1. Directors
Italian horror cinema would not be as great as what it is, if there wasn't such a surfeit of directorial talent from the 1960s to 1980s Paving the way for Italian horror to bloom are Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava. Both of these men produced beautiful gothic horror in the early 1960s with films such as Mask of Satan (Bava). Bava also lay down the template for the Giallo and slasher film sub genres with his film Blood and Black Lace. He was an amazingly talented director who made very good use of lighting, shadows and colour in his movies. Hot on Bava's heels came Dario Argento in the early 1970s with his own Giallo interpretations - The Bird With The Crystal Plumage and the classic Profondo Rosso among others. A director with incredible technical talent (such as long tracking shots) and clever use of music and colours, Argento's films have a signature style that is all of his own (and much imitated - I reckon several Italian film makers would have given their eye teeth for Argento's unique talent). Argento has also directed films like Suspiria and Phenomena, which are not Gialli, but supernatural horror films. Lucio Fulci is simultaneously a much vaunted director and a much reviled director. Critics point to the misogyny and ultra violence in his oeuvre. However, Fulci produced many admirable films in his career, starting off with three incredible Gialli - Perversion Story, Don't Torture a Duckling and Woman in a Lizard's Skin. These three Gialli are very close to being as enjoyable as a Bava or Argento movie. Fulci turned his hands to horror and produced many classics of Italian horror cinema such as The Beyond, House By the Cemetery, City of the Living Dead and my personal favourite - Zombie Flesh Eaters. Fulci thought that his films would be a mere side note in Italian cinema. He would be chuffed today to know that Quentin Tarantino was a huge fan and pioneered a release of The Beyond in American cinemas. There are many other excellent Italian horror genre pioneers such as Michele Soavi who graced us with Stage Fright - Aquarius - a very stylish Slasher movie that is entertaining and scary as heck. Soavi also directed Cemetery Man - an innovative film which gave a twist to the zombie film sub genre. And we cannot get past Italian lumpen hack directors. Cursed with a paucity of talent, these directors rip off better movies and add their own peculiar flavour which usually ends up with a pretty lame movie but is nevertheless endearing to fans of Italian horror - Umberto Lenzi - I am looking in your direction... And as for Bruno Mattei... don't even let me go down that path.