Films you've seen recently and would unreservedly recommend:
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WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
Suspiria is cracking, wait for the razor wire
WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
luka
Well-known member
craner sicko fetish film then. perverts only.
WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
Love its colouring, the range of vivid blue/purple/lilacs/pink/red hues
yyaldrin
in je ogen waait de wind
its about some underage girls running around in underwear getting killed in gruesome ways
but tbh i cant really handle horror in general
@WashYourHands I saw the original
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
I was so scared watching Suspiria the first time, although (as with "The shining") that was partly because I'd read a lot about how scary it was beforehand and was also quite young.
But I think it would disturb me again if I watched it now. A big part of that is Goblin's demonic synth soundtrack. And then there's the sadism, which (at least based on my recent watching of "Tenebrae") is slightly laughable and perhaps a bit tongue/knife in cheek, but which also feels authentically nasty.
As with some De Palma films I've seen, there's a sleazy disreputable feeling to the Argentos I've seen, they're almost adjacent to hardcore porn only with stabbing instead of shagging.
But I'm a fan of both (lord knows I'm not adverse to porn, as anyone here will no doubt chortlingly attest to, the bastards), however morally sordid they - and their biggest cheerleaders, e.g. Craner and version - are.
But I think it would disturb me again if I watched it now. A big part of that is Goblin's demonic synth soundtrack. And then there's the sadism, which (at least based on my recent watching of "Tenebrae") is slightly laughable and perhaps a bit tongue/knife in cheek, but which also feels authentically nasty.
As with some De Palma films I've seen, there's a sleazy disreputable feeling to the Argentos I've seen, they're almost adjacent to hardcore porn only with stabbing instead of shagging.
But I'm a fan of both (lord knows I'm not adverse to porn, as anyone here will no doubt chortlingly attest to, the bastards), however morally sordid they - and their biggest cheerleaders, e.g. Craner and version - are.
WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
Theme is unforgettable
well worth playing to your mates while tripping for the cod-eyed skewed glance of “why the fuck is this on?!”
well worth playing to your mates while tripping for the cod-eyed skewed glance of “why the fuck is this on?!”
other_life
bioconfused
profondo rosso and fenomena are both better....
WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
the quality of Donald Pleasence in bringing understated malevolent strangeness to any role is always a win
have you seen Wake in Fright @other_life ?
have you seen Wake in Fright @other_life ?
The bit that most frightened me was when they have to sleep in the hall and can hear one of the witches doing this bestial snoring from behind a curtain.
Tenebrae's my favourite, although I haven't seen Fenomena. Still need to see a couple of the early ones and Opera too.
craner
Beast of Burden
Opera is the last great Argento and Four Flies on Grey Velvet is the hidden gem of the early 'animal' giallo trilogy.
maxi
Well-known member
How do you feel about the dubbing. I've tried to show films like The Psychic and Four Flies on Grey Velvet to people who I think would otherwise love them but some get entirely put off by the dubbing, saying it makes them feel cheap and silly and they're unable to connect with the characters and get taken out of the drama because of how bad it is. Unwatchable.
For me it can be an added element of surrealism and I just enjoy them for what they are. But I do wonder what they'd be like if they weren't so badly dubbed. The husband character in The Psychic sounds nothing like what that guy should sound like. and it's not just the lip-synching, it's also the fact that people sound like they're in a quiet studio when they're talking in the street, etc. Without it these films would definitely feel less kitschy and more like classic 70s cinema.
craner
Beast of Burden
It's a funny question and it depends on the film.
The earlier films (i.e. pre-Suspiria) were shot for Italian audiences and the atmosphere of the films works better with the original Italian track, a rule that holds true for most of the gialli and (in my possibly eccentric opinion) most spaghetti westerns too.
Suspiria and the films that followed were filmed with international, English-speaking audiences in mind and the English dub could almost be considered the primary audio track, and to some extent acted as part of the texture and ambience of the films themselves. I think Suspiria is better in English than Italian (Jessica Harper's performance probably helps), whereas the English dub track of something like The Great Silence effectively destroys the film (whereas, in Italian, it is one of the most beautiful films ever made).
The same thing is true of the later Fulci epics, like City of the Living Dead, The Beyond and House by the Cemetery, which work fine, and maybe even better, with the English dubbing; it adds to the uncanny, eerie, disembodied and unsettled feel of the films, like you say. I think The Psychic, which is quite an intense and rich piece of psychological horror, is better in Italian, whereas Zombie Flesh Eaters is fine with the weird, dopey English dub, maybe because it's basically a pulp cartoon anyway.
Profondo Rosso is an outlier, the English track is better in this case because David Hemmings did his own dubbing and his performance is a key part of the film's charm and tone.
I watched Messiah of Evil the other day, a 1973 Californian horror movie, and the dialogue and acting sounded just as "cheap and silly" in that, so I'm not even sure you can totally blame the international dubbing industry for the sound of Italian horror movies.
In some cases it detracts, in some cases it enhances.
maxi
Well-known member
Fascinating I definitely would like to rewatch The Psychic in Italian. 'Sette Note in Nero' I should say, much better title anyway.
although until now I've thought that it wouldn't make much difference since the Italian is still dubbed and because the actors are speaking in various languages anyway like Michael Brandon speaking English in four flies. So I've assumed it might make it better for some characters and worse for others. But at least if you're reading subtitles it's less distracting as you're not watching their lips anyway.
Yeah interesting about post-Suspiria, and I don't remember noticing the dub as much in Suspiria. I haven't seen many gialli that came after that.