For roughly eight years, the giallo – this quintessentially Italian genre – stacked up the bodies, scattered red herrings and oozed style before fading away, nearly forgotten by the general public, though later it would inspire the likes of Quentin Tarantino, William Friedkin and Nicholas Winding Refn. Mixing the super-suave with the super-sexy, set and costume designers went wild as a new generation of hypersexual leading ladies commandeered the screen. She’s So Giallo is conceived as a tribute to the leading ladies of the giallo and as a challenge to the genre’s reputation for unrepentant misogyny. Presented on rare 16mm and 35mm prints and curated by Cigarette Burns Cinema, the season showcases four classic and rarely screened examples of vintage Italian horror.
Four Flies On Grey Velvet
Roberto (Michael Brandon), a drummer in a rock band, finds himself embroiled in a nightmare when he is framed for killing a mysterious man who has been stalking him. But Roberto’s troubles get worse when he’s blackmailed by an unknown killer who is knocking off his friends, one by one. Featuring a playful score by Ennio Morricone, this suspense-filled drama has rightly cemented itself as one of Dario Argento’s greatest giallo features. The film is introduced by Alan Jones
One On Top Of The Other
This rarely seen thriller from Lucio Fulci draws us into a sexy and deceitful world – did a doctor kill his wife? That’s the question hanging over Dr George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel), when his wife Susan dies suddenly, after a large life insurance policy was taken out in her name. Under police suspicion, George starts to question his sanity when he encounters stripper, Monica (Marisa Mell), who looks remarkably like Susan…
The Frightened Woman
Philippe Leroy stars as Dr Sayer, a rich philanthropist who has a dark secret to hide in Pietro Schivazappa’s pop art thriller. When Maria (Dagmar Lassander), a journalist, drops by Sayer’s mansion to pick up some documents, she soon finds herself victim to his unpleasant and degrading games. But the tables are turned as Maria subverts the doctor’s game and becomes the manipulator. Virginie Sélavy, editor of Electric Sheep Magazine, will introduce this screening.
All the Colors of the Dark
The remarkable Edwige Fenech stars in this psychedelic, gloriously OTT London-set giallo as Jane Harrison. Jane is troubled and traumatised, living with the memory of her murdered mother and the misfortune of losing her unborn child in a car accident. When she seeks help to deal with her emotional problems, she is unwittingly captured by a satanic cult and forced to conduct murders on their behalf. Or is it all in her head?
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