Prior to the advent of the so-called “eco-vengeance” genre, Italian cinema used animals, or at least the symbolism they naturally encapsulate, in the most disparate contexts, from those coherent with their nature to more unusual and weird derivations. With regard to the singular use of animals in Italian cinema, a reference is certainly owed to Dario Argento’s first films—L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo, Il gatto a nove code, and Quattro mosche di velluto grigio—which were followed by huge commercial success that encapsulated what Argento had learnt from Alfred Hitchcock and the Nouvelle Vague, as well as from the literary heritage of Raymond Chandler, where animals appeared in the titles embodying the characters’ gestures, modus operandi, and personalities—the animal as a metaphor representing the diabolical “human” nature. Although the presence of animals in the titles is often justified, of course, by some narrative solution or gimmick,...
- 8/19/2021
- by Eugenio Ercolani
- DailyDead
[This October is "Gialloween" on Daily Dead, as we celebrate the Halloween season by diving into the macabre mysteries, creepy kills, and eccentric characters found in some of our favorite giallo films! Keep checking back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic, cult, and altogether unforgettable gialli, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Gialloween special features!]
[This piece was done in collaboration with Gian Giacomo Petrone.]
Born in Villa del Conte, near Padua, Antonio Bido fulfills his academic education at the University of Padova, where he graduates in literature with a thesis on Italian horror cinema. His directorial debut arrives in 1970 in the form of the experimental feature-length project Dimensioni (translation: Dimensions), followed a year later by Alieno da (translation: Alien From), a film with a similarly Dadaist approach, both of which were much appreciated at various contemporary Italian festivals. After a brief apprenticeship with director Giuseppe Ferrara, in 1977 Bido gets to work on his first real film, produced and conceived within the structure of the industry and followed by professional technicians and actors, Il gatto dagli occhi di giada (Watch Me When I Kill). The success of this film will allow Bido to have exponentially greater decisional power on his next feature film, Solamente nero, another well-regarded effort. Despite this more than flattering beginning, Bido...
[This piece was done in collaboration with Gian Giacomo Petrone.]
Born in Villa del Conte, near Padua, Antonio Bido fulfills his academic education at the University of Padova, where he graduates in literature with a thesis on Italian horror cinema. His directorial debut arrives in 1970 in the form of the experimental feature-length project Dimensioni (translation: Dimensions), followed a year later by Alieno da (translation: Alien From), a film with a similarly Dadaist approach, both of which were much appreciated at various contemporary Italian festivals. After a brief apprenticeship with director Giuseppe Ferrara, in 1977 Bido gets to work on his first real film, produced and conceived within the structure of the industry and followed by professional technicians and actors, Il gatto dagli occhi di giada (Watch Me When I Kill). The success of this film will allow Bido to have exponentially greater decisional power on his next feature film, Solamente nero, another well-regarded effort. Despite this more than flattering beginning, Bido...
- 10/16/2020
- by Eugenio Ercolani
- DailyDead
88 Films returns to the fore with our new review of their recent Blu-ray release of Antonio Bido's middle-of-the-road giallo, The Bloodstained Shadow. Bido was not as prolific a director as many during the heyday of this uniquely Italian genre boom. He only had seven films on his CV as a director, and of those, only two of note. His first as a director in 1977 was Watch Me When I Kill, a sleazy little number about a murderous psychopath, and his second was this, a blood-soaked stop along in Italy's peaceful countryside, The Bloodstained Shadow. After that, it seemed to go downhill, and Bido was mostly out of the business by 1991. However, as far as giallo go, this is better than most, with the...
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- 9/16/2015
- Screen Anarchy
We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes details on The Book, which brings together some of the biggest names in Italian horror, a trailer for Dead of the Nite, new releases from Cavity Colors, and much more:
First Details on The Book: “The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes. A one off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase their own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...
First Details on The Book: “The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes. A one off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase their own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...
- 12/1/2013
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
If you're a fan of Italian horror films and your list of favorite filmmakers includes names like Ruggero Deodato and Lamberto Bava, then boy, are you in for a treat. Read on for all the details about an exciting upcoming horror anthology called The Book, which will only get funded with Your help!
From the Press Release
The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes.
A one-off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers, and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime, and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase his own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...
From the Press Release
The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes.
A one-off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers, and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime, and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase his own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...
- 11/26/2013
- by John Squires
- DreadCentral.com
If there's one company we've had a love affair with forever, it's Blue Underground. Why? Because they always deliver the goods, and this time they've got two hellish triple feature DVD's on tap! Dig it!
On July 31st they're releasing a 'Thriller' DVD set that consists of:
Bloodstained Shadow:
When a young college professor (Lino Capolicchio of The House With Laughing Windows) returns home to visit his Catholic priest brother (Craig Hill of Dracula Vs Frankenstein), prominent members of the community begin to be stalked and slaughtered by an unknown killer. Can the brothers uncover the identity of this deranged fiend, even while they are being tortured by their own nightmares of an unspeakable childhood trauma?
Short Night Of Glass Dolls:
The corpse of reporter Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel of Lizard In A Woman’S Skin) is found in a Prague plaza and brought to the local morgue.
On July 31st they're releasing a 'Thriller' DVD set that consists of:
Bloodstained Shadow:
When a young college professor (Lino Capolicchio of The House With Laughing Windows) returns home to visit his Catholic priest brother (Craig Hill of Dracula Vs Frankenstein), prominent members of the community begin to be stalked and slaughtered by an unknown killer. Can the brothers uncover the identity of this deranged fiend, even while they are being tortured by their own nightmares of an unspeakable childhood trauma?
Short Night Of Glass Dolls:
The corpse of reporter Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel of Lizard In A Woman’S Skin) is found in a Prague plaza and brought to the local morgue.
- 4/20/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
There's something special about saucy European sleaze horror in the 70's.
That unique blend of morally bankrupt, American potboiler pulp noir attitude combined with a distinct haute couture informed Euro-sexuality and sensationally stylized level of graphic, phantasmagorical violence just speaks to me. I worship Dario Argento, swoon over Sergio Martino, bite my lip at the name Leon Klimovsky, click my heels over Antonio Bido, pump my fists at the mere mention of Lucio Fulci…yes, I love these men and the maniacal works of misbehaving, lush, junk-shock cinema they once slung (and in some cases, continue to sling).
I've seen and own so many fantastic Italian, Spanish and French genre films from this period that I consider myself something of a connoisseur, a man who knows and loves his Eurotrash and can differentiate between a really good lurid treat, a middling one and one that couldn't cut the mustard in...
That unique blend of morally bankrupt, American potboiler pulp noir attitude combined with a distinct haute couture informed Euro-sexuality and sensationally stylized level of graphic, phantasmagorical violence just speaks to me. I worship Dario Argento, swoon over Sergio Martino, bite my lip at the name Leon Klimovsky, click my heels over Antonio Bido, pump my fists at the mere mention of Lucio Fulci…yes, I love these men and the maniacal works of misbehaving, lush, junk-shock cinema they once slung (and in some cases, continue to sling).
I've seen and own so many fantastic Italian, Spanish and French genre films from this period that I consider myself something of a connoisseur, a man who knows and loves his Eurotrash and can differentiate between a really good lurid treat, a middling one and one that couldn't cut the mustard in...
- 11/23/2008
- Fangoria
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