Blue Underground's next FOUR(!) Gialli!!

I really loved Forbidden Photos. Sure, it was very predictable, but the ride was so entertaining for me that I didn't really care. The lead actresses were great in their roles and enough to get me on board. Meanwhile, I was so not concerned by who did what to who in The Pyjama Girl Case that it was a struggle to keep watching. Nothing in that movie stood out to me as it all seemed so average. Plus, there was a horrible shirtless fat guy, and I just can't support that. Ever. I have since become very interested in the actual Pyjama Girl case though so for that I am grateful to the movie.

Although I didn't like the ending too much, I thought that The Fifth Cord had the most actual creepy moments of the lot and made the best use of music. Also, Franco Nero gave a really impressive performance there. You couldn't keep your eyes off him. Well, at least I couldn't. I read a lot of "eh" reviews of this one, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

Well, The Black Belly of the Tarantula was great. I liked it better than The Pyjama Girl Case and it quickly claimed a spot among my favorite Giallo films. I was surprised I liked it so much.

I loved Giancarlo Giannini's character and the struggle with his job he was going through. I thought he looked really fitting for the part and I totally got into his role.

Morricone's score was amazing too, very reminiscent of Nico Fidenco's Emanuelle/erotic stuff, which is my favorite.

 

I finished things off with The Fifth Cord and enjoyed it quite a bit. The movie was over all pretty tense and got fairly creepy towards the end with

Spoiler

the little kid trapped in the house with the killer.

I definitally appreciated that aspect of the film the most.

Franco Nero played the usual annoying, macho character and I still disliked him as much as always, but the rest of the film did a good job in helping me overcome that.

 

Damn you Jeff. Nero was so damn awesome in that movie! Ok, he was a macho asshole as usual, but I love Grade A macho assholes in the movies. Not so much in real life though. I agree with you that the scene you mentioned was the most creepy one. I also enjoyed all of

Spoiler

the killer's voiceovers.

The Black Belly of the Tarantula was also really great. Actually, after I saw it, I thought it was good but not really remotely scary. However, I promptly went to sleep and had a horrific nightmare featuring elements from the movie, so I think it hit its mark better than I originally thought it did.

 

Do you think when they release these as a pack sometime later, they will make them into a box like The giallo collection by AB?

 

I haven't heard anything about BU releasing these as a boxed set. They were going to, but just decided to release them seperately, I guess.

 

I know Anchor Bay wasn't able to package the Evil Dead series together because of distribution rights, might be the same deal with these BU titles. Just a guess.

Rumor also has it that the Western and Mondo boxsets had lackluster sales, Lustig may have cooled his heels for such releases for awhile now. Again, just a guess.

 

I'm going to get them, just to help BU out.

 

I just saw Black Belly.

Quick thoughts:

I was kinda of disappointed. The pacing was really off, the Morricone score was very normal, and nothing special. It was sometimes more about the Dectective's life than the Murder Mystery. Who cares about his furniture? I spotted the killer about mid-way through. Weak Story.

I did like some of the killings though, and felt their was some atomsphere to held.

I liked the Fifth Cord far more though. That was stylish, alittle scary, colorful, and had some really orginial stuff. Kinda weak on the storyline though too.

Black Belly: 6/10
Fifth Cord: 8/10

 

I thought Black Belly of the Tarantula was pretty good. Not one of the best gialli, but I quite enjoyed Giancarlo Giannini's performance and the storyline was interesting. I'll have to watch the film again to give it a better assessment, but it's worth seeing for giallo fans.

I still need to catch up with the other two, The Fifth Cord and The Pyjama Girl Case. I don't remember if I mentioned earlier in this thread, but I LOVED Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion. It's not really a giallo, but in my eyes it was perfect in every way.

 

I'd actually heard bad things towards Forbidden photos and Pyjama case girl, so I decided to back off of them.

Seems that Forbidden may acutally be good...

Horrorview made the worst assumption towards Black Belly. No way is Black Belly the greatest Giallo. Its not even in the Top 10.

 

Yep, that it is.

They made the box art though, right? Superlatives: getting reviewers publicity since Peter Travers.

 

Black Belly is one of my favorites.I even recommended it to DD.
I find it strange you liked Fifth Cord better since as a Giallo it's just mediocre.Sure it looks astonishing and it's a nice thriller and I really like it,Black Belly is a better Giallo IMHO.

 

I just watched Black Belly of the Tarantula again last week. Enjoy it very much and find it underrated. It's a nice change of pace to see a giallo told primarily from the standpoint of the police inspector. Why should the narrative always be the same? On a related note, it was cool to see Giancarlo Giannini in the James Bond film Casino Royale 2006.

Who cares whether or not this should be ranked in the top ten giallo hall of fame? Obviously it's a question of personal preference. If you get so AR about movies that you feel the need to rank them like Casey Kasem does on his pop chart countdown, doesn't that take away from all of the fun?