Posts Tagged ‘Italian cinema’
Girl with a Suitcase Blu-ray Review: Impossible Beauty Meets Improbable Love
Two years before her rise to worldwide recognition in both 8 ½ and The Pink Panther, Claudia Cardinale stunned Italy and France.
Read MoreAllonsanfan Blu-ray Review: The Revolution Is a Bit Dull, Actually
What I can say definitively is that it looks absolutely gorgeous.
Read MoreA Man on His Knees Blu-ray Review: You’ll Stand Up and Applaud
Nothing short of a masterpiece.
Read MoreHigh Crime (1973) 4K UHD Review: The Italian Connection
What High Crime lacks in original storytelling, it more than makes up for in visual style and full-throttle action.
Read MoreNavajo Joe (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Works with the Other Sergio on This Unique Spaghetti Western
Heavy on the bloody knife/gunplay action and light on the palaver.
Read MoreDemons & Demons 2 4K UHD Review: Completely Bonkers in the Best Possible Way
If you are a fan of either film, these packages will not disappoint. If you’ve never seen the films, then this is the perfect way to dive right in.
Read MoreBandits of Orgosolo Blu-ray Review: It Don’t Feel Good to Be a Bandit
It is an incredible movie.
Read MoreNude for Satan DVD Review: Nudity, a Suave(ish) Satan, and Lots of Surreal Confusion
I didn’t hate Nude for Satan. It does its best to be cerebral, provoke deep thoughts and act as a surreal showcase
Read MoreThe Monster (1994) Blu-ray Review: Delivers Quite a Bit of Silliness
The Monster plays like a TV sitcom with Benigni finding humor in situations reminiscent of a European sex farce.
Read MoreThe Whip and the Body Blu-ray Review: Colorful Kink from Mario Bava
The Whip and The Body is a fascinating glimpse at a director at a crossroads.
Read MoreThe Golden Coach Blu-ray Review: Jean Renoir’s Tribute to Theater
When a traveling theater company rolls into a rich Peruvian town, the star actress quickly attracts the attention of three local suitors.
Read MoreLoaded Guns Blu-ray Review: Firing Blanks
If you’re looking for a gritty and insightful Di Leo film, move along. The film is best suited for Andress completionists, or fans of ‘70s Euro trash.
Read MoreThe Facts of Murder Blu-ray Review: A Blending of Italian Genres
It is something of a blending of genres and styles.
Read MoreCity of the Living Dead 4K UHD Review: Where Zombies Are Ghosts
A new 4K release of Lucio Fulci’s incomprehensible but atmospheric and gory supernatural zombie thriller.
Read MoreCosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani Blu-ray Review
Cosa Nostra is the box set I didn’t know I needed, offering three riveting dramas anchored by Nero’s searing performances and Damiani’s polished direction.
Read MoreCaliber 9 Blu-ray Review: Action-Packed Poliziotteschi with a Message
So much of Caliber 9 is about how the old way of doing things continually bumps into the new ways.
Read MoreThe Sunday Woman Blu-ray Review: A Strange Little Movie That Defies Expectations and Genre Delineations
The Sunday Woman is a bit of an oddity. But it is an enjoyable one.
Read MoreLet’s Hope It’s a Girl Blu-ray Review: Italian Film, Continental Cast
The film is best for fans of Deneuve and Ullmann, as its paper-thin, meandering plot only serves as grist for its girl-power mill.
Read MoreBlood & Diamonds Blu-ray Review: Dull & Boring
If you are a fan of this film, this release from 88 Films goes out of its way to make it worth your money.
Read MoreContraband (1980) Blu-ray Review: Explosively Violent Crime Action
Lucio Fulci’s drama about cigarette smugglers tells its crime story with horror movie levels of violence and gore.
Read MoreThe Nun and the Devil Blu-ray Review: Which Mother Will Prove Superior?
A power struggle in a convent reveals hypocritical structure of the church in this beautifully shot if unengaging historical drama.
Read MoreGothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Review
This set reveals how the genre allows plenty of room for filmmakers to create something new and unique.
Read MoreGiallo Essentials [Black Edition] Blu-ray Box Set Review: Back in Black
Arrow Video is to be commended for continuing to spotlight the giallo genre in this handsome new box set.
Read MoreRogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Review: Quintessential Italian Crime Dramas
A pretty excellent double feature of poliziotteschi.
Read MoreShock (1977) Blu-ray Review: Bava’s Final Film
The final film by Mario Bava is a departure from his stereotypical style, but still has some interest and flair.
Read MoreGiallo Essentials [Yellow Edition] Blu-ray Review: Masked Killers, Disrobed Victims
Arrow Video’s second box set collection of giallo classics is now available, arriving less than a month after the first collection. Unlike the first set, all three of the films presented here are more what one would consider true gialli, with seedy crime plots stuffed with sex and gore. All three films are presented in…
Read MoreGiallo Essentials [Red Edition] Blu-ray Box Set Review: Mixed Bag, Solid Box
The set is the first of a planned multi-volume collection of giallo essentials, intended to provide neophytes and connoisseurs with a treasury of classics.
Read MoreDeep Red (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review: Argento’s Giallo Swan Song
Argento finally perfect his stylish cinematic approach, and pretty much abandons storytelling, in this beautiful baffling murder mystery.
Read MoreThe Sergio Martino Collection Blu-ray Review: A Giallo Giant Gets His Due
With this release, Arrow (true to form) has done itself proud yet again.
Read MoreVengeance Trails: 4 Classic Westerns Blu-ray Review: Proving There’s More to Spaghetti Westerns than Sergio Leone
I don’t know that I’d call them truly classic, but they are all quite good and worth the purchase.
Read MoreThe Bird with the Crystal Plumage 4K Ultra HD Review: Dario Argento’s Debut Giallo
Dario Argento’s stylish and assured directorial debut about a black-clad murderer stalking Rome comes to 4K.
Read MoreYears of Lead Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set Review: Transforms Lead into Gold
Arrow Video’s new box set aims to shine a light on poliziotescchi, police action films that generally took a more serious, realistic approach to their mayhem.
Read MoreYears of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers (1973-1977) Blu-ray Review: A Great Overview of the Poliziotteschi Genre
The films included in this set run the gamut of straight-ahead crime dramas to no-plot Euro sleaze.
Read MoreChrist Stopped at Eboli Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Emotionally Captivating
A beautiful film about living in exile and discovering an unknown way of life.
Read MoreRoberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Intro to Italian Neorealism 101
Criterion presents a crash course on the post-war movement with these classics: Rome Open City, Paisan, and Germany Year Zero.
Read MoreTeorema Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Pasolini’s Most Accessible Work
This puzzlingly fascinating masterwork from 1968 gets new life.
Read MoreHercules in the Haunted World Blu-ray Review: Sword & Sandals Meets Horror
Mario Bava infuses the tired Hercules film with his own sense of style, creating something unique and really fun.
Read MoreWho Saw Her Die? Blu-ray Review: Bond Does Giallo
George Lazenby should have been a star.
Read MoreDouble Face Blu-ray Review: Could Have Used a Face Lift
A subdued Klaus Kinski stars in this krimi/giallo mashup that is never thrilling but often quite dull.
Read MorePasolini Movie Review: An Ambitious Biopic with a Brilliantly Refined Willem Dafoe Performance
An exemplary biopic that features a rather understated gusto.
Read MoreThe Iguana with the Tongue of Fire Blu-ray Review: Confusing and Dull
This giallo/poliziotteschi has too much confusing plot and not enough style to be interesting to anyone but fans of the genres.
Read MoreStrip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Review: Keep Your Clothes On
Salacious 1970s giallo is quite dull despite being packed full of sex and violence.
Read MoreKeoma Blu-ray Review: The Spaghetti Western’s Last Breath
Franco Nero stars in this later-period spaghetti western that’s got a lot of style, and little else.
Read MoreThe Possessed / The Fifth Cord Blu-rays Review: Giallo Before and After Argento
Two films from Luigi Bazzoni illustrate both what a great director he was and what seismic shifts Dario Argento created on Italian cinema.
Read MoreThe Forbidden Photos of a Lady Beyond Suspicion Blu-ray Review: Proto-Giallo
More psycho-sexual thriller than giallo, this film nevertheless delivers the goods.
Read MoreBlood and Black Lace Blu-ray Review: The Origins of Giallo
Mario Bava’s horror masterpiece is a feast for the eyes and the beginning of a whole new genre.
Read MoreThe Pyjama Girl Case Blu-ray Review: Fact Is More Interesting Than Fiction
Put your PJs on, this giallo will put you to sleep.
Read MoreWhat Have They Done to Your Daughters? Blu-ray Review: I Hope They’re Not with Solange
The second part of Massimo Dallamano’s “schoolgirl’s in peril” trilogy gets an excellent release from Arrow Video.
Read MoreThe Case of the Scorpion’s Tail Blu-ray Review: Stereotypical Giallo
Sergio Martino’s horror film ticks off all the giallo boxes but never rises above them.
Read MoreThe Mercenary (1968) Blu-ray Review: This Fun for Hire
Franco Nero, Tony Musante, and a flamboyant Jack Palance highlight this Sergio Corbucci western, now available from Kino Lorber.
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