There was a time when the Italian gialli – the stylish violent murder thrillers of the 70s and later — was underrepresented in terms of critical recognition. But how that situation has changed! Many critics from Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth and Roberta Curti to this writer (in my Italian Cinema and other books) have undertaken thoroughgoing analyses of the genre. Is there anything more to be said? It would seem so, as this analytical volume (subtitle ‘The Giallo Film in Italy and Abroad’) attests.
The approach here is a series of disparate essays, and the standard of writing is generally high – the library on the giallo film has yet another worthwhile addition. At the height of the Italian giallo boom in the early 1970s, scores of filmmakers turned their hand to crafting their own takes (sometimes imaginative, sometimes dully derivative) on these lurid murder-mystery thrillers. Many of the key titles are addressed here.
Bloodstained Narratives Matthew Edwards & Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, editors, are published by University Press of Mississippi
