Giallo

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Be a freak, like me too
I found one Topic about Giallo but it was incomplete. I hope it's ok to write a new Topic about it
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I advise you to listen this music by Bruno Nicolai to read this Topic (this is my favorite theme of a Giallo movie), to be... in the "Yellow mood".



Firstly, I wanted to introduce the Giallo by speaking of the History, the directors and the actors/actresses. But I think it won't be necessary. You can see all the information on wikipedia or internet.


But I made once a kind of personal classification of narrations in the Giallo :

A Few Words About Narrations

Elements of a plot :
A city (Rome, London, Venice... even New-York in The New-York Ripper) - a hero (often a stranger which is involved in a murder story despite himself) - murders - a murderer with a "look" (hat, gloves, knife, coat) - a whodunit - false twists and suspects - a final twist with a revelation


Narration infinite :

A pic to describe this kind of narration



For instance, the movie I Tutti Colori Del Buio by S. MARTINO : a dream into a dream into a dream... (like in the seventh film of Freddy) There is a méli-mélo between dream and reality. The audience is often lost, there's an oniric atmosphere.


All The Colors of The Dark with Edwige Fenech

Narration puzzle : La Corta Notte Della Bambole Di Vetro by A. LADO, Sette Notte In Nero by L. FULCI, L'Uomo Senza Memoria by D. TESSARI : a man, a woman have visions (from the past... from the future...) and he has to recreate a puzzle in his/her mind to understand who they are, what happens and who killed X or Y.


The Psychic with Jenifer O'Neil

Giallo machination & Giallo psycho killer :
Giallo machination --> stories about inheritance, manipulations... (early Gialli : The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Sei Donne Per l'Assassino, both by M. BAVA)
Giallo psycho killer --> stories about an insane killer who had a trauma when he/she (don't be sexist ) was a child (not a very deep psychoanalysis : "Aaah! I killed them because I hate my mother!") - Films by D. ARGENTO

Blow Up model : Blow Up influenced a lot of Gialli (Profondo Rosso is the best example, of course). A man/a woman doesn't see very well the reality, a piece of art, a picture... and interpret it in a bad way (The Bird With The Plumage Crystal), he/she has a partial vision of the reality.



Blow Up and Deep Red, both with David Hemmings

About The Style (A Few Tendencies)

Stylization :
A colored world with psychedelic effects from the seventies, a violence stylized (a graphic violence), eroticized filmed with (sometimes) crazy camera in movement. A murder is like a sexual act : it expresses a rape fantasy. There are an important work on the lights. M. BAVA was very talented (he was director of photo) and he influenced D. ARGENTO. It's a kind of colored expressionism.

Blood and Black Lace but unfortunately, it's hard to find a good copy of the film

Eros & Thanatos :
The sex is very important in the Giallo like I said in "Stylization". I think if the Giallo was a sexual deviance, it will be fetishism because the world of Giallo is concentrated on items (knife, hat, coat, phones, shoes, art, leather...) which are leitmotivs.
The title of films are very in a "fetishist" way, like : Death Walks On High Heels, Cat O'Nine Tails, Hatchet For The Honeymoon, Knife Of Ice, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids... The Giallo evokes the synesthesia.
Fetishism if often linked to sado-masochism which has an important part in the Giallo (the best example is in The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh) because sado-masochism mixes sex and violence.
Of course, homosexuality (only between women) is present but for commercial reasons. Pedophilia is suggested in Don't Torture A Duckling or in My Dear Killer.








Psychoanalysis :
The psychoanalysis is not very deep in the Gialli, it's a kind of psychoanalysis from the supermarket (trauma) but we can make the psychoanalytic portrait of Italy with this kind of film : Italy was very catholic, conservative and prude in the 60's and 70's. Gialli and other exploitation films can express a kind of "dark side" of the Italy ("Years of Lead").
I watched once (very) a stupid mondofilm Sweden : Heaven and Hell which shows how Italy was reactionary : it's more a portrait of a conservative Italy ("Oh a condom distributor, what a decadent country!"). At the same time, it's a very hypocritical film because they show naked women and the voice over says "It's a shaaame!"
The atmosphere of the Giallo is often unhealthy because there's a puerile aspect.

Music :
Just a few words about the music... I love the music of Gialli. It's often very easy-listening, sometimes experimental. Morricone composed for around 500 films but the History retained his work for Once Upon A Time In The West, Mission, Fear Over The City, The Working Class Goes To Heaven, ETC. But he made a lot of great scores for the Gialli.
Bruno Nicolai, Riz Ortolani, Nora Orlando, Stelvio Cipriani, ETC made excellent stuff too.

What Have You Done To Solange? By Ennio Morricone


Dies Irae from The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh by Nora Orlandi


Tenebre by The Goblin


Influences :
We quote Hitchcock as one of the most important influence in the Giallo but there are also :
- The British murder mystery (E. Wallace, A. Christie...)
- The German Krimi (Alfred Vohrer, Harald Reinl...)
I haven't seen Krimis yet but I have a few ones on my computer. One of my favorite actor, Klaus Kinski, played in Krimis.




Giallo influenced slashers (Reazione A Catena by Mario Bava influenced Friday 13th)

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I think I've seen around 60/70 Gialli. Jeez, I lost a lot of time by watching all these bad films! Yeah, let's tell the truth : most of them are bad, but they have a kind of charm (I'm in love with Italian cinema and in the seventies, so... )

It's very hard to me to list in Top but my fav are :

What Have You Done To Solange? (M. DALLAMANO), The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (E. MIRAGLIA), The Psychic, Don't Torture A Duckling, The New-York Ripper (L. FULCI), The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh, All The Colors Of The Dark (S. MARTINO), Who Saw Her Die? (A. LADO), The Bird With The Plumage Crystal, Deep Red, Tenebre, Phenomena (D. ARGENTO), A Bay Of Blood, Blood and Black Lace (M. BAVA), My Dear Killer (T. VALERII)

I think one of the worst Giallo ever is French Sex Murders (with the Italian double of Humphrey Bogart). And Slaughter Hotel.

And you? Do you know the Giallo? What are your favorite films? Your Top? Your favorite soundtracks? Your favorite directors? What do you like in these films?

I hope you liked to read this Topic



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
This alone has justified your nom for best new Mofo giallo is my favourite sub-genre of my favourite genre, it's like a whole genre tailor made for me
But the technical precision, the florescent and luminous lighting running in synchronism with a captivating score, in addition to featuring complex narratives and an array of stars of European and Hollywood cinema, it's just amazing
It's a genuine shame the genre has died out though hopefully it'll resurge one day!

One thing I'd like to add is that although the genre is constantly criticised for being misogynistic, I'd argue otherwise. It's one of the first genres that provided women to assume the role of central protagonists and primary antagonists whilst simultaneously being involved in violent scenes and confrontations, and although female victims can be as weak as dish water, they're more often than not counter-balanced by strong representations of women too.
Weirdly enough, I think this sub-genre actually has a lot more male victims than almost any other horror sector does. Dario Argento's The Cat O' Nine Tales only has one female victim for example.

My faves:
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Deep Red
Opera
Suspiria although it doesn't really count
What Have You Done to Solange?
Blood and Black Lace

As for the music, Goblin's work in the genre will never be outdone in my opinion.
Suspiria:


Deep Red:


Opera: (Listen from 4:11 though )


It's not a movie, but it's a game inspired by giallo, including the score!
Clock Tower:



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
I haven't seen too many giallo films, but I love what I had seen. Here are the films I've seen:
https://rateyourmusic.com/film_colle...trm_h/giallo/1
Obviously, I've seen quite a lot of neo-giallo, which is cool, too, but I must watch a lot of classics, so I'm starting today with The Fifth Cord.



Be a freak, like me too
Thanks Cici!

There are recent gialli but I don't find them interesting. I think the giallo is enshrined in a specific period. It would be necessary to modernize the giallo.
There's the film Amer. It's beautiful but boring... The second film of Forzani & Cattet is The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears. I didn't see it but a few friends told me it was a disaster (but the movie poster is nice...) (edit : I see that Mr Minio liked it )
The last films of Dario Argento are not good at all (except the beginning of Sleepless).

About the misogynous aspect... I disagree a little. It's true, there are female central protagonists. But... It's a commercial genre for a male audience (naked woman, lesbian scenes).
That depends of the directors. I think that Dario Argento is misogynist but also very mentally ill. The female characters are not very interesting in his films (especially Daria Nicolodi's roles). These killer women are feminine archetypes ("the dangerous woman"...)
Besides, the relationship between Dario and his daughter, Asia, is weird. There are suspicions of rape. And the way of filming her in Trauma is ambiguous.

Suspiria, it doesn't really count but it's a great movie! Opera is not bad!

Haha, I didn't know this game, thanks for the discovery!

Mr. Minio, what do you think about The Fith Cord? I didn't like it very much.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Thanks Cici!

There are recent gialli but I don't find them interesting. I think the giallo is enshrined in a specific period. It would be necessary to modernize the giallo.
There's the film Amer. It's beautiful but boring... The second film of Forzani & Cattet is The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears. I didn't see it but a few friends told me it was a disaster (but the movie poster is nice...) (edit : I see that Mr Minio liked it )
The last films of Dario Argento are not good at all (except the beginning of Sleepless).

About the misogynous aspect... I disagree a little. It's true, there are female central protagonists. But... It's a commercial genre for a male audience (naked woman, lesbian scenes).
That depends of the directors. I think that Dario Argento is misogynist but also very mentally ill. The female characters are not very interesting in his films (especially Daria Nicolodi's roles). These killer women are feminine archetypes ("the dangerous woman"...)
Besides, the relationship between Dario and his daughter, Asia, is weird. There are suspicions of rape. And the way of filming her in Trauma is ambiguous.

Suspiria, it doesn't really count but it's a great movie! Opera is not bad!

Haha, I didn't know this game, thanks for the discovery!

Mr. Minio, what do you think about The Fith Cord? I didn't like it very much.
My exposure to this almost begins and ends with Dario Argento and even then, I've seen a select few, but I can't help but disagree though, one of Deep Red's primary themes in feminism throughout, Hemming's sexist stereotypes are consistently and frequently proven wrong throughout the duration of the film, especially the uncut version. Suspiria is another good example to back him up, every single character possessing an ounce of power is female, the only males of little significance are quickly disposed of or have little to no input on the progression of the plot.
I definitely see where you're coming from though, he's even said himself that his mother's abandonment of him has led to him having difficulties in forming relationships with women, although on the whole, I don't believe he's a misogynist, from what I've seen so far!
Blood and Black Lace most definitely was a bit sexist though although that was Bava I believe.

As for Daria and Asia, Ms. Nicolodi's career and fame beings and ends with him, some of her characters are very well written too (Deep Red, Phenomena) but her character in Opera was really poorly written to say the least, she only appears in Inferno to immediately get killed off if I remember rightly too . I 100% agree about the whole complex with his daughter, I mean any father willing to film their daughter and subsequently sexually abused is a little bit odd to say the least. Even with his other daughter, Fiore, he filmed her getting beheaded and viciously attacked!

I really hope a modern giallo sparks the genre back to life. Although I agree about Amer it was unbearably slow and boring. Apparently The Editor is meant to be quite good, although it's also a parody and satirical too



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
There's the film Amer. It's beautiful but boring... The second film of Forzani & Cattet is The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears. I didn't see it but a few friends told me it was a disaster (but the movie poster is nice...) (edit : I see that Mr Minio liked it )
Films of Forzani & Cattet take giallo aesthetics and make them more apparent by decreasing the elements of the plot. They are mainly based on visuals, music and mood. They aim to be atmospheric and they achieve it by cutting off verbal storytelling. I loved Amer, but what I saw in The Strange Colour... excelled the greatness of the previous film. I'm a visual guy and I love good atmosphere, but I sometimes find the story itself as an obstacle in obtaining it. I don't care if the filmmakers dispose of the story in favour of other elements, so I was happy with what I got, but apparently if you're a kind of a person who wants her films with a palpable story, you may be disappointed.

Anyway, talking about modern gialli you can't forget another great filmmaker. And his name's François Gaillard. Compared to the Belgian duo, his films look (and probably are) more low-budget and much more exploitation-esque (breasts, lesbian kissing, sex etc.) but still have some chic and, above all, are incredibly stylish. What's more, he's getting better and better with every movie. Blackaria was pretty cool, but overall only a decent experience. His next feature, however, Last Caress, was a glorious film. His Die, Die My Darling (sadly, a short film) was a cornucopia of sleaze and bad taste, but I loved it myself. It has the heroine fighting a redhead topless nazi bitch and then feathers start falling from the sky (I guess they had to slit dozens of pillows for this scene xD) and more crazy stuff like this. Oh, and all his films feature bitchin' music by Double Dragon.

Here's the trailer for Last Caress:

(notice obvious Blood and the Black Lace and School of the Holy Beast references)

(naked woman, lesbian scenes)
Lesbian scenes are always fun. Do you know any gialli with a lot of these?

Mr. Minio, what do you think about The Fith Cord? I didn't like it very much.
I really enjoyed it. The music of Ennio Morricone was exquisite. So was the cinematography. The plot was your usual giallo romp and a nice excuse to catalyze the two aforementioned elements.



I was really into giallo not too long ago. I kind of burnt myself out on horror (never, ever thought I'd say that), but I expect I'll get into it again some time.



Madness is the emergency exit…
Love your classification of Giallo-narrations, Senso_68 . I'm a big fan of Giallo too. I've seen a good number of Giallos once but sadly & frustratingly forget about most of them already (i.e. Red Queens..., The Night Evelyn..., Laughing Windows, Torso, Mrs. Wardh, 7 BS orchids, Spasmo etc!!) Need to re-watch some of them them again sometime. Loved Bava, Fulci & Argento films mostly but also like to recall Sergio Martino for introducing Edwige Fenech to me. Besides their signature style & plot elements, I've been also fond of those interesting titles.

Some of my favorites are:

A Bay of Blood
Deep Red

Don't Torture A Duckling
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
The Killer Must Kill Again
Stage Fright
Opera
Though mostly it was a
Poliziotteschi (Italian Crime/Cop action/thrillers) but also enjoyed What Have They Done to Your Daughters?

Btw, have you seen The Editor (2014)?...a pretty nicely done Giallo-spoof! Mostly gave homage to Argento, Bava & Sergio Martino's line of works, I loved it




Be a freak, like me too
Suspiria is another good example to back him up, every single character possessing an ounce of power is female, the only males of little significance are quickly disposed of or have little to no input on the progression of the plot.
I see but I've another reading of the film. To me, it's the archetype (and not a stereotype) of the witch, of the "evil woman" in our imaginary (like Medea, Pamphile, witches from the Middle-Age) who has a malefic force. This representation suggests a lot of things about women ("women are cunning" for instance).
We can have a double reading of films and it's interesting to see the different readings.
I remember a "feminist" film about a witch, Season Of The Witch by G. Romero but I didn't like it very much.

I definitely see where you're coming from though, he's even said himself that his mother's abandonment of him has led to him having difficulties in forming relationships with women, although on the whole, I don't believe he's a misogynist, from what I've seen so far!
Blood and Black Lace most definitely was a bit sexist though although that was Bava I believe.
Yes, of course!
I don't know, I didn't live with Argento (fortunately ). I'd like to read a book about his life and career but I don't know if this book exists!
He was anorexic during his childhood. Dario Nicolodi was/is mad too, she practiced witchcraft. I think Asia Argento must be completely crazy

As for Daria and Asia, Ms. Nicolodi's career and fame beings and ends with him, some of her characters are very well written too (Deep Red, Phenomena) but her character in Opera was really poorly written to say the least, she only appears in Inferno to immediately get killed off if I remember rightly too
Yes! The directors who are in a relationship with an actress glorify them in their films but with Argento, this is not the case. She's in Shock by Mario Bava which was pretty good.
I don't like her character in Deep Rep. This love story is not interesting, but it shows how Argento doesn't know what love means!

They aim to be atmospheric and they achieve it by cutting off verbal storytelling. I loved Amer, but what I saw in The Strange Colour... excelled the greatness of the previous film. I'm a visual guy and I love good atmosphere, but I sometimes find the story itself as an obstacle in obtaining it. I don't care if the filmmakers dispose of the story in favour of other elements, so I was happy with what I got, but apparently if you're a kind of a person who wants her films with a palpable story, you may be disappointed.
Well, I like atmospheres, deconstructed narrations... But I don't see the interest of Amer. It's beautiful for 20 minutes and then, it's boring They don't invent new visual things, they "steal" soundtracks from old Italian movies (like La Polizia Sta A Guardare)...
The directors of Amer are not Belgian but French but they studied in Belgium.

I've already seen the trailer of Blackaria. It looks so cheap...
OMG, the trailer of Last Caress
In fact, to me, gialli were produced in a certain context and I find that strange to want to copy. It's not very personal.

Lesbian scenes are always fun. Do you know any gialli with a lot of these?
Hahahaha!
The Sister of Ursula (I didn't see it, it seems very very bad)
Slaughter Hotel, it's almost porn and it's a turkey.

Thanks Horroist!
The Night Evelyn..., Laughing Windows... are pretty good! The final of Torso is interesting.

But also like to recall Sergio Martino for introducing Edwige Fenech to me



Besides their signature style & plot elements, I've been also fond of those interesting titles.
I agree, I love the titles!






I love What Have You Done To Your Daughters? (and of course, I'm a huge fan of poliziotteschi!) Massimo Dallamano made a few good films.

You're talking about Spasmo... There's Ivan Rassimov in this film, one of my fav actors from the Italian B-movies.


( )

I'm going to write The Editor in my list "Films I'd Like To See Before To Die"



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Well, I like atmospheres, deconstructed narrations... But I don't see the interest of Amer. It's beautiful for 20 minutes and then, it's boring They don't invent new visual things, they "steal" soundtracks from old Italian movies (like La Polizia Sta A Guardare)...
Stealing is good. Steal from everyone and put all of this in your film. Maybe if you mix the stuff you've stolen from everyone a new idea will clarify?
The directors of Amer are not Belgian but French but they studied in Belgium.
LOL. I read an article, in which the reviewer claimed they are Belgian. He was mistaken. ;O
I've already seen the trailer of Blackaria. It looks so cheap...
Cheap is good.
OMG, the trailer of Last Caress
Made me wanna rewatch the movie.
In fact, to me, gialli were produced in a certain context and I find that strange to want to copy. It's not very personal.
Why not. If somebody loves this kind of cinema, or maybe has been growing up watching these films, then it's only natural he's inspired by them.
The Sister of Ursula (I didn't see it, it seems very very bad)
Slaughter Hotel, it's almost porn and it's a turkey.
One of my cinemphile friends has actually seen the first movie and thought it's mediocre. None of my friends have seen the second film, but it has Kinski, so it's a nice recommendation. Thanks.
I'm going to write The Editor in my list "Films I'd Like To See Before To Die"
Will there be a list of "Films I'd Like To See Before To Morrow"? "Before to die" sounds weird. Use 'you', or 'I' instead of 'to' to achieve a grammatically correct sentence.



Be a freak, like me too
LOL. I read an article, in which the reviewer claimed they are Belgian. He was mistaken. ;O
A teacher gave me the script of Body's-Tears-and-blah-blah in 2011 with the resumes of the directors. They're French (but it's not a pride )

I don't like the cinema which is a kind of recycling of old movies like Tarantino but this is my personal consideration. Of course, all the directors are influenced but it's more interesting when they "transform" their influences.

One of my cinemphile friends has actually seen the first movie and thought it's mediocre. None of my friends have seen the second film, but it has Kinski, so it's a nice recommendation. Thanks.
Kinski was also in Liz And Helen (ah, I think there are lesbians scenes), Death Smiles At Murder, etc. I love Kinski.

Will there be a list of "Films I'd Like To See Before To Morrow"? "Before to die" sounds weird. Use 'you', or 'I' instead of 'to' to achieve a grammatically correct sentence.
Ok! Thank you teacher Minio



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Listen to Minio, everyone. He's a smart man.
On the other hand, they shouldn't listen to you. Who'd listen to Swans? Well, actually I would. That's a good band. BA DUM TSS.
Kinski was also in Liz And Helen (ah, I think there are lesbians scenes), Death Smiles At Murder, etc. I love Kinski.
Yeah, Kinski appeared in tons of Euro-sleaze. Of course, he was the best in the films of Werner Herzog, but it's always good to see him on the screen.
Ok! Thank you teacher Minio
Yeah... Teach me French in return.



I went through a phase of watching classic Gialli a few years ago, before scratching the surface and getting sick of crappy dialogue tracks, roughshod editing, murky transfers and general poor production values. I was initially attracted to the vivid sense of colour, Italian retro interior designs (especially) and operatic proto-disco soundtracks (being a collector of Italo disco) more than anything, but eventually came to the conclusion that the elaborate titles are usually more interesting than the films themselves.

There's definitely a small renaissance going on for Giallo at the moment with a few recent film homages and a crap-ton of music artists releasing mock-soundtracks - Umberto, and Antoni Maiovvi immediately spring to mind. There's also a decent fanzine series called Giallo Scrapbook on Midnight Media if anyone's interested. I actually met the guy who runs Midnight media at a film fair in Manchester a few years ago and he sold me a copy of Joe D'Amato's Antropophagus (not a giallo) on dvd which I regretted buying. He was a friendly chap; very knowledgeable and chatty despite the small queue of people waiting to get their fanzines autographed.

Of the Gialli I've seen I tend to find the stranger entries on the fringes of the genre more interesting. My favourites which you could argue don't truly fit the template in a purist sense would be stuff like:-

The House With Laughing Windows (1976) Pupi Avati's Rural atmospheric mystery full of grotesque characters and a looming sense of dread. Slow burning but worth it.
Zeder (1985) Another Pupi forgotten gem this mixes occult elements with familiar mystery tropes. Deliberately paced much like Avati's above movie this has a really intriguing premise and a satisfyingly creepy payoff.
Le Orme aka Footprints on the Moon (1975) Luigi Bazzoni's psychological thriller set on the quiet island of Garma stars my favourite Giallo actress Florinda Bolkan, and features some of the coolest interior designs I've ever seen (before Alice leaves Italy). Low-key, lonely, beautiful.
Baba Yaga (1973) Corrado Farina's adaptation of the Valentina fumetto, named after the Russian fairy tale. This is more of a kinky lesbian psycho-sexual thriller but there are definite Giallo elements at work. Love it.
The Frightened Woman (1969) Piero Schivazappa's kinky sexual thriller has one of my favourite soundtracks and some irresistible Bond villain style interiors. Fantastico!
Malastrana aka Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971) Let's be fair Aldo Lado's nightmarish thriller can be a bit of a drag at times, but the premise of a guy trying to solve his own murder and girlfriend's disappearance whilst lying seemingly dead (paralyzed by a neurotoxin) on an examination table is irresistible.
Macabre (1980) Lamberto Bava's underrated horror in which a brilliantly unhinged Bernice Stegers keep's her dead husband's head in the fridge, for, you know, stuff and that.
Phenomena (1985) Argento's lesser regarded late entry introduces sci-fi/horror and US slasher elements but I like it a lot and still think it's one of his better eighties films.
Suspiria and Inferno (even Mother of Tears in an ironic sense) also get a lot of love from me even if my interest has waned in recent years.

Of the traditional Giallo cycle my faves are more obvious stuff like: -

The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) Mario Bava's early entry still holds up rather well.
Blood and Black Lace (1965) Next to Argento's The Bird With The Crystal Plumage this Bava classic is probably one of the most influential Gialli of all time.
Deep Red (1976) Argento's classic Needs no introductions.
The Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971) Paolo Cavara's entry is notable for featuring three ex Bond girls in Claudine Auger, Barbara Bach, and Barbara Bouchet. It's also really really good. Now that's how to review a movie.
A Lizard In A Woman's Skin (1971) Fulci's UK Giallo with my scream queen of choice Ms Bolkan. Psychedelic and rather clever.
The Psychic (1977) not only do I think this is Fulci's best Giallo, I think it's his best film.
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971) My favourite Sergio Martino entry (though I still haven't seen Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and probably never will). Edwige Fenech at her second best.
Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975) Ok so it's totally ripped off Blood and Black Lace and the crappy The Case of the Bloody Iris (1971). I mean you can't get a much more derivative setting than a fashion house full of partially clothed women. It's crap but Edwige Fenech's gorgeous short hairstyle makes everything worthwhile for me.
Stagefright aka Aquarius (1988) Michele Soavi's late entry for the post slasher generation shows the low grade US pretenders just how it should be done in my opinion... except maybe Brian De Palma whose films Sisters, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out and Body Double all nod the Giallo genre and are beloved faves of mine.

[EDIT] Forgot to add Zeder.