#5 - Blood and Black Lace (1964)
(dir. Mario Bava)
This early giallo from Mario Bava was highly influential on the development of the genre, as well as on the American slashers that came later. Set in a fashion house, Blood and Black Lace is a pretty standard murder mystery - after one of the models is killed, everyone is a suspect and everyone seems to have something to hide. The police have no real leads other than that the killer is male, but when they detain all the men who work at the fashion house and the murders continue (in increasingly eroticized and gruesome ways), they are baffled.
What makes this movie exceptional are the things that later became the hallmarks of a great giallo film - gorgeous cinematography, eccentric colored lighting, intricate baroque sets, fantastic music, and graphic violence. Everything is stylish and exaggerated, giving the film a surreal quality. It's influence on later gialli is clear not only in a visual sense, but also in the plot and characters. The masked killer wearing leather gloves became a staple of the genre, as is the focus on the murders. I've heard this described as the first "body count" film, which seems obvious considering the original Italian title Sei Donne per l'Assassino, "Six Women for the Murderer".
Besides being an important and influential giallo, it is also one of the best the genre has to offer. It's right up there with Argento's The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and is essential viewing for horror fans. An absolute classic.
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