Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980–1989

The Italian Gothic horror genre underwent many changes in the 1980s, with masters such as Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda dying or retiring and young filmmakers such as Lamberto Bava (Macabro, Demons) and Michele Soavi (The Church) surfacing. Horror films proved commercially successful in the first half of the decade thanks to Dario Argento (both as director and producer) and Lucio Fulci, but the rise of made-for-TV products has resulted in the gradual disappearance of genre products from the big screen. This book examines all the Italian Gothic films of the 1980s. It includes previously unpublished trivia and production data taken from official archive papers, original scripts and interviews with filmmakers, actors and scriptwriters. The entries include a complete cast and crew list, plot summary, production history and analysis. Two appendices list direct-to-video releases and made-for-TV films.

Roberto Curti is an Italian film historian and the author of numerous published books and articles. He lives in Cortona, Italy.

Roberto Curti

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 232
Bibliographic Info: 40 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7243-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3524-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1
A Note on the Entries 11
Abbreviations 13
Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980–1989
1980 15
Blow Job (Soffio erotico) 15  •  Inferno 18  •  Macabro 30  •
Il medium 34  •  Mia moglie è una strega 36  •  Ombre 39  •
Paura nella città dei morti viventi 42
1981 51
L’altro inferno 51  •  Black Cat 55  •  Bollenti spiriti 60  •
C’è un fantasma nel mio letto 62  •  …E tu vivrai nel terrore!
L’aldilà 64  •  Fantasma d’amore 73  •  Murder Obsession 75  •
Quella villa accanto al cimitero 84
1982 93
Amityville II: The Possession 93  •  Assassinio al cimitero etrusco 96  •
La casa stregata 99  •  Manhattan Baby 101  •  Notturno con
grida 105  •  La villa delle anime maledette—The Damned 108
1983 111
La bimba di Satana 111  •  Zeder 114
1985 121
Dèmoni 121  •  Fracchia contro Dracula 127  •  Monster Dog,
a.k.a. Leviatán 130
1986 134
Anemia 134  •  La casa del buon ritorno 136  •  Dèmoni 2 … l’incubo
ritorna 139
1987 142
La croce dalle 7 pietre 142  •  Spettri 146
1988 149
Blood Delirium (Delirio di sangue) 149  •  Il bosco 1 152  •  La casa
3—Ghosthouse 154  •  La casa 4 (Witchcraft) 157  •  Killing Birds—
Raptors 159  •  Il nido del ragno 162  •  Nosferatu a Venezia 166
1989 171
La chiesa 171  •  Etoile 175  •  I frati rossi 178  •  Paganini
Horror 181  •  Streghe (Witch Story) 185
Appendix 1: ­Direct-to-Video Releases 189
Appendix 2: ­Made-for-TV Films 199
Bibliography 211
Index 215

• “When you put [the book] down and immediately want to investigate a movie future, that shows the author has intrigued your brain enough for you to move further down that path.”—Kitley’s Krypt.