Episode 35: The Gialli of 1971 (Part 1), feat. Patrick Ripoll of Tracks of the Damned

MAD KILLERS! ANXIOUS WOMEN! TWISTED CRIMINAL PLOTS! CHIC INTERIOR DECORATING! PSYCHEDELIC FLASHBACKS! NEEDLESSLY LONG TITLES!!

Giallo – plural gialli – so-named for the cover color of pulp crime novels in Italy is a stylish world of psychosis and murder that has existed in some capacity since the early 1960s, but it wasn’t until Dario Argento’s 1970 classic, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, became a worldwide hit that the giallo fad really took the country by storm. The following year, 1971, was arguably the biggest in the genre’s history, with a total of more than 40 films, several of which would become classics. Join super-fan Gabe and relatively apathetic returning guest Patrick Ripoll of Tracks of the Damned and Uptown Song Club as they explore a total of 12 titles in a two-part series.

Part one includes Sergio Martino’s The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (Italian: Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh), Dario Argento’s Cat O’ Nine Tails (Italian: Il gatto a nove code), Lucio Fulci’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (Italian: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna), Enzo G. Castellari’s Cold Eyes of Fear (Italian: Gli occhi freddi della paura), and José María Forqué’s Eye of the Hurricane (Spanish: El ojo del huracán). The original plan was to do 6 per episode, but I have COVID-19 and ran out of energy. But stay tuned for a longer part two soon!