ITALIAN FOLK HORROR
Italian Giallo-Mystery-Thriller-Horror movies (and TV series) with a magic, occult, supernatural and eerie touch.
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- DirectorAldo LadoStarsIngrid ThulinJean SorelMario AdorfAn American journalist temporarily stationed in Central Europe searches for his new girlfriend, who has suddenly disappeared.Italo-croatian director Aldo Lado's opera prima is the ideal meeting point between Polanksi's "Rosemary's Baby" and Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut". In a eerie Praga (but the movie have mostly been shot in Zagabria) an american journalist (Jean Sorel) investigates the sudden disappearing of his girlfriend, discovering an occult conspiracy based on both esoteric and political aims. Seriously ahead of his time, "La corta notte" anticipates even Brian Yuzna's "Society" in its demonic deliria and Christopher Nolan's "Memento" for its peculiar interweaving of chronological levels. Awesome OST by Ennio Morricone.
- StarsMassimo BonettiLorenzo FlahertyJason Robards IIIPupi Avati's underestimated TV miniseries is a true «folk horror» masterpiece. In Rome, some people seems to disappear in some strange rituals on the Pons Siblicius, an ancient bridge where Etrusean priests used to carry out some ancestral, mysterious and cosmic-influenced human sacrifices. A young student investigating the case links it with the theories of Norberto Sinisgalli, a spooky architect of the 30's who believes in some sort of esoteric revelation, and slowly discovers a widespread occult conspiracy.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsFlorinda BolkanBarbara BouchetTomas MilianWhen a southern Italian town is rocked by a string of child murders, the police and two urban outcasts search for the culprit amid scapegoating within the superstitious community.The most «folk horror» Lucio Fulci's giallo is set in a retrograde little town in Southern Italy, where a strange woman dubbed «la Maciara» («the witch») is the main suspect for the disappearances and the killings of children which shock the rural community. This is a movie about superstition, ignorance, sin, sexuality, ritual murders and purification, distrust of outsiders and the «double».
- DirectorFederico FelliniLouis MalleRoger VadimStarsJane FondaBrigitte BardotAlain DelonA trio of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a cruel countess haunted by her cousin's stallion, a sadistic soldier haunted by his doppelgänger, and an alcoholic actor haunted by the Devil.Anthology film from three european directors based on Edgar Allan Poe's dark stories. The 3rd segment, "Toby Dammit", directed by italian master director Federico Fellini, is a eerie-weird masterpiece about an english actor who comes to Cinecittà (Roma) and completely loses his mind. While he's possessed by some evil force and by the 'demon' of alcohol, his world falls apart and reality becomes a nightmare. The ghost girl playing with the ball is a reference to Mario Bava's "Operazione paura".
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.Dario Argento's most «folk horror» movie, "Suspiria", takes place in a german female ballet academy, where a newcomer realizes that something very sinister is happening between the school's walls. Her stay in the academy slowly turns into a descent to Hell. Amazing photography featuring a gargantuan use of colored (mostly red and blue) lights.
- DirectorPupi AvatiStarsLino CapolicchioFrancesca MarcianoGianni CavinaStefano, a young restorer, is commissioned to save a controversial mural located in the church of a small, isolated village.The most famous Pupi Avati's horror movie as well as cult-movie par excellence of the 70s giallo-thriller wave is set in the countryside of Romagna, where a young restorer is called to work at a fresco in the church painted by the so called «Painter of Agonies» mad artist Buono Legnani. Under the apparent calmness of the town lies a horrible secret of death, sex and madness.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollPaolo MalcoAnia PieroniA New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement.The most terrifying horror movie by Lucio Fulci, influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and E.A. Poe stories, takes place in a old mansion in rural America, where a researcher and his family comes to live for a brief period to investigate the sinister life and death of the past tenant, the infamous doctor Freudstein (a combination of Freud+Frankenstein), banned from the Surgeons' Register for some mysterious reason.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsGeorge HiltonEdwige FenechIvan RassimovA woman recovering from a car accident in which she lost her unborn child finds herself pursued by a coven of devil worshipers.When a woman (Edwige Fenech) devastated by past traumas and filled with medical drugs is initiated by a neighbour to a strange cult's rituals, she definitely loses grip with reality and plunges in terrific visions. Sergio Martino's cult-movie is a clear epigone of Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby", although the narrative plot is based on a typical giallo-thriller entanglement and the psychedelic, trip-like visions of Fenech's character give the movie an unique touch. Great OST by Bruno Nicolai.
- DirectorMichele SoaviStarsHugh QuarshieTomas AranaFeodor Chaliapin Jr.An old Gothic cathedral built over a mass grave develops strange powers that trap a number of people inside with ghosts from a 12th Century massacre seeking to resurrect an ancient demon from the bowels of the Earth.An atavic Evil dwells in a pit under a gothic cathedral, built over a mass grave. When a young researcher tries to investigate the mystery of the building according to Fulcanelli's theories all hell breaks loose. Lots of visual suggestions, great SFX, esoteric and lovecraftian vibes plus a "Rosemary's Baby" mention for this Michele Soavi's Ken-Russell-esque movie. Featuring a very young Asia Argento. Music by Keith Emerson, Goblin and Philip Glass.
- DirectorPupi AvatiStarsGabriele LaviaAnne CanovasPaola TanzianiStefano, a young journalist, buys a used typewriter and accidentally sees that some text is still readable on the ribbon. He manages to reconstruct the story of a scientist, Paolo Zeder, who in the 1950's discovered that some types of terrain have the power to revive the dead that are buried in them. Stefano's investigations bring him in contact with a group of renegade scientists that are still making experiments to prove Zeder's theories.Though shot in Romagna's countryside, in the same way as the previous "La casa dalle finestre che ridono", "Zeder" presents a very different plot and atmospheres. Mostly famous for some surprising anticipations of Stephen King's "Pet Cemerary" novel - this is an atypical zombie movie concerning weird pseudo-scientific theories about some kind of soils called «K zones» where death can be defeated, and the implication in the experiments of some unsuspecting personalities link to the Church.
- DirectorMario BavaStarsGiacomo Rossi StuartErika BlancFabienne DaliA Carpathian village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl, prompting a coroner and a medical student to uncover her secrets while a witch attempts to protect the villagers.In a misty Transylvanian village a doctor has been called to perform an autopsy on a woman who died a violent death. During his stay others murders occur while he learns that some kind of curse hangs over the town. Stuck somewhere between Hitchcook and "Witchfinder General", this Mario Bava's ghost movie is a classic not only in Italy, but even worldwide.
- DirectorMariano BainoStarsLouise SalterVenera SimmonsMariya KapnistA girl travels to an island, after the death of her father, to find out why the father funded a monestary on the island.Mariano Baino's opera prima (aka "Dark Waters") is the italian masterpiece of Lovecraft-influenced cinema. Young Elizabeth, tormented by strange visions concerning her childhood, visits a monastery located on a isle on the Black Sea, where she finds that the nuns living there got involved with strange, demonic rituals.
- DirectorFrancesco BarilliStarsMimsy FarmerMaurizio BonugliaMario ScacciaSylvia, an industrial scientist, is troubled by strange hallucinations related to the tragic suicide of her mother.Another Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" italian epigone, this Francesco Barilli's movie continues in the wave of Lado's "La corta notte delle bambole di vetro" and Martino's "Tutti i colori del buio", but the occult conspiracy plot here is revitalized by african black magic references and some crazy gore visual sequences, first of all the impressive ending scene.
- DirectorLorenzo BianchiniStarsGiorgio BasileEdo BassoLaura BauHorror film about a journalist and professor looking into an old Fresco that might have something to do with the devil.Lorenzo Bianchini (see also "Oltre il guado") is one of the most preeminent italian horror director of the new wave. In "Custodes Bestiae", his second full-length film, he shows his devotion to some classic directors of the '70s italian wave (Avati, Argento), but also his interest for lovecraftian suggestions (this one should be seen with "Il mistero di Lovecraft - Road to L."), since the whole plot recalls HPL's "The Shadow over Innsmouth".
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollDavid WarbeckCinzia MonrealeA young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.The most famous Lucio Fulci's horror cult is a delusional descent to Hell in an abandoned hotel in Louisiana, where supernatural evil forces seems to come back to life to threaten the character's mental sanity in a lovecraftian way. Fulci's «poetic vision» on its zenit, combining esoteric suggestions, effective atmospheres and ultra-gore sequences.
- DirectorMario BavaStarsBarbara SteeleJohn RichardsonAndrea ChecchiA vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.Another Mario Bava's classic. Inspired by Gogol's novel «Vij», and best known worldwide as "Black Sunday", "La maschera del demonio" is the quintessential italian gothic-horror movie. The beginning in medias res shows the burning of a witch and her lover, during the Middle Age. Then, centuries later, two doctors who travelled by the same area, find the heretics' underground chapel and accidentally bring the damned souls back to life as vampires. Wonderful B/W photography, foggy-eerie atmosphere, SFX ahead its time and - last but not least - a majestic Barbara Steele.
- DirectorAntonio BidoStarsLino CapolicchioStefania CasiniCraig HillThe body of a schoolgirl is found in a meadow. The murderer is never caught, and years later, a young man named Stefano returns to the island and is reunited with his brother, the local priest.In this Antonio Bido's Pupi-Avati-esque «folk horror» giallo, Stefano, a young teacher, goes to a small island in the Laguna di Venezia, Northern Italy, to join his brother and priest of the town and to find some peace of mind. Suddenly, he find himself trapped into a web of mysterious killings, madness and medianic suggestions.
- DirectorMassimo DallamanoStarsRichard JohnsonJoanna CassidyLila KedrovaThe titular medallion is a gift presented to young Nicole Elmi. Once the girl places the gift around her neck, she is possessed by the spirit of a dead child who was a murderess.A TV documentarist and his little daughter (Nicoletta Elmi) go to Spoleto, Central Italy, to shoot a footage about the figure of the Devil in medieval art. When the girl finds and wears an ancient necklace an ominous Evil take possess of her thoughts and actions. The director Massimo Dallamano is mostly famous for his previous detective story-giallo-thriller movies "Cosa avete fatto a Solange?" and "La polizia chiede aiuto", but "Il medaglione insanguinato" is the only one of his films that includes occult and supernatural suggestions.
- DirectorPupi AvatiStarsCarlo CecchiStefano DionisiArnaldo NinchiA seminary student, Giacomo Vigetti, is convicted by the Papal State of seducing a young girl. He is forced to flee and takes refuge with an excommunicated priest. Unfortunately, the priest was excommunicated for experimenting with the black arts. And soon Giacomo wishes they'd never met.Another Pupi Avati's esoteric thriller, as usually set in the Romagna's countryside, in the XIII century, where a young seminarian comes to a monastery just to realize that a Monsignor living there possesses the ominous book «Pseudo-monarchia dæmonium» and spends his time in occult and magic practices. Some classic Avati's topos here (i.e. folk-magic, the «double»). Great OST by Pino Donaggio.
- DirectorLuigi BazzoniFranco RosselliniStarsPeter BaldwinSalvo RandoneValentina CorteseWhile visiting his favorite resort town during the off-season, a novelist investigates the apparent suicide of a woman he was infatuated with.Based on real events occurred in the town of Alleghe, Veneto, Northern Italy, where between 1933 and 1945 five murders have been made. A visitor arrives in this village on a mountain lake to look for a friend of him. In a autumnal-dreamy atmosphere, residents tell him she committed suicide, but he keeps seeing a eerie woman walking by the lake's shore, like a phantom-like presence. This Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rossellini's movies is one of the finest italian psychological thriller and it's regarded as a huge influence for the giallo-thriller wave of the 70s.
- DirectorBrunello RondiStarsDaliah LaviFrank WolffAnna María AvetaA lonely, sexually-uninhibited young peasant is subjected to an exorcism after she hexes a man who rejects her advances.In a small village in Lucania, Southern Italy, Purificata (Daliah Lavi), a young woman who practices folk magic, has been accused for a child's death. When she's been caught by her fellow citizens, she begins to confess her consults with the Devil and to show signs of demonic possession. This Brunello Rondi's B/W movie - based on prof. Ernesto de Martino's anthropologic-folk researches - combines typical horror sequences with social analyses about superstitions and the fear of the different.
- DirectorMichele SoaviStarsKelly CurtisHerbert LomMariangela GiordanoA lonely kindergarten teacher discovers a secret well in the basement of her house, and soon finds herself being followed by a murderous Satanic cult.Another Michele Soavi's satanic-horror movie plenty of references to films like "Rosemary's Baby", "La corta notte delle bambole di vetro", "Chi sei?", "Il nido del ragno" and to H.P. Lovecraft's mythology as well. In Frankfurt, a coven of devil worshippers put their eyes on a young girl to give birth to Satan's progeny. Watch out for the amazing face-ripping scene.
- DirectorLorenzo BianchiniStarsRenzo GariupMarco MarcheseLidia ZabrieszachThe story revolves around an ethologist working in the remote woods, trapping animals and mounting cameras on them so that he can monitor their behavior remotely. The resulting recordings lead him to a remote village, the site of an ancient curse, where he is trapped due to heavy rain fall raising the level of the river and flooding out the only access...This oniric and eerie Lorenzo Bianchini's movie takes place in the woods of the Alpi mountains between Italy and Slovenia, where a young ethnologist find himself stuck in an abandoned village under some terrific curse. The finding of some old photos and footage, and all the sinister nighttime sounds lead him to madness.
- DirectorFederico GrecoRoberto LeggioStarsEraldo BaldiniAlfredo CastelliDonatella Ceccarello1997: A student of folklore named Andrea Roberti hypothesizes the possible link between the horror literature of H.P. Lovecraft and the dark folk tales of the Po Delta, a mysterious and remote part of northern Italy. 2002: One of the directors of the film comes across a manuscript in Montecatini (Italy) which may have belonged to the American writer. This journal, dated 1926, describes travels in Italy through the Po Delta in search of inspiration in the form of local folk stories: the Filò Tales. 2004: A small, tough crew of international filmmakers is put together with the help of David, a New York actor, to make a documentary on the finding of the journal and on the links between Lovecraft and the Po Delta. If the manuscript really did belong to Lovecraft, it would be an extraordinary discovery. As soon as they begin, however, the filmmakers find that Andrea Roberti disappeared in mysterious circumstances many years before, his car found abandoned on the banks of the Po. The crew sets up its base in the town of Loreo - referred to simply as L. in the manuscript - as the author of the journal did. During their investigations the atmosphere of animosity and foreboding rises and they soon discover that strange and disturbing things have been happening in the area. Events that the locals are eager to keep secret. The film "Road to L." is the true account of what took place behind the scenes of the 11 day shoot, reporting how the failures and revelations experienced in L. came to resemble ever more a journey to... Hell. Did Lovecraft really come into contact with something sinister? Did Andrea Roberti stumble across something he wasn't meant to find? The documentary makers are stepping too far into the unknown...Mockumentary based on the hypothesis that H.P. Lovecraft made a trip to Polesine, Northern Italy, to take inspiration from some esoteric cults («la Confraternita dei Fradei») and from the folktales of the area of the river Po's Delta («Racconti del Filò»), especially the belief in a sort of lizard-like creature, for the genesis of some of his most famous stories.
- DirectorStefano LodovichiStarsFilippo NigroCamilla FilippiGiovanni VettorazzoWinter 2010. Dolomites. Tommaso Conci, a 4 year old child, disappears during a festival where people disguised as devils, the Krampus, terrorize the village with whips and chains. Five years later, a child was found nameless and without documents. DNA matches: he is Tommi. Manuel, the father, can finally embrace his son. The mother, Linda, however, can not adapt to the new situation. A suspect digs inside her: what if that child is not really her son?One of the best «folk horror» italian movies of the last decades, Stefano Lodovichi's "In fondo al bosco" is based on the disappearance of a child during the night of the Krampus celebrations (Krampus are in the local folklore a kind of demons who kidnaps bad children). The lost boy suddenly reappears 5 years later, but his mother is not sure that he's her son, and the peasants as well look at him like a «little demon».