All the colors of murder: Guide to giallo cinema Paperback – December 15, 2020

I am hopeful that the actual content of this book is better than the English translation.I am not in any way a stickler when it comes to grammar, but my God, what a mess.Odd word choices, confusing pronouns, even inconsistent spelling.I hope the author/publisher didn't pay too much for this translation.

Things to keep in mind are that a) English is not the author's first language, thus the grammar can be odd in English and b) these reviews were originally posted on a blog and were not redone for a book format, thus the entries can be on the chatty side and thus redundant. While in the intro the author does cover, a tad, the paperbacks that the giallo label comes from, he only reviews select gialli from 1963-2001. The expected titles from Mario Bava, Umberto Lenzi, Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci are all here, plus some under covered and a few very obscure titles as well. His definition of gialli is liberal, he includes titles that he does not see as gialli and he compares them to noir, krimi, slashers, gothic horror, and polizziesco. It might be odd to see Inferno (1980) in here, but it is in Roberto Curti's book as well. Flicks that did not get full entries in Troy Howarth's So Deadly So Perverse books that do so here are Short Night of the Glass Dolls (1971), Byleth (1972), Sex of the Witch (1973), Footprints on the Moon (1975), Crime without a Trace (1979) and Inferno (1980). Richard Glenn Schmidt's Giallo Meltdown A Moviethon Diary also has entries for Short Night of the Glass Dolls and Sex of the Witch and Robert Curti's Giallo in Film and Television A Critical History covers all of the above except for Crime Without a Trace, but his coverage of many titles tends to be on the terse side, thus if you want more details, this an Giallo Meltdown are the books to get. The entries are in chronological order, each with select credits a synopsis that might either be short or detailed in Cliff Notes fashion without giving select twists and turns away, and commentary, thus this can be used as a reference book, but there is not an index and there are not any appendixes. He takes time to compare reviewed gialli to others and to explains some of the colorful titles such as those for Sex of the Witch and Gatti Rossi in un Labirinto de Vetro (1975) aka Eyeball. He is not shy about commenting on the skin color of actresses, thus if you are curious about which gialli have black women in them, this is the book to get. The 5 star rating does not mean that this book is "perfect." The grammar is awkward at times. Only 90 titles are covered, but there is the right balance of the familiar and the obscure. There is neither an index nor an appendix and he does not always give alternate titles. It can be annoying to see references to non-Italian movies with some gialli elements that do not get their own entries such as The House that Screamed (1969) and Death Kiss (1976). I see that one reviewer feels that this is more for novices, but as a seasoned viewer I found this to be a top notch read.

This might be alright as an ebook, but the printed version wasn't formatted to fit the book at all. Looks hideous and is hard to read. The content is pretty average. It is a solid selection of films of the genre, but you won't find any hidden gems in it. If you know nothing about Giallos, it will provide you with a decent overview. The writing itself is subpar, some of the reviews are laughable. Very seldom you'll find snippets of interesting information. It's missing comprehensive lists and indices.If you already have literature dealing with the Giallo I can't recommend getting it. Otherwise the price for the ebook makes this a good buy. The printed version isn't worth it though.

Well written,and done in such away that it has no spoilers,he tells without telling all,if you have even a passing interest in Giallo,you need this book 5stars