Istantanea per un delitto

That Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up influenced Argento's Profondo Rosso is fairly common knowledge, but it seems like it's not the only one of the maestro's films that influenced a giallo. After watching Mario Imperoli's Isantanea per un delitto it seems like the director looked towards Antonioni's L'Aventura for inspiration. Needless to say the result isn't anywhere as brilliant as Profondo Rosso. Istantanea is a pedestrian giallo. I'm glad I got a chance to see it with subs, but really unless you're on a mission to see every giallo ever made, you can easily give this one a miss. Poster art by P. Franco.

Perversione (Diary of an Erotic Murderess)

Manuel Mur Oti's Perversione or La Encadenada from 1975 is a fairly uninspired affair. Marisa Mell plays Gina who is hired by Alexander (Richard Conte) to look after his mute and disturbed son Mark. Unsurprisingly both men fall for her. Add the Holy Grail (!) and Anthony Steffen as Gina's ex-husband to the mixand you just know it's gonna end in tears.
The English language version of the film that I've seen appears to be trimmed (mainly for nudity), but I doubt an uncut version of the film would alter my thoughts of it. You can easliy give it a miss if you're not a rabid Marisa Mell fan.
Poster art by Renato Casaro

Giochi erotici di una famiglia perbene (Thrilling Story)

Giochi erotici di una famiglia perbene is yet another one I haven't seen but considering the story and screenplay is by Renato Polselli and it stars Erika Blanc, I'm sure it's must see.

La Sanguisaga conduce la danza il marchio di Satana (Bloodsucker Leads the Dance)

You hardly expect a film set in a castle on Ireland in 1902 to be a giallo, but that's the setting for Alfredo Rizzo's La Sanguisaga conduce la danza il marchio di Satana. It's a very poor genre entry though. Rizzo tries to keep the audience intrest up by serving up plenty of nudity, but not even that can save the film. It'

s a very poor script, the direction is flat and the first half of the film is excruciatingly slow. Just about the only good thing about it is the poster art. I've got two alternate posters. Unfortunately I'm not able to make out the signature on the top one and on the bottom one there's no info on the poster artist.

L'Assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora (The Dark Is Death's Friend)

Luigi Cozzi's L'Assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora is not your typical giallo. There's no amateur sleuth trying to solve the case, instead you know the killer from the very beginning. George Hilton is not given very much to do, instead most of the running time is dedicated to Laura (the very cute Christina Galbó from What Have They Done To Solange?) and Luca (Alessio Orano) being followed and stalked by the menacing Michel Antoine. Worth watching but I found this an average genre entry. The script feels like it’s stretched to its limits to make to 90 minute mark. The scenes with Michel Antoine works well though.
No info on the poster art.

Gatti rossi in un labirionto di vetro (Eyeball)

Umberto Lenzi directed some truly great gialli in the early 70's. In terms of style, 1974's Spasmo was quite a departure from his earlier films and Gatti rossi in un labirionto di vetro deviates even further from the earlier "jet-set" formula. And not in a good way, one might add. To me, this is Lenzi's least successful 1970's giallo and it's difficult to imagine that the man behind the great Paranoia and Il Coltello di ghiaccio is responsible for this mediocre thriller.
At least the dependable Renato Casaro comes through with a good looking poster.

Morte sospetta di una minorenne (Suspected Death of a Minor)

Morte sospetta di una minorenne, Sergio Martino's last 1970's giallo, is a fairly interesting police procedural/giallo hybrid, but it contains some comic elements that I don't think sit very well with the rest of the film. It took me a few years before I managed to get my hands on a copy with English subs, but it's now available on a great looking DVD from Sazuma. Great poster art by Ciriello.

...a tutte le auto della polizia (The Maniac Responsible)

As you can probably tell from the poster, Mario Caiano's ...a tutte le auto della polizia is a poliziesco/giallo hybrid along the lines of Dallamano's La Polizia chiede aiuto. Some people might find this a tad slow-moving for a giallo (since the killer doesn't start dispatching of witnesses until quite late in the film), but hopefully that won't put anybody off. Great direction by Caiano and excellent performances by Enrico Maria Salerno and Antonio Sabato.
I was fortunate enough to be able to see this through an excellent fan subbed dvd made by Martin at the Lovelockandload forums. I think that it's an excellent film and I've already revisited it a couple of times since I got this earlier this year.

No info on the poster artist.

Profondo Rosso (Deep Red)

The first two gialli I ever ordered were Tenebre and Profondo Rosso. I didn't know anything at all about the giallo genre, but I'd just seen Suspiria and was keen to get my hands on more Argento. Starting out with two classics, I was instantly hooked and they both remain two of my favourite gialli.

Love the Profondo Rosso locandina and I've finally managed to get my hands on one that's in better condition that the one that was posted here previously.

Macchie solari (Autopsy)

The opening minutes of Armando Crispino's Macchie solari are outstanding. Unfortunately the rest of the film can't quite match the intensity of the montage of suicides and the scenes with Mimsy Farmer in the morgue. It's still an atmospheric and enjoyable (if slightly overlong) giallo with fine performances by Mimsy and Ray Lovelock. There are a few great set-pieces (including a very disturbing sequence at a crime museum). The creepy, atonal score by Morricone fits prefectly and is a deserving candidate for the Digitmovies treatment. No info on the poster artist.

Nude per l'assassino (Strip Nude for your Killer)

Andrea Bianchi's Nude per l'assassino feels a bit like a sleazier and more crude version of The Case of the Bloody Iris. All the important ingredients of the genre are on display. There's plenty of violence and nudity (I don’t think Bianchi misses a single opportunity to show of the female cast in a state of undress). Edwige Fenech always makes a great giallo heroine and this is no exception. Nino Castelnuovo feels very much like a poor man’s George Hilton, but he does a fairly good job with his role although the chemistry between Fenech and him isn’t as good as it was between Fenech and Hilton. It's not great film, but it's a very entertaining one.
Amazing how you can pass on the opportunity to have Fenech on the locandina though...

Le Orme (Footprints)

When a film starts off with an astronaut on the moon, you know you’re not in for your average giallo. Le Orme is as much of a psychological drama as it is a thriller, but there are enough mystery elements to the story to attract the more adventurous giallo fan. Florinda is great in the role of Alice, a woman who’s desperately trying to piece together what has happened to her during the last three days. It’s the kind of role that’s perfect for Florinda and I really can’t think of any other genre actress from the mid 70’s, apart from possibly Mimsy Farmer, that would have pulled it off as well as her. Like in The Fifth Cord, Bazzoni once again used Vittorio Storaro and this film looks every bit as great as their previous collaboration. An excellent film that's unfortunately still not available on dvd. Poster art by Renato Casaro.

Il vizio ha le calze nero (Reflections in Black)

Considering the only version of Il vizio ha le calze nero I've seen is the cropped 75 minute english language version, I suppose I should cut it some slack. But while the cuts and cropping might explain some of the choppy editing and the poor visuals, I doubt that even a restored widescreen version would change my opinion of this film. Tano Cimarosa 1975 film is a very poor genre entry. The poor budget is obvious, the cast is uninspired, the script is lacking thrills and the killer is painfully obvious. Unless you're a die-hard Dagmar Lassander fan, you can easily skip this.
No info on who designed the poster unfortunately.