I Am Curious: Giallo

In the late 60's there was an infamous (though by today's standards, quite tame) soft-core porn movie called "I Am Curious (Yellow)." It was also released as "I Am Curious (Blue)," depending on which tint was used to hue the film. I've never seen it, but by all accounts, it's pretty bad.

This post's reference (if you haven't figured it out by now - and those reading this blog should have) is meant to evoke the spirit of Italian "Giallo" movies, so named because of the yellow covers given to Italian mystery/slasher novels. In case you haven't figured it out yet, "giallo" is Italian for "yellow." Pioneered by filmmakers like Mario Bava and Umberto Lenzi, giallo movies are probably best represented by the films of Italian director Dario Argento (Susperia). Giallo movies are usually about serial killers and feature extended scenes of bloody mayhem and murder. They often have American or British actors as their stars and are usually in Italian with the non-Italian actor's speaking English which is then dubbed into Italian.

Argento has now made a film called "Giallo" featuring King Kong star Adrien Brody. Here's the trailer:

While the concept of Giallo seems quite familiar, I'm willing to give it a look-see.

Speaking of familiar things, here's a trailer for the upcoming remake of Larry Cohen's killer-baby flick It's Alive. In the original, it was obvious from the outset that the baby was a monster (and it blames pollution and household chemicals for the horrific mutation). The remake, however, seems to take a slightly more subtle approach:

Hmmm... not sure about this long-delayed film, scheduled for a late October release.

And while not exactly a remake, (though a version of the tale was made by Hammer in the 70's) The Countess is a fictionalized biography of Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian countess who was probably more inspirational to Bram Stoker than Vlad Tsepes ever was. Bathory reportedly slaughtered over 600 young women and bathed in their blood in an effort to retain her youth. French actress Julie Delpy writes, directs and stars, along with William Hurt, in this bio-horror flick:

As an Hungarian with a supposed (though rather tenuous) familial connection to Bathory, I have always been fascinated by this story and have even gone so far as to have outlined the plot for a musical about the murderous Hungarian royal. Maybe someday, I'll actually sit down and write the damned thing.

Looks like the Fall is shaping up to be an interesting (if nothing else) movie season. When (and if) I see these films, you can be assured I will be reviewing them.

More, anon.

Prospero