Dark Bar

Anna, a young saxophone player, searches for the killers of her sister Elizabeth who have been involved with "the gangs from the North" (some of the least scary loooking gangsters you'll ever see). All traces leads to a club called Dark Bar.

Considering Stelio Fiorenza history as assistant director on the infamous Play Motel, you'd be forgiven for expecting Dark Bar to be a similarly sleazy affair. In reality it's a far more subdued film. I'd heard some good things about this, but ultimately found it a lackluster thriller that is lacking in both suspense and style. I'm far more fond of the poster than the actual film. Poster art by Sciotti

Pathos - segreta inquietudine (Obsession: A Taste for Fear)

Piccio Raffanini's erotic thriller is something as odd as a futuristic giallo. Obviously the budget restraints stops it from going all Blade Runner on us, but it does feature a few "futuristic" cars and ray guns. It basically looks like an 80's rock video, complete with dancing dwarves, Kid Creole and more nudity more than you can shake a stick at.

It's not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to say that it's quite entertaining and I wouldn't mind a dvd at some point.

The poster, with artwork by Sciotti, took me quite some time to find but here it is, in all it's 80's glory.

Soto il vestito niente 2 (Too Beatiful to Die)

I remember seeing an ad for Soto il vestito niente 2 in Video World back in the 80's and being really intrigued by the image of the model with the exotic looking knife. With rock video editing and excessive use of slow motion, this sequel in name only feels a bit dated, but still remains one of the better 80's gialli.