Despite its somewhat misleading title, Scream… and Die! (1973) is an interesting film directed by José Ramón Larraz that is well worth a look if you enjoy unusual European thrillers. Larraz is a talented Spanish director who’s mostly known by American film audiences as the man behind the erotic horror film Vampyres (1974) and only a few of his other films are easily accessible on DVD and video in the U.S. His 1973 feature Scream… and Die! has been available on video since the ‘80s, but it was recently released by Jef films on DVD.
Larraz’s films tend to generate strong reactions from their detractors. The director seems to enjoy playing with genre expectations and the eroticism and violence in his movies can be rather explicit, but if you’re willing to give Larraz the benefit of the doubt and go into his films without any preconceptions, you might be surprised by what you find. One of Larraz’s strong points is his ability to mix complex and adult story elements into his horror films that can also be enjoyed simply for their entertainment value. His early films like Scream… and Die! are also extremely stylish and creatively shot, especially when you factor in the low budget he was usually working with. Larraz was definitely one of the most interesting directors to come out of Spain in the seventies. His film Symptoms was nominated for a Golden Palm at Cannes in 1974 and he seems to have many fans now, thanks to books like Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies 1956-1984, but even among Larraz’ fans Scream… and Die! is often considered one of the director’s lesser works.
Scream… and Die! features the beautiful British actress Andrea Allan as an aspiring model named Valerie who’s dating a rather seedy fellow called Terry (Alex Leppard). One foggy night Valerie finds herself in the English countryside with Terry, who decides to loot an old estate hidden away deep in the woods. The couple soon find more than they bargained for when the home’s owner unexpectedly arrives at the house with a female guest. Valerie and Terry slip inside a closet and from their hiding place they watch a strange sexual encounter unfold between the homeowner and a woman that suddenly turns deadly. After witnessing the brutal murder of the woman, Valerie flees the crime scene and runs out of the house. When she realizes she’s being chased by the killer she stumbles into the woods and finally finds herself in an old junkyard where she hides in an abandoned car until morning comes. Once the sun rises Valerie hitches a ride back into town without Terry.
While Valerie contemplates the situation that she’s found herself in, she suddenly realizes the killer has returned Terry’s car and parked it outside her flat. Inside the car is Valerie’s modeling portfolio, which is missing a photo. It’s clear that the killer not only knows who Valerie is, but he also knows where she lives and he’s apparently stalking her. Unfortunately for Valerie she was never able to get a good look at the killer so his identity is a mystery. After consulting with friends about her situation, they tell her not to worry and warn her to be weary of going to the police since she could also be charged with a crime. They’re convinced that Terry must be involved in the bizarre events somehow and they offer to take Valerie back to the house where the murder took place, but she’s unable to locate it again. Like a strange dream, the killer and the crime scene seem to have vanished into thin air leaving Valerie confused and troubled.
The story takes another odd turn when Valerie meets a charming young man named Paul (Karl Lanchbury) selling Japanese-style Noh masks he designed at the photography studio where she works. Paul immediately takes an interest in Valerie and she’s instantly drawn to him as well. They quickly start up a romantic relationship, which seems to bother Paul’s Aunt who he also lives and works with. As the film progresses it becomes clear that Paul and his Aunt are involved in a troubling, incestuous relationship and the masks they make together seem to hide a deeper mystery.
In the meantime an unusual bearded man has moved into the first-floor flat of Valerie’s building. He’s a pigeon keeper and the birds he cares for are keeping Valerie awake at night and affecting her dreams. When Valerie’s roommate returns from a trip to Europe and is suddenly murdered, Valerie can no longer temper her fears and she’s forced to deal with the police and tell them everything that has happened. Her bohemian friends, the photographer she models for, the young mask maker and the pigeon keeper all become possible suspects, but most viewers will immediately know who the killer is.
Scream and Die! has elements of classic gialli films such as a killer who wears black leather gloves, but I don’t think the director is all that interested in the mystery aspects of his film. His approach to the material seems to confuse audiences who expect Scream and Die! to be a typical European thriller. Instead, Larraz offers observant audiences plenty of visual and verbal clues as to who the murderer is early on in the movie. Larraz has never seemed to care much for straightforward narratives so there’s no reason to expect typical storytelling here. It’s obvious the director is much more intent on exploring various themes about voyeurism and identity with Scream… and Die! instead of offering up simple thrills.
The film is filled with many telling visual motifs, including countless shots of people peering through windows and cameras that bring to mind Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). As a model, Valerie is constantly the subject of voyeurism from the photographer who takes her photos, the audience who watches her primp and pose and finally the director himself. Larraz clearly enjoys photographing his star and his camera spends a lot of time focused on her. As we watch her undress, take baths and simply drink a cup of coffee in her flat, it’s almost impossible to not feel like a “peeping Tom” yourself. Like Rear Window, an obvious streak of paranoia also runs through Scream… and Die!. Early in the film Valerie questions if she really witnessed a murder and as the film progresses she becomes more and more weary of everyone around her.
Many critics complain about the nudity in Lazrraz’s films and Scream… and Die! does contain nudity, but I personally don’t find it gratuitous. As I mentioned above, Larraz’s camera clearly enjoys photographing the film’s female star Andrea Allan, but her casual nudity in the movie is never very explicit and the mildly graphic sex scene in the film is more disturbing than erotic in my opinion. The scene in question has gotten a somewhat notorious reputation over the years when it’s mentioned in various horror books and publications and has even been called “Larraz’s most explicit sojourn into sordid sexual depths.” It involves the charming young mask maker Paul and his much older Aunt in a passionate, but deeply troubling sexual encounter. As I mentioned above, it’s clear that they’re relationship is incestuous and the sex scene perfectly conveys the domineering sexual power that Paul’s’ Aunt has over him.
Paul is played wonderfully by the talented British actor Karl Lanchbury who was a regular in some of Larraz’s early films including Whirlpool (1970), Deviation (1971) and Vampyres (1974). He’s really terrific in Scream… and Die! but he isn’t given enough to do in the film, even though he makes the most of his limited screen time. I wish the director had used Karl Lanchbury more, but Larraz always seemed more interested in his female stars and the male actors in his films are often given secondary roles. Andrea Allan is also very good as Valerie, but she seems a little reserved at times and not always fully committed to her role.
The film credits make it easy for audiences to assume that Scream… and Die! is a British production, but the movie was actually a Spanish/British co-production. Larraz shot most of the film in Britain, but some of it was also shot in Spain. The director seemed to really enjoy making films in England and many of his movies make great use of the British countryside and isolated country estates, which gives them a gothic atmosphere.
The script for Scream… and Die! was written by Derek Ford who often worked with the talented horror director Robert Hartford-Davis in the sixties. Ford was also a director in his own right and he made many British sexploitation films in the seventies before and after working on Scream… and Die! This film is definitely different from Ford’s other work and I’m sure that Larraz must have been involved in the writing as well as the direction of the film. One aspect of Scream… and Die! that I really enjoy is the creepy soundtrack by composer Terry Warr, which adds considerable depth and an eerie mood to the film. Warr had worked with Derek Ford before on some sex comedies, but surprisingly this seems to be the first and last time he ever composed music for a horror film.
I wish I could recommend the new Jef DVD of Scream… and Die! but it appears to just be a copy of the old video transfer. The film is extremely dark and it’s hard to make out what’s happening sometimes, which can be a little confusing. Hopefully a company like Severin will release Scream… and Die! on DVD in the future. I would love to see a restored widescreen print of the movie made available.
At this time of the year it seems like every film critic suddenly becomes an expert on horror films and starts publishing their quickly put together “Top 10 Scary Movie Moments” or “Best Films to Watch on Halloween.” These lists are often compiled by people who’ve seen a limited amount of films and their horror selections are often tired and stale. Does anyone really still need to be told that a Criterion DVD release like Carnival of Souls is worth watching? Or horror classics like Hitchcock’s Psycho and Romero’s Night of the Living Dead are “must see” movies? With that complaint out of the way, I’d like to bring your attention to the name of one director who really deserves a lot more attention, and that is Pupi Avati.
Unfortunately the name Pupi Avati tends to elicit chuckles instead of respect, which is a shame. Avati created some of the most fascinating and chilling horror films to ever come out of Italy during the seventies and eighties, and he’s worked with many well-known Italian filmmakers such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Lucio Fulci and Lamberto Bava.
As a director Avati has never stuck to one film genre. Besides horror films he’s made musicals, comedies and romances. I’m sure that’s one reason why his films are often overlooked by horror fans, who tend to favor directors that work almost exclusively in the horror genre. Another reason Avati is probably not as well-known or respected as other Italian genre directors is due to the fact that so many of his films are impossible to find and most of them have never been released in America until recently.
The director has made at least 3 or 4 horror or fantasy films that I’m aware of, and I’ve only been able to see two of them myself (The House with Laughing Windows and Zeder) since they were released as part of the Image Euroshock DVD collection in the U.S. Even though I’ve only seen a few of his films, I find Avati to be one of the most fascinating filmmakers I’ve ever come across. His horror films are deliberately paced and extremely thoughtful. They explore esoteric themes and interesting concepts about life and death, but unlike many of his contemporaries, his films lack gore and effects. They also tend to lack nudity and sex which some critics find bothersome, since his perceived prudishness could be seen as conflicting with the sexual themes in his films.
The absence of excessive gore and nudity in Avati’s films is probably the final and most obvious reason why his movies have so often been overlooked by horror fans who tend to be male and often prefer their horror films with plenty of violence and bare breasts. That’s not to say that The House with Laughing Windows (1976) and Zeder (1983) don’t contain any violence or nudity, but compared to most Italian directors from the same period such as Lamberto Bava, Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, Avati’s films could be seen as much less visceral. They tend to generate their scares and evocative mood more from what the audience doesn’t see, instead of what’s put before them on screen. I personally find Avati’s style of filmmaking extremely smart and sophisticated. He seems to mix the best aspects of classic gothic Italian horror films with the most interesting aspects of modern Italian horror films, and this gives his work a very personal look and feel that is all his own.
The House with Laughing Windows is the earliest Avati film that I’ve seen and it’s easily one of the best Italian thrillers made in the ’70s. According to the video interview with the director and his crew that accompanies the DVD, the script was written five or six years before the film was made, but it was re-written right before filming began. I suspect that the changes might have been somewhat inspired by Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, which was made in 1973 since both films share a few similarities, but that’s impossible to confirm since The House with Laughing Windows was supposedly written years earlier. Fans of the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man might also see some similarities between Avati’s movie and that British thriller. One thing seems certain; the script clearly has some references to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo (1975) in it. Avati contributed to Pier Pasolini’s original script for Salo right before making The House with Laughing Windows and it’s easy to make a connection between the two movies since they both explore ideas about torture and sadism.
The House with Laughing Windows opens with a brutal scene involving a mysterious man being tortured and stabbed. It’s creatively shot with muted tones and quick cuts that take away a bit of the shock it elicits, but some viewers will immediately be reminded of Pasolini’s Salo. Avati has said that his Catholic upbringing deeply effects his filmmaking and that becames apparent while watching the opening minutes of The House with Laughing Windows. Throughout the course of the film, Avati will evoke Catholic imagery and iconography over and over again in some subtle and very unsubtle ways.
After the film’s somewhat graphic opening minutes, we’re introduced to the movie’s main protagonist, a man named Stephano (Lino Capolicchio) who has come to a small and beautiful Italian village to restore a decaying fresco painting on the wall of an old church that vividly depicts the slaughter of St. Sebastian. We’re immediately made aware that this small town is a bit odd simply due to its unusual inhabitants which include dwarves, ghost-like women, depraved altar boys and raving drunks, among others.
Stephano finds the fresco in the church extremely lifelike and as the film progresses we follow him on a quest to learn more about the mysterious artist who created it known as “The Painter of Agonies.” Along the way Stephano is plagued by threatening phone calls and he receives unusual clues from the town’s odd inhabitants, which often lead to murder. As the bodies start to pile up, questions surrounding the fresco’s artist become more and more complex, and Stephano realizes he’s uncovering clues to a disturbing mystery that no one in the town wants solved. The House with Laughing Windows isn’t a typical giallo film and I hesitate to use the term here, but it does have plenty of giallo-style flourishes that should appeal to fans of the genre.
Avati manages to create an unsettling mood and sustain it throughout the entire duration of the film until it’s unforgettable climax. The director makes full use of shadows and the lovely local scenery. Avati also takes every opportunity available to him to shoot his characters out of windows and doors, or looking through and at windows and doorways. Windows and doors are impressively used as a visual motif over and over again throughout the film, which helps to beautifully highlight the movie’s primary themes.
Avati made The House with Laughing Windows with a crew of 12 and a budget that wouldn’t pay for the catering bill of most Hollywood productions. The movie is an excellent example of the creativity and ingenuity of European directors making genre films during the seventies, and I really can’t recommend it enough. Once you see The House with Laughing Windows it’s impossible to forget it.
Avati’s 1983 thriller Zeder is just as good, if not better than The House with the Laughing Windows, and it’s also well worth seeking out if you’re interested in seeing more of the directors work, or just want to watch a incredibly effective horror film.
As I mentioned above, The House with Laughing Windows is available on DVD from Image as part of their terrific Euroshock Collection and it was originally released in 2002. The film is presented in widescreen with English subtitles and the print is excellent. The DVD also comes with a really nice documentary about the making of the film, which features Pupi Avati, as well as many cast and crew members. Other extras include a Lobby Card Gallery and a Theatrical Trailer.
Avati is currently 69 years old and working on a new thriller called The Hideout, which should be completed this year. His latest film was shot in America and it features an international cast that includes Burt Young, Treat Williams, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Yvonne Sciò, Laura Morante and Michael Cornelison. I have no idea of Avati’s latest film will be released in the America, but since it’s an international production I hope it gets a wide release.
When Stacie first announced her Friday the 13th blog-a-thon I didn’t sign-up right away since here at Cinebeats I try and keep the focus on sixties and seventies era films, and the first Friday the 13th movie was released in 1980. Then I remembered something…
Long before Jason put on a hockey mask and started terrorizing camp counselors at Crystal Lake, Mario Bava took audiences on a trip to the Bay Of Blood (a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve, Reazione a catena, 1971) and I decided to revisit the Bay of Blood and examine just how much influence it had on the Friday the 13th films following its 1971 release.
Mario Bava’s Bay of Blood takes place in a quiet bayside Italian resort area where lots of holiday homes seem to lay dormant and empty waiting for their owners to return. Some of the homes are more luxurious than others, but they’re all rather close together and in some ways resemble a sort of “summer camp.” For good or bad, the neighbors all seem to know one another and the bay itself actually looks more like a lake. Naturally the homes all have their own weather beaten boat docks and the area seems heavily forested, which comes in handy since a lot of the action takes place in the local woods.
A killer stalks these halls
The film opens with the crude murder of a poor wheelchair bound woman who’s killed inside her luxurious villa. Her smug murderer is shockingly disposed of as well by another unseen killer lurking in the shadows. This stunning double murder sets the stage for the rest of Bava’s bloody film.
Soon after a group of four sex starved young people arrive at the bay looking for some summer fun. They break into empty homes, drink lots of booze and dance like crazy until the mysterious killer decides to murder them all in quick order. Much like Jason in Friday the 13th, the killer uses a machete on his victims and brutally hacks them up in what are easily some of the goriest scenes put on screen in the early seventies. One girl has her throat cut while her boyfriend gets a machete in his head. The other couple dies when the killer decides to use a spear on them while they’re busy having sex. These now classic murders were copied to the letter for the Friday the 13th films.
The killers in Bay of Blood don’t wear hockey masks, but at some point one of the murder victims puts on a tribal mask and tries to scare his friends before they’re all killed. Surely the makers of Friday the 13th must have jumped a little when they watched that scene.
Forget everything you’ve read about Halloween, Black Christmas and so on. It’s impossible to watch the four young people get murdered in Bay of Blood without realizing that you’re watching the birth of the slasher film. Bava had conjured up plenty of murder and mayhem in his previous films such as Blood and Black Lace and 5 Dolls For an August Moon which were both groundbreaking gialli, but those films were a bit more restrained and the victims were rarely as innocent or as young. Bava goes for broke in Bay of Blood and seems unwilling to hold anything back. His camera lingers longer on each gruesome murder and the award winning special effects and makeup he used was incredibly realistic for 1971.
Victims R Us
Other murders follow and the corpses continue to pile up in the Bay of Blood until it’s dark comedic end arrives with a bang. The moments that have always remained with me the most in the film are the pointless and brutal deaths suffered by the four innocent young people who were just out for a good time.
The young people in Bay of Blood have become the prototype victims for countless slasher films that have followed. They were all complete innocents who just found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their only crimes were being party crazy and sex starved which made them easy targets. For the past 35 years similar victims have been getting hacked, slashed, strangled and mangled in movie after movie after movie.
As in other slasher films like Friday the 13th, a lot of the action in Bay of Blood is shot from the killer’s perspective and Bava even uses a shaky camera effect to make us feel like we’re the killer at times. What separates Bava’s film from every other slasher film that followed is his amazing photography and great editing. Bay of Blood makes other similar efforts look somewhat childish in comparison. Almost no one shoots interiors as masterfully as Bava, and he brings lots of his signature gothic styling to this bayside thriller.
At the Bay of Blood sex can be deadly
The Bay of Blood features a terrific international cast including many genre favorites such as Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Camaso, Anna Maria Rosati, Laura Betti, Isa Miranda, Claudio Camaso, Brigitte Skay and Nicoletta Elmi. The movie also contains one of composer Stelvio Cipriani’s best film scores.
I enjoyed the first two Friday the 13th films. I could have lived without the third one, but the fourth one wasn’t half bad. With that being said, all the Friday the 13th films combined can’t hold a candle to Bay of Blood in my opinion. If you watch one slasher film this summer, make it Bava’s blood-soaked visit to an Italian bay. You’ll have fun spotting all the film’s influential scenes.
You can find more screen shots at my Bay of Blood Flickr Gallery which I put together just for the blog-a-thon.
More info about Bay of Blood (a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve) and it’s influence on the Friday the 13th films can be found at the films’ page on Wikipedia.
Also take a moment to check out this week’s Horror Roundtable where we all discuss our favorite murders from the Friday the 13th films!
The local octopi seem to be enjoying all the carnage
Europe has produced many lovely and talented actresses who have had memorable careers in horror cinema and one of my favorite European “Scream Queens” is the beautiful Edwidge Fenech.
Fenech was born on December 24, 1948 and began her career as a model before getting into acting in the late sixties. She started out making European sex comedies and she would continue to appear in them throughout her career. But I think her most interesting work as an actress can be found in the Italian thrillers and giallo films that she made for great directors such as Mario Bava, Sergio Martino, Giuliano Carnimeo and Andrea Bianchi.
Edwige Fenech’s incredible beauty, sensuality and natural vulnerability made her the perfect protagonist in many wonderful giallo films which rely on aesthetics as well as thrills for great effect. Fenech starred in many of the best gialli made throughout the sixties and seventies, and all the movies she was in definitely benefited from her presence. No matter how fantastical the film plot was, Fenech was able to bring an element of realism to her acting roles that made her characters very sympathetic and believable.
The last horror film Fenech appeared in was Ruggero Deodato’s entertaining Phantom of Death (a.k.a. Un Delitto poco comune, 1988) with Michael York and Donald Pleasence almost 20 years ago. Fenech has continued to act in various Italian television dramas since then and she has also become a film producer and distributor. At age 60 Edwige Fenech is still unbelievably beautiful and I think it’s a shame that she hasn’t continued to act in more European thrillers.
The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972)
Thankfully that will all change this week with the release of Eli Roth’s Hostel 2 (2007). Roth met Fenech in February of 2006 and asked if she would consider returning to the screen for a role in Hostel 2. Fenech agreed and took the part of an Art Class Professor in Roth’s latest film. For many giallo film enthusiasts like myself, it’s wonderful to see Edwige Fenech returning to the big screen again in another thriller. I don’t care for a lot of modern American horror films but I’m really looking forward to Hostel 2.
The original Hostel (2005) film seemed to divide audiences and critics but I personally thought it was one of the more entertaining and original American horror movies made in recent years. I enjoyed the film’s slow buildup which forced audiences to get to know the characters before they started dropping dead and I don’t understand the “torture porn” label that has been slapped on Roth’s movie. “Torture porn” seems to be a catchy term that modern critics have come up with to label particular horror films and divide a genre that they know absolutely nothing about.
Whatever you may think of Eli Roth, I think it’s terrific that he was able to coax Edwige Fenech into appearing in another horror film and I hope it will encourage her to take on more similar roles in the future. Hostel 2 opens in US theaters nationwide on June 8th.
For more information about Edwige Fenech and her films I suggest visiting the great Cult Sirens site and if you’re interested in reading a review for Fenech’s upcoming film Hostel 2 I recommend visiting Michael Guillen’s terrific blog The Evening Class.
I don’t know if I’ll get around to writing about all the Lucio Fulci films that have recently been released and re-released on DVD anytime soon, but I recently wrote about Fulci’s Perversion Story (Una sull’altra, 1969) for Cinedelica which was released by Severin Films late last month.
Perversion Story is a great thriller, but I personally wouldn’t refer to it as a giallo even though it’s been called that by lots of reviewers. It seems like that term is getting tossed around really casually lately by critics and DVD companies trying to sell movies. Every Italian thriller made in the 60s & 70s that’s been released on DVD in the past few years seems to be given the “giallo” label.
But enough of my complaining… Perversion Story is easily one of Fulci’s best films and if you enjoy stylish & erotic Italian thrillers please stop by Cinedelica and give my review a look. The movie stars the lovely Marisa Mell who happens to be one of my favorite actresses and it also has a fantastic score by composer Riz Ortolani. Severin’s Perversion Story is easily one of the best DVD releases of the year so far.
On Sunday (Feb. 25th) Ennio Morricone will receiving an Honorary “Lifetime Achievement” Oscar at this years’ Academy Awards ceremony to celebrate his contribution to the art of film music. It’s unbelievable that it’s taken the Academy so long to recognize Morricone’s incredible contribution to cinema, but thankfully they’re going to try and make up for past mistakes on Sunday night.
Unfortunately it seems that during the Oscar show Celine Dion will be performing a tribute to Morricone, which I can’t understand. The talented Edda Dell’Orso, who has contributed amazing vocals to countless Morricone tunes is still alive and performing, so it seems really strange to me that Dion will be performing at the Oscars to honor Morricone instead of Dell’Orso. I also think Celine Dion’s vocal abilities pale in comparison to Edda Dell’Orso’s.
Ennio Morricone has long been one of my favorite film composers. I grew up in a household where Hugo Montenegro’s Music From ‘The Good, The Bad And The Ugly’ & ‘A Fistful Of Dollars’ & ‘For A Few Dollars More’ got a lot of play and even though it wasn’t exactly Morricone’s original score, that record definitely made a huge impression on me and helped shape my deep appreciation of film scores. When I started collecting soundtracks in the 1980s, Morricone’s original score for The Good, The Bad And The Ugly was one of the first ones I bought and it’s still my favorite Morricone-Leone score.
Trailer for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (music by Ennio Morricone)
When I think about my favorite westerns, Ennio Morricone’s music immediately comes to mind. It’s hard not to be moved by the somber sounds of wailing harmonicas, Spanish horns, echoing whistles and Edda Dell’Orso’s haunting vocals that manage to perfectly bring to life the dirty, dusty and violent west that lives in my imagination. It’s tough to pick a favorite when it comes to Morricone’s soundtracks for spaghetti westerns because he composed so many great ones, including the scores for A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For A Few Dollars More (1965), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Death Rides A Horse (1967), My Name Is Nobody (1973), and A Bullet for the General (1966). Besides his amazing score for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), I’m also really fond of Morricone’s score for The Great Silence (aka Il Grande silenzio) which he recorded in 1968.
The Great Silence is one of my favorite westerns directed by Sergio Corbucci and it stars Klaus Kinski in one of his most memorable roles as a vicious bounty hunter who’s being tracked down by a gunman out for revenge called Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant). Morricone’s score for The Great Silence perfectly captures the mood of Corbucci’s film, which is set in a small dirty town as well as the snow-covered mountains of Utah. The main character of the film is called Silence because he can not speak due to having his tongue violently cut out when he was a young boy, so the film has very little dialogue compared to some other westerns. The “silence” in the film gives Morricone’s score room to really breath and come alive in ways that are extremely powerful and often very moving. It’s an incredible score for a really exceptional western that is filled with many beautiful as well as brutal moments.
Trailer for The Great Silence (music by Ennio Morricone)
Besides Italian westerns, Ennio Morricone has created some incredible scores for some of my favorite Italian horror films and thrillers including Nightmare Castle (1965),The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970), The Fifth Cord (1971), My Dear Killer (1972), Who Saw Her Die? (1972), Bluebeard (1972) A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971) and Mario Bava’s action-packed Danger: Diabolik (1968).
I think Morricone’s giallo scores are among the best film scores he ever recorded and I find myself listening to them more then any other soundtracks that I own. These scores really show off his diversity as a composer since they often include a wide variety of musical styles. From jazzy beats to haunting melodies, Morricone’s giallo soundtracks are filled with memorable music that is often complemented by the vocal stylings of the great Edda Dell’Orso.
One of Morricone’s best giallo scores was composed for Massimo Dallamano’s film What Have They Done to Solange? (aka Cosa Avete Fatto a Solange?) recorded in 1972. This complex soundtrack features moody instrumentals, unusual rhythms and sharp horns. It also includes some surprisingly playful pieces of music as well. His score for What Have They Done to Solange? is one of Morricone’s most experimental and it’s also one of his darkest, which makes it extremely complimentary to Dallamano’s disturbing giallo.
Trailer for What Have They Done to Solange? (music by Ennio Morricone)
Another one of Ennio Morricone’s best giallo scores was created for Luciano Ercoli’s Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (aka Le Foto proibite di una signora per bene) recorded in 1970. Ercoli’s fascinating film is more mystery then horror and has lots of bare skin and very little bloodshed. Morricone’s score for the film is fantastic and includes lots of Bossa influences and pop beats. The music highlights the sexier aspects of Ercoli’s giallo, but still manages to be extremely suspenseful at all the right moments.
Trailer for Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (music by Ennio Morricone)
I have a lot of favorite Morricone scores and this post only highlights a few of them. Hopefully it has introduced a couple of people to scores they haven’t heard or at least encouraged someone to seek out Morricone’s more obscure soundtracks. He’s composed hundreds of amazing scores for films and I’ve only heard about 30 or 40 myself, so I’m looking forward to discovering a lot more gems hidden away in Ennio Morricone’s incredible discography. I’m also looking forward to seeing Clint Eastwood (I hope!) present Morricone with his long overdue Oscar on Sunday night.
Scream… and Die! features the beautiful British actress Andrea Allan as an aspiring model named Valerie who’s dating a rather seedy fellow called Terry (Alex Leppard). One foggy night Valerie finds herself in the English countryside with Terry, who decides to loot an old estate hidden away deep in the woods. The couple soon find more than they bargained for when the home’s owner unexpectedly arrives at the house with a female guest. Valerie and Terry slip inside a closet and from their hiding place they watch a strange sexual encounter unfold between the homeowner and a woman that suddenly turns deadly. After witnessing the brutal murder of the woman, Valerie flees the crime scene and runs out of the house. When she realizes she’s being chased by the killer she stumbles into the woods and finally finds herself in an old junkyard where she hides in an abandoned car until morning comes. Once the sun rises Valerie hitches a ride back into town without Terry. 
The script for Scream… and Die! was written by Derek Ford who often worked with the talented horror director Robert Hartford-Davis in the sixties. Ford was also a director in his own right and he made many British sexploitation films in the seventies before and after working on Scream… and Die! This film is definitely different from Ford’s other work and I’m sure that Larraz must have been involved in the writing as well as the direction of the film. One aspect of Scream… and Die! that I really enjoy is the creepy soundtrack by composer Terry Warr, which adds considerable depth and an eerie mood to the film. Warr had worked with Derek Ford before on some sex comedies, but surprisingly this seems to be the first and last time he ever composed music for a horror film.
as part of their terrific Euroshock Collection and it was originally released in 2002. The film is presented in widescreen with English subtitles and the print is excellent. The DVD also comes with a really nice documentary about the making of the film, which features Pupi Avati, as well as many cast and crew members. Other extras include a Lobby Card Gallery and a Theatrical Trailer.
(a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve, Reazione a catena, 1971) and I decided to revisit the Bay of Blood and examine just how much influence it had on the Friday the 13th films following its 1971 release.
(2005) film seemed to divide audiences and critics but I personally thought it was one of the more entertaining and original American horror movies made in recent years. I enjoyed the film’s slow buildup which forced audiences to get to know the characters before they started dropping dead and I don’t understand the “torture porn” label that has been slapped on Roth’s movie. “Torture porn” seems to be a catchy term that modern critics have come up with to label particular horror films and divide a genre that they know absolutely nothing about. 
Whatever you may think of Eli Roth, I think it’s terrific that he was able to coax Edwige Fenech into appearing in another horror film and I hope it will encourage her to take on more similar roles in the future. 
(5 bambole per la luna d’agosto, 1970)
(Lo Strano vizio della Signora Wardh, 1971)
(Tutti i colori del buio, 1972)
(Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer?, 1972)
(Il Tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave, 1972)
(Nude per l’assassino, 1975)
(Un Delitto poco comune, 1988)
I don’t know if I’ll get around to writing about all the Lucio Fulci films that have recently been released and re-released on DVD anytime soon, but I recently wrote about Fulci’s 
Unfortunately it seems that during the Oscar show Celine Dion will be performing a tribute to Morricone, which I can’t understand. The talented 
got a lot of play and even though it wasn’t exactly Morricone’s original score, that record definitely made a huge impression on me and helped shape my deep appreciation of film scores. When I started collecting soundtracks in the 1980s, Morricone’s original score for 
was one of the first ones I bought and it’s still my favorite Morricone-Leone score.
When I think about my favorite westerns, Ennio Morricone’s music immediately comes to mind. It’s hard not to be moved by the somber sounds of wailing harmonicas, Spanish horns, echoing whistles and Edda Dell’Orso’s haunting vocals that manage to perfectly bring to life the dirty, dusty and violent west that lives in my imagination. It’s tough to pick a favorite when it comes to Morricone’s soundtracks for spaghetti westerns because he composed so many great ones, including the scores for 
(1964), 
(1965), 
(1968), 
(1967), 
(1973), and 
(1966). Besides his amazing score for 
(1966), I’m also really fond of Morricone’s score for 
(aka Il Grande silenzio) which he recorded in 1968.
is one of my favorite westerns directed by Sergio Corbucci and it stars Klaus Kinski in one of his most memorable roles as a vicious bounty hunter who’s being tracked down by a gunman out for revenge called Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant). Morricone’s score for The Great Silence perfectly captures the mood of Corbucci’s film, which is set in a small dirty town as well as the snow-covered mountains of Utah. The main character of the film is called Silence because he can not speak due to having his tongue violently cut out when he was a young boy, so the film has very little dialogue compared to some other westerns. The “silence” in the film gives Morricone’s score room to really breath and come alive in ways that are extremely powerful and often very moving. It’s an incredible score for a really exceptional western that is filled with many beautiful as well as brutal moments.
I think Morricone’s giallo scores are among the best film scores he ever recorded and I find myself listening to them more then any other soundtracks that I own. These scores really show off his diversity as a composer since they often include a wide variety of musical styles. From jazzy beats to haunting melodies, Morricone’s giallo soundtracks are filled with memorable music that is often complemented by the vocal stylings of the great Edda Dell’Orso.
(aka Cosa Avete Fatto a Solange?) recorded in 1972. This complex soundtrack features moody instrumentals, unusual rhythms and sharp horns. It also includes some surprisingly playful pieces of music as well. His score for What Have They Done to Solange? is one of Morricone’s most experimental and it’s also one of his darkest, which makes it extremely complimentary to Dallamano’s disturbing giallo.
(aka Le Foto proibite di una signora per bene) recorded in 1970. Ercoli’s fascinating film is more mystery then horror and has lots of bare skin and very little bloodshed. Morricone’s score for the film is fantastic and includes lots of Bossa influences and pop beats. The music highlights the sexier aspects of Ercoli’s giallo, but still manages to be extremely suspenseful at all the right moments.