In the post-war years, the proliferation of transnational European co-productions gave rise to a cross-pollination of genres, with the same films sold in different markets as belonging to different movements. Among these, Riccardo Freda's ('I vampiri', 'The Horrible Dr. Hichock') 'Double Face' was marketed in West Germany as an Edgar Wallace 'krimi', while in Italy it was sold as a giallo in the tradition of Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, combining elements from both genres for a unique and unforgettable viewing experience.
When unfaithful wife of wealthy businessman John Alexander (the legendary Klaus Kinski, giving an atypically restrained performance), Helen (Margaret Lee, 'Circus of Fear') dies in a car crash, it initially looks like a freak accident. However, the plot thickens when evidence arises suggesting that the car was tampered with prior to the crash. And John's entire perception of reality is thrown into doubt when he discovers a recently-shot pornographic movie which appears to feature Helen, suggesting that she is in fact alive and playing an elaborate mind game on him... Psychological, psychedelic, and at times just plain psychotic, Double Face stands as one of the most engaging and enjoyable films in Freda's lengthy and diverse career - a densely-plotted, visually-stunning giallo that evokes much of the same ambience of paranoia and decadence as such classics of the genre as 'One on Top of the Other' and 'A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'.
After terrifying audiences worldwide with the blockbuster J-horror classic Ring and its sequel, director Hideo Nakata returned to the genre for Dark Water, another highly atmospheric, and critically acclaimed, tale of the supernatural which took the common theme of the “dead wet girl” to new heig...
Before the influence of Dario Argento's 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage' permeated every corner of the giallo genre, another strain of these distinctive Italian thrillers enjoyed considerable success. These "melodrama gialli", heavily inspired by Clouzot's 'Les diaboliques', relied less on gra...
Yasuzo Masumura based his story on prize winning Edogawa Ranpo's book [Hanayaka na shitai]. A Food Company's boss is killed and there comes the search for his murderer.