FH Mini 127 - Always Room for Giallo, with Alejandro Arbona

Stuart Wellington

[0:00] Hey! Oh yeah, this is the Flophouse and it's a Flophouse mini.

[0:08] That is a mini episode of the classic hit podcast, The Flophouse Podcast,

[0:13] where we normally watch a bad movie and talk about it.

[0:16] But today we're doing one of our minis where we kind of do something a little bit different.

[0:20] I'm joined, as always, by my co-host Dan McCoy.

[0:23] Hello!

[0:24] And we have a very special guest, my friend, comic book author, writer,

[0:30] and editor, Alejandro Arbona.

[0:32] Alejandro!

[0:33] Hello, guys. Thank you.

[0:34] Do I give you too many credits, author and writer? Is that too much?

Alejandro Arbona

[0:38] You know, when it comes to comics, authorship is really the artist and the writer.

[0:41] Yeah, okay.

[0:42] Thank you for correcting me.

Dan McCoy

[0:44] Of course, Elliot is, I don't know, on the moon fighting Skrulls or something?

[0:48] Right, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[0:49] Elliot is doing something or other.

[0:51] I was like, hey, we got a mini scheduled and he just held up his hands

[0:55] holding, what, a slice of bread with mayonnaise on it and one with mustard.

[1:00] And he's like, too busy.

[1:02] Yep.

[1:03] Yeah, so, Alejandro, you were kind enough to come down

[1:06] because you have a new book on the way.

[1:09] And I just want to say, I've been friends with Alejandro for a while.

[1:13] You've been coming to the bar, one of my bars.

[1:16] Is that okay? I don't know.

[1:17] Yeah, of course.

[1:18] Yeah.

[1:19] And yeah, we've connected and talked about comics and things like that.

[1:24] You worked for Marvel for quite a while.

Alejandro Arbona

[1:27] I'm a longtime editor and writer of comics.

[1:29] And in that capacity, I first met Elliot.

[1:32] We had a chance to work together a couple of times at Marvel

[1:34] and later at a company called Valiant.

Stuart Wellington

[1:36] Oh, I'm so sorry.

[1:38] About Elliot, not Valiant or Marvel.

Alejandro Arbona

[1:40] And then I was living in Kensington when Hinterlands opened,

[1:43] so I quickly became a regular there.

[1:46] And that's how we all got to know each other.

[1:47] Yeah.

[1:47] And that's how I came to be here.

[1:49] How did you get into working in comics?

[1:52] There's really nothing to that story.

[1:54] I thought it would be fun,

[1:55] and I wrote a letter into Wizard Magazine,

[1:57] and they hired me.

Stuart Wellington

[1:59] There's something to that story.

[2:01] I feel like writing a letter into Wizard Magazine is like,

[2:04] that's like a kid's dream of how to get hired in comics, right?

Alejandro Arbona

[2:07] Yeah, I was doing a little bit of freelance publishing type stuff,

[2:11] and I bought an issue of Wizard Magazine.

[2:14] They said they were hiring.

[2:15] That was a little more than 20 years ago I started my career in comics.

Stuart Wellington

[2:19] But did you have like a writing background?

Alejandro Arbona

[2:23] Not really.

[2:23] I went to film school.

[2:25] I was very interested in comics.

[2:26] I was actually trying to break into working in comics.

[2:30] I was hoping to, you know,

[2:32] I was trying to cold email people at Marvel in DC

[2:34] and see if I could get hired.

[2:36] And then that's the kind of backdoor of how I ended up at Wizard,

[2:38] just because I was looking at all the stuff that was out there,

[2:42] and I saw they were hiring,

[2:43] and then I ended up there.

Stuart Wellington

[2:44] That's awesome.

[2:46] We, you know,

[2:47] Dan and I both kind of backed into working in comics as well,

[2:50] as both lovers.

[2:51] But I mean like,

[2:52] the way we got around to working in published comics

[2:54] is kind of weird when we got invited to write for the Flash Gordon holiday special.

Dan McCoy

[3:00] Yeah.

[3:00] I mean,

[3:01] I was just laughing because like,

[3:02] you know,

[3:03] I haven't written anything for a comic in so long at this point that I,

[3:08] but I have like been like,

[3:10] maybe I should get back in touch.

[3:11] Maybe I should look into that.

[3:13] You totally should.

Alejandro Arbona

[3:14] It just goes to show there is no one way to break into comics.

[3:16] Everybody comes in with their own story.

[3:19] Uh-huh.

[3:19] No two stories are alike.

[3:20] Big hopes and big dreams.

Stuart Wellington

[3:22] Oh yeah.

[3:23] Big money.

[3:24] Big money dreams.

[3:26] So,

[3:27] it's funny that you mentioned that you have like a film background

[3:30] because the,

[3:32] you have a new comic that is coming to Kickstarter soon.

[3:37] You want to talk about,

[3:38] it's interesting to me because it is so related to film.

[3:41] And we are,

[3:42] in fact,

[3:43] I believe checking the 10,

[3:44] a film podcast.

[3:45] Well,

[3:46] thank you.

[3:46] Thank you for that prompt.

Alejandro Arbona

[3:47] Yeah.

[3:47] I,

[3:48] I wrote a 90 page graphic novel.

[3:51] Um,

[3:51] it's almost finished and we are about to hit Kickstarter with,

[3:55] um,

[3:56] basically just the goal of paying to print it and ship it.

[3:58] Okay.

[3:59] Um,

[3:59] it's called.

[4:00] Is that,

Stuart Wellington

[4:00] is that traditional for comics Kickstarters?

Alejandro Arbona

[4:02] No,

[4:02] you know,

[4:03] when it comes to comics Kickstarters,

[4:04] it can be a really risky thing to back one because a lot of times you're paying a high funding goal

[4:09] for a team or a singular cartoonist.

[4:12] to write and draw the whole thing.

[4:14] It could take two years.

[4:15] I'm still waiting to get a book that I backed in 2018.

Dan McCoy

[4:18] Whoa.

[4:19] But that person keeps posting updates.

Alejandro Arbona

[4:21] That book is happening.

[4:22] Yeah.

[4:22] Anyway,

[4:23] um,

[4:23] usually that's the case.

[4:25] You back a Kickstarter in order to finance the creators working on the book.

[4:30] Um,

[4:30] and it could take a year or so.

[4:32] This one,

[4:33] uh,

[4:33] I had a rare opportunity.

[4:35] I was able to do this book on my own,

[4:37] 90 pages.

[4:38] Uh,

[4:38] it's almost finished now.

[4:40] The art is finished.

[4:41] Uh,

[4:42] coloring will be finished right after the Kickstarter campaign.

[4:46] So we'll be able to pretty much wrap it up and ship it pretty quickly.

[4:49] Uh,

[4:50] it's called Lake Yellowwood Slaughter.

[4:52] It is a,

[4:54] it is a very tongue in cheek.

[4:56] Uh,

[4:56] it is a slasher.

[4:57] It is a 1983 slasher movie.

[5:00] Okay.

[5:00] That's basically the idea.

[5:01] It actually started as,

[5:04] the idea came to life when I was watching a movie with some of my old wizard magazine friends.

[5:08] Okay.

[5:09] We were watching Sleepaway Camp 2.

[5:10] Okay.

[5:11] We were all kind of reminiscing about childhood summer camp memories.

[5:16] And I,

[5:17] jokingly,

[5:18] I just said,

[5:19] imagine a slasher movie where,

[5:21] uh,

[5:22] the parents are excited to have their child-free summer of sex and booze and drugs.

[5:28] Oh,

[5:29] okay.

[5:29] And then the killer goes after them instead.

[5:31] Okay.

[5:31] Yeah,

[5:32] yeah,

[5:32] yeah.

[5:32] So that's,

[5:32] that's the elevator pitch basically.

[5:34] It,

[5:34] it gets a little more meta because it is in fact the quote unquote,

[5:38] official comic book adaptation of a 1983 slasher movie that never existed.

Stuart Wellington

[5:44] Yeah,

[5:44] that,

[5:45] there's definitely a part of Stewart that's like,

[5:47] oh,

[5:47] I love that idea.

[5:48] Yeah.

[5:48] That's so amazing.

Alejandro Arbona

[5:49] It gets even,

[5:50] it gets even more meta.

[5:51] And this is where people often advise me to stop pitching because it gets too confusing.

[5:55] It is a slasher movie that was made by a Giallo director who came from Italy to Hollywood to cash in on slashers.

[6:02] Because it was the early 80s and the Giallo moment was dying down and his career was winding down.

[6:08] Okay.

[6:08] And,

[6:09] uh,

[6:09] yeah,

[6:09] so that's,

[6:10] all of that is the behind the scenes stuff,

[6:12] but basically it's just a tight 90 page.

[6:14] You're in,

[6:14] you're out,

[6:15] the killing.

[6:17] Um,

Stuart Wellington

[6:17] yeah,

[6:18] the,

[6:18] but you're checking all the boxes.

[6:20] People who like comics,

[6:21] people who like slaughters,

[6:22] people who like Giallo,

[6:24] people who like,

[6:24] uh,

Dan McCoy

[6:25] complex layers.

[6:26] I just,

[6:27] I,

[6:27] I think that that's really funny because I,

[6:29] so I promised that I was gonna,

[6:31] for one of our bonus content that I'd make this,

[6:34] uh,

[6:34] an audio version of this sitcom thing that I wrote.

[6:37] And when I gave it to Elliot,

[6:38] he's like,

[6:39] this has two framing devices.

[6:41] You should probably remove one of them.

[6:43] And I'm like,

[6:44] no,

[6:44] I'm not going to.

Stuart Wellington

[6:46] I already cut a third framing device out,

[6:49] so I can't,

[6:50] I can't kill these other darlings.

[6:52] Uh,

Alejandro Arbona

[6:52] I feel beholden to mention since I said earlier that the authorship of a comic is always the artist and the writer combined.

[6:58] The artist is Gavin Guidry.

[6:59] Great.

[6:59] Who is a really great young artist who I'm very,

[7:01] very,

[7:01] very excited to do this comic with.

Stuart Wellington

[7:03] Awesome.

[7:04] Has this artist done anything else that you can direct people to?

Alejandro Arbona

[7:08] He,

[7:08] as we speak,

[7:09] has just finished drawing a run on action comics.

[7:11] Oh,

[7:11] cool.

[7:12] Uh,

[7:12] featuring a guy you might've heard of,

[7:13] Superman.

[7:14] Oh,

[7:15] I have heard of him.

[7:15] What's his deal?

Dan McCoy

[7:16] What,

[7:16] what powers does he have?

[7:17] Well,

Alejandro Arbona

[7:17] there's a,

[7:18] there's a movie coming this summer.

[7:19] You can see for yourself.

[7:20] Uh,

[7:21] who's,

Dan McCoy

[7:21] who's he verse?

[7:22] I'm sure that everyone's really happy about this movie and there's no like weird group of people who would prefer it to be like some bad movies that happened in the past.

[7:30] That is better.

Stuart Wellington

[7:30] Those weird group of people might be our hugest fans.

Alejandro Arbona

[7:33] That is none of my business.

[7:34] Uh,

[7:35] Gavin also recently did some Uncanny X-Men.

[7:37] Oh,

[7:38] great.

[7:38] He's,

[7:38] he's,

[7:39] uh,

[7:39] he's great.

[7:40] He's a,

[7:40] he's,

[7:41] uh,

[7:41] he's been working for a little while,

[7:43] but he's,

[7:43] he's like an emerging artist.

[7:44] I think,

[7:45] uh,

[7:45] he's about to break out in a big way.

[7:47] I'm really excited.

[7:48] I think I got very lucky to be able to get him on board for this,

[7:51] uh,

[7:52] right before he has a big moment.

Stuart Wellington

[7:53] I feel like,

[7:54] I don't know,

[7:55] again,

[7:56] Dan,

[7:57] I've both worked within the comics world a little bit and it still hasn't got,

[8:02] I still haven't gotten over the feeling of like having an artist draw the thing I wrote.

[8:08] And how cool that is.

Alejandro Arbona

[8:10] Stuart,

[8:10] I have worked in comics for 20 years.

[8:12] Yeah.

[8:13] And when Gavin was started sending me pages for this,

[8:16] I felt like this is a dream come true.

[8:18] Yeah.

[8:18] This comic is actually turning out better than I ever imagined it.

[8:22] It is a dream come true.

[8:23] I'm so,

[8:24] I'm so lucky.

Stuart Wellington

[8:25] So you,

[8:25] you,

[8:26] what are some of your influences here film wise?

[8:28] Cause you met,

[8:29] I mean,

[8:29] specifically mentioned Giallo and slasher movies.

[8:32] Do you,

[8:33] was it,

[8:33] do you have like a firm,

[8:34] like a big background in those two things?

Alejandro Arbona

[8:36] Um,

[8:37] I've definitely been a long time lover of,

[8:39] uh,

[8:39] slasher movies in particular.

[8:41] Giallo is kind of a newer thing to me,

[8:42] but I've spent the last two years,

[8:44] I'd say maybe immersing myself to a degree that may not even be healthy.

[8:49] I think at this point I've watched about something like a hundred Giallo movies.

[8:53] And I have a list.

[8:54] I'm,

[8:54] it's far from complete.

[8:55] I have a list of maybe like a hundred more that I still want to get to.

[8:59] Um,

[8:59] where does one find this list?

[9:02] I have a list on letterboxd,

[9:03] but it is private because I don't want people,

[9:07] uh,

[9:07] quibbling with me about the definition of Giallo.

[9:10] Oh,

[9:11] that's a big thing with Giallo fans is that some people are like kind of doctrinares.

[9:14] Some people are kind of strict about what is or isn't a Giallo.

Stuart Wellington

[9:17] Genre fans are weirdly specific about their niche genres.

[9:21] I,

[9:21] well,

Dan McCoy

[9:22] can you speak about like what the issue is?

[9:25] Cause I know that a lot of people do use it to sort of refer to Italian horror,

[9:32] which is not correct.

[9:34] I mean like,

[9:34] it's like,

[9:34] you know,

[9:35] like there's horror movies that are Giallos,

[9:38] but they are like non-supernet.

[9:40] Like it's a,

[9:40] it's about,

[9:41] you know,

[9:41] killers.

[9:42] It's more of a thriller horror,

[9:45] you know,

[9:45] in its most strict sense.

[9:46] Is that,

[9:47] is,

[9:47] are there other issues that people have?

Alejandro Arbona

[9:50] No,

[9:50] absolutely.

[9:51] There is a definition of Giallo that is very specific and very easy to wrap your mind around,

[9:55] but then that becomes the stick sticking point where people insist on it being exactly that.

[10:00] I would say for the casual viewer,

[10:02] for people who don't necessarily know Giallo in depth,

[10:05] when you say Giallo,

[10:06] people think of Suspiria right away.

[10:09] Suspiria is pretty much not a Giallo.

Dan McCoy

[10:12] Yeah.

[10:12] It's about witches.

Alejandro Arbona

[10:13] It's about witches.

[10:14] It's a very supernatural.

[10:15] I think people associate Suspiria with Giallo because it does have some strong Giallo elements.

[10:19] It has a mystery element,

[10:21] which is a big part of,

[10:22] of the thing.

[10:24] And I'm going to give you a definition in a moment.

[10:25] A lot of close-ups on eyeballs.

[10:27] I think it,

[10:28] I think it also has to do with the fact that Dario Argento in particular,

[10:31] the director,

[10:31] is so singularly associated with Giallo.

[10:34] Yeah.

[10:34] When he makes a non-Giallo movie,

[10:36] people are like,

[10:37] it's the pointing at the butterfly meme is this Giallo.

[10:40] Yeah.

[10:40] You know,

[10:40] whereas Mario Bava,

[10:42] arguably the other father of the modern,

[10:45] of the Giallo,

[10:46] Mario Bava made crime movies,

[10:48] and he made gothic horror,

[10:50] and he made sci-fi,

[10:52] Planet of the Vampires,

[10:53] and things like that.

[10:54] And no one ever confuses those for Giallo.

Dan McCoy

[10:56] Yeah.

[10:56] What's the other one?

[10:57] Like,

[10:57] I,

[10:58] I don't have Italian,

[10:59] so I can't say it right,

[11:00] but there's like the Polizia ones.

[11:02] Polizioteschi.

[11:03] Yeah.

[11:04] It's like different somehow.

[11:05] Yeah.

[11:05] Well,

Alejandro Arbona

[11:06] Polizioteschi is,

[11:07] is like a cop movie.

[11:09] Yeah.

[11:10] Sort of a genre into itself,

[11:11] but there's a lot of Giallo,

[11:12] especially later.

[11:13] What do you call it?

[11:14] Like a police story?

[11:16] Super cop.

[11:17] Or police story too.

[11:18] But to give you a definition,

[11:20] I would say the,

[11:21] the,

[11:21] the real definition of Giallo is that it is a murder mystery.

[11:25] Okay.

[11:26] Specifically,

[11:26] it is a whodunit.

[11:27] It is,

[11:28] it has a cast of characters and the killer is one of that cast.

[11:32] It's not like your anonymous slasher who is out for revenge.

[11:36] It's somebody in the cast who has some kind of motive,

[11:39] often profit or,

[11:41] you know,

[11:42] like knocking off a family one by one to get the inheritance or revenge or

[11:46] some kind of psychological,

[11:48] psychological trauma.

[11:50] Killer usually wears a trench coat.

[11:52] Yes.

Dan McCoy

[11:54] So an American screen would be a Giallo,

[11:56] but not Friday the 13th.

Alejandro Arbona

[11:58] Yes.

[11:58] Friday the 13th is,

[11:59] is,

[12:00] is definitely your textbook slasher.

Dan McCoy

[12:02] Although the first one maybe actually would be more of a Giallo.

Alejandro Arbona

[12:05] Well,

[12:06] it's funny you say that because of those early slashers,

[12:08] the first Friday the 13th or the first two certain movie or,

[12:14] or,

[12:14] well,

[12:15] certainly part two,

[12:16] which,

[12:16] which steals two kills in a row from Bay of Blood.

[12:20] Oh,

[12:20] two kills that happen in a row in Bay of Blood.

[12:22] Wow.

[12:23] You heard it here.

Stuart Wellington

[12:24] You heard it here,

[12:25] folks.

Alejandro Arbona

[12:25] I mean,

[12:26] Giallo fans can tell you this.

[12:27] Everyone knows that,

[12:28] but,

[12:29] uh,

[12:30] uh,

[12:30] where was I?

[12:31] Yeah.

[12:31] The definition of the Giallo is,

[12:32] is frequently the,

[12:34] um,

[12:34] knocking off a cast of characters one by one to building up to the

[12:38] eventual reveal of what is the trauma?

[12:40] What is the motive?

[12:41] What is,

[12:42] who is the killer behind the mask?

[12:44] Uh,

[12:45] whereas with slashers,

[12:46] it's always like a purely revenge driven,

[12:49] you know,

[12:49] or some kind of obsession or,

[12:52] um,

[12:52] is,

[12:53] is New York Ripper,

[12:54] uh,

[12:54] Giallo?

[12:55] New York Ripper is a Giallo.

[12:56] New York Ripper is late in the history of the Giallo phase.

[13:00] It's,

[13:00] it's from the eighties that,

[13:02] you know,

[13:02] there are still Giallos being made today,

[13:04] obviously,

[13:04] but the golden age of the Giallos is,

[13:06] is,

[13:07] uh,

[13:07] basically from at some point in the mid to late sixties going

[13:11] through the late,

[13:12] the late seventies.

[13:13] It's basically like a 10 solid years of that's the prime.

[13:16] Time of the Giallo.

[13:17] The,

[13:17] the,

[13:18] I'll give you the quick evolution of how they came along.

[13:20] Sure.

[13:20] Yeah.

[13:20] There's,

[13:21] um,

[13:21] there was a publisher in Italy called Mondadori that,

[13:25] um,

[13:25] famously would publish genre books with a colored cover for each

[13:30] genre.

[13:31] Okay.

[13:31] And they would publish mysteries,

[13:33] murder mysteries and thrillers with yellow covers.

[13:36] Giallo is the Italian word for yellow.

[13:38] So people started calling the books themselves Gialli,

[13:41] Gialli,

[13:42] um,

[13:43] as a shorthand for what that was.

[13:45] Um,

[13:45] incidentally,

[13:46] those Mondadori yellow books would frequently publish

[13:49] translations in Italian of Agatha Christie novels of Edgar

[13:54] Allen Poe novels.

[13:55] As a result,

[13:56] a lot of people in Italy growing up reading these books are

[13:58] obsessed,

[14:00] obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe.

[14:01] Yeah.

[14:01] I can see that.

[14:02] And Agatha Christie.

[14:03] Agatha Christie in particular wrote one book,

[14:06] uh,

[14:06] and then there were none.

[14:07] That book by itself is like the blueprint of what a Giallo is.

[14:11] Okay.

[14:11] That has,

[14:12] that has the structure.

[14:13] It has certain visual elements.

[14:15] It's a book about,

[14:16] you know,

[14:16] a group of strangers are gathered in a place by someone and they don't know

[14:20] what,

[14:20] why they're in a private Island.

[14:22] They're on a private Island.

[14:24] They don't know who brought them there or why.

[14:25] And then they start being killed off one by one.

[14:28] And there's even a visual element of like the,

[14:31] the dinner table is decorated with figurines.

[14:33] And each time that someone gets knocked off,

[14:34] one figurine disappears.

[14:36] Love it.

[14:36] Which is the textbook,

[14:38] like a Giallo movie.

[14:39] Um,

[14:40] the only key difference between that and a Giallo is that the author,

[14:43] the killer doesn't wear any glove mask,

[14:46] nothing like that.

[14:47] Of course,

[14:47] because it's a book.

[14:48] So concealing their identity just means not describing.

[14:52] Yeah.

[14:52] If you don't describe them,

[14:54] then the reader doesn't,

[14:54] doesn't see them.

[14:55] Um,

[14:56] but when you turn that,

[14:57] you turn that into a visual element,

[14:58] then you have to add a mask,

[15:00] a hat,

[15:01] a glove.

[15:01] Yeah.

[15:01] And like,

Stuart Wellington

[15:02] I guess,

[15:03] I guess the trench coat and like gloves are all only there to like disguise the identity.

[15:08] Right.

[15:08] And frequently to disguise the gender because,

[15:10] you know,

Alejandro Arbona

[15:11] a killer can always be revealed to be a woman,

[15:12] but with black leather gloves,

[15:14] you wouldn't suspect it necessarily.

[15:16] That's a funny thing that that became such a trope in early Giallo movies.

[15:20] Like the,

Stuart Wellington

[15:22] the,

[15:23] the,

[15:23] the false flags on different gender identities.

[15:26] Yeah.

Alejandro Arbona

[15:26] The killer being revealed to be a woman.

Stuart Wellington

[15:28] It's like,

[15:29] uh,

[15:30] well,

[15:30] like the Palma stuff,

[15:31] like,

[15:32] um,

[15:32] what's,

[15:33] whatchamacallit,

[15:33] um,

[15:34] not,

[15:35] not body double,

[15:36] uh,

[15:37] Dress to kill.

[15:38] Dress to kill.

Alejandro Arbona

[15:39] Um,

[15:39] I'm so happy you brought that up because that,

[15:41] um,

[15:42] Brian De Palma movies and Giallo are kind of tied together closely.

[15:45] Um,

[15:46] the other thing that all these Italian filmmakers were so obsessed with,

[15:49] aside from Christie and so forth,

[15:52] was Alfred Hitchcock.

[15:54] Yeah.

[15:54] Um,

[15:55] same as the French,

[15:56] like new wave,

[15:57] Cagliar du Cinema people were obsessed with Hitchcock.

[15:59] The Italians were obsessed with Hitchcock.

[16:01] So in 1960,

[16:02] Hitchcock made Psycho.

[16:05] And coincidentally,

[16:06] a British director,

[16:06] Michael Powell made this movie,

[16:08] Peeping Tom.

[16:09] Um,

[16:10] and those two movies,

[16:11] same as,

[16:12] and then there were none.

[16:13] Those two movies seem like blueprints for the Giallo.

[16:16] Interestingly,

[16:16] and then there were none of these movies.

[16:17] And then there were none of these movies.

Stuart Wellington

[16:21] I feel like color is such a big part.

[16:24] Like,

[16:25] like,

[16:25] specific,

[16:27] clear color choices is such a big part of Giallo.

Alejandro Arbona

[16:30] Yeah.

[16:31] And that's,

[16:31] uh,

[16:32] singularly down to Mario Bava.

[16:34] So Mario Bava,

[16:34] only a couple of years after Psycho,

[16:37] he made a movie called The Girl Who Knew Too Much,

[16:39] which by itself is a Hitchcock reference already,

[16:41] the title.

[16:42] And that is considered to be the first Giallo

[16:44] because it has that particular story structure of she,

[16:47] she thinks she witnesses a murder

[16:49] and now someone is after her.

[16:51] Um,

[16:51] the,

[16:51] the killer's identity is unknown all the way until the end.

[16:54] It features John Saxon.

[16:56] Yeah.

[16:57] Um,

[16:58] and then,

[16:59] uh,

[16:59] that kind of kickstarted everything.

[17:00] And then immediately people started to make a million of these movies.

[17:04] And then a few years later he made,

[17:06] uh,

[17:06] but,

[17:06] but The Girl Who Knew Too Much was in black and white.

[17:08] A few years later he made Blood and Black Lace,

[17:11] which is,

[17:12] like you were saying,

[17:13] it's lurid technicolor.

[17:15] That's kind of the movie that set the standard for the use of color in Giallo.

[17:19] Oh,

[17:20] cool.

[17:20] And then some years after that,

[17:21] Dario Argento made his first movie,

[17:23] The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

[17:25] And that,

[17:26] the,

[17:27] that's the last piece of the puzzle.

[17:28] Like,

[17:29] that became the,

[17:30] the final influence for what would be the textbook Giallo.

[17:34] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[17:34] And then now all,

[17:35] all Giallo is everything.

[17:37] It's all measured against those things.

Alejandro Arbona

[17:40] Pretty much.

[17:40] Yeah.

[17:40] And the reason I responded to when you mentioned Brian De Palma before is that Brian De Palma

[17:44] was himself so influenced by Alfred Hitchcock.

[17:47] Yeah.

[17:47] That when he started to make his thrillers in the seventies and eighties,

[17:52] everyone kind of,

[17:53] people who knew Giallo started to refer to Brian De Palma as like a neo-Giallo or American Giallo,

[17:58] which I think he claimed he,

[18:00] he,

[18:00] he disavowed that influence.

[18:02] He said,

[18:02] he's not familiar with Giallo.

[18:04] That's not what he was trying to do.

Dan McCoy

[18:05] It's strange though,

[18:05] because like,

[18:06] I mean,

[18:07] I don't,

[18:07] it's not like I disbelieve him,

[18:09] but to me,

[18:10] what he does is so much closer to Giallo than actually Hitchcock.

[18:15] Like he,

[18:16] you know,

[18:16] he pulls things from Hitchcock,

[18:18] but his style is so florid,

[18:20] like a,

[18:21] a Giallo director,

[18:22] not like Hitchcock is,

[18:24] you know,

[18:25] it's very like well-constructed sequences,

[18:27] but it's more of a classical sort of way of doing it.

[18:30] I think.

Alejandro Arbona

[18:31] Yeah,

[18:31] I agree.

[18:31] I don't disbelieve him either,

[18:33] but it's interesting that if his big influence was Hitchcock,

[18:36] it's funny that it should come,

[18:38] like body double,

[18:38] for example,

Stuart Wellington

[18:39] is such a Giallo.

[18:40] Yeah.

[18:40] It feels like.

[18:41] Well,

[18:41] and that he,

[18:42] that he evolved like his evolution of that Hitchcock influence is so similar to the like Italian evolution of the Hitchcock influence.

Alejandro Arbona

[18:51] You know,

[18:51] one thing that's really interesting to me is when people talk about like making a,

[18:56] making Neo Giallo or making a modern Giallo.

[18:58] Yeah.

[18:59] I've never heard anyone else talk about this,

[19:00] but I really feel like,

[19:01] like a 90s erotic thrillers are,

[19:05] are effectively like a lot like Giallo movies.

[19:07] Yeah.

[19:07] In particular,

[19:08] I think the one that the,

[19:09] that stands out the most is Color of Night.

[19:12] Yeah.

[19:12] Which like starting with the title alone is already so Giallo.

[19:15] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[19:16] The,

[19:17] what about,

[19:18] have you,

[19:18] I don't just want to go down a list of like,

[19:21] have you seen this Giallo?

[19:22] Have you,

[19:23] have you,

[19:23] but have you seen the editor,

[19:24] the,

[19:25] the like,

[19:26] kind of the parody of Giallo about,

[19:31] it's,

[19:31] it's from the,

[19:32] the,

[19:33] the,

[19:33] you know,

[19:34] the,

[19:34] the same collective of guys who made,

[19:35] like Psycho Goreman and Father's Day.

[19:39] Oh,

[19:40] Oh no,

[19:40] I haven't seen that one.

[19:42] Um,

[19:42] and,

[19:43] uh,

[19:43] yeah,

[19:43] it's,

[19:44] it's really funny.

[19:44] And,

[19:45] uh,

[19:46] it,

[19:46] you know,

[19:47] it,

[19:47] it's obviously like a love letter to,

[19:49] it's both a parody and a love letter to Giallo.

Alejandro Arbona

[19:52] I'm going to add that to my private letterbox.

[19:54] Check it out.

Stuart Wellington

[19:55] There's also,

[19:55] I watched this,

[19:56] I watched this weird little one from,

[19:58] it was like a micro budget one shot in like Southern Indiana called three tears on bloodstained flesh.

[20:07] And it is like,

[20:08] it has all the hallmarks.

[20:10] It's like a weird,

[20:11] like Midwestern Giallo that works so well.

[20:14] I think like,

[20:15] it's obviously not perfect or anything.

[20:17] Um,

[20:18] but it's,

[20:18] I found it to be really funny and fun.

[20:21] Uh,

[20:22] and it's not a parody at all.

[20:23] It's just like a straight,

[20:24] like,

[20:25] what if these tiny budget filmmakers in the Midwest decide to make a,

[20:29] make a Giallo in their backyard,

[20:32] basically.

[20:32] I like it.

S4

[20:37] If you like too many podcasts,

[20:41] you'll love Soundteap with John Luke Roberts.

[20:44] It's got clips from all your favourite podcasts,

[20:46] such as Diary of a Tiny CEO.

Alejandro Arbona

[20:48] Leonard Sprague,

[20:49] tell me how you make your money.

S4

[20:50] I go to the beach,

[20:51] and I steal people's towels.

[20:54] Remember armour.

S5

[20:55] I remember the trend of everyone whacking themselves on the head with hammers and mallets

[20:59] when they wanted to lose weight.

S4

[21:01] And Elty John's Lobbily Songs.

Alejandro Arbona

[21:03] I'm here today with Kiki D.

[21:05] Hello,

[21:06] Kiki D.

[21:06] Hello,

[21:07] Elton.

S4

[21:08] There's dozens of episodes to catch up on,

[21:10] and brand new episodes going out right now.

[21:13] So,

[21:13] if you want far,

[21:14] far,

[21:14] far too many podcasts,

[21:16] then look for Soundteap on Maximum Fun.

[21:20] Boop,

[21:20] boop.

S5

[21:22] All right,

[21:22] we're over 70 episodes into our show.

[21:24] Let's learn everything.

[21:26] So,

[21:26] let's do a quick progress check.

[21:27] Have we learnt about quantum physics?

Stuart Wellington

[21:30] Yes,

[21:30] episode 59.

S5

[21:31] We haven't learnt about the history of gossip yet,

[21:34] have we?

[21:34] Yes,

[21:34] we have.

[21:35] Same episode,

[21:36] actually.

[21:36] Have we talked to Tom Scott about his love of roller coasters?

[21:39] Episode 64.

S4

[21:41] So,

[21:41] how close are we to learning everything?

S5

[21:43] Bad news.

[21:44] We still haven't learnt everything yet.

S4

[21:47] We're ruined!

[21:49] No,

[21:49] no,

S5

[21:49] it's good news as well.

[21:51] There is still a lot to learn.

[21:53] I'm Dr. Ella Hubber.

Alejandro Arbona

[21:55] I'm regular Tom Lum.

S5

[21:56] I'm Caroline Roper,

[21:57] and on Let's Learn Everything,

[21:58] we learn about science,

[22:00] and a bit of everything else too.

[22:01] And although we haven't learnt everything yet,

[22:03] I've got a pretty good feeling about this next episode.

[22:06] Join us every other Thursday on Maximum Fun.

Stuart Wellington

[22:08] So,

[22:09] yeah,

[22:11] you were saying,

[22:12] in addition to dragging you on here to talk Giallo,

[22:16] you have a quiz for us.

[22:17] I brought,

Alejandro Arbona

[22:18] yes,

[22:18] I brought you,

[22:18] one of the most fun things about Giallo movies is the title.

[22:21] The title,

[22:22] the titles of Giallo movies are so floored and so great,

[22:25] and I'm a huge fan of them.

[22:27] So,

[22:27] I brought you guys a Giallo title quiz

[22:29] that I'm springing on you completely unseen.

[22:33] Okay.

[22:34] This is going to be entirely new to you.

[22:36] Okay.

[22:36] And,

[22:37] you know the expression,

[22:38] you know the expression,

[22:40] play stupid games,

[22:41] win stupid prizes.

[22:42] Oh.

[22:43] This is going to be a stupid game,

[22:45] and I brought a stupid prize.

[22:47] Whoever racks up the most points

[22:48] gets to keep this already opened,

[22:52] two-thirds empty bottle of J&B.

[22:56] Why J&B?

[22:57] J&B is Giallo's liquor of choice.

[23:00] It is in practically every movie.

Dan McCoy

[23:02] Linden scotch whiskey.

[23:04] Look at this.

Stuart Wellington

[23:05] What I like is that it's,

[23:07] knowing Alejandro,

[23:09] I feel like,

[23:12] how much of,

[23:13] how,

[23:14] at what point did you realize

[23:15] that you don't actually like this bottle

[23:17] that you're drinking?

Alejandro Arbona

[23:18] I,

[23:19] I,

[23:19] have you developed a taste for it?

[23:21] I kind of have.

[23:22] I love the look of the bottle.

[23:24] Yeah.

[23:24] I don't like the flavor of the scotch.

[23:27] It's also very hard to find around here,

[23:30] because it is very little in demand,

[23:32] so most liquor stores don't carry it.

[23:34] I,

[23:35] I had to search far and wide

[23:36] to find one place that did.

[23:39] Um,

[23:39] and then,

[23:39] you know,

[23:40] I've bought a few bottles,

[23:41] or this is not my first bottle here.

[23:43] Um,

[23:43] this was actually a prop bottle

[23:45] that I was using

[23:46] a couple of days ago

[23:47] when we shot the video

[23:48] for the Kickstarter campaign.

Stuart Wellington

[23:50] Shot at,

[23:50] uh,

[23:51] Flophouse's favorite movie theater,

[23:53] The Nighthawk.

Alejandro Arbona

[23:53] Yes,

[23:53] indeed.

[23:54] The Nighthawk Cinema

[23:54] very graciously allowed us

[23:56] to shoot in there,

[23:57] and,

[23:57] uh,

[23:57] we're very excited

[23:58] for how it's gonna turn out.

[23:59] Uh,

[24:00] I haven't seen it yet,

[24:00] but,

[24:01] um,

[24:01] but yeah,

[24:02] when I was watching

[24:02] a lot of Jallo movies,

[24:03] I started to notice,

[24:04] like,

[24:05] oh,

[24:05] wait a second,

[24:06] it's J&B again.

[24:07] Oh my God.

[24:07] And then I started to realize,

[24:08] no,

[24:09] it's every,

[24:09] practically every single movie,

[24:11] with,

[24:12] with exceptions,

[24:13] but then,

[24:14] you start to realize

[24:15] it's not only Jallo,

[24:16] it,

[24:17] it actually turns up

[24:18] in a lot of movies.

[24:19] I mean,

[24:19] one of my favorite directors

[24:20] is John Carpenter,

[24:21] and it's in The Thing,

[24:22] plays a big role in The Thing,

[24:24] where,

[24:24] uh,

[24:24] McCready pours it

[24:25] into the computer,

[24:26] uh,

[24:27] after,

[24:27] after it beats him at chess.

Stuart Wellington

[24:29] Well,

[24:30] the J does stand for

[24:31] Gesterini,

[24:32] maybe that's an Italian.

Alejandro Arbona

[24:33] It started as an Italian brand,

[24:35] and then it was,

[24:36] uh,

[24:36] centuries ago,

[24:38] weirdly,

[24:38] and then it was bought

[24:39] by a British guy,

[24:40] which is the B,

[24:41] Brooks.

[24:42] Oh,

[24:43] okay.

[24:43] Gesterini and Brooks.

[24:45] Um,

[24:45] it's a,

[24:46] it has a long history.

[24:47] I don't know in detail

[24:48] what the history is,

[24:48] but it is a centuries-old brand,

[24:50] weirdly.

[24:51] Um,

[24:52] anyway,

[24:52] here we go.

[24:53] I brought you guys

[24:53] a little answer key,

[24:55] a little,

[24:56] uh,

[24:56] key of shorthand

[24:57] to what titles

[24:59] I'm going to be quizzing you on.

[25:00] Oh,

[25:00] great.

[25:00] Because they're long

[25:01] and confusing,

[25:02] and I,

[25:03] oh,

[25:03] fuck.

[25:03] want to give you some shorthand,

[25:05] but,

[25:05] um,

[25:06] here we go.

[25:07] Uh,

[25:07] if you guys are ready to begin.

[25:09] Yeah.

[25:09] Uh,

[25:10] put on your black leather gloves,

[25:11] sharpen your straight razor,

[25:13] pour yourself a highball glass of J&B.

[25:16] We're going to play

[25:17] the Jallo title quiz.

[25:19] It's a few,

[25:20] a few short rounds,

[25:21] couple of questions,

[25:23] uh,

[25:23] one question for each of you per round.

[25:25] Uh,

[25:26] each question,

[25:26] one point,

[25:27] so let's go.

[25:28] Um,

[25:29] round one.

[25:31] Let me just grab this paper.

[25:33] Round one.

[25:34] Jallo titles are frequently

[25:35] very elaborate phrases

[25:37] and even complete sentences.

[25:39] However,

[25:40] unlike Hollywood titles

[25:41] like

[25:42] The Assassination of Jesse James

[25:44] by the Coward Robert Ford

[25:45] or

[25:45] Honey,

[25:46] I Shrunk the Kids,

[25:47] these elaborate Jallo titles

[25:48] don't necessarily tell you

[25:50] what happens in the movie.

[25:51] Uh-huh.

[25:51] I will read you a plot synopsis

[25:53] from Letterboxd.

[25:54] You,

[25:55] you match it to the Jallo title.

[25:56] Okay.

[25:57] First,

[25:58] Dan.

[25:59] Oliviero is a drunk,

[26:01] burned out writer

[26:01] who amuses himself

[26:03] by hosting orgies

[26:04] at his grand country manor

[26:05] and humiliating his wife,

[26:07] Irina.

[26:08] When a number of women

[26:09] are murdered

[26:09] in grisly fashion,

[26:11] Oliviero becomes

[26:12] a prime suspect.

[26:13] Is this

[26:14] All the Colors of the Dark,

[26:16] A Lizard in a Woman's Skin,

[26:18] Your Vice is a Locked Room

[26:19] and Only I Have the Key,

[26:21] or Seven Bloodstained Orchids?

[26:24] Oof.

Stuart Wellington

[26:25] And these are all real names.

[26:26] You didn't make these up.

[26:27] These are,

Alejandro Arbona

[26:28] I have prepared this quiz

[26:29] with great intellectual rigor.

[26:31] Everything here

[26:32] is very thorough.

[26:33] Everything here is accurate.

[26:35] Um,

[26:36] well,

Dan McCoy

[26:38] it all,

[26:38] you know,

[26:39] going by what you say,

[26:41] C seems almost

[26:42] too,

[26:44] uh,

[26:44] too much like the,

[26:45] what you were talking about,

[26:46] about,

[26:46] you know,

[26:47] it's orgies,

[26:47] so your vice is a locked room

[26:48] and only I have the key.

[26:49] I'm not kidding.

[26:49] Which is such a banger

[26:51] of a title.

[26:52] Yeah.

[26:53] It,

[26:53] it definitely sounds like,

[26:56] you know,

[26:56] some,

[26:57] uh,

[26:58] 2000s alt-rock band

[26:59] would have named

[27:00] their album that.

[27:01] But,

[27:01] so I'm gonna go with

[27:02] Seven Bloodstained Orchids.

[27:05] D.

Alejandro Arbona

[27:05] Um,

[27:06] the same director,

[27:07] Sergio Martino,

[27:08] made a movie called

[27:08] The Strange Vice of Mrs. Ward.

[27:10] And in that movie,

[27:11] there's a scene where

[27:12] the titular Mrs. Ward,

[27:14] uh,

[27:14] Edwidge Fennec,

[27:15] great queen of Jello,

[27:16] um,

[27:17] is sent a note

[27:18] from her,

[27:19] uh,

[27:19] abusive ex-husband,

[27:21] that says,

[27:21] your vice is a locked room

[27:23] Wow.

[27:24] That is,

[27:25] in fact,

[27:25] the title of his next movie,

[27:27] which is this one.

[27:28] So,

[27:28] the correct answer was C,

[27:29] your vice is a locked room

[27:31] Oh,

Dan McCoy

[27:32] that was cool.

[27:32] Oh,

[27:33] I talked myself out of it.

Alejandro Arbona

[27:34] Yeah.

[27:35] Okay,

[27:35] next question.

[27:35] Stuart.

[27:36] Stuart.

[27:36] Uh-huh.

[27:37] A reporter

[27:37] and a promiscuous young woman

[27:39] try to solve a series

[27:40] of child killings

[27:41] in a remote southern Italian town

[27:44] rife with superstition

[27:45] and a distrust of outsiders.

[27:48] Is this

[27:48] the suspicious death

[27:50] of a minor?

[27:51] Seems too obvious.

[27:52] The police are blundering

[27:53] in the dark.

[27:54] Hmm.

[27:55] The case of the scorpion's tail.

[27:57] That's pretty cool.

[27:58] Or,

[27:59] don't torture a duckling.

Stuart Wellington

[28:00] I think,

[28:01] I'm gonna say

[28:02] don't torture a duckling.

[28:04] That is correct.

[28:05] Yeah.

[28:05] Don't torture a duckling.

Dan McCoy

[28:07] Why did I get that one?

[28:07] I've actually seen

[28:10] That's the only one

[28:10] so far that I've seen.

Alejandro Arbona

[28:11] Don't torture a duckling

[28:12] is a giallo

[28:13] directed by Lucio Fulci

[28:14] who,

[28:15] in general,

[28:16] is not one of my favorites

[28:17] because his movies

[28:18] are so,

[28:19] so gory.

[28:20] But this is an early one

[28:21] and it's actually

[28:22] very beautiful.

[28:23] It does have a lot

[28:24] of weird

[28:25] psychosexual issues.

[28:27] Mm-hmm.

[28:27] But I think

[28:28] it's one of the best.

[28:29] It's actually

[28:29] one of my favorite jellos.

[28:31] Later,

[28:32] in the early 80s,

[28:32] he directed

[28:33] New York Ripper,

[28:34] which you mentioned

[28:34] earlier, Stuart.

[28:35] And that movie

[28:36] is so gross.

[28:37] Yeah.

[28:37] I have a hard time

[28:38] watching it.

Dan McCoy

[28:39] See,

[28:39] we have opposite tastes.

[28:41] I'm like,

[28:41] I want my jello

[28:42] to be gross and weird

[28:43] and so I love

[28:44] New York Ripper

[28:44] and Don't torture a duckling

[28:46] is almost too sad to me

[28:47] because it's about

[28:48] child murders

[28:49] and the provincialism

[28:51] of this Italian town.

[28:53] I'm like,

[28:53] I don't want actual

[28:54] stuff in my movie.

[28:56] I want...

Alejandro Arbona

[28:57] It is a weird thing

[28:58] being a jello fan

[28:59] because it's hard

[28:59] to recommend these

[29:00] to people.

[29:01] A lot of times,

[29:02] even the best ones

[29:02] can be so tough

[29:03] to watch.

[29:04] Yeah.

[29:05] And they should come

[29:06] with a lot of content warnings

[29:07] and all that kind of thing.

Stuart Wellington

[29:08] I want a movie

[29:09] where a guy murders people

[29:10] with a flute.

Alejandro Arbona

[29:11] Mm-hmm.

[29:12] There are two different

[29:14] jello movies

[29:15] where the murder weapon

[29:17] is a carved wooden dildo.

[29:19] Oh, okay.

[29:20] Yeah.

[29:21] So...

[29:21] Cool.

[29:22] That's the kind of thing

[29:23] that happens.

[29:23] round two.

[29:26] Multiple choice question.

[29:27] Mm-hmm.

[29:28] Jello movies

[29:28] could sometimes go through

[29:30] multiple releases

[29:30] and re-releases,

[29:32] international releases,

[29:33] different edits on home video,

[29:35] often collecting new titles

[29:37] along the way.

[29:38] I'll give you a jello's

[29:39] better known original title.

[29:41] You pick the alternate title

[29:43] it was also released under.

[29:45] Dan,

[29:46] your movie is

[29:47] Deep Red.

[29:48] Is the alternate title

[29:49] A,

[29:50] The Hatchet Murders,

[29:52] B,

[29:53] Carnage,

[29:54] C,

[29:54] Red Rings of Fear?

[29:56] Okay.

Dan McCoy

[29:57] I've seen Deep Red

[29:59] and I don't think

[30:00] he used a hatchet

[30:02] or whoever it was.

[30:04] I can't remember

[30:04] who the murderer was.

[30:05] Maybe a she.

[30:07] I'm going to go with

[30:08] B, Carnage.

Alejandro Arbona

[30:09] The correct answer is

[30:10] A,

[30:11] The Hatchet Murders.

[30:12] Whoa!

[30:12] I am so sorry.

[30:14] I should point out

[30:15] this is how seriously

[30:16] I took this quiz.

[30:17] All of these titles

[30:18] are all alternate titles

[30:20] of different movies.

[30:20] Wasn't that a straight razor

[30:21] in Deep Red?

[30:22] I can't remember.

[30:23] The first person he kills

[30:25] is the telepath,

[30:27] the psychic woman.

[30:28] Uh-huh.

[30:29] He gives a hatchet

[30:31] to the back of the head.

Dan McCoy

[30:32] Okay.

[30:32] I really don't remember it as well.

[30:33] I got to revisit Deep Red.

[30:35] I remember really liking that one.

Alejandro Arbona

[30:36] Hi,

[30:36] this is Alejandro

[30:37] with The Voice Memo.

[30:39] The morning after recording

[30:40] this episode,

[30:41] I woke up in a cold sweat

[30:42] with the sickening,

[30:44] sickening realization

[30:45] that I had said

[30:46] something wrong

[30:47] on the internet.

[30:49] Dan was right.

[30:50] There is no hatchet

[30:51] in The Hatchet Murders.

[30:52] The scene I was thinking of

[30:53] involved a meat cleaver.

[30:55] So my apologies to Dan.

[30:57] It's funny,

[30:57] the same thing happens

[30:58] in a Mario Bava movie

[30:59] that was called

[31:00] The Red Sign of Madness

[31:02] in Italian.

[31:03] And they released it

[31:03] in the U.S.

[31:04] as a hatchet

[31:05] for the honeymoon,

[31:07] despite the fact

[31:07] that the killer

Dan McCoy

[31:08] obviously uses

[31:09] a meat cleaver.

Alejandro Arbona

[31:10] Stuart,

[31:11] your movie is

[31:12] Blue Eyes

[31:13] of the Broken Doll.

[31:15] Is the alternate title...

[31:16] Yeah.

[31:18] Is the alternate title

[31:19] A,

[31:20] The Psychic,

[31:21] B,

[31:21] The Evil Eye,

[31:23] C,

[31:23] House of Psychotic Women?

Stuart Wellington

[31:25] And it was

[31:26] Blue Eyes

[31:27] of the Broken Doll.

[31:29] I'm going to say...

[31:31] I think I'm going

[31:33] to keep it simple.

[31:33] I'm going to say

[31:34] The Psychic.

Alejandro Arbona

[31:35] The Psychic is

[31:36] the alternate title

[31:37] of another

[31:38] Lucio Fulci movie

[31:39] that was also called

[31:40] Seven Notes in Black.

[31:42] The alternate title

[31:43] of Blue Eyes

[31:43] of the Broken Doll

[31:44] inspired the title

[31:45] of Kirila Janice's

[31:47] seminal book

[31:47] House of Psychotic Women.

[31:48] Yeah.

[31:49] Okay.

[31:50] So that is that one.

[31:52] I have a round two

[31:53] bonus question.

[31:54] Okay.

[31:54] Speaking of alternate titles,

[31:56] highly controversial

[31:57] upon its release,

[31:58] Bay of Blood

[31:59] went on to become

[32:00] one of the most

[32:01] successful

[32:01] and influential

[32:02] giallo of all.

[32:03] It had two theatrical

[32:05] runs in Italy,

[32:06] a theatrical run

[32:06] in Spain,

[32:07] a U.S. theatrical release,

[32:09] and multiple

[32:09] recut home video releases.

[32:12] Which of these

[32:12] five titles

[32:13] was not

[32:15] an alternate title

[32:16] for Bay of Blood?

[32:17] You can each

[32:18] take a turn answering.

[32:19] Is it

[32:20] Chain Reaction,

[32:22] Twitch of the Death Nerve,

[32:24] Ecology of Crime,

[32:26] Last House on the Left

[32:27] Part 2,

[32:29] or

[32:29] Bay of Blood?

Dan McCoy

[32:31] Dan,

[32:32] you go first.

[32:32] I'm going to go with

[32:33] Ecology of Crime.

Alejandro Arbona

[32:35] Okay, Stuart?

[32:37] Twitch of the Death Nerve.

[32:39] You're both wrong.

[32:40] Oh, no.

[32:42] Twitch of the Death Nerve

[32:43] is the best

[32:44] alternate title.

[32:45] It's the best title.

[32:46] The best alternate title

[32:47] any movie has ever had.

[32:49] Ecology of Crime,

[32:50] I'm sorry,

[32:50] is also wrong.

[32:52] The,

[32:53] which of these five titles

[32:54] was not an alternate title

[32:55] for Bay of Blood,

[32:56] Ecology of Crime

[32:57] is actually the original title.

[32:59] Whoa.

[33:00] was an alternate title.

[33:01] Oh, okay.

[33:03] It was actually released

[33:04] in theaters as

[33:07] and Chain Reaction,

[33:08] and then it was released

[33:09] in Spain

[33:09] with the title

[33:10] Bay of Blood.

[33:11] Bahia de Sangre.

Dan McCoy

[33:14] Okay, round three.

[33:15] So wait,

[33:15] it was Last House

[33:16] on the Left Part 2?

[33:17] Is that the wrong one?

[33:19] No, they are all...

[33:20] They're all...

Alejandro Arbona

[33:21] They are all actual titles

[33:22] that were used

[33:23] for Bay of Blood,

[33:24] but only Ecology of Crime

[33:25] was not an alternate title.

[33:27] It was the original title.

[33:27] So Dan was right.

[33:28] That's what he said.

[33:29] It was the original title.

Dan McCoy

[33:30] Oh, okay.

[33:31] Yeah, who was right?

[33:32] What was the right answer

[33:33] is what I'm asking.

[33:34] Oh, you know what?

[33:35] I got that wrong.

Alejandro Arbona

[33:35] You're right.

[33:36] So Dan is right.

[33:37] Okay.

[33:37] Oh, okay.

[33:38] My mistake.

[33:38] I'm sorry.

[33:39] I scored that one wrong.

[33:41] Dan, my apologies.

[33:42] No, that's all right.

[33:43] Should we retake that?

[33:44] No, no, no, no.

[33:44] That's fine.

Dan McCoy

[33:45] All the confusion

[33:46] is what Flophouse fans

[33:49] clamor for,

[33:49] how ramshackle we are.

Alejandro Arbona

[33:52] Well, like the plot

[33:53] of a Jello,

[33:54] this quiz is very convoluted

[33:56] and very confusing.

[33:57] Oh, man.

[33:58] These are some good ones.

[33:59] Confused even me.

[34:00] God damn it.

[34:01] These titles.

[34:02] Okay.

[34:02] Round three.

[34:04] Now you know that

[34:05] was originally titled

[34:07] and then Chain Reaction

[34:09] theatrically in Italy,

[34:10] yet it's best known

[34:11] by its theatrical release

[34:12] title from Spain,

[34:14] Bay of Blood.

[34:15] Likewise,

[34:16] many U.S.

[34:17] Giallo releases

[34:18] discard the original

[34:19] Italian title entirely.

[34:21] In the reverse of round two,

[34:23] this time I will give you

[34:24] a Giallo's better known

[34:25] alternate title.

[34:26] You pick the original

[34:27] translated Italian title.

[34:30] Dan, you go first.

[34:31] The fifth chord.

[34:33] Was this titled

[34:34] Concerto for Solo Pistol?

[34:38] Black Day for Ares,

[34:40] the Zodiac sign Ares.

[34:42] One on top of the other.

Dan McCoy

[34:44] Oh boy.

[34:46] I assume,

[34:47] here's the problem.

[34:48] Like,

[34:48] I assume that these

[34:49] are all actual,

[34:50] you know,

[34:52] titles for other ones,

[34:53] so I can't go like,

[34:55] oh, you know,

[34:55] like one on top

[34:56] of the other sounds

[34:56] like it's,

[34:57] you know,

[34:58] Italian translated from,

[34:59] but I'm,

[35:00] I'm just gonna go with my guts.

[35:02] I'm gonna keep it

[35:02] one on top of the other.

Alejandro Arbona

[35:04] I'm sorry,

[35:04] that's incorrect.

[35:05] Ugh.

[35:06] The correct answer was B,

[35:07] Black Day for Ares.

[35:08] That's a good name.

[35:10] These are,

[35:11] in fact,

[35:11] all original Italian titles

[35:13] for movies that are

[35:14] better known

[35:14] by their alternate titles.

[35:16] One on top of the other

[35:17] was released in the U.S.

[35:18] as Perversion Story.

[35:20] Ooh.

Dan McCoy

[35:22] You gotta say,

[35:23] it's a better title.

[35:24] Perversion Story?

[35:25] Yeah.

[35:25] Yeah,

[35:25] that's pretty cool.

Alejandro Arbona

[35:26] Yeah,

[35:27] and then Concerto for Solo Pistol

[35:28] was something called

[35:29] The Weekend Murders,

[35:30] which I actually have not seen.

[35:32] Concerto for Solo Pistol

[35:34] is a better name.

[35:35] Yeah,

[35:35] agreed.

[35:36] Stuart,

[35:37] your title,

[35:38] What Have They Done

[35:39] to Your Daughters?

[35:40] Was this originally called

[35:42] Murder by Vocation,

[35:44] Revelations of a Sex Maniac

[35:46] to the Chief of the Mobile Squad,

[35:49] or

[35:50] The Police Are Asking for Help?

Stuart Wellington

[35:53] I mean,

[35:53] I would feel like a fool

[35:54] if I didn't go with my gut

[35:56] and say Revelations of a Sex Maniac

[35:57] to the Chief of the Mobile Squad.

[35:59] That is a good one.

[36:00] I'm sorry.

[36:01] It is,

Alejandro Arbona

[36:01] it is The Police Are Asking for Help.

[36:05] Okay.

[36:06] That was a Scotch round

[36:08] for All Around.

Stuart Wellington

[36:09] So wait,

[36:10] Revelations of a Sex Maniac

[36:11] to the Chief of the Mobile Squad.

[36:12] What's the other name for that one?

Alejandro Arbona

[36:14] That is,

[36:15] oh,

[36:16] where's my answer key?

[36:17] I'm drawing a total blank.

[36:18] That is

[36:18] So Sweet,

[36:19] So Dead.

[36:20] That's also a good name.

[36:23] Yeah.

[36:25] I'm just,

[36:26] I could be remembering that wrong,

[36:27] but I'm pretty sure

[36:28] It's So Sweet,

[36:29] So Dead.

[36:30] Round four.

[36:31] Here's a nice simple round.

[36:32] Pick the title

[36:33] that isn't

[36:34] a real movie.

[36:35] Okay.

[36:37] Dan,

[36:38] The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire,

[36:41] Footprints on the Moon,

[36:43] Strip Nude for Your Killer,

[36:45] Hacked Apart,

[36:46] or The New York Ripper.

[36:48] Obviously you can rule out

[36:49] The New York Ripper.

Dan McCoy

[36:50] Mm-hmm.

[36:51] And I know that

[36:51] Strip Nude for Your Killer

[36:52] is also real.

Stuart Wellington

[36:56] Yeah,

[36:56] that's in your search history.

Dan McCoy

[37:02] I'm gonna go,

[37:02] just because it sounds

[37:03] less giallo-y to me,

[37:04] I'm gonna go

[37:05] Footprints on the Moon.

Alejandro Arbona

[37:06] Footprints on the Moon

[37:07] is a very beautiful,

[37:09] very beautiful movie

[37:09] that people often

[37:11] claim is not a giallo

[37:13] because it's not

[37:14] really a murder mystery,

[37:16] but it definitely

[37:17] is a mystery.

[37:18] It was directed

[37:19] by Luigi Bozzoni,

[37:22] who also did a movie

[37:23] called The Fifth Chord

[37:24] that I like a lot.

[37:26] No,

[37:26] the answer here

[37:27] was Hacked Apart.

[37:28] That was my other one

[37:29] because it seemed

[37:30] too simple.

[37:31] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[37:33] Stuart,

[37:33] pick the title

[37:34] that isn't a real movie.

[37:36] The Flower

[37:36] with the Petals of Steel,

[37:38] The Pajama Girl Case,

[37:40] My Killer Dismembered Me,

[37:41] The Sweet Body of Deborah,

[37:43] or The Laughing Woman.

Stuart Wellington

[37:45] Okay,

[37:45] let me go down

[37:45] through these.

[37:46] So Flower,

[37:47] The Petals of Steel,

[37:48] that sounds like a giallo,

[37:49] right, Dan?

[37:51] Because that's

[37:51] very complicated.

[37:52] Oh, yeah,

[37:53] a year ahead.

[37:53] The Pajama Girl Case

[37:55] is okay.

[37:58] I like that name.

[38:01] That's very much

[38:02] I Know Who Killed Me

[38:03] right there.

[38:04] The Sweet Body of Deborah,

[38:05] also,

[38:06] it's very florid.

[38:07] There's a lot of,

[38:08] there's a lot of descriptors.

[38:10] I'm going to say,

[38:11] I think The Laughing Woman,

[38:13] although I like the name,

[38:14] I think The Laughing Woman

[38:15] is too simple.

Alejandro Arbona

[38:17] For one of the promotional things

[38:19] I've come up with

[38:21] for Lake Yellowwood Slaughter,

[38:22] I came up with

[38:23] the whole backstory

[38:24] of who the director is

[38:25] and what other movies

[38:26] he's made.

[38:27] And he is a made-up,

[38:29] he's a made-up Italian director

[38:30] called Giacomo Mezzasalma.

[38:32] And he made giallo movies,

[38:34] including one which was called,

[38:35] a movie of my own invention

[38:37] was called

[38:37] L'Assassino Mias Membrato,

[38:39] which means

[38:40] The Killer Dismembered Me,

[38:42] a movie which in my canon

[38:45] was released in the US

[38:46] as Hacked Apart.

[38:48] Oh, okay.

[38:48] So that's what

[38:49] those two titles were.

[38:50] So,

Stuart Wellington

[38:52] great title.

[38:53] Good one, Alejandro.

[38:54] That's an Alejandro Arbona invention.

Alejandro Arbona

[38:56] Thank you.

[38:57] And now,

[38:58] that's almost the end of the game.

[39:00] Stuart has two points,

[39:01] Dan has one.

[39:02] We could leave it at that.

[39:04] I did come up with a bonus round

[39:05] in case we had a tie.

[39:07] Give me the chance to tie.

[39:08] Let's do,

[39:09] yeah, okay, let's do.

[39:10] We'll call this

[39:11] Double or Nothing, Dan.

Stuart Wellington

[39:11] Can you knock me out?

[39:13] No, no, no.

[39:13] Okay.

Alejandro Arbona

[39:14] This is a very open-ended,

[39:16] this is just

[39:17] not a multiple choice,

[39:19] not a,

[39:20] not a pick a title or anything.

[39:23] This is a very open-ended question

[39:24] that's going to be

[39:25] very, very, very hard.

[39:26] I would say nigh impossible

[39:27] to figure out

[39:29] unless you know these movies.

[39:30] Even if you have seen these movies,

[39:31] you might not think of it.

[39:32] So this is

[39:33] basically an impossible point.

[39:35] But then,

[39:36] I do have a follow-up question

[39:39] which might be easier.

[39:40] Okay.

[39:40] So this is potentially worth two points,

[39:42] maybe one,

[39:43] most likely zero.

[39:45] The tiebreaker round,

[39:46] the non-existent tie,

[39:48] these five Giallo movies

[39:50] have one plot detail in common.

[39:52] What is it?

[39:54] The titles are

[39:55] Who Saw Her Die,

[39:57] Autopsy,

[39:58] Don't Torture a Duckling,

[40:00] The Bloodstained Shadow,

[40:01] and Seven Bloodstained Orchids.

[40:04] What could those five movies

[40:05] have in common?

Stuart Wellington

[40:08] I haven't seen any of them.

[40:10] I've only seen

[40:11] Don't Torture a Duckling,

[40:12] which I've listened to

[40:13] the band Autopsy,

[40:15] so maybe I have an advantage there.

[40:21] My guess is the,

[40:23] that there's a ghost

[40:28] in the movie

[40:29] of a person

[40:31] who's been killed,

[40:32] one of the victims.

Dan McCoy

[40:33] I'm going to say that

[40:34] the,

[40:36] the,

[40:38] the,

[40:38] a red herring,

[40:39] a mistaken killer,

[40:40] someone who they think

[40:41] is going to be the killer

[40:42] is,

[40:43] is killed.

Alejandro Arbona

[40:44] Okay.

[40:44] I,

[40:45] I would say that's a thing

[40:46] that applies to

[40:46] maybe 100% of Jala.

Dan McCoy

[40:50] So,

[40:51] technically correct,

[40:52] Dan.

[40:53] Yeah,

[40:53] I guess so.

[40:54] Well,

[40:54] I meant that like,

[40:55] people are like,

[40:55] oh,

[40:55] this person's the killer,

[40:56] we're going to kill,

[40:57] we're going to,

[40:58] but.

Alejandro Arbona

[40:59] These five movies in particular,

[41:00] one thing they have in common

[41:01] is that a Roman Catholic priest

[41:04] is a character.

[41:05] Okay.

[41:05] In each of these movies.

[41:06] Now,

[41:07] follow-up question.

[41:09] in which movie

[41:10] is that plot detail

[41:11] unlike the others?

[41:14] Which movie stands out

[41:15] for that plot detail

[41:17] actually being different

[41:18] in one way?

Stuart Wellington

[41:19] So,

[41:19] Dan,

[41:19] you've seen

Dan McCoy

[41:20] Don't Torture Duckling.

[41:22] it is Don't Torture Duckling

[41:23] and the difference is that

[41:25] the priest is the killer.

Alejandro Arbona

[41:27] The correct answer is autopsy.

[41:30] The priest is not the killer.

[41:32] Oh,

[41:33] the only time

[41:34] it didn't happen.

Dan McCoy

[41:36] Okay,

[41:36] so it looks like

[41:37] I walked away with this one.

Alejandro Arbona

[41:38] Yeah,

[41:39] you walked away with one.

[41:41] If the listener

[41:41] did not want

[41:42] a spoiler there,

[41:43] go back

[41:44] and then go ahead.

Dan McCoy

[41:46] Just get,

[41:48] you know,

[41:48] dial into the

[41:49] Eternal Sunshine machine

[41:50] and erase it.

[41:51] You know,

Stuart Wellington

[41:52] I accept my victory,

[41:54] you know,

[41:54] I'm going to chalk it up

[41:55] to my skills.

[41:58] But the,

[41:59] I think this highlights

[42:00] a thing where

[42:01] I,

[42:02] you know,

[42:03] I kind of have

[42:04] a complicated relationship

[42:05] with Giallo movies.

[42:07] I was not,

[42:08] I wasn't a big fan

[42:09] of Dario Argento

[42:10] and I kind of like

[42:11] stayed away from

[42:12] a lot of Fulci stuff.

[42:14] If I,

[42:15] but then,

[42:16] you know,

[42:16] I found that like

[42:17] De Palma's movies

[42:18] and other like

[42:19] clearly influenced

[42:21] by Giallo movies

[42:22] are definitely

[42:23] more my speed.

[42:25] But if I wanted to like

[42:27] dip my toes in,

[42:30] what are,

[42:30] what are a couple of like

[42:31] good intro points?

[42:33] I'm sure there's some of the things

[42:34] you've already mentioned.

Alejandro Arbona

[42:35] It's funny that

[42:36] Dario Argento

[42:37] is such a ready

[42:38] association for people

[42:39] looking to get into Giallo.

[42:40] I love Dario Argento,

[42:42] but as we discussed before,

[42:44] maybe half his movies

[42:45] or half of his

[42:46] better known movies

[42:47] are not necessarily Giallo

[42:48] because they're supernatural.

[42:50] And then of the ones

[42:50] that are Giallo,

[42:52] some of them are

[42:53] so,

[42:54] you know,

[42:54] like I'm not a big fan

[42:55] of

[42:56] Cat of Nine Tails

[42:58] and whatever.

[43:00] In Argento in particular,

[43:02] I love the bird

[43:02] with the crystal plumage

[43:03] and I love Tenebrae

[43:05] which is an

[43:05] early 80s one.

[43:07] I saw in love.

[43:08] Those two I love a lot.

[43:09] And of course,

[43:09] with Mario Bava,

[43:11] Mario and Dario,

[43:12] Mario Bava and Dario Argento

[43:13] are basically the big two

[43:14] of Giallo.

[43:16] They're the more

[43:17] readily accessible two.

Stuart Wellington

[43:18] Mario and Dario

[43:19] are a couple of plumbers,

[43:20] right?

[43:21] All right.

Alejandro Arbona

[43:22] Who fight

[43:22] turtle monsters.

Stuart Wellington

[43:23] Bordering on a...

Alejandro Arbona

[43:26] Hey,

[43:27] it's a fine.

[43:28] Uh-huh.

[43:29] Sure.

[43:29] And then there's

[43:30] Wadario,

[43:31] of course.

[43:32] Yeah,

[43:32] yeah,

[43:32] yeah.

[43:33] But yeah,

[43:34] people are quick to go,

[43:35] people are quick to recommend

[43:36] Argento and Bava

[43:37] and they're good.

[43:38] There are a lot of good movies there.

[43:40] I think if you go a little

[43:41] further afield,

[43:42] some of the directors

[43:43] that are big

[43:44] in Giallo fandom

[43:45] but less well-known

[43:46] to people outside

[43:47] have made some movies

[43:48] that are really,

[43:49] really interesting.

[43:50] Three favorite directors

[43:52] of mine are

[43:53] a guy called

[43:53] Umberto Lenzi,

[43:57] and Luciano Ercoli.

[43:58] Now,

[43:58] here's the secret.

[43:59] The thing that those

[44:00] three directors

[44:01] have in common

[44:01] is that their best movies

[44:03] are all written

[44:03] by a screenwriter

[44:04] called Ernesto Gastaldi.

[44:06] Okay.

[44:07] Ernesto Gastaldi

[44:08] is like the secret weapon

[44:09] of a good Giallo.

[44:10] If you look him up

[44:11] on IMDb or Letterboxd

[44:13] and start going through

[44:13] those movies,

[44:14] those are some of the best

[44:15] and most interesting ones.

[44:16] Okay.

[44:17] Umberto Lenzi

[44:18] made four movies

[44:19] with this American actress

[44:20] Carol Clover.

[44:21] One of them

[44:22] we had in here

[44:23] in the quiz

[44:23] was A Quiet Place to Kill.

[44:25] That is my favorite movie

[44:26] with A Quiet Place

[44:28] in the title.

[44:29] I love that movie.

[44:31] Um,

[44:32] uh,

[44:33] of course,

[44:34] again,

[44:34] it's hard to recommend

[44:35] Giallo movies

[44:36] because you have to know

[44:36] the level of violence

[44:37] and in some cases

[44:38] sexual violence

[44:39] that you're getting into.

[44:41] but Torso is a movie

[44:42] that I like a lot.

[44:43] Torso is like a late Giallo

[44:44] proto-slasher.

[44:46] It has more in common

[44:47] with slasher movies

[44:48] maybe,

[44:49] arguably.

Stuart Wellington

[44:50] Um,

[44:51] but that's,

[44:51] that's good for me

[44:52] because I speak slasher movies.

Alejandro Arbona

[44:54] Mm-hmm.

[44:55] And then,

[44:55] yeah,

[44:55] Sergio Martino also did

[44:56] Your Vice is a Locked Room

[44:57] and Only I Have the Key

[44:58] and,

[44:59] uh,

[44:59] The Strange Vice of Mrs. Ward

[45:01] and All the Colors of the Dark

[45:03] are very good movies.

[45:04] There's a director

[45:05] also called

[45:05] Luciano Ercoli

[45:07] who worked a few times

[45:08] with his wife,

[45:09] Nieves Navarro,

[45:10] from Spain

[45:11] and they made a movie

[45:12] that I love

[45:13] called Death Walks at Midnight.

[45:15] That was the third

[45:16] of their collaborations

[45:17] but it's my favorite.

[45:19] Some people prefer

[45:20] the second one

[45:20] which is Death Walks

[45:21] on High Heels.

[45:22] Death Walks at Midnight

[45:23] is a really cool movie

[45:25] where unlike a lot of,

[45:28] um,

[45:28] you know,

[45:29] like slashers,

[45:30] Giallo movies come in

[45:30] for a lot of,

[45:32] uh,

[45:32] people accuse them

[45:33] of being misogynist

[45:34] because of violence

[45:35] against women

[45:36] and that kind of thing.

[45:37] But similar to slashers

[45:38] in a lot of cases

[45:39] these are movies

[45:40] about women

[45:40] who are in danger

[45:41] who try to seek help

[45:43] and no one believes them.

[45:44] Yeah.

[45:44] And in that way

[45:45] it's weirdly

[45:46] kind of feminist,

[45:47] you know,

[45:48] it's,

[45:48] it's hard to describe

[45:49] a movie as feminist

[45:50] when it has that much

[45:51] violence against women.

[45:53] Um,

[45:53] but these movies

[45:54] are about like,

[45:56] you know,

[45:56] believe women

[45:57] and these women

[45:58] go to the police

[45:59] and they go to friends

[46:00] and they go to men

[46:01] and men of authority.

[46:02] And it's clearly

Stuart Wellington

[46:03] like a killer

[46:04] exploiting the system.

Alejandro Arbona

[46:06] A lot of times,

[46:06] yeah.

[46:06] And this particular one,

[46:08] Death Walks at Midnight,

[46:09] um,

[46:10] is about a woman

[46:11] who,

[46:12] who,

[46:12] who's on again,

[46:14] off again boyfriend

[46:14] basically like,

[46:16] tricks her into doing,

[46:17] you know,

[46:17] it's,

[46:18] it's a very kind of,

[46:19] he,

[46:19] he's,

[46:20] he fucks with consent

[46:21] in a way.

[46:22] Yeah.

[46:22] He,

[46:22] he,

[46:23] he doses her

[46:23] with a fictional

[46:25] hallucinogen

[46:26] during a photo shoot.

[46:28] She thinks she witnessed

[46:28] a murder,

[46:29] but they're not sure

[46:29] if it was a hallucination.

[46:31] Photo shoots are pretty

[46:32] giallo,

[46:33] right?

[46:34] But then she's

[46:34] such a great character.

[46:35] Having had this done to her,

[46:37] she then proceeds

[46:38] to like go to the guy's office

[46:39] and throw a rock

[46:40] through his window.

[46:40] Like she's a really cool character

[46:41] and then she becomes

[46:42] like a detective

[46:43] proactively trying

[46:44] to solve this murder.

[46:46] Um,

[46:46] that movie's also

[46:47] really interesting

[46:48] because at the end

[46:49] of the movie

[46:49] there's a hitman

[46:50] who wears

[46:51] a shirt

[46:52] and a tie

[46:53] and then like a yellow

[46:54] plaid vest

[46:56] and black leather gloves

[46:58] and during the movie

[47:00] he gets his face

[47:01] caked in cement

[47:02] and suddenly his face

[47:03] is all like powdery

[47:05] and it looks so much

[47:07] like the

[47:08] Christopher Nolan

[47:09] Heath Ledger

[47:09] Joker

[47:10] that I'm like

[47:11] this must have been,

[47:13] Christopher Nolan

[47:13] must have seen this.

[47:14] Yeah.

[47:15] It looks uncanny.

[47:17] And which one was this?

[47:18] This is Death Walks

[47:19] at Midnight

[47:19] directed by Luciano

[47:21] and Ercole.

[47:21] Okay.

Stuart Wellington

[47:22] I'm gonna,

[47:22] I'm gonna have to

[47:23] re-listen to this episode

[47:25] and get all these

[47:25] notes down.

Alejandro Arbona

[47:28] Um,

[47:28] yeah,

[47:28] what else?

[47:29] I mentioned Umberto

[47:30] Lindsay,

[47:30] Ercole,

[47:31] Sergio Martino.

[47:33] Um,

Stuart Wellington

[47:34] I feel like for me

[47:37] that's a pretty good

[47:38] start.

[47:39] Yeah.

[47:39] And,

[47:39] and how would,

[47:40] like,

[47:40] how really available

[47:42] are some of these?

Alejandro Arbona

[47:43] Uh,

[47:44] when it comes to streaming,

[47:45] you know,

[47:45] a lot of things

[47:45] are on Tubi.

[47:46] That's great

[47:47] if you don't mind

[47:47] watching them with ads.

[47:48] But when it comes,

[47:49] when it comes to Jallo,

[47:51] they almost benefit

[47:52] from that kind of thing.

[47:52] And you know Tubi,

[47:53] it is the people's

[47:54] streaming platform.

[47:56] Um,

[47:56] a lot of them

[47:56] are on Shudder.

[47:57] Things on Shudder

[47:58] come and go,

[47:59] so keep an eye out there.

[48:00] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[48:00] Yeah.

[48:00] Generally pretty well curated.

[48:02] I know that Criterion

[48:03] puts a Jallo thing

[48:04] out every once in a while.

Alejandro Arbona

[48:05] Yes.

[48:05] And if you're into

[48:06] buying,

[48:06] you know,

[48:07] physical media,

[48:08] there are certain,

[48:09] you know,

[48:09] Vinegar Syndrome

[48:10] and Arrow

[48:11] put out a lot

[48:12] of cool box sets.

[48:13] They have,

[48:14] they do sales

[48:14] and things.

[48:15] You can get,

[48:15] you can get some cool movies.

[48:17] Cool.

[48:17] Um,

[48:18] cheap sometimes.

[48:19] I'm a big fan of,

[48:20] I buy always

[48:21] the Jallo Essentials

[48:22] from Arrow

[48:22] and the Forgotten Jolly

[48:24] from Vinegar Syndrome.

[48:26] I have all of those.

[48:27] Oh,

[48:27] awesome.

[48:28] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[48:29] Have you watched

[48:30] all the movies

[48:31] in those collections?

Alejandro Arbona

[48:32] Yes.

[48:33] The Forgotten Jolly ones

[48:34] in particular

[48:35] are tough

[48:35] because I buy

[48:36] every,

[48:37] every volume

[48:37] and then I watch

[48:38] all the movies

[48:39] and I'm like,

[48:39] ah,

[48:40] why did I buy this?

[48:41] Love your level

[48:42] of dedication.

[48:43] But there are gems

[48:44] in there.

[48:44] It is worth it.

[48:45] And the Jallo Essentials

[48:47] from Arrow

[48:48] are some really good box sets.

[48:49] There's a lot of

[48:50] really good stuff in those.

Stuart Wellington

[48:51] This has been great.

[48:53] Can you,

[48:54] just one more time,

[48:55] Alejandro,

[48:55] can you give us a pitch

[48:57] on your new Kickstarter

[48:58] and where people

[48:59] can find it?

Alejandro Arbona

[49:00] There is already

[49:01] a pre-launch sign-up page

[49:03] for the Kickstarter.

[49:04] When you're listening to this,

[49:05] I think the Kickstarter

[49:06] will kick off

[49:07] maybe like two weeks

[49:08] after this episode airs.

[49:10] Something like that,

[49:11] more or less.

[49:12] But there is a pre-launch

[49:12] sign-up page.

[49:13] I can give you guys

[49:14] the link if you want

[49:14] to put it in the show notes.

[49:15] Please.

[49:17] It's called

[49:18] Lake Yellowwood Slaughter.

[49:19] It's written by me,

[49:20] drawn by Gavin Guidry.

[49:21] The cover is painted

[49:23] by an artist from Spain

[49:25] called Suspiria Vilchez.

[49:27] The aptly name Suspiria.

[49:28] That's so funny.

[49:29] This is a gorgeous cover.

[49:31] It looks like it's

[49:32] straight off a VHS box,

[49:33] which is exactly

[49:34] what I want.

Stuart Wellington

[49:35] Either like a VHS box

[49:37] or like,

[49:38] I mean,

[49:38] I guess like an Italian comic

[49:40] that I'm like,

[49:40] I need to find out

[49:41] what's going on.

Alejandro Arbona

[49:43] Yeah,

[49:43] and I mean,

[49:44] Suspiria Vilchez

[49:45] is in fact

[49:45] an artist who does covers

[49:47] for Vinegar Syndrome

[49:48] for original releases.

[49:50] she is officially

[49:51] a JALO,

[49:51] a professional JALO artist

[49:53] in a way.

[49:55] Yes,

[49:55] so it's a slasher movie

[49:57] made by a JALO director

[49:58] adapted to comic book form.

[50:01] I'll give you guys

[50:02] this sneak preview.

[50:03] The first two pages

[50:04] are a little

[50:05] tongue-in-cheek gag

[50:06] where

[50:07] they're reminiscent of

[50:10] if it's 1983

[50:11] and you just

[50:12] turned on TV

[50:13] to watch a movie

[50:14] and you feel like

[50:15] you're soaring above a city,

[50:17] flying into the woods

[50:18] to a glorious starburst

[50:21] in the sky.

[50:22] That's what the first

[50:23] two pages of the comic

[50:24] are.

[50:25] If you're hearing that,

[50:27] if that music starts

[50:28] playing in your head

[50:29] automatically,

[50:29] I feel you should know

[50:30] that that music,

[50:31] there's actually a song

[50:33] that goes with it

[50:33] and it has lyrics.

[50:35] Oh,

[50:35] no kidding.

[50:35] Yes,

[50:36] I can't find it

[50:37] streaming anywhere.

[50:38] It's on YouTube,

[50:38] but I can't find it.

[50:39] It's not on Apple Music

[50:40] or anything,

[50:41] but yeah,

[50:42] it is a song.

[50:43] It's kind of a bluesy,

[50:44] like it's got bass,

[50:46] it's got like a blues guitar.

[50:48] That's so funny.

[50:49] The lyrics go,

[50:50] anyone who has a fantasy,

[50:54] come with me.

[50:55] Come with me.

[50:57] So yeah,

[50:57] look it up on YouTube.

[50:59] Oh,

[50:59] that's awesome.

Stuart Wellington

[51:01] That's great.

[51:01] So thanks so much,

[51:03] Alejandro.

[51:03] This has been a mini episode

[51:05] of the Flophouse podcast.

[51:07] We are produced

[51:08] by Mr. Alex Smith,

[51:10] who is in the room.

[51:11] Say hi,

[51:11] Alex.

[51:12] Hi.

[51:14] This podcast is on

[51:15] Maximum Fun.

[51:16] It's a podcast network.

[51:17] There's plenty of great podcasts.

[51:18] Check them out.

[51:19] For the Flophouse,

[51:21] I've been Stuart Wellington.

[51:23] I've been Jan McCoy.

[51:24] And joining us is?

Alejandro Arbona

[51:25] Alejandro Arbona,

[51:26] thank you guys for having me.

[51:27] Stuart,

[51:27] enjoy your J&B.

Stuart Wellington

[51:29] Yeah,

[51:29] I will.

[51:30] I'm going to get faded,

[51:31] baby,

[51:31] and watch some movies.

[51:39] Maximum Fun.

Alejandro Arbona

[51:40] A worker-owned network

[51:41] of artist-owned shows

[51:43] supported

[51:44] directly

[51:45] by you.

FH Mini 127 - Always Room for Giallo, with Alejandro Arbona

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