*if you want to skip my ramblings, all recommendations are in highlighted in red.*if you want to skip my ramblings, all recommendations are in highlighted in red.


Exploitation film is the idea of taking some exploitable element whether it be sex, violence or something in the news at the time and using it gratuitously to capitalize on the public's interest to make money.

For the Italians this largely meant ripping off popular American films usually in a highly stylized and graphic way.


We can start with...

THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN

The genre's popularity can be attributed to Sergio Leone's 1964 filmA Fistful of DollarsA Fistful of Dollars. A film that was a rip-off of Kurosawa's Yojimbo (so much so that Kurosawa sued the filmmakers and won). The film that not only spawned two sequels inFor a Few Dollars More (1965)For a Few Dollars More (1965)andThe Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966)The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966)and Leone's other spaghetti western unrelated to the Dollars Trilogy,Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)but for the next decade it gave birth to a genre of westerns that was much harsher and bleak and where the line between good and evil wasn't always as apparent as it was in the traditional American western.

This harsh and bleak style was most evident in the films of the other Sergio, Sergio Corbucci. With films likeDjango (1966)Django (1966),The Great Silence (1968)The Great Silence (1968)andThe Mercenary (1968)The Mercenary (1968), Corbucci put his stamp on the genre.

Many American actors found success in Italy and while no one was catapulted into the stratosphere like Clint Eastwood, the career of his co-star Lee Van Cleef was brought back to life, and after the two films he starred in with Eastwood, Van Cleef became a star in Europe taking the lead in westerns likeDeath Rides a Horse (1967)Death Rides a Horse (1967),Day of Anger (1967)Day of Anger (1967),The Big Gundown (1967)The Big Gundown (1967)andThe Grand Duel (1972)The Grand Duel (1972).

There are more fantastic spaghetti westerns, but thats a decent collection to start off with to judge if going further into the genre is worth your time.


Thanks to films like Dirty Harry, Bullit and other action films we'll now go over another popular genre that took off in the 70's...


THE POLIZIOTTESCHI

Thats the only time I'll use the Italian slang term for what is more simply known as the Italian crime film.

Like its western sibling the Italian crime film is more brutal and gritty than its American counterpart. But the Italian crime film wasn't just inspired by other crime films that came before it, they were also a response the the Mafia violence that was going on at the time.

There just so happens to exist a wonderful documentary about this very genre, and it just so happens to be free on tubi...obviously this doc does a much better job explaining the history of the genre than I ever could so I'll let it do the talking for me...its also interesting in that it discusses the film-making process of Italian film at the time and is worth watching for that alone:

https://tubitv.com/movies/324861/eur...ce=google-feed

As for Italian crime film recommendations:

Almost Human (1974)Almost Human (1974)
Caliber 9 (1972)Caliber 9 (1972)
Rapid Dogs (1974)Rapid Dogs (1974)
The Big Racket (1976)The Big Racket (1976)
The Italian Connection (1972)The Italian Connection (1972)
Violent Naples (1976)Violent Naples (1976)


But now we get to what the Italians did best and what they are most notorous for from the 60's to the 80's...

GIALLO & ITALIAN HORROR

The Giallo

Giallo films, a subgenre of Italian horror is not the easiest genre to define but boiled down they are essentially murder mysteries often taken from old Pulp novels, but with the aforementioned Italian flair of highly stylized gore and brutal sleaze.

One of the great Italian directors Mario Bava is usually considered to have made the first giallo film withThe Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)and would follow that up with a personal favorite,Blood and Black Lace (1964)Blood and Black Lace (1964).

And like the Italian crime film the giallo reached it's zenith in the 70's thanks to Dario Argento and his film,The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Argento would follow that up with what many consider the greatest giallo of all timeDeep Red (1975)Deep Red (1975).

But the giallo was prolific with filmmakers throwing their hat in the ring with efforts like,What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)from Massimo Dallamano,The Psychic (1977)The Psychic (1977)from Lucio Fulci,The House with the Laughing Windows (1976)The House with the Laughing Windows (1976)from Pupi Avati andAll the Colors of the Dark (1972)All the Colors of the Dark (1972)from Sergio Martino.

There are countless lists with recommendations online to look through with top notch films if my recommendations aren't enough for you.

Also here is a youtube channel with over 40 giallo films free to watch if you want:

https://www.youtube.com/@thegiallogist


Italian Horror

Gore, gore, gore, sleaze and gore.

If thats your thing you can find a ton of it with Italian horror.

Italy's Godfather of gore Lucio Fulci's bloody nightmarish films are ones you can't miss, fromCity of the Living Dead (1980)City of the Living Dead (1980),The Beyond (1981)The Beyond (1981)andThe House by the Cemetery (1981)The House by the Cemetery (1981), toZombi 2 (1979)Zombi 2 (1979).

Dario Argento deserves another mention here for his visually beautiful movie,Suspiria (1979)Suspiria (1979).

Mario Bava who made his mark beginning in the 60's has a son who in the 80's made some terrific films of his own, namelyDemons (1985)Demons (1985),A Blade in the Dark (1983)A Blade in the Dark (1983), and the sleazyDelirium (1987)Delirium (1987).


The world of Italian is vast and my post barley scratches the surface. I feel bad for omitting so many great films, but hopefully if any of these suggestions interest you, you can climb down the rabbit hole for yourself and comeback and give me some suggestions of your own.

Forgot to add this giallo doc that is worth the watch:

I'm going to use this thread to present some of the great, sleazy, gross and endlessly entertaining films this genre has to offer on tubi or youtube.

If we're talking about sleazy and gross, then there is no better place to start than Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper. Everything about this film is gritty and grimy especially the city of New York in the 80's. And the killer talks like a duck.

Trailer:


full movie here:
https://tubitv.com/movies/535626/the...ce=google-feed

This is all you need to see

[QUOTE=crupiea post_id=1689013823]This is all you need to see

[youtube]UhHhXukovMU[/youtbe][/QUOTE]hehe

This time a picture from Mario Bava, the father of the giallo and the man responsible for making some of the most beautiful and stylish horror films of all time. There is no better example of that than Blood and Black Lace (1964), a film so rich and colorful, its like watching a painting come to life.


Trailer:


full movie links:
https://watch.plex.tv/movie/blood-an...google-catalog

https://tubitv.com/movies/571811/blo...ce=google-feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUHQig2Nw_k

This film is from another one of the Italian horror greats Sergio Martino. Torso is a prototype to the American slashers that would become popular in a half decade's type.


Trailer:



Full movie:

From Dario Argento, Suspiria is one of the most loved Italian horror films of all time. This beautiful dream like film is perhaps THE visual delight in all of the horror genre.

Trailer:


Full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/326260/suspiria

From Dario Argento's protege Michele Soavi, a crazy man enters a theater as actors rehearse for a play....Stage Fright of a bright spot during the last gasp of Italian horror.


Trailer:



full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/533869/stagefright

I'll have to disagree withyou on Suspiria, it is one of the crown jewels of Italian horror for good reason as it is a visual, stylistic and atmospheric masterpiece.

I watch it once a year...but fair enough.

Clint Eastwood wasn't the only one to benefit from the Spaghetti Western genre. This next film features his co-star Lee Van Cleef directed by perhaps the least known Sergio, Sergio Sollima, The Big Gundown. Featuring a terrific score the the best of all time Ennio Morricone which was later used in Kill Bill, this is a prime Spaghetti Western well worth the watch.

Trailer:


Full movie:

There were some really gorgeous Italian actresses in the 70s and 80s.

Edwige Fenech is so hot babe.

Anthropophagous: The Grim Reaper (1980)...A gritty, grimy film about some tourists chased around an abandoned Greek Island by a cannibal. Known for a gruesome cannibalization scene. This movie may be more infamous the great, but I think it builds tension well despite some slow pacing.

Trailer:


Full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/457146/the-grim-reaper

Antonio Margheriti wasn't just a made up name Quentin Tarantino used in Inglourius Basterds...Margheriti was a real life Italian director who made some pretty good films. Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) is one of them that stars John Saxon as a Vietnam veteran whose platoon returns home with a virus that causes terror.

trailer:


full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/671659/cannibal-apocalypse

One of the great spaghetti westerns that spawned more sequels that any movie ever. Sergio Corbcci's most popular film establishing his as perhaps the most bleak maker of spaghetti westerns. If you haven't already you must see the original Django.

trailer:


full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/518180/django-dubbed

This Italian crime film from director of the original Inglorious Bastard Enzo G. Castellari and starring Fabio Testi as a detective who takes on a bunch of scumbags who terrorize a small town. A standard plot, but well executed.

trailer:



full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/486388/the-big-racket

Called a themetic sequel to Suspiria this 1980 Dario Argento film is another visually stunning film in part thanks to Mario Bava who worked on the special effects for the movie. If the visual aspects of Suspiria appealed to you than this is a must see.

trailer:


full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/533894/inferno

The first giallo from Sergio Martino starring Edwige Fenech, George Hilton and Ivan Rassimov. Combine that with the terrific score and you can't find much better a giallo.


trailer:


full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/562551/the...e-of-mrs-wardh

70s Italian women were gorgeous!

Yeah, if thats your thing, this genre is for you...Although I'm not so much covering the sexploitation aspect of Italian exploitation ITT.

Interesting thread.

Subbed.

Porn is outside the purview of this thread, but if its nunsploitation you want here's one:

Killer Nun:
https://tubitv.com/movies/564749/kil...ng=google-feed

Don't judge me, guy.

Images in a Convent might be right up your alley.


Images in a Convent:
https://www.lookmovie2.to/movies/pla...eligieuse-1979

Its in Italian, but subtitles are available.I'm not, just saying this genre has a lot of naked chicks running around.

Another spaghetti western starring the great Lee Van Cleef. The awesome opening credits are set to the theme from the great music from Riz Ortolani. This is just a fun western with Van Cleef being a motherfuker the whole damn time.

trailer:



full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/507983/day-of-anger

Another from Lucio Fulci. Quentin Tarantino called it not only one of his favorite giallos, but one of his favorite Italian horror movies of the 70's and one of his favororite overall thrillers of the 70's. He even used the theme song for the film in Kill Bill.

trailer:



full movie:
https://tubitv.com/movies/11556/seven-notes-in-black