The masters of Giallo are the wellspring from which flows the lifeblood of the genre. These directors, composers, craftsmen, and artisans skillfully pour their passionate souls into the cinema we hold so dear.

Giallo’s inception is rooted in the printed page. Most of the books that fall into this category were translations of western crime thrillers from authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Even though the term would be coined based on these novels, it would be the wildly vivid films of the mid-twentieth century that would cement the genre as an Italian original.

Directors such as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Mario’s son Lamberto Bava would become the stars of Giallo films. Producing films like Black Sabbath, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Suspiria, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Demons, Deep Red, Blood and Black Lace, The Beyond and many other in a slew of shlock and terror.

Composers such as Ennio Morricone, Fabio Frizzi, Riz Ortolani, Bruno Nicolai, Stelvio Cipriani, and The Goblins would give these films a intense and introspective soundscape. With meager budgets and little time these masters would create some of the most iconic and enduring sounds cinematic sounds to-date. The later sounds of Giallo would spark a dark wave of synth driven scores that would define the sounds of horror movies throughout the 1970’s and 80’s.

Alongside master cinematographers such as Vittorio Storaro and Luciano Tovoli. Make-up artists like Giannetto De Rossi. Master painters, and set designers they would weave together a blood soaked tapestry of seductive cinema that would enthrall moviegoers and inspire filmmakers to this day.