The Upper Echelon of Italian Horror

List creator: Brujaria Created on: September 28, 2003 - 11:21 AM PDT Description: The cream of the crop. The absolute must see classics that are available here at GC.

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	movie title	related list	average rating	MPAA rating	watch	rent	buy
	I Vampiri (1956)			Not Rated
Bava's first forray into the horror film is a twist on the Bathory legend showing his god-given talent for cinematography and atmosphere.
	Black Sunday (1960)			Not Rated
At the top of my "Best Horror Films" list is this sumptuous gothic masterpiece dripping with horific atmosphere. You can almost feel the fog, smell the charred flesh and taste the blood in the opening scene. Stuning.
	Black Sabbath (1963)			Not Rated
Bava Sr.'s second best outing is a stunningly atmospheric, suspense-filled anthology of horror that showed his burgeoning talent for color.
	The Whip and the Body (1963)			Not Rated
Another brilliant Bava Sr. film. Christopher Lee turns in the best performance of his career and the palpable sense of gloom is mesmerizing.
	Blood and Black Lace (1964)			Not Rated
Here (and with Hercules in the Haunted World) Bava really shows his talent for amazing use of colored gels. This is also the definining moment in giallo cinema.
	Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)			Not Rated
Bava's trend-setting, ultra-violent (particularly for the time) slaughterfest set the stage for horror films for years to come. Halloween and Friday the 13th would have never existed but for this movie.
	Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)			Not Rated
Lucio Fulci's superb, atmospheric giallo starring the great Florinda Bolkan and Tomas Milian.
	Deep Red (1975)			Not Rated
Arguably the apex of Argento's career, this stunningly shot, amazingly violent, wonderfully twisted giallo took what Bava made and completely reinvented it. Brilliant.
	Suspiria (1977)			Not Rated
The other side to the "apex of Argento's career" argument. This film is like no other. The nerve-wracking musical score, the incredibly elaborate setpieces, the shockingly realistic gore... A surreal, white-knuckle nightmare that redefined art in horror.
	Zombie (1979)			Not Rated
What can I say about this? The quintessential zombie gore film that was conceived as a Dawn of the Dead knock off, but is in fact an updating of White Zombie! Amazing gore, cool zombies, that shark, the cast, awesome.
	Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978)			Not Rated
Easily the best of the jungle/cannibal genre only marginally edging out Zombie Holocaust. Stacey Keach during his coke days, Ursula Undress, Claudio Cassinelli and directed by the most underrated Italian genre director around, Sergio Martino.
	Cannibal Apocalypse (1980)			Not Rated
The original title being Apocalypse Tomorrow, this is a great, unique blend of the vietnam war films and the cannibal/zombie films that were both popular at the time. A great twist on the genres, great cast and some absolutely jaw-dropping gore FX.
	The City of the Living Dead (Special Edition) (1980)			Not Rated
Incredibly creative and over-the-top gore FX, an undead evil priest, maggots by the bucketload, a girl buried alive, Michelle Soavi and Christopher George. What's not to like?
	The Beyond (1981)			Not Rated
If this is the uncut version, this is the masterpiece of Italian horror along with Susperia
	Tenebre (1982)			Not Rated
Argento returns to the classic giallo, with a great cast and modern (for '81) gore FX, pushing his amazing camera techniques to all new heights.
	House by the Cemetery (1981)
A really cool, atmospheric and gory-as-hell take on the old American institution of the Haunted House Film. And how about a zombie evil scientist named Dr. Freudstein? And then there's "Bob"... Classic!
	Phenomena (Special Edition) (1984)			Not Rated
Quite the underrated Argento outing. This makes little sense if you think about it too much, but accept it as an unrelenting nightmare and this is an amazingly creative ride with everything you expect from Argento and more.
	Opera (1987)			Not Rated
The last great Italian horror film. Sure, Sleepless deserves an honorable mention as Argento's homage to his own work, but this was it. A great giallo and the end of an era.