The Book of Stone (1969)
★ ★ ½ Nobody is ever going to ask me to recommend a Carlos Taboada film, but this may be my favorite. (IMDB has the 4 I’ve seen rated between 7.3 and 7.4. He’s consistent) His ghost stories have the narrative simplicity of something like The Others, but they never really go hard for some chills. All of his films have about two or three excellent shots, so he would best be experienced on a YouTube highlight clip.
Psychout for Murder (1969)
aka. Daddy Said the World Was Lovely
★ ★ ½ A young woman (the stunning Adrienne Larussa) is wrongfully committed to a mental hospital by her family and lover. She gets out and goes after everyone who betrayed her. One of the better giallos because a woman is predator instead of prey. She’s smart, resourceful and uses her sexuality because men are stupid. It’d be nice if someone didn’t underestimate her abilities, but for an Italian thriller, this is pretty subversive.
Death Laid an Egg (1968)
aka. Plucked
aka. A Curious Way to Love
★ ★ The description by 366 Weird Movies is more accurate than you might believe. “a blur of red herrings: prostitute killings, Gina Lollabrigida lounging about in her underwear, scarves with odd hieroglyphics, a speeding car, a scene of a woman crawling out of a car wreck that had nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the plot, and chickens, chickens everywhere.” Early giallo has a style much closer to French New Wave. Experimental flash edits and a sense this is a comedy. Largely incomprehensible, which is exactly why it has fans. Something new to catch every time.
Nightmare Castle (1965)
aka. The Faceless Monster
aka. The Night of the Doomed
aka. Lovers from Beyond the Tomb
★ ★ ½ Barbara Steele was made for gothic horror, with her big eyes and jet black (or platinum blonde) hair. With all the candles and ornate staircases, she completes the look. As an actress… she’s passible, but not as charismatic as her look. This is overly-familiar spooky house, with crypts and ghosts and mad doctors trying to gaslight fragile minds. As musty as a hidden passage.
The Man Without A Face (1950)
★ ★ My Watchlist has been coming up closer to Noir than Horror, but this one is a bit of both. Actually, It’s a bit of a lot of things: Pop psychology, surrealist murder mystery, Mexican melodrama. A lot of ideas thrown at the wall, but nothing handled well enough to make a lasting impression.