Italian Horror

I grew up surrounded by horror and by the time I reached the ripe old age of 17 I was immune to the charms of the horror movies I had watched. At this point I had been fed a diet of Hammer and Universal horror tales that included Dracula and Frankenstein movies; mid range low budget shockers like Evil Dead, and of course the bigger budget offerings like Friday The 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, and Halloween. Nothing shocked me anymore, I had no fear of horror I felt completely jaded and a bit disappointed that I had reached the end of my horror journey. That was rather narrow minded of me of course because it was not long before I stumbled upon foreign horror, and most specifically Italian horror.

Entry to the world of Italian Horror can be difficult; it's easy to make a mistake because while there are some amazing movies there are also some real disasters, a wrong turn can easily put you off for life.  The purpose of this page is to steer you in the right direction as to where to begin, I want you to embrace this genre the way I have and furthermore to progress from the horror aspect into the Giallo arena, a niche market that once entered will have you ensnared for life.

So where do you start?

You can't mention Italian Horror without hearing two names shortly after these names are Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, there is a reason for this. Both Argento and Fulci are by far the most known directors in this genre, while Argento is still actively involved turning out a movie each year, Fulci died some years ago, but his place in this market is ensured forever. While Argento's career is pretty solid and you can dip into any Argento movie and get the same or similar quality unfortunately Fulci's was more varied, that being said Fulci in my opinion had the better scale, he was just a victim of circumstance.

Argento's first horror movie was Suspiria and this is an ideal place to start, although from some perspectives it's a little dated it was made 30 years ago, from other perspectives its far more advanced than any big budget American horror offering. Suspiria is a horrific tale of witchcraft in a German school of dance; Argento brandished blood and gore as easily as he managed the script. It can be mortifying to see someone's throat ripped out in the most graphic detail, and minutes later someone else ripped to shreds by barbed wire. Suspiria is not just a tale of gore, it's really compelling horror tale and there is nobody that could watch this movie and forget it, its highly memorable stuff.  Made three years later in 1980 Inferno is a toned down version and informal sequel to Suspiria, it follows similar lines of witchcraft, and contains some graphic deaths but it's not quite as shocking as Suspiria.

1985 and Hollywood actress Jennifer Connelly and horror legend Donald Pleasance joined Argento in a tale of horror set in a girls school for the movie Phenomena. Phenomena was the first big high profile movie for Argento in America, there are some highly memorable scenes contained in this film and to see a chimpanzee with a razorblade is quite an image to be carved in your brain.

Argento's style mixes the genres of horror and Giallo (Giallo being a sort of gory who-dunnitt) and for that reason lots of his work borders between the two.

Fulci's background is more varied but his time of best acclaim centres around his time as a horror director. Specifically Fulci's best reign was at the end of the 70's entering the 1980's. Fulci was far more bold than Argento, he wanted you to see everything that normally you might not be able to see; as a result in across the word Fulci's work was highly censored with everyone of his movies being banned in the UK until the mid 1990's.

Entry level into Fulci horror has to be Zombi 2 (or Zombie Flesh Eaters) allegedly an informal sequel to Dawn Of The Dead.  This was Fulci's first horror movie and was also one of Italy's most profitable movies from this genre. A group of American's find themselves on a secluded island in the Caribbean; a land where voodoo has bought related activities from centuries before have caused the dead to come back from the grave with a thirst for warm flesh. From Fulci's traumatic entry, to the lack of hope at the movies end it was a rollercoaster ride of the most extreme horror the world had ever seen, eyeballs are pierced and flesh is ripped and eaten from fresh corpses.

Of the back of Zombi 2 came City Of The Living Dead, again a zombie movie this time the death of a priest opens a gateway to hell turning a City (well more of a town really) into a horrific battleground between the living and the dead. Fulci turned up the heat and the gore for this movie and ended the movie with a tragic if not confusing way.  The Black Cat is a tale of horror in a small British village based on the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. This movie is not Fulci's greatest work of this period but it's equally disturbing, the story being the weak link here, Fulci focussed too much on the storyline and forgot the trimmings that made him a desired director, trouble being is that focus was not a winning formula and the story appeared dated and quite dull.

Back on track and arguably Fulci's best work The Beyond was the most extreme of his career; when a woman inherits a hotel the site of a nasty warlock slaying she inadvertently opens a gateway to hell, rather like in City Of The Living Dead. The Beyond is the most focused movie of the director's work; it's a horror fest from the opening minutes. With an engaging storyline and a body count quite literally to die for; having already shown you all the things you were not meant to see in a movie Fulci pushes the envelope further, and if ever a movie is likely to cause you to have nightmares The Beyond is that movie.

The House By The Cemetery stays again on similar lines but this time with an aging and rotting doctor attacking the people that dare to invade his family home. Using the bodies to preserve his own life, this walking dead creature is relentless in his assaults.

Sadly in my opinion Fulci went downhill from here his work lacking consistency, mainly caused by film companies trying to get a hold of his movies, and manipulative souls robbing him of his money causing him to cut corners.

There are other Italian horror directors worth a mention Aldo Lado, Umberto Lenzi, Rugero Deodato, and Sergio Martino to name a handful. Many people consider the ultimate man at the top of the ladder to be the late Mario Bava, Bava changed the face of horror in the early 1960's moving the genre beyond funny teeth and bolts as was more often than not the case for horror up to that time. What Bava created Argento, Fulci and a scattering of others perfected.

Other Italian Horror worthy of a look includes Alien Terror, a movie I found so chilling that even as a hardened horror enthusiast I had to watch the movie in several portions having decided to watch it in a big empty location in the middle of the night. Alien Terror chilled me to the bone, and is largely unavailable across the world; its music chilled, its gore mortified.

Cannibal Holocaust is by far the most known horror offering from Italy though some would argue its more exploitation cinema than horror. Cannibal Holocaust is incredibly disturbing and undoubtedly the inspiration for the Blair Witch Project.

Check back for updates and off shot links as I hope to expand this topic.