The return of Dario Argento to the genre that made him famous, the giallo, has been on my radar for quite some time. The aptly named Giallo teams Argento up with first-class actor Adrien Brody and notable french actress Emmanuelle Seigner as the groundbreaking director attempts to restore some of the magic seen in his classic giallo films such as Deep Red, Tenebre, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and Four Flies on Grey Velvet. While Suspiria might undoubtedly be considered Argento's best film (it is my personal favorite), I'd only look at it as being giallo-influenced, and not a straight representation of the genre.Like most artists, Argento has had a little trouble recapturing what made his films so great in the 1970s and 1980s. Classic after classic poured out of Argento's work ethic during those decades. The films I've listed only hit the tip of the iceberg in terms of recapping Argento's tremendous career. His work in the 1990s and now the 2000s hasn't been bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it just isn't the same. Argento is coming off the competition of his three mothers trilogy with Mother of Tears (Susperia and Inferno being the first two), a film which yielded somewhat mixed reviews, but I thought positively of.
Giallo is the genre that made the popular American slasher films possible. As I wrote way back in October of 2008, the genre was trail-blazed by the unbeatable Mario Bava, one of the greatest directors of all time. It is a genre characterized by horror and eroticism. The word giallo means yellow in Italian, and the concept originates from cheap paperback books that were that very color - yellow. Films usually consist of a serial killer with a string of murders, detectives or your average person searching for the truth and shocking twists and turns along the way. Argento is one of the most consistent names linked to the genre alongside Bava, both of whom create their work full of passion and creativity, true sparks in the form of horror and giallo filmmaking.
I'm positive that Argento's latest film won't have the same feel and tenacity of his early work. After all, the giallo genre is sort of a lost cause, something mostly gone. Argento has tried to capture the soul and passion of his early films, but nothing has come close to his beginning work. Perhaps these times just won't allow for it. Nonetheless, from the looks of the brand new trailer, courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting, things seem to be shaping up nicely. We'll get our first real critical and fan reactions after the film premieres at Frightfest UK this August.
You can view the trailer below or follow this link to view it on Bloody-Disgusting.
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