Cinema - Italian films

Italian cinema: Thriller

Beat the Devil (1953)

John Huston

Billy Dannreuther and his wife Maria are on their way to make their fortune in Africa, but are held up in an Italian port whilst their steamboat undergoes some repair work. Here, they meet an eccentric English couple, Harry and Gwendolen Chelm, and a strange foursome led by a man named Peterson. It gradually becomes apparent that they all have one thing in common – to secure the rights to land that is reputed to be rich in uranium ore... [More...]

Cadaveri eccellenti (1976)

Francesco Rosi

When a state prosecutor is assassinated in a provincial town, Inspector Rogas is assigned to track down the killer. After two further murders, both victims being prominent magistrates, the likely suspect emerges: a pharmacist who was wrongly convicted of trying to kill his wife. Rogas investigation then takes a bizarre turn and he finds himself being directed toward extreme political groups... [More...]

La Decima vittima (1965)

Elio Petri

In the not too distant future, human aggression is channelled away from war and into a government-licensed murder game known as The Big Hunt. Those who participate in this game must hunt down and kill five victims, chosen by computer, whilst being the target of five equally determined hunters. Fame, glory and some significant income tax concessions await the winner of each game, the one who manages to dispose of his ten opponents... [More...]

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Nicolas Roeg

John and Laura Baxter are a young couple who are both profoundly traumatised when their five-year-old daughter Christine drowns accidentally at their home. Deciding that a change of scene will do them both good, they head for Venice, where John finds work restoring a dilapidated Byzantine church. With her husband busy, Laura allows herself to be befriended by two elderly English sisters, one of whom is blind and claims to have psychic powers... [More...]

The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)

Mario Bava

Whilst on holiday in Rome, a young American, Nora Davis, visits her bedridden elderly aunt. When her aunt suddenly dies that night, Nora rushes out into the street to fetch her doctor, Marcello Bassi, but is attacked by a mugger. When she comes to, Nora is horrified to see a young woman collapse in front of her, with a knife in her back... [More...]

I tre volti della paura (1963)

Mario Bava

The Telephone:
Shortly after returning to her apartment one evening, Parisian call-girl Rosy begins to receive a series of threatening phone calls. She recognises the caller as Frank, the man she betrayed some time ago. It appears that Frank has just escaped from prison and intends to take his revenge by killing her... [More...]

Kill Baby, Kill (1966)

Mario Bava

Dr Eswai arrives in a remote Transylvanian village to perform an autopsy on a young woman who has recently died, apparently by impaling herself on railing spikes. He is met by Inspector Kruger, who reveals that several girls have died in a similar manner over the past few years. Eswai is surprised to find a coin in the heart of the dead woman and discovers it was placed there by Ruth, the village sorceress, to give her peace after death... [More...]

Ne te retourne pas (2009)

Marina de Van

Jeanne is a successful biographer who, against the advice of her publisher, decides to write a novel based on her own life experiences. As she becomes consumed by her work, she starts to notice the world around her – her home, her family – beginning to transform into something beyond her recognition... [More...]

Ossessione (1943)

Luchino Visconti

Gino Costa, an itinerant labourer, arrives at a roadside café-cum-petrol station. The owner, Giuseppe Bragana, offers him temporary work, which he accepts – because he is attracted to his employer’s wife, Giovanna. Repulsed by her much older husband, Giovanna is ready to take Gino as her lover... [More...]

Les Rivières pourpres II – Les anges de l’apocalypse (2004)

Olivier Dahan

In a monastery in Lorraine, a monk is nailing a crucifix onto a stone wall when blood begins to flow..... Behind the wall, the body of a dead man is found. Investigating the case, Commissaire Pierre Niemans suspects this may not be an ordinary murder. He is right. A young police captain Reda has just prevented the killing of a man resembling Jesus Christ... [More...]

Tony Arzenta (1973)

Duccio Tessari

Tony Arzenta is more than just a regular hit-man. He is one of the Mafia’s most prized professional killers, valued for his skill, his courage and his unswerving loyalty. But one day Tony decides he has had enough. He wants to start a new life, to spend more time with the wife he loves and the son he adores... [More...]

The Whip and the Body (1963)

Mario Bava

It has been many years since Kurt Menliff has been disowned by his father, Count Vladimir, after driving a servant girl to suicide. Now, he has returned to the old family home, uninvited and unwelcome, ostensibly to attend his brother’s wedding to the beautiful Nevenka. But, as his father suspects, Kurt has a darker motive... [More...]

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