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GIALLO

2009/Director: Dario Argento/Writers: Jim Agnew, Dario Argento

Cast: Adrien Brody, Emmanuelle Seigner, Elsa Pataky, Robert Miano, Byron Deidra

God knows I have tried to like Dario Argento. His name pops up everywhere in the horror world and yet I have to admit I have cared for very little he has ever done. His sycophantic supporters say that even if his newer work is weak we must acknowledge the genius of his ‘high period’ when he helped to usher in the great giallo films of the late 60’s and early 70’s as well as his unique brand of horror. And that may well be unarguable. Some of his films from the period, that I have seen, are Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Tenebre, Deep Red, Suspiria, and Phenomenon. While these are classics of some sort, I guess, I have to admit that  all of these films are some of the most confusing and haphazard movies I have ever sat down to watch. When the killer and her motives is finally revealed in Deep Red (some minor female character who had about two or three minutes of screen time earlier in the film) I was so disappointed. Not to say that that is a reason to pan a film and not see it but I seem to missing something that hordes of other people are getting and don’t know what it is. Why is Deep Red (Profundo Rosso) considered to be one of the great giallo films of the 70’s? It is a mediocre film at best. One defense I have read of Argento (and most Italian giallo and horror in general) is that one must not look for a linear story in the Hollywood fashion and instead you have to let yourself go along with the surreal quality of the film and receive its messages on an almost unconscious level.  One is to not watch and analyze the film as a whole but you have look for those special moments that cannot be found in any other genre. I am not sure about all that but as time has gone on I have to admit I have developed a liking for Italian horror and suspense films I did not have when I was younger. I liked Italian post war dramas and pepla and spaghetti westerns for some reason but was confused by Italian horror until I explored Mario Bava’s work. Then I read that Bava was an inspiration for Argento and the men even worked together on some projects at the end of Bava’s career. I decided there had to be something there my Cro-magnon mind could not fathom. Years later I finally concluded some of the stuff is okay after all though I can still be at a loss and typically cannot finish an Italian made horror or crime film in one setting.

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PLACER SANGRIENTO

1967/Director: Emilio Vieyra/ Writers: Jack Curtis (English-language dialogue), Antonio Rosso

Cast: Alberto Candeau, Ricardo Bauleo, Mauricio De Ferraris, Susana Beltrán, Gloria Prat, Emilio Vieyra

AKA:
FEAST OF FLESH
THE DEADLY ORGAN

Argentinean director of B-Sleaze and horror Emilio Vieyra is probably best remembered for his 1971 exploitation classic The Curious Case of Dr. Humpp (La venganza del sexo), which starred dark haired and dark eyed Gloria Prat. Prat had previously worked with Vieyra (aka Raúl Zorrilla) in his sort of sexy but not really sexy enough  vampire thriller Blood of the Virgins (Sangre de vírgenes) and in an even lesser known film than the practically all but unknown Dr. Humpp called Placer Sangriento (Feast of Flesh or The Deadly Organ) which is the subject of this Uranium Café post. I would like to see a little more of Vierya’s work (I actually found a DVD copy of Blood of the Virgins in a small DVD shop in Jilin City in Northeast China while I worked in that area one very bleak and freezing winter… long story) as well as more of Gloria Prat’s work but this type of stuff is really hard to find. I should quickly add that these films star the lovely Susana Beltran as well and both gals appear to be regulars in Vieya’s films. To be honest in these films I sometimes get confused as to who is who and what the hell is actually going on most of the time. This is made harder in this case since there are no end credits on the film version I have to confirm who is who. If it adds anything Prat is also executive producer of this film.

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