The Top Five Greatest Italian Horror Movies 

Experience Italy’s golden era of horror

The golden age of Italian horror cinema was brief but revolutionary. The era is marked by giallo, (meaning yellow in English), a genre that encapsulated truly perverse, gory, and erotic themes that often pushed the envelope. This style developed in the mid-to-late 1960s and peaked in popularity in the 1970s. The term “giallo” was given to this era of cinema because the pages of popular 1950s psychological crime and thriller novels, whose plots became the backbone of Italian horror movies, were colored yellow.  

Giallo films are distinct for their dramatic close-up shots, emphasis on gore, and complicated plot lines that revolve around ghost stories, slashers, psychological terrors, and demonic influences. The cinema is often marked by a neon color palette that underscores the gaudiness and opulence of the 1970s. Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Dario Argento are considered to be pioneers in the genre, responsible for producing some of the most well-known and popular giallo films of the era. 

While this genre may not be for everyone, giallo films are a way to understand Italy’s nuanced cinematic history. Below, America Domani has compiled a brief list of the five greatest Italian horror movies. 

SUSPIRIA (1977)

Directed by Dario Argento, "Suspiria" focuses on a young American girl named Suzy (Jessica Harper) who travels to Germany to attend a prestigious ballet school. As students around her continue to die in gruesome ways, Suzy comes to realize that the school is a front for something supernaturally sinister. Blood and gore pour freely in "Suspiria," a witchy supernatural film that plays freely with bright colors and a dramatic, unsettling soundtrack. The plot’s vagueness and unnatural color palette are meant to mimic a fantastical nightmare.

LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO (1960)

Mario Bava’s "La Maschera del Demonio," (The Demon’s Mask), also known as "Black Sunday," is a witchy and gothic horror film shot in chiaroscuro black and white. Underscored by moments of serious gore, it is considered to be a pioneer of Italian horror films as it juxtaposes graphic violence and moments of beauty alongside eroticism. The movie follows the witch Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele) who is burnt at the stake in the 17th century. As she dies, she vows to seek revenge on her descendants. She returns to life hundreds of years later with the bloody intention of possessing the body of her beautiful look-alike descendant. "La Maschera del Demonio" effectively turned Steele into a movie star in Italy, and she appeared in a string of horror productions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. 

NON SI SEVIZIA UN PAPERINO (1972)

Lucio Fulci’s giallo "Non si sevizia un paperino," (Don’t Torture a Duckling), is widely regarded as his best film.  When a number of children are murdered in a small, superstitious town in southern Italy, city reporter Andrea (Tomas Milian) and rich girl Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet) team up to find the culprit. Because Fulci’s film is filled with graphic violence, themes of child murder and pedophilia, and a less-than-glowing depiction of the Catholic Church, "Non si sevizia un paperino" only received a limited release in Europe in 1972. Many of its themes were heavily criticized, most prominently by the Roman Catholic Church.

PROFONDO ROSSO (1975)

Dario Argento’s giallo "Profondo Rosso" (Deep Red), was a critical and commercial success, widely regarded as a defining film of the giallo age and one of Argento’s best works. The film, released during the height of the era’s popularity, stars David Hemmings as a musician investigating a series of brutal murders committed by a mysterious, shadowy figure who wears black leather gloves. Argento’s classic use of over-the-top gore is paired with an intriguing, complex storyline to create a masterful psychological thriller.  

ECOLOGIA DEL DELITTO (1971)

"Ecologia del delitto," (Ecology of Crime, also known as Bay of Blood) is a 1971 giallo slasher film directed by Mario Bava. It is widely considered to be one of the director’s most violent productions. When Countess Federica Donati (Isa Miranda) is murdered at her mansion, a bloody battle commences between members of her family and the local community to stake a claim to her property around the bay. The savage killing spree is marked by increasingly bizarre and gory deaths. The entire film, centered around incredibly graphic murders, is regarded as a defining pioneer in the slasher film subgenre that emerged in the 1980s.