Movies
Five Giallo Movies to Watch to Get a Crash Course in the Subgenre
What I’d like to share with you here is a quick, five-film crash course in getting to know the ins and outs of the giallo genre. Astound your friends and amaze your peers with your in-depth knowledge once you’ve completed this simple course from the comfort of your own couch!
It’s giallo month here at Horror Press. If you saw that and asked yourself, “What the hell is giallo anyway?” then this is the article for you. In brief, giallo is a subgenre of Italian horror that had its heyday from the late 1960s through the late 1970s and is named after the yellow covers (“giallo” is Italian for “yellow”) of a series of popular pulp crime novels. Giallo movies (referred to in the plural as gialli) are typically murder mysteries that blend whodunits with a proto-slasher vibe, usually following professional or amateur detectives on the trail of a murderer (who is almost invariably wearing black gloves) who stalks and kills an interconnected group of victims (who are almost always beautiful women).
What I’d like to share with you here is a quick, five-film crash course in getting to know the ins and outs of the giallo genre. Astound your friends and amaze your peers with your in-depth knowledge once you’ve completed this simple course from the comfort of your own couch!
A tip: Go ahead and watch these movies in English. You won’t be breaking any cinema snob rules. Italian movies in the 1960s and 1970s were largely co-productions with other nations and featured actors on set speaking whatever language they were most comfortable with, with the intention that every character would later be dubbed into whatever language the audience spoke. So if you speak English, good news! The director intended for you to watch the movie in English. Do you speak Italian? Go ahead and throw on that Italian track and bask in your authenticity. But it’s absolutely unnecessary to seek out subtitled versions of any of these movies, several of which feature English-speaking actors in major roles.
Five Giallo Movies to Watch
Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Mario Bava set the template for the 1970s giallo film with his 1963 movie The Girl Who Knew Too Much. He was very obliging apparently, because after that he set the template for the 1980s teenage slasher film with an extended sequence in his 1971 movie A Bay of Blood. However, as good as those movies are, the Bava movie you need to watch to understand what the giallo was doing in its early years is Blood and Black Lace.
The movie follows a masked killer stalking the models working at a fashion house in Rome to keep a dangerous secret hidden. At least, it’s about that on paper. Frankly, the whodunit doesn’t really make all that much sense. But it doesn’t matter, because the movie is most concerned with presenting the viewer with gorgeous, stylish, color-drenched frames as the murders occur, and at this it succeeds beautifully. Style has not only trumped substance, it has devoured it whole. This approach would come to dominate the giallo genre, for better or worse, but mostly for better.
Deep Red (1975)
You can’t just jump into talking about giallo movies without a Dario Argento title in your quiver. While his debut film, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage would also give you a great idea of what Argento was all about before he started dabbling in more supernatural fare like Suspiria, Deep Red is the quintessence of the director’s signature filmmaking style.
This features so many Argento hallmarks it’s difficult to keep track, including a memorable score by the band Goblin, the protagonist digging into every detail of an important memory to attempt to solve a murder, and oodles of style, style, style. Does it make sense that a porcelain doll has just skittered into the frame? Of course not! But were you freaked out by it? Exactly.
Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)
For one thing, this movie is important because it features a trifecta of giallo stalwarts in director Sergio Martino (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, All the Colors of the Dark, Torso) and stars Anita Strindberg (A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Murder Syndrome, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail) and Edwige Fenech (Five Dolls for an August Moon, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Strip Nude for Your Killer).
For another, it’s an exploration into how giallo can quite easily tip into softcore without sacrificing the genre’s effervescent murder mystery twists and turns. An adaptation of Poe’s “The Black Cat” with a heaping dollop of lesbian erotica on top, Your Vice is a thrilling, jangling, feast for the senses.
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
You also can’t make an essential giallo list without bumping up against Lucio Fulci. While the director is probably best known for his supernatural gore-fests like The Beyond and Zombie, he made quite a few contributions to the giallo genre, usually tawdrier fare like The New York Ripper and Murder-Rock: Dancing Death. While Don’t Torture a Duckling is one of his classier titles, it’s nevertheless got a no-holds-barred approach to its storytelling that is darker and more brutal than quite a few other 1970s gialli.
Viewing the genre through the lens of such a distinctive filmmaker – who generally has such a gleeful disdain for the notion of “good taste” – is an important way to glimpse the wider breadth of the genre. The gialli were never here to class up the joint, but sometimes when you’re watching a Bava or Argento movie, you can be forgiven for mistakenly thinking so.
StageFright: Aquarius (1987)
StageFright: Aquarius comes from director Michele Soavi, who came to prominence too late to direct many proper gialli, though he was an assistant director on several Argento movies and made appearances in early ’80s Italian offerings including Argento’s Tenebrae (also excellent), A Blade in the Dark, and the aforementioned The New York Ripper. However, that’s the thing that makes StageFright special. It’s a movie that’s deeply in conversation with the American slasher boom of the 1980s (which had pretty much crowded out the by-then venerable giallo genre), yet doesn’t sacrifice any of its innate Italian-ness.
Following an owl-masked killer murdering the cast members of a theater production, it’s a terrific, weird, compelling movie that blends top-shelf gore with eye-rattling imagery that is sometimes chaotic and sometimes elegant, but always absolutely gorgeous to behold.
I don’t know about you, but it feels like I stepped out of the theater after seeing Wolf Man, blinked, and suddenly it was September. It’s been a very busy year in general, but as always, especially so for the horror genre. We’ve had some misses and some hits, but overall, I’d say it’s been a strong year (though maybe not quite as strong as 2024 and its deluge of incredible movies).
Though your mind might still be primarily occupied with a more recent release, there have been a lot of incredible movies to hit both theaters and especially streaming services like Shudder in 2025. So, we here at Horror Press have decided to put together a shortlist of the best horror the year has had to offer so far.
The Best Horror of 2025 So Far
Feel free to wave this list in the face of your friends who say that all the horror they’ve watched this year is bad. Or just to celebrate because your favorite made the cut! Without further ado, let’s start with…
Dangerous Animals
Fun and insane animal horror movies are so hard to come across these days, but Dangerous Animals chums the waters with some fresh meat for the subgenre. Sean Byrne, best known for his work on the Australian sleeper hit The Loved Ones, tells a story reminiscent of Wolf Creek on the high seas.
A surfer and her boyfriend fall prey to a boat captain who promises a thrilling cage diving experience, but with a catch: he secretly enjoys torturing people before feeding them to sharks. Jai Courtney shines as the antagonist Tucker, whose mealy-mouthed grins and demented demeanor sell the danger our leads are in.
Clown in a Cornfield
The pick for the best slasher offering this year (until Black Phone 2 releases, #JoeHillHypeTrain) is a no-brainer. Shudder has finally delivered the long-awaited adaptation of Adam Cesare’s Clown In A Cornfield. And helmed by Eli Craig of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil fame no less! In the now dead hamlet of Kettle Springs, Missouri, a group of teens run afoul of its former mascot Frendo. While it initially presents itself as a basic corn-fed killer clown movie, if you stick with it, you’ll find it’s actually much more clever and thrilling than it lets on.
Predator: Killer of Killers
When I say Dan Trachtenberg does not miss, he does not miss in the slightest. The current creative director of the Predator franchise, fans of the series have been eating good ever since his work on 2022’s Prey, and have Predator: Badlands to look forward to early next month.
While Predator: Killer of Killers could have easily been a cheap animated film to tide over fans while they wait for Badlands, it proved to be one of the best films in the franchise yet. An anthology film featuring Yautja hunting throughout human history and across cultures, the animation here is slicker than slick. Killer of Killers delivers the action horror that everyone has been asking for from the franchise for years.
The Ugly Stepsister
When I heard The Ugly Stepsister was a collaboration between a bevy of film institutes and production companies across four different Nordic countries, I wondered what made it so special. What I saw explained it. While it is technically Cinderella, it’s specifically a retelling of Aschenputtel, one of the original and much darker iterations of Cinderella collected by the Brothers Grimm. And dark this is.
Told from the perspective of Cinderella’s stepsister Elvira, we watch her spiral as she tries to beautify herself in the ugliest of ways, all in an effort to secure a wealthy male suitor. Truly inspired costuming, grotesque body horror played for both shock and laughs, and a dead-on sense of comedic timing make this one a very memorable watch.
Weapons
Director Zach Cregger’s sophomore outing in the horror genre following his smash hit Barbarian is well-loved, and for good reason. This time, Weapons shines a spotlight on lives in a small town, and how they intersect, trying to make sense of a horrifying incident: the disappearance of 17 children who run out the front doors of their homes in the dead of night.
Cregger dances deftly on the line between horror and comedy in a way I can only describe as masterful, creating a film that is both viciously funny and aggressively disturbing. Where the film goes is a curveball, even for those who have seen the trailers, and a delightful one at that, since Weapons brings a new horror icon to the stage.
Companion
And speaking of Zach Cregger, this sci-fi horror is another one of his productions. If you’ve somehow avoided seeing anything about Companion until now and don’t know what it’s about, keep it that way and go watch it immediately. The ad campaign spoiled it, but the story is undeniably enthralling even if you know where it’s going. This movie features what is, by far, Sophie Thatcher’s most dynamic performance yet, supported by a stellar cast and the film’s pitch-black humor.
Fréwaka
The first Irish-language horror film is also one of the nation’s best cinematic offerings yet. A gripping and immersive folk horror film, it follows a home nurse named Shoo assigned to a superstitious older woman named Peig who lives on the edge of a remote village. Shoo soon begins to see dark ongoings in her dreams and waking life, plagued by the same mysterious group that Peig has been dealing with her entire life.
Fréwaka is a precision-made film, chock full of high impact editing and cinematography. It evokes a kind of existential monster, both man-made horrors of human cruelty and the mythological ones that lie deep in belief and the dark corners of Irish folklore. In short, unsettlingly effective.
Ash
Flying Lotus’ directorial career has been a point of interest for me ever since the genre shapeshifter that was Kuso and the demented parody that was his segment “Ozzy’s Dungeon” in V/H/S/99. And even with the high hopes those ventures gave me, Ash is so much more than I could have expected.
After astronaut Riya wakes up to nightmares of bodies being melted and screams of agony, she finds herself as one of only two survivors in a mission to colonize a planet gone horribly wrong. Ash is a lovely middle point between Event Horizon and The Void, a mixture that is sure to please those of us who like our science fiction dripping with an evil atmosphere and dark visuals. It also boasts some of the best color grading and lighting in any film this year.
Sinners
If you haven’t seen Sinners already, what have you been up to? Brain science? Rocket surgery? Here, visionary director Ryan Coogler tells the tale of a repressed young black man in 1930s Mississippi, trying to break away from his preacher father’s restrictive ways. His journey to do so lands him a performance at a juke joint out in the woods, one he plays so well that it lures in an ageless and relentless vampire.
Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, and Wunmi Mosaku lead an all-star cast through a mystical horror story with purpose. It explores the meaning of culture, religion, music, and the Black American experience—all while delivering one of the best vampire films of all time. The showstopping original soundtrack by Ludwig and Serena Göransson that it boasts isn’t half bad either.
Bring Her Back
I won’t mark this with the caveat of “so far”—this will be the most disturbing film you see this year. Bring Her Back blew any expectations you might have had from the Phillipou Brothers’ Talk To Me out of the water. While the premise of an orphaned brother and sister who are sent to live with an off-kilter foster mother and another mute child she’s fostering might seem predictable, this film is anything but.
It’s truly an emotionally draining watch, blow after blow with both the physical and emotional trauma it puts its characters through, and forces you to watch. It refuses to let you breathe for even a minute in its final act. It’s definitively Sally Hawkin’s finest hour as an actress, and beyond this short list, it’s firmly some of the best horror of all time.
2024 was pretty damn swamped with horror. Longlegs, Heretic, Nosferatu, I Saw the TV Glow…even over halfway into 2025, fans are still catching up on every horror flick they might have missed last year. Early on, though, we were given one of the best horror-rom-coms of the 21st century…and no one seemed to really care. Did people stop liking fun? It seems to be the only explanation for why this movie did not catch on more. Directed by Zelda Williams and written by the legendary Diablo Cody, Lisa Frankenstein was designed to be a cult classic, and should be remembered as one.
A Vibrant 80s Aesthetic That Screams Originality
One thing to note about this movie right off the bat is how unapologetically itself it is. The film is an absolute vibe, boasting an original aesthetic. There is so much 1980s nostalgia saturating the mainstream (cough, cough, Stranger Things), so it could be hard to imagine why we need another tongue-in-cheek horror-comedy set in the era. Lisa Frankenstein takes a completely original approach to the 80s. Its fashion and music concern themselves with the alternative, new wave-ish, goth-y side of the decade. It does not glorify what was big and popular, but rather picks it apart in ridiculously kitschy designs.
The film feels like a mix of Tim Burton’s brightest, suburban aesthetics, mixed with the grittier side of 80s culture and music. It is a bit of a, dare I say it, Frankenstein’s monster of a wavelength. With such striking originality, it’s hard to say why exactly the film did not find its way into viewers’ hearts.
The Bride of (Lisa) Frankenstein
The leads in the film are both phenomenal. Kathryn Newton is funny and full of life as the protagonist, who feels like a more light-hearted version of Wednesday Addams. Cole Spruce is phenomenal as the creature, playing an old-school, lovable monster. They truly play the movie as equal parts Edward Scissorhands and Juno. Speaking of…
Diablo Cody’s Cinematic Universe: A Horror-Comedy Legacy
What really puts this film on the next level is its writing. The film is written by the legendary Diablo Cody, creator of classics such as Jennifer’s Body and Juno. The film continues her legacy of teen-centric stories, combining drama, comedy, and, more often than not, bloody horror. Her originality shines through in this film without a doubt, with the humor evoking a distinctly mid-2000s indie flick feel.
Additionally, in an interview with Deadline, Diablo Cody said, “…this movie [Lisa Frankenstein] takes place in the same Universe [Jennifer’s Body]. Jennifer’s Body is of course revered as a classic horror-comedy, blending brutal supernatural lore with a ton of humor. That movie has a much higher fan base than Lisa Frankenstein, however, Cody has confirmed that these films share the same Universe. This alone should give fans of the genre another chance to consider this movie. Plus, with news of a potential Jennifer’s Body 2, Lisa Frankenstein could potentially be part of what one day may be an iconic trilogy.
A Deeper Love Letter to Art and Creation
For all the pomp and frills of teen dramedy, romcom-ishness (new word!) and bloody horror, Lisa Frankenstein has some more to say than what meets the eye. The movie is not just a romance between Lisa and The Creature. It is a romance between Lisa and art itself.
Lisa’s character is an artist from the beginning, sewing and designing her own art and fashions, fascinated by the art surrounding her. She has a passion for art and art history, and desires to create. In a sense, through her sewing and construction, The Creature is an art piece. The movie is literally a romance between her and the act of human creation.
In one of the movie’s best sequences, Lisa has a dream sequence in which she is married to the bust of The Creature, and the room is decorated like George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon. This iconic short film from the turn of the 20th century remains one of the most impactful and inspirational films ever made, helping to pioneer narrative storytelling in film. By referencing and paying homage to this movie, Lisa Frankenstein draws a throughline between Lisa’s creation and the creation of art as a whole. This is a movie that understands its place in film history and appreciates the importance of creation on both a Divine and human creative level.
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