THE BEYOND
The undoubted masterpiece of Lucio Fulci, a crazed and surreal gorefest that’s irresistible, even if it doesn’t make much sense
ETOILE
A lame ballet-centered horror flick that was mercifully forgotten until the release of BLACK SWAN, with which it shares quite a few similarities
SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES
An unauthorized take on DRACULA, SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES isn’t very good, but has amassed a following due, I’m assuming, to the fact that it’s so old
SHOCK
A superb 1977 horror movie, the last to be directed by the late, great Mario Bava. A textbook example of how to build mood, tension and, yes, shock on a limited budget, it remains one of the best films of its kind
THE SECT
This horror opus from Italy’s Michele Soavi is long winded, incoherent and overly derivative of the films of its producer and co-writer Dario Argento, but excels nonetheless in arrestingly grotesque, hallucinatory imagery
THE SABBATH
Any movie featuring the delectable Beatrice Dalle involved in orgies and medieval torture can’t possibly be all bad—or so I thought until I sat through this mess
THE OTHER HELL
Nunsploitation insanity from the late Italian trashmeister Bruno Mattai that even by traditional nunsploitation standards is profoundly trashy and perfunctory, and frankly not very entertaining at all
OPERA
Not one of Dario Argento’s best films, but certainly one of his most outrageous. No other Argento movie more enthusiastically pushes his preferences for fluid camerawork, garish colors and extremely graphic violence
THE ARCANE SORCERER
Nineties-era period horror from Italy that was underrated then but is overrated now
ALIEN 2: ON EARTH
This is the unauthorized Italian-made sequel to ALIEN that was withheld from American release for decades