Slicing an open straight-razor along the fine line between fear and desire, Giallo cinema irresistibly combines those two most potent of human fascinations - sex and death. It inhabits an ominous and symbolic world, where knock-out visual style drips from every frame, and all of the (usually) knife-wielding maniac’s crimes are lensed with high-fashion gloss. Earning its name from the yellow tone of the Italian pulp-fiction paperbacks adapted for early screenplays, the distinctive genre was kickstarted by the lurid Blood and Black Lace (1965) directed by Mario Bava, and crowned by the gripping Deep Red (1975) from auteur Dario Argento. Later American exemplars such as the slick psychological thriller The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) or Brian de Palma’s overt homage, Dressed to Kill (1984) further fed appetites for this type of elegantly elevated slasher flick.

Los Angeles photographer Kristin Gallegos brings the the lost art of Giallo back to vibrant life in her just-released coffee table tome, Eight Dolls for an Autumn Moon published by Snap Collective. Neatly updating a Bava title (Five Dolls for an August Moon from 1970) she drops eight of her personal muses into richly evocative sets and locations in both New York and Los Angeles. Shooting on real film and vintage polaroid, each of her glamorous heroines embodies characters based on the most iconic Giallo 1960s-70s actresses. The cineastic scope of the cast-list is evidence of Gallegos real passion for the genre and years of research (+ her super-cool friend group): chic European blonde Barbara Bouchet is Cora Keegan, elegant brunette Edwige Fenech is Dani Dolinger, Marisa Mell is Alix Brown, Anita Strindberg is Ashley Smith, Carla Brait is Chavi St. Hill, Isabelle De Funes is Gabrielle Montes de Oca, Florinda Bolkan is Coco Baudelle and Susan Scott (aka Nieves Navarro) is Paige Elkington. The dual role of George Hilton/the Masked Killer is handled by Luke Brandon Field. 

With a relentlessly cool retro vibe, the narrative plays out according to established ‘rules’ of the genre, but Gallegos sensitive and authentic female gaze delivers subtle tension rather than graphic titillation. Kristin details the exciting premise behind all the action: “Cora portrays a fashion photographer who is not just a witness to the unfolding drama but also a key player in the plot. She's desperately trying to solve the mystery to save the models from impending danger. They are being followed, stalked, and targeted; some in their orbit have already fallen victim to the black gloved serial killer on the loose.” Meticulously art-directing every shot from bright fake blood to the perfect bouffant, Gallegos might have found her next calling: “‘Eight Dolls’ is the lost Giallo film I would have made, but in stills instead of motion. So maybe the next step is making this same story into an actual movie with a script. Most of my muses are actresses anyway, that's why I cast them in the first place.” Producers, hook this woman up with a deal, stat, as she clearly knows what she’s doing. 

As an immersive tie-in, Kristin is co-hosting two special features as part of the “January Giallo” season at The American Cinematheque in Los Feliz with James Branscome from Cinematic Void and screening on January 13th & 20th 2025. After viewing of hundreds hours of film, she chose both to appeal equally to Giallo obsessive or newcomer: “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) by Dario Argento is one of the key influences on the book, with the movie poster a big inspiration for my movie poster. It's Argento's first Giallo film, and really broke through and popularized the genre. It’s more of a classic murder mystery, like an Italian Hitchcock, and has an incredible soundtrack by the legendary Ennio Morricone. The second film, Paranoia by Umberto Lenzi (1969), released as ‘Orgasmo’ in Italy, is pre ‘Argento era’ Giallo so it’s a bit different. This one is not a murder mystery, it's more of a psycho-sexual drama with blackmail and manipulation after a young couple inserts themselves into the life of a rich widow. It’s super stylish as well as sleazy, with a great score from Piero Umiliani."

So why not let yourself be seduced by the tropes of the Gialloverse, be it through the pages of Gallegos’s book length investigation, or up on the big screen? Become a voyeur stalking through a dark city at night… Where every seductive starlet wears expertly winged eyeliner. Savour the view through the peep-hole, teased by moments of sensuality that alternate with shocking murder, as the body count stacks up… And where everyone, male or female, looks like they stepped right out of a vintage magazine spread. Revel in the beautiful guilty pleasure that is Giallo; this is art, cinema, sex and death, Italian style.