Giallo Films Explained — Italian Horror, Argento, Bava & Beyond

Giallo definition

Defining the Giallo genre

The Giallo genre is one of dozens of genres and sub-genres that should be on your radar as a filmmaker or cinephile. If you are unclear on any other genres, you can count on our ultimate guide to movie genres to fill in any gaps.

There is some debate over what the first true Giallo film was, though most agree that it was Mario Bava’s 1963 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Many of the pulp novels that led to the film genre were translations and adaptations of English-language books.

So, the first Giallo film pulling direct inspiration from one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best films, The Man Who Knew Too Much, is perfectly fitting.

Italian giallo films

What makes a Giallo film?

Since the exact requirements of this genre can be a bit tricky to pin down, how can we tell if a film is a Giallo or not? It’s helpful to look for a similar mood and tone amongst Giallo films. But the genre is one with many clear trademarks.

A film doesn’t need to hit all of these specifics to qualify, but including a number of these elements contributes to the overall feel of a Giallo film. Let’s stick with a single Giallo film, Dario Argento’s Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso), as a point of reference as we breakdown common trademarks. There will be some spoilers in the videos included below, so skip the videos if you want to experience Deep Red with the mystery intact.

Best giallo films

Murder mystery plots & graphic violence

Like many of the best thrillers, Gialli revolve around whodunit plots. Additionally, the protagonists are often everyday people endeavoring amateur detective work rather than trained investigative professionals.

One distinction that sets Gialli apart and lands them a little closer to the stylings of horror films is the brutality and intricacy of the murders. 

This focus on female victims is one of a handful of traits the Giallo genre shares with the slasher genre. This is the biggest reason why Gialli are sometimes categorized as Italian slashers.

Greatest giallo films

Black-gloved killers & POV murders

Gialli often hit one or both of these trademarks. First, the murders are typically shown from the point-of-view of the killer. Second, all we see of the killers are black glove-clad hands clutching whatever their implement of death may be. Both trademarks are stylistic staples of the genre and tactics for keeping the killer’s identity a mystery without missing out on any of the gory fun. 

If you are interested in trying out this style yourself, you can study up with our guide to POV shots and put our recipe for fake blood to use.

Top giallo films

Evocative titles

To avoid too much repetition, we’ll save most of the film titles for our recommendations coming in the next section. But rest assured that unorthodox, evocative, and sometimes outright bizarre titles were the norm for Giallo movies.

Gialli were also notorious for being released under several different titles.

Kill Baby… Kill!, Don’t Walk in the Park, Operation Fear, Curse of the Living Dead, The Cycle of Dread, Curse House, Death From the Afterlife, and The Dead Eyes of Dr. Dracula were all alternate titles for the SAME film.

And, in case you were wondering, the film has nothing to do with Dracula or the living dead. Gialli titles frequently had little-to-nothing to do with the actual content of the film.

Best giallo films

An emphasis on style & music

This is the most nebulous of our Giallo trademarks but also one of the most important. A Giallo film is often a you know it when you see it kind of thing because of this emphasis on stylish visuals with bright colors and cool music.

This could range from intricately orchestrated original scores to amped up prog rock played by artists like Ennio Morricone and Goblin respectively.

The music in Italian thrillers and horror films of this era often sounded unlike the thrillers and horror films from anywhere else. It might seem a bit out of place when jumping into your first Giallo film, but these soundtracks and stylistic flourishes are a big part of why '70s Gialli have such a dedicated fan base to this day. Giallo fans are likely to rank Goblin’s soundtracks amongst the best original scores of all time and the best horror soundtracks ever.

Here we see the stylized visuals, cool music, and even the ubiquitous black gloves on full display in Deep Red.

And finally, there is one important ingredient that must NOT be present in order for a film to qualify as a Giallo.

Giallo horror films

There can be NO supernatural element

There are some Gialli and borderline-Gialli that flirt with the boundaries of this rule. However, for the most part, this is a firm restriction when classifying films in the Giallo genre. A Giallo film might appear to have supernatural forces at play, but it is always revealed that a human villain is behind all of the murder and mayhem.

This rule is one of the reasons why many Italian horror films of the '60s and '70s are not true Giallo movies despite sometimes being categorized as such. Dario Argento’s own Suspiria is one such Italian horror film that is often mislabeled as a Giallo film despite decidedly not fitting into the mold.

Giallo films list

Giallo film examples

Outside of the Deep Red example we showcased in the previous section, there are plenty of other great examples worth checking out. Let’s take a quick look at some of the best Giallo films.

If you want to go all the way back to the roots of the genre, there’s no better place to start than with the genre progenitor: The Girl Who Knew Too Much.