SPOTLIGHT ON: GIALLI

In honor of the recent release of BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, we are turning the spotlight on the Italian films that it celebrates: those colorful mystery/thrillers (with strong horror tones) that set themselves apart from other films in the Thriller Genre by being larger-than-life, over-the-top, and like-no-other. In other words, by being Italian...

Unlike most other people (i.e. normal ones), my first childhood encounter with Italy was not through some postcards or travel book or cookbooks or fashion magazines which made me want to visit the place for its gorgeous people, luscious food, and stunning vistas. Nope, my first taste of Bella Italia came through the movies. And if you're thinking I mean films by Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, or Bertolucci, you are sorely mistaken, dear reader.

Nope, the movies that whetted my appetite for Italy as a wee kid and made me determined to visit it one day (and visit and live there, I did - but that is another mega-adventure story) were not the conventional classics listed above. No, sir... they were more of a, shall we say, risque nature. I first fell in love with Italy because of... The Giallo.

Gialli (plural of Giallo) are mystery/thrillers with elements of colorful horror, drama, and erotica that are uniquely, inherently, intrinsically Italian. Gialli got their nickname from the color of the front covers of the cheap, mass-produced suspense novels that became popular in Italy starting in the early 1930s: yellow. In Italian, the word for yellow is... Giallo. Hence, the movies that sprung from these stories were also called... Giallo. And when there are a whole bunch of them in the room together they are called... Gialli.

Clear as mud? Good. Let's proceed. Anyhow, Gialli novels became so popular that it was a no-brainer that these tomes would soon be converted to films. Kind of like the Harry Potter books and the ensuing movies that followed - except Gialli are even more fucked-up. Gialli, both books and films, became so popular in Italy, that modern-day Italians now refer to all thrillers - regardless of type and nationality as "Gialli."

However, to World Cinema enthusiasts and experts, the term "Gialli" doesn't refer to all films in the Thriller Genre. Instead, they consider Gialli to be those specific mystery/thrillers that came out of Italy starting in the early 1960s, exploding in the 1970s, fading in the 1980s, only to be revived somewhat in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In short, Italian mystery/thrillers with very striking characteristics.

Classic Gialli share some basic elements that make them distinct from other mystery/thrillers: (1) An Italian or sometimes other European setting; (2) A protagonist who is usually foreign, often American or British; (3) a brutal crime (usually a murder) that the protagonist accidentally witnesses and is pulled into; (4) inept or disinterested police authorities who force the protagonist to solve the mystery on his/her own; and (5) a mysterious killer hidden by a fedora hat, dark raincoat, and black gloves; (6) a series of murders committed by the killer, often as revenge for a past injustice - but also sometimes for other motives such as greed or passion.

Gialli were heavily influenced by the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, and his body of work. Hitchcock's favorite type of protagonist - The Ordinary Person Thrown Into Extraordinary Situations - is often the lead in most Gialli. In fact, the most famous and celebrated Giallo director of all, Dario Argento, is often referred to as "The Italian Hitchcock" because of how he cemented the popularity of the Gialli Sub-Genre with the release of L'UCCELLO DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO (outside Italy: THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) in 1970. With the soaring success of this film, Gialli were soon flooding Italy and opening in theaters everywhere. The 1970s became known as "The Golden Age Of Gialli." After THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, Argento went on to release eight more Gialli between 1971 and 1987 that are considered to be the strongest entries in the sub-genre.

However, whereas Hitchcock's films were inherently British and American in their restraint and linear movement, Argento's (and other Gialli directors') films are more explosive and non-linear in their storytelling. In other words, more Italian.

Still, the very first Giallo released in Italy was closer to Hitchcock's cool, methodical style than to the fiery, operatically Italian technique that would soon become the norm for Gialli in later years. It came out in 1963, and was titled LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO (outside Italy: THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH). Directed by Mario Bava, THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH was almost an homage to Hitchcock, going so far as to mimic the title of one of his films: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934 & 1956). As with your average Hitchcock film, Bava's story featured an American protagonist who travels to a foreign locale (Rome) and instantly finds herself engulfed in a complex mystery after witnessing a murder in Piazza Spagna at midnight. However, unlike many later Gialli, it was a more restrained, sedate mystery that lacked a distinctly Italian flavor.

It wasn't until 1964, when Bava released his second Giallo, that the true, classic "Giallo Style" began to emerge. Titled SEI DONNE PER LA ASSASSINO (outside Italy: BLOOD & BLACK LACE), the film proved to be more flamboyant and colorful - more Italian. This time, however, Bava also played with the formula somewhat: instead of a central, innocent protagonist visiting Italy, we got a bunch of Italians and foreign ex-pats who worked in a fashion house plagued by a series of murders - and are all potential suspects. There was no clear hero or heroine, and the characters were all either inscrutable or unsympathetic - and this was the film's key flaw. Despite BLOOD & BLACK LACE's many strengths and numerous stunning setpieces, it is ultimately a weaker film than its less colorful predecessor because, unlike THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, there is no one here to care about.

Then 1970 came - and so did the release of Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. And with its worldwide success, the Giallo Sub-Genre was cemented in Italy - and officially born overseas. Argento's film (his first of any kind) was, at the time, the best Giallo to date. It still remains the second-best entry in the sub-genre today, with only PROFONDO ROSSO (outside Italy: DEEP RED) overtaking it for the top spot. Oh, guess who also directed DEEP RED: Dario Argento. The man truly is "The Italian Hitchcock."

With THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, Argento side-stepped the things that tripped up THE GIRLWHO KNEW TOO MUCH and BLOOD & BLACK LACE before it. With GIRL, Bava gave us a sympathetic heroine, but a rather pedestrian mystery with very few thrilling sequences. With BLOOD, Bava gave us the opposite: a colorful, twisting mystery filled with scary setpieces - but not a single character worth rooting for. In BIRD, Argento gets both sides very right: we get a very likable lead character and a serpentine, vivid mystery peppered by strong suspense showcases.

The plot of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE is essentially a twist on the premise of THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. Basically, an American writer on a working sabbatical in Rome witnesses an attack on a beautiful Italian woman in an art gallery. His intervention scares off the unknown assailant (unknown, because the would-be killer wears a fedora and black raincoat), but the woman is wounded. She survives, and the American writer finds out from the local cops that she is "The One Who Got Away." That is, Rome has been plagued recenly by "Jack-The-Ripper"-style killings - and she is the only victim who has lived to tell about it. Soon, the American writer, his British girlfriend, the Italian woman's husband, and the Italian woman herself, are all caught in a web of mystery and murder as the killings continue - and the mysterious killer draws nearer and nearer again. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE was such a landmark film that it not only inspired dozens more Gialli in Italy - but reportedly also American films at the time like Alan J. Pakula's KLUTE.

From 1971 onward, Italy was inundated with tidal wave of Gialli. Some were successful, other not. And just when it looked like the sub-genre was waning in the mid-1970s, The Italian Hitchcock released another Giallo that would not only top the success of his first Giallo, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, and give Gialli a strong second wind. In 1975, Argento released PROFONDO ROSSO, known everywhere outside Italy as DEEP RED. Often referred to as a "Turbo-Giallo" by fans and audiences because of the confident way it took the classic Giallo elements and amped them up considerably to visceral effect, DEEP RED is widely regarded as the best Giallo out there. It is indeed my second favorite Giallo, and my second favorite Argento film after his 1985 entry into the sub-genre starring a young Jennifer Connelly: PHENOMENA. Like THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, DEEP RED also had a huge impact on the Thriller and Horror genres. In fact, John Carpenter was reportedly inspired by this movie to create a little film called... HALLOWEEN. And we know what happened after HALLOWEEN was released, don't we. The rest, as we know, is history

With the back-to-back successes of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and DEEP RED - as well as Argento's other two early-70s Gialli: THE CAT O'NINE TAILS (1972) & FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1972) - the Giallo was red-hot in the 1970s. Flicks with translated-to-English titles like: THE BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA, THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS, TORSO/THE BODIES BEAR TRACES OF CARNAL VIOLENCE, THE FIFTH CORD, SEVEN NOTES IN BLACK, THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES, SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE?, DEATH WALKS WITH A CANE, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, WHO SAW HER DIE?, TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE, and many, many, many, many more. To put it mildly, these movies pulled in a hell of a lot of lire in Italy (and every other currency, overseas) during the 1970s.

In the 1980s, Gialli started to fade due to the rise of a sub-genre within the Horror Genre: the American Slasher movie. These U.S. films were heavily influenced by the suspense setpieces of Italian Gialli. As mentioned above, HALLOWEEN was reportedly influenced by DEEP RED - and HALLOWEEN is widely-recognized as the GrandDaddy Of The American Slasher Movie. The crucial difference between the Italian Giallo and the American Slasher Movie is one thing: style. Gialli are very Italian in that they are operatic, theatrical, flamboyant, and utterly stylish. American slashers are more direct and brutal in their execution. Another difference is that the Italian Giallo is very much rooted in the Thriller Genre, which some horror overtones - whereas the American Slasher Movie is firmly embedded in the Horror Genre. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied the Gialli of 1960s & 1970s clearly had an influence in kick-starting not only first wave of American Slashers starting with HALLOWEEN in 1978, but also the second wave in 1996, with the release of SCREAM. In fact, the opening double-murder in SCREAM is reportedly an homage to the opening sequence of SUSPIRIA (1977) - another classic Argento Giallo (albeit with supernatural overtones).

By the 1990s, Dario Argento was pretty much the only Italian director still making Gialli. While TRAUMA (1993), set in Minneapolis, was an ill-advised attempt on his part to try to win over U.S. audiences by transplanting an Italian story into an American setting, he made up for this misstep in 1996 by going back to Italy and giving his most atypical and intense Gialli, LA SINDROME DI STENDHAL (outside Italy: THE STENDHAL SYNDROME). I was surprised by how much I liked THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, and after the very disappointing TRAUMA, it was a breath of fresh air not only for the Giallo sub-genre - but also for the director himself.

Argento's next Giallo was NON HO SONNO (outside Italy: SLEEPLESS) in 2001 - and it was very well-received by critics and audiences alike. While not as good as the Gialli from Argento's "Golden Age" between 1970 and 1987, or even as riveting as THE STENDHAL SYNDROME from fours years before, SLEEPLESS was still a solid Giallo that retained all the classic elements - but also tweaked and updated them for the 21st century. In the next few years, Argento went on to film and release IL CARTAIO (outside Italy: THE CARD PLAYER), LA TERZA MADRE(outside Italy: MOTHER OF TEARS), and (fittingly enough) GIALLO. Of these latter-day Gialli, THE CARD PLAYER was the best, and is thought to have influenced the 2008 Diane Lane cyber-thriller UNTRACEABLE. It's nice to know that Gialli are continuing to influence American cinema even in the 21st century.

With Dario Argento being pretty much the only Giallo director still active today, Gialli fans are eagerly awaiting his next move. In an interview from several years ago, he mentioned a project called OCCHIALI NERI (DARK GLASSES), which reportedly would revolve around an Italian fashion supermodel who is blinded in an accident. Soon, she finds herself involved in a series of murders of other fashion models - and must track down the killer using only her remaining senses - which are now heightened because of her blindness. Argento mentioned that the script is tied up in legal wrangling of some sort with the studio that was initially backing the project (or something) and it in unclear when production will begin. I sincerely hope DARK GLASSES moves forward, because it sounds like a fantastic premise that is both elegant and suspenseful at the same time - just as all classic Gialli should be.

Ultimately, whether or not American audiences realize it, the Italian Giallo has paved the way for our thrillers and horror films to evolve and expand - and basically turn suspense into art. With the release of BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO this year, that has never been more clear. And let's pray the Dario Argento's next movie will be... DARK GLASSES.

Please expect our GIALLI SAMPLER to post by the end of the week, with 15 Giallo films that are essential viewing for any Gialli beginner.

Have a wonderful week, folks....

Happy Birthday, Andrew Garfield....

Yup. It may not look it, but the Great Andy G. turns 30 today (August 20, 2013 - Leo!)...

Hope you have a good one, Andrew. Looking forward to more of your awesome movies, including the upcoming THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2...

As they say in Italy: Buon Compleanno!

Below: Garfield, captured by a fan on the New York set of AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 this summer...



Great actor who will just get better with age. Like fine vino...

Speaking of Italy, please expect the SPOTLIGHT ON GIALLI, as well as the GIALLI SAMPLER to post by the weekend. Discover this little-known slice of Italian Cinema that has had a strong and lasting influence on modern American thrillers and horror films....

# 512 - BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (2013)

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (HORROR / GIALLO) ***1/2 out of *****

(AKA: Mindfuck - Italian-style...)



CAST: Toby Jones, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Cosimo Fusco, Antonio Mancino, Susanna Cappellaro, Chiara D'Anna, Guido Adorni, Eugenia Caruso, Salvatore Greco, Lara Parmiani, Salvatore Li Causi.

DIRECTOR: Peter Strickland

WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some damn good reasons to dive into the Gialli section of your local video store - straight ahead...




IT'S LIKE THIS: In one of our latest reviews, THE PURGE (review # 507), we talked about "The High Concept Movie," of which THE PURGE is a sterling example. You see, a High Concept Flick is one that has a very catchy premise and is extremely audience-friendly and therefore potentially very profitable. In other words, it's just about every single movie that comes out in multiplexes between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Actually, given how much the Summer Movie Season has expanded over the last decade, it's pretty much any movie that any major Hollywood studio bankrolls these days - and releases any day/month of the year.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is "The Weird Art House Flick." If a High Concept Movie is the star quarterback of Hollywood High, then a Weird Art House Movie is the chain-smoking goth teen wearing tight black jeans and leather jackets, standing off to the side, smirking and sneering at how vapid the football team and cheerleaders are. In other words, these two are like oil-and-water, apples-and-oranges, Turkey-and-Greece, or Jennifer Aniston-and-Angeline Jolie. I'm just saying...

You know the best way to spot a Weird Art House Flick? See if you can pitch it gracefully with just two sentences, the way you can with a High Concept Movie. If you can't, it's probably a weirdo. Case in point: our latest review, BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, which is not only a cinematic love letter to the great Gialli (Italian thrillers) of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, but also to Weird Art House Flicks of all bizarro shapes and sizes.

The pitch for BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO would go a little something like this: "In the mid-70's, Gilderoy, a British sound recording artist, is hired by an Italian film company to come to Rome to supervise the sound effects of a Giallo movie called 'The Equestrian Vortex.' Soon, Gilderoy starts to go crazy from seeing all the horrifying things that occur around him - not only onscreen in the film he's working on, but also offscreen from the strange events taking place around him in the mysterious Italian studio."

Hmmmmm... actually, that wasn't half-bad. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it is also possible to get catchy pitches from Weird Art House flicks. If I was a producer or creative executive, I would totally ask to read the script that pitch was based on. Anywho, just like mentioned above, our hero is Gilderoy (Toby Jones), a British foley (sound) artist who looks a lot like Peter Dinklage's taller brother. Gilderoy is one of those stiff-upper-lip Brits who are stoic and self-effacing - which makes thing very interesting when he gets hired to travel to Italy to handle the sound effects of a Giallo called "Il Vortice Equestre" or "The Equestrian Vortex" to those of us who speak the Queen's English. You see, Italians are the most explosive and colorful people in the world, and watching the wee, conservative, pasty Gilderoy mince his way around a bunch of nutty, hot, olive-skinned, dark-haired people is a movie in itself.

Upon arrival at his new place-of-employment, bizarrely called "Berberian Sound Studio," Gilderoy meets the following crazy Italians: (1) Francesco (Cosimo Fusco), sexy and sleazy producer of the movie; (2) Giancarlo Santini (Antonio Mancino), sexy and pretentious snob director of the movie; (3) Giovanni (Guido Adorni), sexy and treacherous sound assistant; (4) Elena (Tonia Sotiropolou), smokin' hot mysterious secretary with shiny raven hair; (5) Veronica (Susannna Cappelaro), sexy actress with shiny raven hair dubbing the lead voice of the movie; (6) Claudia (Eugenia Caruso), sexy actress with shiny raven hair dubbing another character in the movie; (7) Chiara (Lara Parmiani) sexy actress with shiny raven hair dubbing yet another character in the movie; and (8) Elisa (Chiara D'Anna), yet another sexy actress dubbing yet another character in the movie. And, yes, she also has shiny raven hair.

In fact, this fucking movie is basically a 90 minute hair color commercial for L'Oreal Feria's Deep Brunette Shades. Don't be surprised if BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO and its army of hot brunettes causes the women of America to go dark. Literally. Which would make a married buddy of mine very happy since he has a boner the size of Gibraltar for anything with dark hair. Which is why I try not to be in the same room with him anymore if he's been drinking. But that is another, more fucked-up story. Ahem.

But I digress. At any rate, Gilderoy's job, according to those assholes Francesco and Santini, is to augment and beef up the sound effects to "The Equestrian Vortex" - which is apparently some Giallo about satanism, witchcraft, and murder running rampant in an isolated Italian horseback-riding academy. Apart from the opening titles of this movie-within-a-movie, we don't really see any scenes from "The Equestrian Vortex." We just hear them. And, boy, they are doozies. If the audio track of that flick is any indication, it sounds like nothing but Italian women getting skewered and sliced and slammed by witches, satanists, goblins, and - judging from some really fucked-up sound effects - the horses, too. Those Italians are such perverts, I tell ya. Which is why I love them.

Anyhow, just as we talked about in our faux-pitch for BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, all the sounds and images from "The Equestrian Vortex" begin to take their toll on our feeble and easily-scared Gilderoy. Apparently, this dumbass has never seen a horror movie or thriller flick in his life, let alone one that was made by a bunch of crazy, perverted Italians. Is it any wonder, then, that the little pussy is soon whining to Francesco and Santini that the movie is too intense for him?

Of course, it doesn't help that Francesco and Giancarlo have basically been jerks to Gilderoy since he arrived. And Elena, The Ice Princess Secretary, also refuses to help Gilderoy file his travel voucher and get reimbursed for his airfare from London to Rome (which is her job, but whatever). This puts even more pressure on our frail British sound engineer. And that's even before Veronica starts telling him that Francesco and Santini had an ulterior motive in hiring Gilderoy in the first place. And before Gilderoy starts seeing his own life flashing on the screen in front of him, like he is part of the "The Equestrian Vortex"...

So... what the fuck is going on at the Berberian Sound Studio? Is there something sinister afoot within its walls and halls? What secrets are Francesco and Santini hiding? Is Veronica right when she says there is a conspiracy going on here? And why is Elena so chilly and standoffish to Gilderoy? Will she eventually help him? Is she an Ice Princess with a hidden-heart-of-gold underneath? Or is her cold exterior really just covering more ice? Is Gilderoy going insane? Or is there a real evil nearby? What is the real secret of "The Equestrian Vortex"? And will Gilderoy survive it?

Well, let's look at it this way: if he dies, at least he met a lot of really gorgeous, dark-haired Italians before he croaked...


BUT, SERIOUSLY: The press and marketing for BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO have called it an homage to the Giallo films of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Gialli (plural of Giallo) are thrillers (some horror-thrillers) which were produced in Italy during the decades mentioned above. Gialli are distinct from other kinds of thrillers in the Thriller Genre because of their unique Italian flavor - which is very operatic, stylish, and theatrical. A classic Giallo is usually set in Italy and features the following: (1) a foreign protagonist, usually an American or Briton; (2) a brutal crime the protagonist either witnesses or is pulled into somehow; (3) a mysterious killer with black gloves, fedora, and dark raincoat whose identity is not revealed until the very end; (4) ineffective police authorities whose ineptitude forces the protagonist to investigate on his/her own; and (5) a dark motive usually rooted in the past that finally explodes in the present to kickstart the serpentine, winding mystery.

Dario Argento and Mario Bava were the most famous of the Giallo directors, with Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Luigi Bazzoni, Jess Franco, and Umberto Lenzi bringing up the second wave, just to name a few. Next week, we will post a spotlight feature on Giallo films, with a "Gialli Sampler" in which we list the Ten Best Gialli for the beginner to get their feet bloody, er, wet with. For now, let's discuss BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO - and its link to those wonderfully entertaining and vibrantly colorful Italian thrillers.

The Giallo elements are present in BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO: Gilderoy is a Briton who goes to Italy to work on the sound effects of "Il Vortice Equestre" ("The Equestrian Vortex") - and soon finds himself at the center of very disturbing and disorienting events. While he doesn't witness a real murder, per se, as most Giallo protagonists do, Gilderoy is subjected to the relentless onslaught of unseen horrors in the movie he is working on. Aside from the opening titles of "The Equestrian Vortex," we never see anything else from this movie-within-a-movie that slowly drives Gilderoy over the deep end. And while he doesn't engage in as much do-it-yourself detective work as your typical Giallo hero/heroine, there are some passages where he attempts to understand what is going on around him - which leads to even more disturbing incidents and questions.

It should be noted, though, that BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO is not just a love letter to the Giallo section of the Thriller Genre - but also to another section: the Slow Burn Psychological Thriller. There are strong overtones here of ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE TENANT, KNIFE IN THE WATER, THE SHINING, REPULSION, and SESSION 9 - all Slow Burn Psychological Thrillers where seemingly-sane protagonists suddenly find themselves descending into a vortex of paranoia and madness. Soon, it becomes clear that the protagonist may not be so sane, after all... However, to say anything more about BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO's similarities to these films would spoil too much.

As Gilderoy, the frail Brit who slowly comes apart at the seams, Toby Jones hits all the right notes of building fear and, later, uneasy ambiguity. Jones keeps up on edge by not only making Gilderoy sympathetic, but also just a bit off-center so we slowly begin to wonder if anything he's seeing is real. It further helps that the supporting cast of lovely and talented Italian performers hold their own against Jones by effectively portraying a gallery of seductively threatening characters.

Cosimo Fusco and Antonio Mancino are pure silken menace as the as treacherous Francesco and ambiguous Giancarlo, while Susanna Cappellaro, Eugenia Caruso, Chiara D'Anna, and Lara Parmiani are all darkly alluring as the various raven-haired beauties who orbit around Gilderoy - further distorting his already-compromised perceptions. Best of them, however, is Tonia Sotiropolous who makes a real mark with just a few scenes as Elena, the icily aloof secretary who may be friend or foe. Sotiropolous had a tiny role as James Bond's Greek lover at the beginning of SKYFALL - and it's nice to see her get a bigger showcase here.

Last but not least, Suzy Kendall, star of such classic Gialli as THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) & TORSO (1973), has a cameo as an actress dubbing screams for the terrorized heroines of "The Equestrian Vortex." I've been a fan of Kendall's since seeing her in the movies mentioned above, and her unexpected presence in this movie honoring the sub-genre she helped popularize is a real treat - and is very appropriate. I only wish that other actors and actresses from other classic Gialli could have participated in BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO. It would've been great to see the likes of Daria Nicolodi, Mirella D'Angelo, Gabriele Lavia, Udo Kier, Mimsy Farmer, Dalilla DiLazzaro, Stefania Casini, Asia Argento, and Jessica Harper - just to name a few.

In the end, BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO is not for everyone. It is too enigmatic and mysterious for most mainstream horror/thriller audiences, who may end up frustrated, confused, and unsatisfied. In other words, if you liked THE PURGE and THE CONJURING (review coming), this movie is likely not your cup of tea. However, those who aren't afraid of the "weird" and "bizarre" and don't mind going off the beaten path just might appreciate BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO. And, of course, those of you who love Gialli (us included) will certainly find something to scream about here.

In closing, please find below the faux-opening credits for the scary movie-within-the-scary movie of BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO: "The Equestrian Vortex."



Next week, please expect our SPOTLIGHT ON GIALLI, where we discuss the history and evolution of this uniquely Italian part of the Thriller Genre. We will also post our GIALLI SAMPLER: TOP TEN GIALLI FOR THE BEGINNER. Giallo fans will recognize most of the titles on the list - and for the uninitiated, it's a great way to be introduced to the films that have influenced modern American thrillers and horror films.

Ciao ciao!

# 511 - THE HEAT (2013)

THE HEAT (COMEDY / CHICK FLICK) **** out of *****

(It's the Sandy & Missy Show - watch out...)



CAST: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demian Bichir, Tom Wilson, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, Spoken Reasons, Jane Curtin, Dan Bakkedahl.

DIRECTOR: Paul Feig
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some damn good examples of female bonding - straight ahead.




IT'S LIKE THIS: Ah, the Buddy Cop Flick... has there ever been a sub-genre within the Action Genre so done-to-death and so uttelry cliched by now, that even the cliches themselves like to throw parties and have drinking games where they watch flicks like LETHAL WEAPON and 48 HOURS and TANGO & CASH - and slam back a shot of Tequila every single time they spot themselves on screen? Have you seen a bunch of cliches drunk off their gourd and tottering around your living room? Not a pretty sight, folks.

In addition to the three flicks mentioned before, there's been an absolute glut of movies that have peddled the same type of formula that is as familiar now, to audiences everywhere, as Brad Pitt's abs. The Buddy Cop Flick Formula goes a little something like this: "a mismatched, bickering pair of cops - one usually a straight-arrow, the other usually a rebellious misfit - reluctantly team up to solve a mystery and eventually learn to respect and like each other." Other examples of this kind of movie include: RED HEAT, THE OTHER GUYS, STARSKY AND HUTCH, THIS MEANS WAR, BLACK RAIN, THE PRESIDIO, and many, many, many more. An important point to, uh, point out is that all of these movies feature male cops.

That's not to say there have never been any Female Buddy Cop Flicks. There have been a couple - and both pretty much bombed at the box office. These were the late-80's/early-90's movies like FEDS and V.I. WARSHOWSKI, which featured female cops as protagonists. But they had about as much of positive impact on audiences as a rotten-egg-fart in the middle of a crowded theater. What the fuck gives? Why do Male Buddy Cop Flicks routinely rack up the grosses, whereas the few Female Buddy Cop Flicks open to theaters full of crickets? Is that the reason why there have been so few of them over the years? Hmmmmm….

Now, we have THE HEAT, which features - yes, you guessed it - two mismatched detectives. And, in defiance of the proven-successful formula dictating that the dicks must have, um, dicks, our heroes are, um, heroines. As in, female. Our Heroine # 1 is Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock), a New York City FBI Agent who is one of those over-achieving types who think they are always right and are always bucking for number one and are always at odds with everyone else in the office - and who always usually end up hog-tied and kicked around by everyone at the annual Christmas party, and for good reason.

Sure enough, it turns out that Sarah's boss, Hale (Demian Bichir), has some serious doubts as to whether or not she should be promoted. Mostly because he isn't sure if she can work well with her colleagues. To test his, Hale assigns her to work on tracking down some mysterious Boston drug dealer named Larkin, whom no one has ever seen or identified. Not only must she track down Larkin, though, but she must also cooperative and work with the Boston PD to demonstrate her, um, "people skills."

Which brings us to Heroine # 2: she is Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). Folks, I want you to close your eyes. Now, please imagine Eric Cartman from SOUTH PARK - but with a vagina, longer hair, and somehow even more rotund and even more foul-mouthed. Have that terrifying picture in your mind, yet? Good, because that's basically who Shannon Mullins is. And here's the kicker: Shannon is whom Sarah must work with to show Hale that she can work with a team. Let's just say that any of the missions in any of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies were cakewalks compared to Sarah Ashburn's mission here.

Sure enough, the “Sarah and Shannon” show doesn't get off to strong start. For starters, Sarah believes in wearing stylish, business-like, FBI-regulation pantsuits, whereas Shannon barely wear pants of any kind, at all. Sarah believes in interrogating suspects the way it is prescribed in the FBI manual, whereas Shannon just calls it a day and clocks 'em in the face with the nearest phonebook if they don't talk. And most challenging of all: Shannon can drink the entire nation of Ireland right under the table, whereas Sarah has half an Amstel Light and calls it a night. Hey, that rhymes! Whatever.

So... will Sarah and Shannon learn to work together? Will Hale see that Sarah is a team player, after all, and promote her? What happens when two dipshit DEA agents (Dan Bakkedahl and Taran Killam) start competing with our ladies to see who can track down and identify Larkin first? Who is Larkin anyway? Why has no one ever lived to identify him? Has been breathing down the necks of our Heroines all this time? Or is he actually five steps ahead of them? Is he any kind of match for... "The Heat?"

Time will tell. Just watch out for any Happy Hour with Sarah Ashburn amd Shannon Mullins at the center of it. You may not survive...

BUT, SERIOUSLY: As mentioned above, the Buddy Cop Flick has been an enduring and successful formula seen in film after film after film. The curious thing, though, is that most if not all of these movies have revolved around male leads. Movies like LETHAL WEAPON (and its sequels), 48 HOURS, RED HEAT, BLACK RAIN, TANGO AND CASH, STARSKY AND HUTCH, and many more have consistently featured partners who were men. The few films that have dared to put a feminine spin on this formula have fizzled at the box office.

Female-centric Buddy Cop Flicks like FEDS and V.I. WARSHAWSKI failed to find audiences, despite CAGNEY & LACEY (a female-centric Buddy Cop TV show) being one of the most popular series on prime-time television history. Within the last few decades, only OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, with Bette Middler and Shelley Long, and COPYCAT, with Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, were box-office hits.

But the leads of OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE were ordinary women - not cops - who were united when the man they had both been sleeping with duped them - and they teamed up to track him down. And only one of COPYCAT's female protagonists was a cop; the other was a traumatized criminal psychologist who came out of retirement to help the cop track down a wily, elusive serial killer. MISS CONGENIALITY, another film with Sandra Bullock as an FBI agent, was a major success - but it featured only one cop as a lead. In short, we haven't really had a true Female Buddy Cop Film that was also a major success.

Until THE HEAT, that is... Quite frankly, this film is a case of perfect casting elevating a script that is rote and formulaic. The plot of THE HEAT is nothing new - hewing as close as it does to the tried-and-true Buddy Cop Flick Formula. We have two mismatched cops. One is a by-the-book, straight arrow. One is an unpredictable loose cannon. Both cannot stand each other. Both find themselves working on the same case. After some challenges, both gradually begin to like and respect the other. Both solve the case and end up close friends. THE HEAT doesn't break new ground in its plotting.

Where it does soar, however, is in the chemistry and interactions of its leads. Quite simply, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy form a comedic match made in heaven. Neither is playing a character she hasn't played before. Bullock has played uptight, type-A control freaks in films like TWO WEEKS NOTICE, MISS CONGENIALITY, and THE PROPOSAL, while McCarthy has portrayed wild-cards-who-turn-out-to-be-decent in BRIDESMAIDS, IDENTITY THIEF, and THE HANGOVER 3. But, here, they are sharper, fuller, and more hilarious than they've ever been before.

The writers of THE HEAT refuse to treat its heroines like ciphers or caricatures. Both Sarah Ashburn and Shannon Mullins become three-dimensional characters with different sides to them. The sisterly relationship that reluctantly (and grudgingly) builds between them forms the emotional core of the film. This anchors the laughs and shenanigans in a way that would not have happened if Asburn and Mullins had not been given some depth of character. Both Bullock and McCarthy do themselves proud.

Tom Wilson, Demian Bichir, Dan Bakkedahl, Taran Killam, and Jane Curtin are similarly strong in key supporting roles. Curtin is especially hilarious as Shannon's equally acerbic and foul-mouthed mother. The scene where Sarah has to sit (and suffer) at the same table as the rest of Shannon's blue-collar Bostonian Irish clan is pure comic gold. Other funny setpieces include Sarah and Shannon's infiltration of a night-club in a loony effort to plant a bug in a suspect's cell phone. There's also Shannon's interactions with an albino DEA agent played by Bakkedahl. Simply hilarious. You'll see...

In the end, THE HEAT is a very good Female Buddy Cop Flick that is also probably the first mainstream mega-success in this sparsely-populated sub-genre. Let's hope for a sequel wherein Sarah Ashburn and Shannon Mullins get to continue their "Bramance" (AKA: A Bromance - but with women).

The Dog (Cat?) Days Of Summer: August Reviews...

Hello, folks...

Just a quick note to say that the remaining Summer Reviews should post between now and the end of August. Sorry for the delay, but it's been a busy summer. Fun, but busy.

The reviews for BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO and THE HEAT should post by next weekend. Plus, to honor a friend's request (and the release of BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, I will be compiling a "Spotlight On The Giallo Sub-Genre" as well as TOP 10 GIALLOS FOR THE UNINITIATED. Please expect that to post by next weekend, as well.

In the meantime, please find below the trailers for the rest of our Summer Reviews:

















Have a great August, folks! : )

# 510 - THIS IS THE END (2013)

THIS IS THE END (COMEDY / DISASTER END OF THE WORLD FLICK / SPOOF) ****1/2 out of *****

(If the Apocalypse is really this funny, then bring on The End!)



CAST: Seth Gordon, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Michael Cera.

DIRECTOR: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen.

WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some damn good arguments for embracing the End Of The World - straight ahead....




IT'S LIKE THIS: Ah, the "The Disaster Movie" sub-genre... What would 1970's and early-1980's Hollywood Cinema have been without it?

Infinitely less cheesy, that's what. Think of flicks like AIRPORT, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE TOWERING INFERNO, EARTHQUAKE, AVALANCHE, RETURN TO THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, WHEN TIME RAN OUT, METEOR, PLAGUE, THE SWARM, HURRICANE, VIRUS, etc... Even the best of the lot (THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE TOWERING INFERNO) have a fairly high Velveeta factor.

Then, in the mid-80's, "The Disaster Movie" went into sharp decline - probably because audiences worldwide were starting to keel over from cinematic-Cheeze-Whiz poisoning. If Hollywood would have kept the sub-genre going, it might have meant the end of humanity as we know it. Forget the Cuban Missile Crisis - we were almost done in by The Disaster Movie sub-genre.

Unfortunately, just when we thought we were safe, The Disaster Movie Sub-Genre woke up from its slumber in the early-90's: we had to contend with back-to-back killer volcano movies: DANTE'S PEAK and, um, VOLCANO. This was soon followed by TWISTER, DAYLIGHT, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and POSEIDON (a remake of the GrandDaddy Of All Disaster Flicks: THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE) in the late-90's and early/mid-2000s... and before you could say "Holy Tsunami, Batman!" we were smack dab in the middle of a Disaster Movie revival.

But it got worse. Infinitely worse. You see, one night, the Disaster Movie Sub-Genre got really drunk at a bar, and noticed something across the room making major googley eyes at it: The End Of The World Horror Movie Sub-Genre, drunk of its ass, too. Examples of this category of flick includes THE SEVENTH SIGN, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THE MEDUSA TOUCH, END OF DAYS, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, and PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE. Okay, alright, that last one just looked and felt like an End Of The World Horror Movie. Horrifying.

Fueled by lots and lots of Tequila and Jell-O Shots, the Disaster Movie Sub-Genre and the End Of The World Horror Movie Sub-Genre hooked up, had unprotected sex, and felt seriously guilty (and hung over) the next morning. But if they thought the only punishment from their indiscretion they would suffer was a heinous hangover (and maybe some highly ill-advised pictures snapped on their phones - ahem), then they were kidding themselves (or just still drunk off their gourd).

Nope. The real output of the Disaster Movie Sub-Genre and the End Of The World Horror Movie Sub-Genre was an illegitimate bastard child called... The Disaster That Kicks Off The End Of The World Horror Movie Sub-Genre. Basically, this sleazy union produced movies within the last few years that take the cheesy elements of both subgenres - and multiply the Velveeta factor by at least a dozen. THE DARKEST HOUR, SKYLINE, KNOWING, LEGION, and 2012 - just to name a few.

Pretty soon, the Disaster That Kicks Off The End Of The World Horror Movie started to feel about as fresh as a bag of Doritos left open for a week in a soccer field in the middle of summer. With these movie significantly losing their "crunch" it was only a matter time before someone would decide to go all post-modern or meta or deconstructionist or self-aware or whatever the hell SCREAM did to the Horror Movie Genre. Which brings me to our latest review: THIS IS THE END.

If you were to take the nutjobs, weirdos, sociopaths, and loons of 30 ROCK, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, and SOUTH PARK (my TOP 3 Favorite TV Shows, by the way), and projected their personalities into the assholes of your basic ENTOURAGE (my least favorite TV show, by the way) episode - and then blended it with the elements of the Disaster That Kicks Off The End Of The World Horror Movie Sub-Genre, you would basically get THIS IS THE END. Essentially a loony send-up/satire of Disaster Flicks and End Of The World Flicks.

But it doesn't stop there. THIS IS THE END also goes the "meta" route - and turns itself into a quasi-reality show. You see, the "characters" in this flick have the same exact name as the "actors" who are "playing" them. Smart move, considering that we've already seen a send-up/satire of Disaster Flicks and End Of The World Flicks in, um, DISASTER MOVIE. In order to one up that flick, THIS IS THE END needed to do something different. Which means you basically end up watching Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, and Jonah Hill essentially riff on their personas for a couple of hours - while weathering the oncoming apocalypse.

It all starts when James Franco (James Franco) decides to throw a house party in the ridiculously stylish, absurdly symmetrical house he helped design (there's the first clue). He invites what looks like all of Young (or Young-ish) Hollywood: Seth Rogen (Seth Rogen), Jay Baruchel (Jay Baruchel), Jonah Hill (Jonah Hill), Danny McBride (Danny McBride), Craig Robinson (Craig Robinson), Rihanna (Rihanna), Michael Cera (Michael Cera), Emma Watson (Emma Watson), Aziz (Aziz), and so on and so forth.

For awhile, the party seems like your basic DoucheFest, with everyone basically trying to prove who is more successful and who can do more lines of blow - and generally giving the impression that maybe making it in Hollywood isn't what it's cracked up to be. However, just when you think you can't take anymore of these sub-ENTOURAGE bullshit shenanigans, something finally happens that picks up the pace considerably: The Rapture.

Now, for the folks who don't know what The Rapture is, according to the Bible, it is the term for, um, that fateful day when Heaven will shoot down some laser beams to save the virtuous and sin-free by beaming them up like Kirk, Spock, Uhura, etc. - leaving the sinful whores like me down on Earth to face down Armageddon. In short, The Rapture is The End Of The World As We Know It. Hmmmm: all the righteous, hypocritical, gossiping, judgmental, jealous, fun-challenged, no-life dipshits will check out and leave us fun-loving, life-of-the-party "sinners" behind to watch the fireworks? Where do I sign up? This is supposed to be scary? Please. Bring it.

Anyhow, this being Los Angeles, it goes without saying that almost everyone gets left behind on the ground when The Rapture hits. What with the City of Angels being the most inappropriately-named burg in the Universe and all. Seriously, I bet there were barely 50 souls that got beamed up to the Great Soccer Stadium In The Sky. Jesus must have turned to God and was all like: "Told you. And San Francisco is going to be even worse, Pops..." To which God probably replied, "Let's just call it a day and give all of Cali to Lucifer, son. What's on Comedy Central?"

But I digress. So when the dust clears (this time), virtually everyone is still at James Franco's party, what with them all being a bunch of sinful, hedonistic Californians. Basically, these dumbasses are completely oblivious to the mayhem unfolding right outside Franco's palatial fuckpad. However, they don't stay that way for long. Before you know it, a giant hole in the Earth opens up right on Franco's front lawn - and Michael Cera, Aziz, Rihanna, and whole bunch of other overpaid, under-talented nitwits are thankfully swallowed by its ravenous maw.

Horrified, Franco, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson beat a hasty retreat back into Franco's palatial fuckpad. Inside, the five jackasses hunker down and wrestle with the notion that the world, in fact, is coming to an End all around them. Or at least, to a really fucked-up intermission. Pooling their meager resources, they discover the following things: (1) they don't have much food or water left; (2) they are all a bunch of douchebags; and (3) they are stuck with each other for the duration of this fiasco. You'd think there this is no way things could get possibly worse, right?
Oh, how wrong you'd be. Two things happen to put that silly little Polyanna notion firmly to rest. First, our five jackasses discover that there is actually a sixth jackass passed out in a bathroom upstairs, who has been completely unaware of the sudden arrival of the Apocalypse: Danny McBride (Danny McBride). Or, rather, our five jackasses discover Danny after: (1) Danny wakes up, (2) trudges downstairs, (3) unknowingly wipes out their entire stash of food by cooking a huge breakfast for everyone (surely their last), and (4) parks his husky ass right there in Franco's kitchen and basically insults each and every last one of them.

And the second awful thing that happens: Emma Watson shows up again. Yes. It's a disturbing as it sounds.

So... will any of our jackasses survive The End? If so, who? Franco? Rogen? Baruchel? Hill? Robinson? McBride? Hermione? What brought on the End Of The World, anyway? How can it be stopped? Can anyone be saved? What lessons about friendship and sacrifice do our jackasses need to learn in order for them to spared The Rapture? What do they have to do to get "beamed up" into the Great Soccer Stadium In The Sky? And the most important questions of all: Is Jonah Hill really such a duplicitous little bitch? Is Danny McBride really that great of a cook? Is Jay Baruchel really that adorable? Does James Franco really like to (as Danny says) visit the, um, other side of the street?

Here's my address, James... Call me when you are a block away...

BUT, SERIOUSLY: In several past reviews, I have elected to not provide too much of a serious discussion of the plot, for fear of spoiling the journey of discovery. We've talked about how some movies are better discovered on one's own, to maximize the pleasure of the movie-going experience. One such film is THIS IS THE END.

With its offbeat blend of the Disaster, End Of The World, Horror, and Comedy genres, as well as its surprising strategy of having its talented castmembers play themselves (or versions of themselves), THIS IS THE END is very much a unique film. It is also one of the funniest films I have seen in a very, very long time. The writer/director team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg do an accomplished job of keeping things consistently hilarious, clever, and engaging. Rogen also leads a stellar cast of comedians including James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride - and their riffs on themselves and each other are the stuff that comic gold is made of.

Rihanna, Michael Cera, Aziz, and Emma Watson also plays themselves in funny cameos. However, make no mistake: THIS IS THE END belongs to its six leading men. The film is not meant to be taken seriously, but it still needed a certain gravity and intensity for the laughs to work. Fortunately, Rogen, Franco, Hill, Baruchel, Robinson, and McBride bring the right cocktail of skills to the table. The result is a comedy like no other - and easily on a par with PACIFIC RIM as the most enjoyable movie of Summer 2013 (thus far).

And the rest is for you to discover. If you don't have tears of laughter from this movie, your tear ducts may not be working properly.