Time To Head To Italy For A Good Scare!
Some of the most inventive thrillers ever made came from Italy, during a time when the “giallo” film was at its height – just in time for Halloween, welcome to the bloody world of the Italian sex shocker!
Let’s begin with a film that was so controversial it landed the Director in court, facing prison time! It’s all because of this:
“In the annals of the abnormal there is no more erotic nightmare than the strange lusts of a…
Lizard In A Woman’s Skin!”
One of the most legendary Italian sex shockers is also one of the most controversial! Here is the plot: Florinda Bolkan plays the daughter of a prominant English politician who keeps having recurring “nightmares” in which she makes love to a bisexual nympho who lives downstairs and conducts all-night LSD orgies!
That’s Right: ALL-NIGHT LSD ORGIES!
Anyone who has nightmares involving a bisexual nymph is just looking for trouble! FYI, the film was released in the US as “Schizoid”, which she certainly was! When the nocturnal wet dreams become murderous, the neighbor turns up dead, and Florinda is the main suspect. Did she actually commit the murder she dreamt about?
And Who Is This “Giallo?”
“Giallo” is a 20th-century Italian genre of literature and film. In Italy, the term denotes thrillers, typically of the crime fiction, mystery, and horror categories. “Giallo” refers to a style of murder mystery film which includes lots of horror, eroticism and sex! Here is what one of the books looks like:
As you can see, it’s a lurid “come-on” to the reader, or in this case, to the moviegoer…and “Lizard In A Woman’s Skin” is a perfect fit as well, as it’s a sex shocker with a title as lurid as the style of filmmaking…
The Master! Director Lucio Fulci!
The Director of the movie was Lucio Fulci, one of Italy’s great horror filmmakers.
Among his films was this classic of the genre:
The Director was such a master of shock that a judge threatened to throw him in jail!
One such shocking scene in “Lizard’s Skin” involves a room full of disemboweled dogs. Director Fulci was nearly sent to prison because it was believed that the dogs were real and Fulci had allowed animal cruelty on the film! Crew members had to testify in court that the “dogs” were indeed fake and no animals had ever been harmed. Special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi even presented the dog props in court to convince the jury. This was the first time that an effects artist had to testify in court that their work was fake!
You can read more about the film, along with a look at the blu-ray release’s extended features, by clicking on this great website, “Mondo Digital”:
http://www.mondo-digital.com/lizard.html
And you can read more about the genre of italian giallo, with films like this:
One of Italy’s greatest Giallo Directors was Dario Argento, read all about him here:
So now you are getting warmed up to this incredibly entertaining film genre…and want to take it to a whole new level:
Yes, as the 70’s progressed, the genre got even more shocking – you can read all about this classic of the genre by clicking on my story here:
There are so many more…here are some great posters that capture the energy of the genre:
And the 70’s were a great time for another Italian film genre as well:
Yes, the Italian crime drama thrived in the 70’s and here is a great documentary that looks at the classic films of the 70’s:
Let me know how many of these classic shockers you’ve seen!
