Thriller all’italiana or their vice is J&B and the twist you’ll never foresee

Welcome to the world of the Italian giallo. A murderous spot of land, which is widely accepted to have had its origins in the year 1963 when Mario Bava’s La ragazza che sapeva troppo (Eng: The Girl Who Knew Too Much) was released.

The genre had its heyday in the 1970s thanks to the creativity behind the camera of directors like Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci and Umberto Lenzi. Gialli, as is the plural form, are murder mysteries or crime thrillers at their core with murderers often wearing trench coats and black gloves but the different approaches, that all the directors who tried their hand at the genre took, brought to light a wide array of stories. Sometimes it’s the jet set elite of the glitterati, who are constantly betraying one another, and other times the films are getting downright political and sociocritical. The following five films will give you a diverse look into this genre, but they only scratch the surface of all that it has to offer: Style as (and over) substance, phenomenal film scores and lots and lots of J&B Whiskey.

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1. The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh (1971)

Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh

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2. Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Sei donne per l'assassino

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3. The Laughing Woman (1969)

Femina Ridens

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4. Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)

Non si sevizia un paperino

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5. Spasmo (1974)