More Italian horror recommendations – don’t want to give up yet!!!
 

Although movies like The Beyond & Suspiria didn’t do much for me, there is something interesting (or at least something that interests me) about Italian horror.

What I would like are some recommendations for newer/more recent Italian horror films.

anything Lucio Fulci

and Ruggero Deodata

You might want to give Argento's "Phenomena" a shot, if you didn't like "Suspiria." "Phenomena" sort of polarizes Argento fans, like if you don't his earlier films like "Deep Red" and "Suspiria," you're apt to like "Phenomena" and vice versa.

Italian horror movies are more exercises in style and atmosphere than anything else, so you just sort of have to be into the vibe. I would liken it to other genres like Anime and Hong Kong flicks, some people are just going to get things out of it that others don't.

A good newer italian flick is Sleepless. Argento's other flicks are well worth checking out as well. His Giallos are more straight foreward and have less of the supernatural theme. Deep Red, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Cat O' Nine Tails, Phenomena, Tenebre and Opera.

Mario Bava is great, check out Black Sabbath, Black Sunday and Blood and Black Lace.

Fulci is kind of uneven but he's still great for the most part(stay away from his latter flicks though most of them are crap). City of the Living Dead, Don't Torture a Duckling and New York Ripper.

A few others worth checking out, Hitch-Hike, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and Demons.

I thought "Let Sleeping Corspes Lie" was a British movie isn't this the movie with the alternate title "Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue" or I am thinking of another film?

Oh and yes, "Demons" rocks. The sequel on the other hand doesn't.

Opera, Tenebre, and Deep Red...

I only saw a trunscated version of Michele Soavi's 1987 film "Deliria" (English language title: Stagefright) which I highly enjoyed - the complete version is sitting in my 'To Watch' DVD pile.

Soavi also directed Dellamorte Dellamore (aka Cemetery Man) - which I haven't seen... yet.

He also directed a film called The Church which I haven't seen either, but was wondering if anyone here has?

I did not like this film, but I bet there are people who does. It was an awkward cinematic experience, which had very little of any potential fear factor or feel for how to make it somewhat suspenseful. Impossible to compare with Suspiria and Tenebre...

Your thinking of the right film but it's not British. It was a Italian - Spanish production.

Filmed in multiple locations including Britian (that's what threw me off):

Filming Locations for
Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti (1974)

- Castleton, Derbyshire, England, UK

- Cinearte, Madrid, Spain, UNKNOWN
(studio)

- Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy
(studio)

- Dovedale, Staffordshire, England, UK

- Hathersage, Derbyshire, England, UK

- John Dalton Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK

- Levens, Cumbria, England, UK

- Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK

- Robledo de Chavela, Madrid, Spain

- Rome, Lazio, Italy

- Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK

- Winnats Pass, Peak District National Park, Derbyshire, England, UK

Try Black Sunday from director Mario Bava. Very creepy.

as well as his "Twitch of the Death Nerve" aka "Bay of Blood" for some great early gore efx.

House with the Laughing Windows isn't nearly as gory as Argento's giallo films, but it is very creepy and atmospheric. One of my favorites in the genre.

Sorry for my italian horror terminology ignorance, but what does the term "giallo" mean??

I had no idea either so had to look it up via Google.

This was the page that I saw the description from http://www.revengeismydestiny.com/Giallos.html

"For those not in the know, "giallo" when applied to film indicates a certain type of Italian crime thriller usually involving a guy in a black hat, coat and gloves slicing up young women with a very long, very sharp, very shiny knife."

I've heard only bad things about The Church, even from Italian horror fans.

Yeah, I've seen The Church and thought it basically sucked... although I'm not really a big fan of italian horror anyway (didn't think much of suspiria, deep red, or the beyond)

I love Italian horror and still think that The Church is terrible.

Ya i'm a huge fan of Italian horror and yes The Church is not very good at all.

Thanks for the help

For those not in the know, "Giallo" is Italian for Yellow. These movies were directly influenced by a style of writing that was commonly found in cheap books (I assume like the kind you'd find at a drugstore or newstand). As these weren't great literary works they were printed as cheaply as possibly, and the cheap paper they used was colored yellow... hence the origin of the term.

You beat me to it but I believe this is correct. I always thought it was just the covers that were yellow and I didn't know all the pages were yellow also. Cool!

Castle Freak was Italian wasnt it? I watched this on a date rotfl, somebody brought it over and said it was a good movie.

Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome