Skip to main content

Feinschmecker giallo films!

 It's really hard not to like giallo when you like horror movies. If you ask me. It has the seventies feel to it, it has slashing, practical effects, razors and negligees, black gloves and mansions.


...and the names of these movie, my goodness.

"Aunt Martha does dreadful things", for example. 😍


One of our rookies is a regular cornucopia of knowledge of giallo, and he dug into his mind looking for the more obscure giallo movies. 


Enjoy! ✌


Murder Obsession

(Riccardo Freda, 1980; Italian: Follia omicida) aka Fear, aka The Wailing, aka The Murder Syndrome


The Secret of Seagull Island

(Nestore Ungaro, 1981; Italian: L'isola del gabbiano)


Madhouse

(Ovidio Assonitis, 1981) aka There Was a Little Girl


Tenebrae

(Dario Argento, 1982) aka Unsane


The Scorpion with Two Tails

(Sergio Martino, 1982; Italian: Assassinio al cimitero etrusco / Murder in the Etruscan Cemetery)


A Blade in the Dark

(Lamberto Bava, 1982; Italian: La casa con la scala nel buio / The House with the Dark Staircase)


The New York Ripper

(Lucio Fulci, 1982; Italian: Lo squartatore di New York)


Delitto Carnale

(Cesare Canaveri, 1982; English: Carnal Crime)


Extrasensorial

(Alberto de Martino, 1983) aka Blood Link


Mystere

(Carlo Vanzina, 1983) aka Murder Near Perfect


The House of the Yellow Carpet

(Carlo Lizzani, 1983; Italian: La casa del tappeto giallo)


Murder Rock

(Lucio Fulci, 1984; Italian: Murderock - uccide a passo di danza) aka The Demon Is Loose!


Sweets for a Stranger

(Franco Ferrini, 1985; Italian: Caramelle da uno sconosciuto)


Formula For a Murder

(Alberto de Martino, 1985) aka 7 Hyden Park - La casa maledetta


La casa del buon retorno

(Beppe Cino, 1986; English: The House of Good Returns) aka The House with the Blue Shutters


The Killer Has Returned

(Camillo Teti, 1986; Italian: L'assassino e' ancora tra noi)


Delitti

(Giovanna Lenzi, 1986; English: Crimes)


You'll Die at Midnight

(Lamberto Bava, 1986; Italian: Morirai a mezzanotte) aka The Midnight Killer, aka Midnight Horror


The Monster of Florence

(Cesare Ferrario, 1986; Italian: Il mostro di firenze)


Phantom of Death

(Ruggero Deodato, 1987; Italian: Un delitto poco comune / An Uncommon Crime) aka Off Balance


Stage Fright

(Michele Soavi, 1987; Italian: Deliria) aka Aquarius, aka Bloody Bird


Delirium

(Lamberto Bava, 1987; Italian: Le foto di Gioia / Photos of Gioia)


Body Count

(Ruggero Deodato, 1987) aka Camping del terrore


Too Beautiful to Die

(Dario di Piana, 1988; Italian: Sotto il vestito niente 2 / Nothing Underneath 2)


Dial: Help

(Ruggero Deodato, 1988; Italian: Minaccia d'amore / Love Threat)


Obsession: A Taste for Fear

(Piccio Raffanini, 1988; Italian: Pathos - Un sapore di paura)


Opera

(Dario Argento, 1988) aka Terror at the Opera


The Murder Secret

(Mario Bianchi, Lucio Fulci, 1988; Italian: Non aver paura della zia Marta / Don't Be Afraid of Aunt Martha) aka Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things


Massacre

(Andrea Bianchi, 1989)

Nightmare Beach (Umberto Lenzi, 1989) aka Welcome To Spring Break


Arabella, the Black Angel

(Stelvio, 1989) aka Black Angel

Others are checking out:

32 Liminal horror movies

Let's begin with the beginning: what in the world is "liminal" - and "liminal horror"? The word liminal itself is defined quite differently by different sources, but the essence is as follows: - a state/position at or on both sides of a threshold/border - a transition between states or the initial phase of a process of change As far as I understand, Liminal horror points to both this and at the same time to what is called liminal spaces , which are: - areas and architecture that lead you from something to something else, and which are not intended as anything more/other. Corridors, underpasses, aqueducts, airports, queues, waiting rooms... 'Non - destinational places', as my husband called it when I tried to explain it. Apt term! 😍 - Emotionally, liminal spaces are, for example, grief and growing up - Psychologically and socially, it's is 'nothing' between different feelings or states: the state of post partum and detox are two examp...

Love hurts! Horror films about love

Love is multifaceted. Sometimes it spins out of control, and it gets ugly. Really ugly. 'The things you do for love' are not just roses and cuddling. Sometimes they include psychological terror, violence, panic and death. The Horror Rookie Academy has made a wee list of horror films where love is key. Enjoy! 💛💔👄 Tittel År IMDb Requiem for a dream 2000 8.4 Slipp den rette inn 2008 8 Bram Stokers Dracula 1992 7.5 Re-animator 1985 7.3 Warm Bodies 2013 7 Sightseers 2012 6.5 Society 1989 6.5 Rammbock 2010 6.4 Mary Shelley`s Frankenstein 1994 6.4 My Bloody Valentine 1981 6.1 Mutants 2009 5.6 My Bloody Valentine 2009 5.5 The perfect marriage 2011 4.6 Teeth 2007 5.4 The Hunger (serie) 97 - 2000 6.2 Only lovers left alive 2013 7.2 The Gorge 2025 6.8 The last of us S01E03 "Long, long time" 2023 8.1 Spring 2014 6.7 AHS S02E07 "Necro" 2022 6.4 Nekromantik 1998 4.8 Haute Tension 2003 6.7

Krampusnacht! Krampus & Christmas horror

Krampus is a mythological figure in the folklore of Central Europe, especially in the Alps (Austria, Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia and South Tyrol). He is traditionally a figure who punishes disobedient and naughty children at Christmas time, in contrast to St. Nicholas (who is the equivalent of Santa Claus), who rewards the good with gifts. His name probably comes from the German word "krampen", meaning claw. Krampus appears on the evening of December 5, known as Krampusnacht (Krampus Night), the night before St. Nicholas' Day. Krampus is usually described as a devil or monster-like figure, often half goat and half demon. He usually has large buck horns, a fur-covered body (often made of goat or sheepskin), claws, a long tongue, and a hoof on one or both feet. On Krampusnacht 2025, as ominous gusts of wind carried supercooled rain across Scandinavia, the rookies at the  Horror Rookie Academy  decided to flock together. They dug into th...

Iä! Iä! Lovecraftian horrors

  H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) was an American author best known for his influential contributions to the genre of "weird fiction," especially cosmic horror. His work is characterized by a unique blend of science fiction, horror, and the supernatural, often exploring themes such as forbidden knowledge, humanity's insignificance in the universe, and the fragility of reason. Lovecraft created a mythos—a loosely connected universe populated by ancient, powerful beings such as Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, and Azathoth. This "Cthulhu mythos" became central to his legacy, and was later expanded upon by other writers. So, to the eternal question: what does this almost etherial term "Lovecraftian" actually mean? I think Wikipedia says it well: "Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy, and weird fiction that emphasizes the terror of the unknown and incomprehensible more than gore or other shock elements....

Escapism in horror, sci-fi and absurd film

  Quite a reality we live in, huh? 🥴 It's kinda messed up. Kamikaze-trained harp seals with GoPros on their heads swim around our oceans while geopolitical toxic masculinity literally spills out across all continents. On top of it all: AI. There seems to be no end to it all. That's why the Horror Rookie Academy offered a whole week of escapism in early February 2025. ...but what exactly is escapism in horror, sci-fi and absurdist film? It's not a genre, is it? We introduced the topic like this: - SUBJECTIVE: For some, _all_ films can actually be an escape from reality. Here we are looking for tips on which films/series (horror/sci-fi/absurd) are an escape from reality for you. There are no right or wrong answers here. 😁 - HUMOR: Humor strikes me like a joker in this game. For example, I laughed my way through The Human Centipede; for me it was a very unrealistic comedy - and then I know that my mother would perceive the film a little differently. (I accidentally saw David...

The origin of the Horror Rookie Academy

The Horror Rookie Academy has been operational for 15 straight years now! Good heavens, it's almost unbelievable. It's time for a little look back at the origin of the Academy. When I was little, my dad worked as a captain in foreign trade, and my brother and I used to join the boat during the summer holidays. (It was a simpler time, before the age of HSE...) Norwegian seafarers are so lucky to have the Norwegian Sailor's Church (Sjømannskirken) which works for their well-being. The Sailor's Church used to run a library service on Norwegian ships, providing books and films for the sailors. Either someone responsible for such things at the Sailor's Church was a horror and sci-fi lover, or their insight into the contents of the films of the time was so-so: the library cabinet onboard the boat was filled with the VHS tapes that basically made me the horror fanatic I am today. Jaws, Frankenstein, The Shining, Poltergeist, Rosemary's Baby, The Thing... All of which w...

Sci-fi or DIE!

Sci-fi is nothing short of glorious entertainment. Science fiction takes you to the outer realms of space, to strange planets inhabited by alien creatures whose workings are unbeknownst to us.  It also takes you deep into the human fear of technology, of hybridization, alien lifeforms, artificial intelligence, time travel, cyborgs and into our very future itself. One starry night, as there were no skies covering the Scandinavian peninsula, the rookies of  The Horror Rookie Academy  looked up towards the skies. They let their gaze wander between stars, the moon and the infinite expanse of our universe. They let their minds drift, their fantasy wander. They stared into the the very void itself. Awe-stricken by it all, their minds simply set ablaze by cosmic complexity, they decided it was time to put their heads together. The goal? To curate an extensive list of tips on top notch science fiction movies and series. Below, you find no less than 96 movie tips on sci-fi movies ...

Queer roles in horror

At the Horror Rookie Academy , a very interesting exchange of opinions emerged in the spring of 2022 on the topic of queer roles in horror . In the following, I will explain why I think it is both okay and important to lift queer roles in horror films. The text represents the author's opinion. In the wake of a really interesting analysis done by Dread Central (a must-read!), it was suggested that queer roles may take the focus away from the horror in horror films. This got me thinking. Thinking real good. Could it be that queer roles, roles protraying people like me,  among the majority may be perceived as unnecessary to the plot in horror films?  As something forced? Queer people are very used to seeing a different type of love than our own being central to the films we watch.  One of the things that makes me love films in general, and horror in particular, is that you get to enter situations where you are sort of exempt from constantly having to connect your own situat...

Automotive horror!

The term automotive horror , also referred to as "car horror" or "highway horror," refers to horror fiction where the primary source of dread, isolation, or violence is directly linked to vehicles and the culture of the open road. It essentially exploits the psychological terror of a machine turning malevolent or the vulnerability of being isolated on a desolate road. Automotive horror utilizes several distinct concepts to create terror: The Sentient/Evil Vehicle: The car itself is the monster. Christine (1983), anyone? It's often possessed, cursed, or supernaturally alive, acting with malevolent intent to kill, terrorize, or corrupt its owner. The topic of evil cars represents Technophobia , an underlying theme where technology, which is supposed to represent freedom and convenience, instead betrays you. Turns on you like a dirty street whore in the night.   The Highway Hunter: The vehicle is simply a tool used by a human serial killer or psychopath who us...