.
I don't think I've seen that one.
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Posted: |
Nov 21, 2022 - 10:12 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (Giuseppe Bennati, 1974)
After a holiday hiatus, I’m back with a giallo that’s really a crossover with the earlier gothic fad. In general, I prefer events in gialli to be explicable, however unlikely. But the supernatural plays a big part in this one; almost as big a part as the freestyle continuity and occasional delightful anachronisms. I’m pretty sure that dates on 19th century grave markers weren’t written in the format 15.2.1874…
A group of rich frenemies are bound together by relationships with a millionaire who owns amongst other things an abandoned theatre, which he decides to show them exactly 100 years after a series of deaths, just by coincidence. Killings ensue: who is responsible, given that they’re mysteriously locked in the building with no means of escape?
The lovely Swedish Janet Agren appears in the film, and is present in one of the many boob-kissing scenes that the director presumably thought would distract from its various shortcomings; and who am I to cavil with that?
Funky music - yes, during the very first boob kissing scene
Twist ending - yes, I suppose so
Witness of murder - oh yes
Striptease - not as such
Killer’s POV - not that sort of giallo
Man slaps woman - yes
Overloud or inappropriate music - no, good score by Carlo Savina
Outrageous title - in my view, yes
J&B bottle - alas no
Naked woman - but of course, although not Ms Agren
Death by stabbing - yes
Red herring - several misdirections given to both characters and viewer
Black gloved killer - yes, a little nod to the genre, I felt
Goofy police inspector - nope, no room for such in a very small cast
Important picture - yes, a painting of one “Sir A Hamilton” from 1708…
Woman takes bath or shower - nope
Blackmail - not as such
Gay/lesbian character - a couple
Important memory - yes, in that the main character suddenly remembers a rumoured family event that would be burned in any normal person’s psyche
Random scene in Italian - yes, five, believe it or not
Ooh ooh music - not a trace
Death by razor - nay
Childhood trauma - gonna say no
Killer’s footsteps - again, not that kind of fillum
So I count 13, a respectable score for a film that isn’t 100% giallo. I’ll leave you with an example of the somewhat dodgy script. Maybe it reads better in the original Italian …
“When they opened the doors, they were all dead”
“What do you mean, ‘dead’, Patrick?”
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Goofy police inspector - nope, no room for such in a very small cast
Has anyone come across a "goofy" police inspector yet? Why is this one of the bingo points?
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Goofy police inspector - nope, no room for such in a very small cast
Has anyone come across a "goofy" police inspector yet? Why is this one of the bingo points?
Lance Percival was a complete tit in the weekend murders. So far he's the only one I've seen.
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Posted: |
Nov 24, 2022 - 11:24 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Smile Before Death aka Smile of the Hyena (Silvio Amado, 1972)
A schoolgirl comes home following the apparent suicide of her mother and becomes entangled in the love lives of her stepfather and his lover. A good story with some huge twists and much more sex than violence. The actress playing the schoolgirl was 20, thankfully, rather than the character’s 16 or 17. No police so no goofy inspector!
Funky music - yes, by Roberto Predagio, calling himself Bob Deramont on this occasion
Twist ending - very much so
Witness of Murder - not by any characters
Striptease - not in the true sense of the phrase
Killer’s POV - nope
Man slaps woman - no
Overloud or inappropriate music - yes, albeit insanely catchy
Outrageous title - yes in Italian and its direct translation, another cash-in on Argento’s animal titles
J&B bottle - yes but from the back, so not overt; it’s clearly J&B though
Naked woman - yes, when one of the characters is a photographer it’s inevitable
Death by stabbing - almost but the finishing touch was administered by an ashtray so not quite
Red herring - twists do not in themselves red herrings make
Black gloved killer - the identity of the killer becomes apparent early for a giallo, so no need
Goofy police inspector - no, as previously indicated
Important picture - lots of them, but no especially crucial ones
Woman takes bath or shower - yes, but the moist aspect is offscreen
Blackmail - yes
Gay/lesbian character - yes, to her surprise
Important memory - no
Random scene in Italian - no
Ooh ooh music - yes, performed by the unique Edda
Death by razor - no
Childhood trauma - no
Killer’s footsteps - yes but not in the conventional giallic way
So 11 GB points for this likeable, non-too-gory and twisty-turny thriller.
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the moist aspect
So, that's what you called it
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Vestito per Uccidere (1980)
Slick entry, with some location shooting in NYC, at the time
attacked for extreme gore and general misogyny, neither of
which charge holds up too much now- more Hitchcock homage
than usual while picking away at Crystal Plumage leftovers-
Memorable melodrama score (from composer of Non Guardare
Adesso) funkless,no overloud/inappropriate stuff, a couple subtle
“Ooh ooh” refrains though. And the rest…
Twist ending-Yes.
Witness to murder-Yes.
Striptease-Yes.
Killer’s POV-Yes.
Man slaps woman-No.
Outrageous title- a meta pun, so Yes?
J&B-nope.
Naked woman-a couple of them,Yes.
Death by stabbing-actually slashing,No.
Red herring- you could argue the last ten minutes of the film
itself is,Yes.
Black gloves-Yes.
Goofy inspector-underachieving wiseass,comedy relief with (I think)
intentionally comical disco wardrobe,I’m saying yes.
Important picture-amateur surveillance yields photo clue,Yes.
Woman showers-a couple of moist ones,Yes.
Blackmail-No.
Gays-some gender bending,but strictly speaking No.
Important memory-a lost object remembered leads woman into
the killer’s hands,Yes.
Scene in Italian-No.
Death by razor-Yes.
Childhood trauma-don’t think so,No.
Killer’s footsteps-Yes.0
Respectable 15 points.
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