We will get things started with five movie line-up from film makers experimenting with high-saturation colour operatic horror cinema.
The list is as follows:
- Deep Red (1975)
- Suspira (1977)
- House (1977)
- The Love Witch (2016)
- The Neon Demon (2016)
This sub-genre of cinema, if it can even be called such a thing, has had two main peaks in the more recent era of cinema. The first was in the hands of Italian horror masters on the 1970s and 80s, and a second as it became fashionable to revisit a now-classic era in horror cinema.
The list could have included a more diverse collection of films and film makers, but we will suggest that it may be more interesting to review two very specific points in time. The first is Dario Argento in his mid-70's peak, and an example of the works he was influencing. The second is from 40 years later, at a time when such films have retrospectively been elevated to a status of being "classics" of their genre.
Deep Red, 1975
Dario Argento's masterpiece doesn't make a lot of sense, and it seems it isn't supposed to. Its a fever dream of a murder mystery, made to make you feel like you're in that twilight world between reality and a vivid nightmare.
Suspira, 1977
Suspira was Argento's follow up to Deep Red. In many ways its a much easier film to watch, but maintaining the same otherworldly sort of ambience to tie it all together, rather than the traditional narrative structure. It feels like its 200 pages cut out of a 2000 page novel. However, what is in no doubt is the cinematography. Rarely has low budget horror cinema looked so beautiful.
House, 1977
Nobuhiko Obayashi's now-classic horror seems inspired by the surreal, hyper-artistic experimentation that was common in European horror of the early 1970's. Toho studios had established a superior technical film making expertise by this time, and the combination of these two result in something quite special indeed.
The Love Witch, 2016
Fast forward almost 40 years. Argento, Fulci, Obayashi and technicolour are ancient history, but apparently due another look. Anna Biller's wonderful homage to classic cinema is made using a pseudo-technicolour technique that demonstrates a very studious eye and reverence for film making of a previous era. The film itself manages to transport modern ideas to this same era with such ease that you could easily believe this film was 60 years old.
The Neon Demon, 2016
From the perspective of an outsider, it's hard to be totally certain what inspired Nicolas Winding Refn when making this film, only that surely he must have had some sense of the power of hi-saturation colour from the old masters. The slow, dreamlike pace and vivid imagery is certainly reminiscent of 70's and 80's giallo cinema. That said, this is a very modern horror movie that, in its short history, has already influenced more than it was influenced.
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