Movies
The 10 Best Giallo Movies Ranked According to Their Titles
Many things come to mind when thinking about the giallo subgenre: bold colors, black-gloved killers, style-over-substance whodunits, and the like. But for yours truly, I can almost never get past thinking about the Italian genre movies’ lurid, unforgettable titles. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a giallo by its title? Let’s find out by ranking the Top 10 giallo movies based on their titles alone.
It’s giallo month here at Horror Press. Many things come to mind when thinking about the giallo subgenre: bold colors, black-gloved killers, style-over-substance whodunits, and the like. But for yours truly, I can almost never get past thinking about the Italian genre movies’ lurid, unforgettable titles. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a giallo by its title? Let’s find out by ranking the Top 10 giallo movies based on their titles alone.
Ranking Giallo Movies According to Their Titles
#10 Death Laid an Egg (1968)
Original Title: La morte ha fatto l’uovo
Alternate Titles: A Curious Way to Love, Death Trap, Plucked, The Sadist in Room 24
Death Laid an Egg is a perfect title, except for one pesky little problem. There’s no way the actual movie can cash the check that the title is writing. It is based around a poultry factory, which is a unique enough angle for a horror movie, but even the least-seasoned horror movie viewer around would be able to sniff out the inevitable disappointment of the title a mile away, as much fun as it is to conjure images of the madcap Salvador Dalí/Ingmar Bergman mashup it promises.
#9 A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services (1972)
Original Title: A.A.A. Massaggiatrice bella presenza offresi…
Alternate Titles: N/A
Now this movie has the opposite problem from good ol’ #10. It is a poetic title that draws the reader in, but what it promises is exactly what you expect to get: a seedy little movie that’s more softcore than giallo. But it’s a concise, evocative title nonetheless. The Italian horror genre’s answer to “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
#8 The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)
Original Title: Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh
Alternate Titles: The Next Victim, Blade of the Ripper
Now here’s where things get truly giallo-y. Who is Mrs. Wardh? Why is her name spelled like that? What is her vice? Sex? Murder? Both at the same time? What’s particularly strange about it, if so? This title is such a perfect blend of eroticism and intrigue, it essentially doesn’t matter if the movie is good or not.
#7 Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972)
Original Title: Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso (Seven Red-Spotted Orchids)
Alternate Titles: N/A
Another nothing-but-net giallo title. The image of delicate beauty literally being stained by violent bloodshed is a perfect evocation of one of the genre’s favorite predilections: allowing the viewer to watch some of the most stunning women in the world in decadent, deadly peril.
#6 A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971)
Original Title: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna
Alternate Title: Schizoid
This is another title that promises something the movie couldn’t possibly deliver, but it’s so forward about its delirious poetic metaphor that you wouldn’t expect it to anyway. It’s straightforward and a little tawdry, but with a dollop of beauty to it, which is exactly what you want from a Lucio Fulci picture anyway.
#5 Kill the Fatted Calf and Roast It (1970)
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Original Title: Uccidete il vitello grasso e arrostitelo
Alternate Titles: N/A
This is another metaphor-forward title that can’t help but conjure up a tangled web of glorious giallo plotting. We follow a rich layabout, perhaps, with a target on their back. Potential killers around every corner. Pure deadly melodrama of the highest order.
#4 Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)
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Original Title: Nude per l’assassino (Nude for the Killer)
Alternate Title: Tenebre braccia della morte (Dark Arms of Death)
No need for metaphors here! Strip Nude for Your Killer gets straight to the point. This is going to be a lurid, nasty movie of ill repute. But there’s nevertheless something poetic about the inclusion of the word “your” in the title, drawing the reader uncomfortably close to the action against their will like a tractor beam. It’s not just naked women and killers in this movie, you the viewer are also on the chopping block. It’s common for horror movies to feature second-person taglines to draw the viewer into the experience (“In space, nobody can hear you scream,” anyone?), but for the title to do it? And in such a delectable prurient way? Now that’s bold.
#3 Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970)
Original Title: Le foto proibite di una signora per bene
Alternate Titles: N/A
This title provokes the same kind of reaction as The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, but with the added benefit of tripping tantalizingly off the tongue. It’s a work of blunt-force poetry.
#2 Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)
Original Title: Ecologia del delitto (Ecology of Crime)
Alternate Titles: A Bay of Blood, Last House Part II, Massacre at Blood Lake, Carnage, Reazione a catena (Chain Reaction)
This one just sends a tingle down your spine, doesn’t it? It’s pure Edgar Allan Poe gothica that grabs you by the throat and proudly announces itself as a movie you won’t soon forget. As one of the bloodiest gialli on the market, which set the blueprint for many an American slasher to come, Mario Bava’s many-titled movie deserved however many rereleases it had to go through in order to reach this sublime, scintillating title.
#1 Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)
Original Title: Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave
Alternate Titles: Excite Me, Eye of the Black Cat, Gently Before She Dies
Chef’s kiss. This title has everything. Passion! Eroticism! Drama! This title takes you on a journey. Do I have any idea what it means? Hell no! But it’s a vainglorious descent into indulgent poetic grandiosity that wouldn’t be matched for sheer unalloyed linguistic exuberance until 27 years later when Fiona Apple cracked her knuckles and got to work.
We are finally in the midst of Shudder’s 61 days of Halloween! There are so many horror movies to consume and 31 days simply isn’t enough. Use the long Labor Day weekend to kick off your horror movie countdown and add these movies to your Shudder queue. Here is a list of what I would recommend checking out to ease into the Halloween spirit right before going into full blown premature trick-or-treating mode.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
The Yeti (2026)
A large creature has captured people in a remote Alaskan town in the 1940s. The sheriff has put together a search-and-rescue monster hunting party to bring back the captives. It sounds like the premise of a Cold Iron Studios co-op video game in the same vein as Aliens: Fireteam Elite. The stylization from co-directors Gene Gallerano & William Pisciotta in the trailer makes me think they have cooked up a story that blends action, horror, and wilderness survival. Sign me up, sheriff!
Leave (2022)
Hunter was found as a baby abandoned in a cemetery wrapped in a cloth covered with satanic symbols. She has been searching for answers her whole life about where she came from. Her journey to find her parents takes her down a mysterious path, and she is being warned by something from the beyond to leave this mystery alone. Can she trust who this investigation is leading her towards? It’s a mysterious, supernatural, culty film that will give you chills.
Penny Lane is Dead (2026)
One crazy night in Australia with perhaps a dash of revenge. Shudder’s latest original looks to be packed with blood and violence in this story of girls just trying to have fun until the crazy cousin drugs the party and invites dangerous people to play. The trailer promises lots of body horror (trigger warning, there may be SA or threat of it). I’m not saying it will be Evil Dead level, but there’s definitely something in the Aussie water with Lee Cronin pumping out his gory deadites and mummy films, and now Mia Kate Russel with this one.
The Others (2001)
This is a PSA to the younger readers of Horror Press; stop what you’re doing and watch Nicole Kidman go 100 miles per hour in this classic ghost story with a twist. Dreary weather, massive estate, confusing corridors, creepy house servants you don’t know if you can trust, and sad British kids. The ending is an all-timer and spoilers should be avoided at all costs. It has exactly what you need to get right into the cozy, spooky mood for 61-days of Halloween.
Dark Harvest (2023)
If The Hunger Games and The Purge had a baby and raised it during Oktoberfest. Teenage boys are tasked with hunting and killing the entity known as Sawtooth Jack on Halloween night, or it could mean certain peril for their town. Of the movies I have listed here that I have not seen, this is going to be at the top of my watchlist. Teens fighting for survival on Halloween night and the battle setting is in a cornfield?! Say less. I am there with my Sam Adams seasonal in hand. Another perfect movie to cannonball me right into the Halloween spirit.
This list has been carefully curated to watch in a specific order to gear up for a Halloween marathon. Start with the wintry monster movie, move on to a macabre supernatural thriller, followed by a ramp-up in blood and gore, to then be lulled into a spooky, bump-in-the-night classic, all to end on a ritualistic hunt taking place on Halloween night. This is just getting things started for the first 30-days. Looking forward to sharing the next list to get you through October.
Anyone who follows legendary horror author Stephen King on social media or reads the back of books knows one thing. It’s harder to find something that King hasn’t blurbed than something that he has. The dude is a voracious consumer of genre media, and he finds a lot to love. It’s an admirable quality. But, speaking as someone who saw American Ultra after he praised it, you can’t always trust his recommendations. Today, I’ll cut some of the wheat from the chaff and break down the best modern horror movies he’s recommended.
Three notes: First, I have decided to define “modern” as “2001 or later.” Second, King practices good social media hygiene and has deleted many of his old posts. A lot of them are archived elsewhere. However, it’s more or less impossible to make a truly comprehensive list of his recommendations. I’ve synthesized multiple different sources and done my best to truly encapsulate the breadth of his recommendations. Third, I have not included any adaptations of his own work. He may be outspoken about the ones he doesn’t like, but he’s still obviously biased in that department.
#10 Snakes on a Plane (2006)
To quote King himself (defending putting 2012 among his top 2009 movies), “no filmgoing diet is complete without some cheese.” Snakes on a Plane is a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin movie, delivering high-flying serpentine thrills. However, it’s also a remarkably faithful resurrection of the atmosphere of old 1970s airplane thrillers.
#9 Final Destination 5 (2011)
In his Best of 2011 entry on Final Destination 5, King called it “the best since the first,” and he’s absolutely right. While the sequels probably peaked with the highway prologue in Final Destination 2, the fifth installment is pound-for-pound the most thrilling entry. Between the bridge collapse, the laser eye surgery, and the nail-biting sequence where a screw falls pointy-side-up on a balance beam, there’s no denying there’s real power here. And that’s not even mentioning the fun final twist!
#8 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Day One “the rare ‘big Hollywood film’ that is both intimate and textured.” It’s true. A Quiet Place: Day One is a mini miracle of horror filmmaking. An IP-drenched prequel to a duology of good-not-great post-apocalyptic popcorn blockbusters shouldn’t be this genuinely stirring. Plus, relative newcomer Joseph Quinn holds his own against the awe-inspiring Lupita Nyong’o, resulting in an all-timer two-hander.
#7 The Strangers (2008)
After watching The Strangers, King took to Entertainment Weekly to pontificate about what makes good horror. If you inspire someone who literally wrote the book on horror to think about it more, you’ve done something right. Bryan Bertino’s home invasion movie is one of the grimmest movies of the 2000s, but its desperate existential dread is terrifying and perfectly in line with King’s best works.
#6 Splice (2009)
King included Splice on his Top 10 list for 2010, particularly praising the “talented actors… who take the material seriously.” How did this grotesque genetic-experimentation horror movie directed by the guy who made Cube land Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley? Who knows. But they breathe life into some already super solid material. What Brody in particular gets up to feels even more twisted because it’s the guy from The Pianist doing it.
#5 Smile (2022)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Smile a “good, scary horror film.” He added that “the real surprise is Sosie Bacon as Rose. What a hell of a performance.” Bacon really was a revelation, but so was debut director Parker Finn. His control over tone and pacing leads to some of the best scare sequences of the 2020s.
#4 The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)
King’s not fucking around about the New Zealand horror film The Rule of Jenny Pen. It’s one of just two horror movies on his New York Times ballot for the best of the 21st century. The underseen movie is a real corker, too. It follows a judge (Geoffrey Rush) recovering in a care home after a stroke. However, his relaxation is ruined by a sadistic retiree (John Lithgow) who is obsessed with his baby doll puppet. Lithgow’s performance is stunning, and his thrillingly dark energy commands the screen every second he’s in front of the camera.
#3 Barbarian (2022)
In a since-deleted reply to a fan’s Tweet about Barbarian, King said “Yeah, that movie blew me away. It was crazy! Crazy GOOD!” This movie contributed what is perhaps the definitive scary basement in horror, which is no small feat. That’s all thanks to director Zach Cregger’s control over onscreen darkness (one of his many skills). The man must be a shadowmancer of some kind.
#2 Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan is the only other horror movie on King’s NYT ballot. It has received a lot of international recognition over the years. Perhaps more than any other non-Parasite movie from South Korea. That’s because it’s flipping amazing. Its crackling energy makes it one of the scariest fast-zombie movies in history. But it also marries that with a compelling father-daughter story. There’s really nothing Train to Busan can’t do.
#1 The Descent (2005)
King put The Descent on his 2006 best-of list, calling it “the best horror movie of the year.” Forget that. It’s one of the top horror movies of the century so far. It’s a bloody good monster movie nestled into a skin-crawlingly claustrophobic spelunking movie.
Honorable Mentions:
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – I’ve never seen it, so I can’t in good faith recommend it
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – A masterpiece, but it’s not really “horror”
Obsession (2026) – We gotta let this one sit, in order to avoid recency bias
