Giallo Meltdown 2: The Interview

Hello! This is the Doomed Show - Puzzle (1974)

The Moviethon Vlog 47 - Giallo Meltdown 2

My Horror Shelfie 27 - My Giallo Collection Part 5 - Giallo Boxsets

Talking Giallo Meltdown With Katie Of The Night

I had a freakin' blast talking with Katie of the Night about Giallo Meltdown (and Giallo Meltdown 2) over on her YouTube channel. Be sure to give it a look and peruse her other videos as she goes exploring the depths of the giallo genre. You're gonna have a good time!

My Horror Shelfie 26 - My Giallo Collection Part 4

My Horror Shelfie 25 - My Giallo Collection Part 3

Once again I have talked to and with a camera.

My Horror Shelfie 23 - Giallo Collection Part 1

Howdy there. I got sort of smart and decided to jump the gun on discussing my entire giallo collection. Here's the first part of what will likely be a five part series. It is possible that I have many gialli on DVD and Blu-ray. I hope you have fun watching this. Stay tuned for more AKA please like and subscribe (yuck, who says that crap?)!

My 13 Favorite First Time Watches Of 2021

2021 was yet another amazing year where everything in the world seemed to settle into place peacefully and everyone was happy. Of course, I'm talking about a multiverse far from our own. But in this 2021 and on this version of Earth, my family and I didn't have it easy or anything, but we were certainly hashtag blessed compared to a lot of folks. So, if your year sucked butt-like objects, I hope that this here thing called 2022 treats you much better.

When it came to what I watched movie-wise in 2021, I had one clear goal and it was to watch 500 films. I got really close in 2020 and it irked me that had I known how close I was going to get, I would've put the pedal to the metal in the last couple of months and rocked that funky joint. You hear that slapping sound? Thank goodness I was born with all those extra limbs so that I can pat myself on the back, because I freakin' did it! I managed to watch 504 films this year! I'm even more proud to say that 256 of those were first time watches, so my wife LeEtta and I didn't just rewatch movies from the MCU (like we are prone to do).

It certainly helps, that I've been writing Giallo Meltdown Part 2 and that meant that I managed to pull off several moviethons this year, which were key for reaching that goal of 500. My goal for 2022 is to have this wacky book project written (and heck, hopefully edited) before December pops up. Even though I'm working fast, I'm really trying to make Part 2 better than the original Giallo Meltdown in every way. I'm very proud of GM, but sometimes I read passages in it and go "Wow, I actually released this into the public for people to read, huh?"

Anyway, I know there are some of you radical movie peeps out there who probably watched way, waaaay more than 500 films this year. That's awesome! And there are those of you who struggled to get even half of the number you wanted to get to. That's awesome as well, because you got to watch some! Everyone knows that life and TV and video games and croquet championships get in the way of us accomplishing our eyeball goals. Measuring how long our movie watching peepee sticks are is dumb and my goal is to watch a whole lot less films next year.

One last thing before I get to my list of favorite watches from 2021... I've been tracking my film watching on this blog for 5 years in a row now. I'm totally sick of it! If I have to type that I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) one more friggin' time, I'm going to scream. (In case you're wondering, I've watched that movie 10 times in the last 5 years.) So yes, next year, I won't be doing any counting of films I've watched or anything. That crapola is for the birds. However, I will be tracking all my first time watches and posting about them here. So keep on the lookout for those posts!

Total Films Watched: 504
First Time Watches: 256

Enough of this preamble! Let's get to the list. As usual, the deciding factor for what makes my top favorites is the question, "How badly do I want to watch this film again right now?" If the answer is "Not right now (or maybe not for several years)", then the film will go directly into the runners-up pile at the end. Let's get this partly started!

My 13 Favorite First Time Watches of 2021 (in random order)

He Lives by Night (1982) - During my Asian giallo moviethon, I fell in love with this comedic Hong Kong slasher that is as garish as it is silly. Some of the jokes don't land but the slashy and trashy delights certainly do. Gigantic recommendation from me if you can track it down somewhere.

Graveyard Disturbance (1987) - That old funster, Lamberto Bava (AKA LamBava), does it again! This film had been eluding me for YEARS. When I finally tracked it down, I was not disappointed. It's your typical late 80s Italian good time garbage. Love it.

The Monster Club (1981) - I had seen the tail end of this wonderful anthology film when I was a kid. Little did I know that this is some stodgy old horror camp combined with punk rock, and it all works! Well, it worked for me anyway.

The Devil's Carnival (2012) - My wife LeEtta and I are shameless Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) fans and when I heard that the dude behind it had made not just one but two horror musical follow-ups, I was very intrigued. This short (only 55 minutes) explosion of color, music, and attitude hit me like a ton of bricks. The longer sequel to this is decent but I think the ideas  from it should've been incorporated into just one big crazy film.

Mark of the Witch (1970) - Sometimes these little regional horror films don't always agree with me and yet, I never stop trying. I used to confuse Mark of the Witch with Death by Invitation (1971), because they came out within a year of each other and they have very similar plots. But this film is a very charming and utterly kitschy dream with a really fun performance by the lead actor.

Don't Panic (1987) - I was worried that Don't Panic wasn't going to live up to the hype from my buds who love it so much. It turns out that I had nothing to worry about. This wacko Mexican horror film is just as weird and wonderful as I was lead to believe. If you're sitting on this one like I was, stop that right now and give it a look.

Schizoid (1980) - Klaus Kinski delivers a line of dialogue in this movie that had me on the floor with equal parts laughter and existential dread. I'd been saving this American giallo for YEARS because I wanted to save the first time for a moviethon and boy oh boy, it was well worth the wait. It's good stuff.

The Wraith (1986) - Fate was against me ever seeing this film which apparently played on cable all the time. But I chose to defy fate and buy this dirt cheap Blu-ray. This gem is the perfect balance of action movie, sci-fi, and horror; plus it has a great cast and a kickass score AND soundtrack loaded with 80s cheese.

Death Screams (1982) - I was waiting on a watchable copy of this film for so long that I forgot all about it. Then Arrow Video unleashed this beast onto my eyes. I'm always on the lookout for another 80s slasher to add to my pile and Death Screams is just grand. I'm looking forward to sharing this with friends on movie nights someday.

Ninja III: The Domination (1984) - Luckily, I went into this craziness as cold as humanly possible. I knew the ninjas meets leotards premise was strange and that folks were into it, but it wasn't until I watched that Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Canon Films (2014) documentary that I got a hankerin' to see it finally. Yep, it's great.

Jack-O (1995) - The cover art for this Fred Olen Ray-produced clunker pretty much guaranteed that I when I was desperate for some Halloween-themed horror films, I would still avoid it. Thankfully, I got VERY desperate and checked it out. Nothing says "Richard loves this" quite like bargain basement poopoo filmed in Florida with Linnea Quigley playing a metal chick/babysitter and unconnected posthumous John Carradine footage. Jack-O is all this and more. Or less.

La Venere d'Ille (1981) - I finally watched Mario Bava's final directorial effort and it is so damn good. He made this excellent little made-for-TV tale (co-directed with LamBava) that stars Daria Niccolodi and Marc Porel, and I'm happy to report that it's a fitting last hurrah from a master. Track this one down if you can. I should probably investigate the other films in this series, all directed by different Italians.

The Girl on a Broomstick (1972) - LeEtta was on the hunt for witch movies and she stumbled upon this Czechoslovakian kids fantasy/comedy. When we finally got around to it, I was like "Dude, is this my favorite film of the year?" I'm still not sure but it's definitely way up there. This is certainly one of the most unusual things I've ever seen with a sense of humor and visual style that are very, very unique. At the time of this writing, there's a decent copy on YouTube with English subtitles. Highly recommended.

My 2021 First Time Favez Runners-Up Bro

Devo: The Men Who Make the Music (1981)
Candyman (2021)
Hellmaster (1992)
Cool World (1992)
Basket Case 2 (1990)
Altered States (1980)
Black Roses (1988)
Frankenstein '80 (1972)
Body Count (1986)
Censor (2021)
Midare karakuri AKA Murder in the Dollhouse (1979)
Nightbooks (2021)
Ghostwatch (1992)
Vampire in Venice AKA Nosferatu in Venice (1988)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Bad Dreams (1988)
Deadly Manor (1990)

The Worst Film I Watched In 2021

Scream (1981) - I never do "Worst of the Year" lists just because I know that some films that I strongly disliked upon first viewing will end up being favorites of mine one day. It's happened before! That will NOT be the case with Scream (1981). I love me some slashers and many of them are titles that folks consider boring or bad. That's a fact. But for my money, this is the single worst slasher of the 80s just for its wasted potential alone. Silly performances and cool locations aren't enough to save this snoozer. This film has almost nothing to it other than long stretches of blah. Watching Scream without fast-forwarding was agony. Fudge this gosh darn dang movie to the heck place.

 

Giallo Meltdown: Slashing Back To You

  

I'm back in the world of what some people refer to as "writing a book". To keep folks (hopefully) excited about the second volume of Giallo Meltdown, I have shared the latest chapter right here. There's few things I enjoy more than wandering around that twilight world where the giallo and the slasher meet. Italian and Spanish filmmakers fresh from the giallo craze making slashers and American filmmakers making slashers that might as well be gialli. It gives me goosebumps in my unmentionable though non-physical areas. I hope you enjoy this installment as it will be the ninth chapter of Giallo Meltdown 2. Will the book be 13 chapters or more? Maybe!

P.S. The title of this chapter is a little nod to this classic.

Asian Giallo Weekend, Bruh

 

I did a deep dive into Hong Kong and Japanese giallo movies this weekend and I may have overdone it. I watched 14 films between Friday and Sunday. Woops! By the end of Sunday evening, I felt like I was going to puke but I did not, in fact, puke. Other than some confusing subtitles and bootleg shenanigans, my wife and I really had a great time. So, here's a short breakdown if you're looking to track down the films I watched.

 

The two films that had the most giallo goodness packed within them were Raw Passions (1969), which felt exactly like a late 60s Italian "everyone is blackmailing someone" movie with a black-gloved killer, and the other was Night Caller (1985). Night Caller is a wildly convoluted freak-fest that has all the imagery (the getup of the killer in particular), ludicrous plot twists, and tropes (fashion models!) of something akin to Nothing Underneath (1985).

Honorable mentions for their spicy giallo-ness:
He Lives By Night (1982)
The Red Panther (1983)
Murder in the Dollhouse (1979)

 

Films with some mild to moderate giallo sensations:
The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy (1970)
House of Terrors (1965)
The Queen Bee (1973)
Dark Rendezvous (1969)
Evil Dead Trap (1988)
Perfect Blue (1997)

And finally, a trilogy of murder-mystery kung-fu films who were legit whodunits but didn't give me the giallo vibe per se:
Bloody Parrot (1981)
The Butterfly Murders (1979)
Human Lanterns (1982)

 

You'll get to read about all of this marvelous moviethon experience and how much I enjoyed or didn't enjoy the films once I finish Giallo Meltdown volume 2. This was the 6th chapter, so I guess you could say that I'm actually writing the book. It's all true! 

Giallo Meltdown Volume 2 Update

 

A New Chapter For Giallo Meltdown

 

Once upon a time (five years ago), I released a badly edited and pitifully written book called Giallo Meltdown: A Moviethon Diary. Since that day, I've continued collecting films and discovering important titles that I'd accidentally (or intentionally) left out of the book. The plan to make a new edition with bonus chapters quickly grew into a second book. Now that I've finally begun work on Giallo Meltdown 2 in earnest, I wanted to share the occasional chapter because I am so damn excited about this project.

My wife LeEtta and our cats, Gorgon and Spasmo, are truly terrified because they know what this means. Not only am I looking under the bottom of the barrel to scavenge for more Italian and Spanish examples of my favorite sub-genre, I am going even farther. This time around, I'm looking for the giallo's influence in films from every corner of the globe. I did a little of this the first time around but now I'm going whole hog on the British, American, German, and Asian markets where audiences couldn't get enough of these bloody thrillers. 

So anyway, before I get back to it, here is what will be the third chapter of Giallo Meltdown 2. I call it Thirteen Boogers in a Black Cat's Eye, a title inspired by a delightful medical condition of our cat Gorgon, who was born without inner eyelids. I won't elaborate too much since I can see that you're eating dinner while reading this post. I'll update you on the progress of this project as it goes on. See you in the new year.

 

The Moviethon Vlog #40 - Giallo Meltdown Part 2?

I Survived The Giallo Room!

This was a very, very, very, very, very special treat for me. Enjoy!

Giallo Meltdown Is A Year Old

Hey, Giallo Meltdown fans! Do you have Giallo Meltdown? If so, THANK YOU! Do you like it? Do you hate it? REVIEW IT! If you have a blog, I'd love to read what you have to say about it!. If you have a podcast, I'd love to hear what you have to say about it! If you have a vlog, I'd love to see what you have to say about it! So yeah, if you have the book and haven't posted a review of it on Amazon, please do. Good or bad, all reviews help me out immensely.

But the main point of my bloggin' this blog post right now is that I want to say how much fun I've had since putting the book out. I've been able to appear on some cool podcasts and some really nice people have reached out to me to say that they liked Giallo Meltdown. I've also had some really stellar reviews from some very nice folks! These kinds of things mean the world to me.

As for negative criticism, there's been only three things so far. The first one that really embarrassed me was the first bunch of copies went out with a ton of typos. I stupidly got too excited and released the book within days of getting my proof copy. Wow, yeah. Huge mistake. I revised the book and quietly re-released it. Now the only version available out there is in 120% better shape. What can I say? Rookie mistake!

The second thing that happened is that one reviewer took me to task for spoiling the films. I never reveal the killer or the ending of the movie in the book but someone still got mad because I revealed too much about the plot of The Crimes of the Black Cat. All I can say is "Sorry, man." It never occurred to me that revealing the killer's modus operandi would be a huge spoiler. I guess I'll have a disclaimer at the beginning of part 2 to watch the movies before you read about them in the book!

Lastly, two people had a problem with the cover. They both said I should have used a more familiar giallo movie poster so that the book would sell better. To that I say, "No shit, Sherlock." I like giallo posters and all but I wanted something on the cover that reflected the personality of the book. My wife LeEtta, who drew the fabulous art for Giallo Meltdown (and tons of other stuff for me over the years), was there for all these moviethons and she knows what I like. Plus, she's amazing. Why would I want a poster of Bird with the Crystal Plumage or Torso or frickin' Who Saw Her Die? on the cover? I prefer originality.

And you know what? There are a couple of references to gialli in that book cover! I sent her some reference material and asked for a very specific look to the straight razor on the cover. Does it look familiar to you, giallo fans? It should! So to the haters, don't worry, I will continue using LeEtta's awesome art for all of my projects. Deal with it.

So anyway, the planning of the next volume of the book has almost reached its end. Let me tell you a little more about it. As you may or may not know about me, I'm very liberal with what is and isn't a giallo. What I want to explore in the second volume are threefold: key giallo titles that I missed in the first book (New York Ripper, The Stendhal Syndrome, etc.), films that inspired the giallo (Psycho, Blow Up, etc.), and films that were clearly inspired by the giallo (Friday the 13th, Berberian Sound Studio, The Editor, etc.).

Though I tried to make it clear with the first Giallo Meltdown, this is a book from a fan and not a scholar. I want to talk about this up front so people don't pick up my book thinking that I'm the guy whose gonna say in black and white, "this film is a giallo" and "this is NOT a giallo at all" with some authoritative posturing. I definitely want to have fun which has been my intention from the get-go. I want people to come with me on this journey no matter what ridiculous things get along along the way.

So let me just beat this to death right here. If you bought my book, thank you one million times over. If you're a Kindle subscriber and you got it for free, thank you too! If you killed a dude to steal his copy, why'd you do that? That's messed up, bro. But thank you! I've got some fun projects in the works (like the coming VERY soon Cinema Somnambulist book and another issue of Fang of Joy).

Thanks From The Author

Something insane happened to me the other day. I got my first royalty check for Giallo Meltdown. It was my first ever monetary payment for being a writer. Usually, my writing just gets me punches to the groin and hateful Tweets from Shia Labeouf. So I'm here to say to all of you: Thank you so damn much. I'm beside myself with gratefulness and disbelief that anyone even cared in the first place. I owe everything to the films for inspiring me and to you, the fans of this wild genre, for helping me along the way.

Sincerely as heck,

Richard Glenn Schmidt

H!TITDS - Episode #75 - 5 Women for the Killer

Another episode so soon? Well, you know, I gotta represent the giallo fandom especially with Giallo Meltdown: A Moviethon Diary running around on it's bookish legs. Jeffrey and I get up to our elbows in blood and J&B. Some comedy ensues when I accuse Jeffrey of picking this movie and then he accuses me of picking this movie! It's good podcast content let me tells ya.

Listen to the show.

Check out the archived episodes.

Read Jeffrey's blog.

Buy the book here.

Buy the book here too!

H!TITDS #74 - A Blade In The Dark

Brad and I talk about the 1983 giallo, A Blade in the Dark, directed by LamBava. Brad gushes about Giallo Meltdown: A Moviethon Diary and it's probably my favorite moment of my life. We have a GREAT TIME discussing the film and we also talk a little about another giallo, Nothing Underneath. We don't spoil anything about that one but A Blade in the Dark is completely spoiled! So don't say I didn't warn you. If you haven't listened to the show before, this is one to start with. It's A LOT OF FUN.

Listen to the episode.

Check out the archives.

Buy the book!

Buy the book again!

I Got Interviewed

Hello, folks. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good night. Troy Howarth, author of The Haunted World of Mario Bava and So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films, was kind enough to interview me over on Facebook a few weeks ago about Giallo Meltdown and I thought I'd share it here! Be sure to keep an eye out for Troy's upcoming book: Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films. I know I am. Now on with the show!

My friend Richard Glenn Schmidt has just published his own, very different study of the giallo... In order to mark the publication of his book, I asked him a few questions and got a few answers... The interview follows.

Troy Howarth: How did you become familiar with the giallo?

Richard Glenn Schmidt: It was through Italian horror. As I was somewhat familiar with the films of Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Michele Soavi, it wasn’t long before I got to DEEP RED and read about the giallo genre somewhere online. Next thing I knew, I was getting to gateway films like SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS and WHO SAW HER DIE?, and it was all downhill from there.

TH: The giallo seems to be a tricky genre to define precisely—some view it as one specific thing, while others have a less set notion of what a giallo should be… What is your definition of the giallo?

RGS: A mystery film, often of Italian origin, featuring murder and a little (or sometimes a lot of) sleaze, filmed in a stylish manner with some painfully cool music playing over the top of it all.

TH: What gave you the idea for your giallo blog?

RGS: Initially, DOOMED MOVIETHON started when I just felt like movie reviewers online weren’t giving my favorite films enough love. Then I started documenting my weekend-long moviethons and I really just had a blast with the site beyond just reviewing a film at a time. Binge-watching gialli was a natural extension of that.

TH: When did you start to think about compiling all of this info into book form?

RGS: While these giallo moviethons started in 2008, it wasn’t until some encouragement from online friends got me thinking of publishing GIALLO MELTDOWN. So sometime in late 2011, I began to stage new meltdowns that would become chapters in the book.

TH: What are some of your favorite gialli? What makes these titles so special to you?

RGS: THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS has always been one of my go-to titles. It’s one that I love showing to people who are new to the genre. I already mentioned SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS which just blows me away every time. Umberto Lenzi made some great ones! Recently, THE DEAD ARE ALIVE went from being in my top 10 to being in my top 3 favorites. Much of that film embodies “The Vibe”, that ever elusive feeling that gialli give me. There are a few obscure ones that I wish would make it to Blu-ray like EYEBALL (Lenzi again!), EYE IN THE LABYRINTH, THE KILLER HAS RESERVED NINE SEATS, NAKED GIRL KILLED IN THE PARK, THE KILLER IS ON THE PHONE, etc.

TH: How about some of your least favorite?

RGS: I find SEX OF THE WITCH to be a very frustrating experience. Lots of potential and none of the payoff. I really tried, on multiple occasions, to like LA BAMBOLA DI SATANA. It’s just kind of a mess. Same thing with THE KILLER IS AMONG THE THIRTEEN. Too many characters and not much happening! And of course, THE BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE. It’s a film that I perversely enjoy but is just an embarrassment for both the viewer and the cast, who look utterly miserable onscreen. Poor Luciano Pigozzi looks especially pitiful.

TH: I can definitely relate on those! Did you find putting this material into book form to be difficult?

RGS: Not at all. I’m a voracious reader of books on film so I think I had some idea of how to do it kind of burned into my brain already.

TH: Tell us a bit about the format of the book: is it chronological or alphabetical? About how long is the end product?

RGS: The book is arranged in moviethon order so the films come flying at random. Whatever mood struck me at the time is how the order went. So it’s definitely not your traditional survey of a genre.

TH: What was the hardest part of undertaking this project?

RGS: The hardest part was not sharing this with friends and fans of the website. I’ve had 8 moviethons that compile the latter two-thirds of the book just waiting to be unleashed on the world. The second hardest part was creating the index at the end. My wife suggested I do it and I swear, she must be a sadist. Compiling the index was somewhat akin to elective surgery except not as funny.

TH: You inspired me to do the same with my upcoming Fulci book, so I sympathize! And now that it’s more or less finished—do you have any future book projects?

RGS: I do indeed. Thanks to my poor organization skills, I missed some key titles for Giallo Meltdown so there’s already a sequel in the planning stages. It will be shorter and cheaper but I feel like I have some more giallo watching left in me. Before I even start that however, my horror fiction book that’s been percolating in my brain since 2002 is now on my mind pretty much 24 hours a day.

TH: Tell us how the book can be ordered, and what the price will be… That is, if you have that info worked out already!

RGS: GIALLO MELTDOWN: A MOVIETHON DIARY is available on Amazon and Createspace right now. It’s $16 before shipping. There will also be a Kindle version very soon for $6. Hey, it’s the 90s! I gotta be a part of the future.

TH: Thanks for taking a bit to talk about this project; I’m looking forward to reading it!

RGS: Thank you, sir! It was an honor and a pleasure. You asked all the fun questions.

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Want to hear me interview Troy on the podcast? Well well well, listen right here!