Camping del Terrore (Body Count)

Ruggero Deodato's Camping del Terrore has very little in common with what most readers of this blog would consider a giallo. Set in the states and featuring an American teen cast being picked off one by one by what may or may not be an "old Indian Shaman", the film has far more in common with any American bodycount film of the 80's than with any golden age gialli. Although the film is a very average slasher, it's still quite nice to see Mimsy Farmer, David Hess, John Steiner and Ivan Rassimov in action. Poster art by Armando Testo.

L'Assassino è ancora tra noi (The Killer is Still Among Us)

L'Assassino è ancora tra noi is loosely based on the still unsolved murders by the Mostro di Firenze in the early 80's and is mostly known for the very brutal killings that bookends the film. With no English language version available, a lack of any greater set-pieces or suspense through the greater part of the film and shot in a dull looking tv-style, it's easy to understand why this hasn't received any praise by giallo fans. I'd only seen the Italian language print until recently when I had the chance to see the excellent fan dvd made by Oli at Profondo Blogger. It's still not a great giallo by any means, but the subtitles certainly increased my appreciation of the film.

Moriai a mezzanotte (You'll Die at Midnight)

A general problem I have with gialli from the 80’s is that the actors generally come off as really poor substitutes for Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov and others from the golden age of gialli. Lamberto Bava's Moriai a mezzanotte is no different. Neither the performances nor the characters are interesting enough to generate any real concern for them. There are some quite good set pieces (the murder in the theatre for example) but compared to Bava's own vicious A Blade in the Dark the violence on display seems quite restrained. Poster by E. Sciotti