I've always been a fan of horror and sf. In literature, on TV and in the movies. I grew up watching the great Universal horror films on late-night tv and on Saturday afternoons. Those great horror hosts were a big part of my childhood.
From there I moved to a love of the Hammer and Amicus films. I really loved the British spin on the classic movie monsters. After all, Shelley and Stoker were Brits! Plus, I've always been an Anglophile. I've been to England twice. I rode the British Rails using a BritRail Pass and have stayed in little Bed & Breakfast places. Britain is my home away from home!
The next step was discovering the horrors coming from Italy and Spain. I probably learned of these movies from the pages of Fangoria and Gorezone. I also discovered other magazines such as Chas. Balun's Deep Red magazine and a British mag called Fear.
I'm not quite sure what movie was my FIRST GIALLO. I have narrowed the search down to two flicks that were influential in luring me into the web. One was Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA (which premiered in Italy February 1, 1977 and eventually hit the American screens in mid-August of that year). The other was Umberto Lenzi's EYEBALL (Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro/Red Cat in a Glass Maze) which came out in Italy in January, 1975, but didn't hit the US shores until June of 1978.
I am unsure as to which of these movies I saw first. I certainly remember WHERE I saw each of them.
I saw EYEBALL at a drive-in movie theater in Schuyler, NY, which is just east of Utica. A US release date of June 1978 sounds about right. At that time I was living very near Schuyler, in Herkimer. I was attending Herkimer County Community College at the time. This movie is very important to me. Sometime, in a future blog, I will do a detailed analysis of this flick.
I saw SUSPIRIA at a movie theater in Somerville, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. My great-grandmother lived in Somerville and I visited her many times. She passed away in 1991. I don't believe SUSPIRIA was playing as part of its initial US run. I seem to remember that the screening was just a one-night thing. I may have seen it before OR after I saw EYEBALL. Most likely it was sometime AFTER. I didn't know a LOT about Argento or SUSPIRIA. But, I do remember seeing the trailer with the big, red, veiny, pulsating letters! I HAD to see this movie!
To this day I am a big fan of BOTH Umberto Lenzi and Dario Argento. Their movies really grabbed me!
Next time, I'll be detailing what it is about Giallo Cinema that speaks to me.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
A Little About Me
Just so that you have a general idea of WHO is spouting off about this giallo stuff, I thought I'd tell you a little about myself.
At the time of this writing I am a 53 year old employee of the US Postal Service. Yup, I schlep the mail for USPS. Rain or Shine. Snow or Sleet. I live in the northern half of New York State, near the southern shore of Lake Ontario. I've lived in the Northeast/New England area pretty much all of my life, so I am used to cold weather. If its 20°F, and I'm toting a bag of mail up and down the street...I'm working up a sweat!
I grew up in eastern Massachusetts, in a small town located between Boston and Plymouth. A generally quiet, normal life. I loved horror and SF films and reading Poe, Agatha Christie and other mystery and horror authors. Fortunately, I had parents who did not discourage my interests. I grew up on Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. I even sent Forry Ackerman a small donation for his Ackermuseum and he sent me an autographed postcard, which i still have to this day! I will talk more about the development of my interest in horror films and giallo cinema in an upcoming post.
I graduated high school in 1976 and then my family had to move to Central New York because my dad had lost his job in Massachusetts. I attended community college for 2 years, majoring in Broadcast Communications and got an Associates Degree. While there, I was fortunate enough to get a little REAL LIFE experience in broadcasting when I got a job spinning records for a few hours in the evening at the local radio station. I believe it was my second day on the job that my boss came into the studio with a piece of paper and told me to read the news that was written on it. It was the report that Elvis had left the Planet. Talk about an ordeal by fire!
In 1978 I transferred to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where I earned my Bachelor's Degree. While at O.U. I took classes in Documentary and Experimental Film and Scriptwriting. I also volunteered with the film society and helped with the weekend film screenings and with the film festival.
After graduation, I returned to New York where I spent the next 18 years or so working shifts at several different small-market radio stations. In addition to playing music, I would have to turn the station on in the early morning, shut it down at night, write and produce commercials and generally do just about any other job that was thrown at me.
One day I noticed an ad in the paper that said that the US Postal Service would soon be giving exams. Since I was CERTAINLY not raking in the big bucks in the broadcasting industry, I decided to give this a try. I took the exams and did pretty darn well. They called me in for an interview. I believe this was on a Friday. When I got home, there was a note on my answering machine. My boss at the radio station wanted to see me. He told me that the station was doing a total format change and that they were letting most of the on-air talent go. That included me. I was given 5 weeks of pay and a promise of a glowing job referral if I needed it. Three days later, on Monday morning, I got a phone call from the Postal Service. If I passed their physical exam, they had a job for me. Talk about LUCK, eh? For the past 15 years, I've been the Friendly Neighborhood Mailman. I'm single and I make a nice living, which allows me to travel and collect horror films.
I may not be an expert on cinema, but I know quite a good bit about it. About how films are written, produced and directed. I can talk about theme, structure, lighting, music and cinematography. While in college, not only did I study cinema...I also had to make several audio and video productions as part of my education. So, I have some hand-on experience, too!
I certainly won't pretend to be the final word on Giallo Cinema. I'm just a big fan who wants to share some personal insights and, hopefully, learn some things from others about this particular genre.
Next time, I'll be writing about how I personally view Giallo. How I came to discover it and what I like about it.
Ciao.
At the time of this writing I am a 53 year old employee of the US Postal Service. Yup, I schlep the mail for USPS. Rain or Shine. Snow or Sleet. I live in the northern half of New York State, near the southern shore of Lake Ontario. I've lived in the Northeast/New England area pretty much all of my life, so I am used to cold weather. If its 20°F, and I'm toting a bag of mail up and down the street...I'm working up a sweat!
I grew up in eastern Massachusetts, in a small town located between Boston and Plymouth. A generally quiet, normal life. I loved horror and SF films and reading Poe, Agatha Christie and other mystery and horror authors. Fortunately, I had parents who did not discourage my interests. I grew up on Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. I even sent Forry Ackerman a small donation for his Ackermuseum and he sent me an autographed postcard, which i still have to this day! I will talk more about the development of my interest in horror films and giallo cinema in an upcoming post.
I graduated high school in 1976 and then my family had to move to Central New York because my dad had lost his job in Massachusetts. I attended community college for 2 years, majoring in Broadcast Communications and got an Associates Degree. While there, I was fortunate enough to get a little REAL LIFE experience in broadcasting when I got a job spinning records for a few hours in the evening at the local radio station. I believe it was my second day on the job that my boss came into the studio with a piece of paper and told me to read the news that was written on it. It was the report that Elvis had left the Planet. Talk about an ordeal by fire!
In 1978 I transferred to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where I earned my Bachelor's Degree. While at O.U. I took classes in Documentary and Experimental Film and Scriptwriting. I also volunteered with the film society and helped with the weekend film screenings and with the film festival.
After graduation, I returned to New York where I spent the next 18 years or so working shifts at several different small-market radio stations. In addition to playing music, I would have to turn the station on in the early morning, shut it down at night, write and produce commercials and generally do just about any other job that was thrown at me.
One day I noticed an ad in the paper that said that the US Postal Service would soon be giving exams. Since I was CERTAINLY not raking in the big bucks in the broadcasting industry, I decided to give this a try. I took the exams and did pretty darn well. They called me in for an interview. I believe this was on a Friday. When I got home, there was a note on my answering machine. My boss at the radio station wanted to see me. He told me that the station was doing a total format change and that they were letting most of the on-air talent go. That included me. I was given 5 weeks of pay and a promise of a glowing job referral if I needed it. Three days later, on Monday morning, I got a phone call from the Postal Service. If I passed their physical exam, they had a job for me. Talk about LUCK, eh? For the past 15 years, I've been the Friendly Neighborhood Mailman. I'm single and I make a nice living, which allows me to travel and collect horror films.
I may not be an expert on cinema, but I know quite a good bit about it. About how films are written, produced and directed. I can talk about theme, structure, lighting, music and cinematography. While in college, not only did I study cinema...I also had to make several audio and video productions as part of my education. So, I have some hand-on experience, too!
I certainly won't pretend to be the final word on Giallo Cinema. I'm just a big fan who wants to share some personal insights and, hopefully, learn some things from others about this particular genre.
Next time, I'll be writing about how I personally view Giallo. How I came to discover it and what I like about it.
Ciao.
Getting Started
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then
you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
I think this also holds true for blogs...and podcasts.
You see, I am a BIG fan of the Giallo Cinema genre. But, I have yet to find a blog or podcast that totally satisfies my needs. At least, not in English. (I think this is part of the reason why I am in the process of learning Italian).
I listen to dozens of podcasts. Science Podcasts. Freethought Podcasts. Religious Podcasts. Funny Music Podcasts. Furry podcasts. HORROR podcasts. Occasionally, one of the horror podcasts will spotlight a giallo film. But, not often enough for my tastes. So, I guess it falls to ME to fill that void.
Over the past year or so, I have been toying with the idea of producing a giallo podcast. I HAVE done podcasting before. I managed to crank out 166 episodes of a podcast called "Woyro's Warren" which chronicled my adventures in Furry Fandom. Its been about a year since my final episode of that series and I think I'm almost ready to take the plunge once again. And this blog will be the springboard.
Although most of the postings on the blog will be about Giallo and other types of horror films, I might drop in the occasional rant about some weird topic that might be bothering me at the time. I'll try to keep these to a minimum. The focus of this blog, as the title suggests, is GIALLO CINEMA. Nuff Said. On with the show.
I think this also holds true for blogs...and podcasts.
You see, I am a BIG fan of the Giallo Cinema genre. But, I have yet to find a blog or podcast that totally satisfies my needs. At least, not in English. (I think this is part of the reason why I am in the process of learning Italian).
I listen to dozens of podcasts. Science Podcasts. Freethought Podcasts. Religious Podcasts. Funny Music Podcasts. Furry podcasts. HORROR podcasts. Occasionally, one of the horror podcasts will spotlight a giallo film. But, not often enough for my tastes. So, I guess it falls to ME to fill that void.
Over the past year or so, I have been toying with the idea of producing a giallo podcast. I HAVE done podcasting before. I managed to crank out 166 episodes of a podcast called "Woyro's Warren" which chronicled my adventures in Furry Fandom. Its been about a year since my final episode of that series and I think I'm almost ready to take the plunge once again. And this blog will be the springboard.
Although most of the postings on the blog will be about Giallo and other types of horror films, I might drop in the occasional rant about some weird topic that might be bothering me at the time. I'll try to keep these to a minimum. The focus of this blog, as the title suggests, is GIALLO CINEMA. Nuff Said. On with the show.
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