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Every culture puts its own unique spin on horror tropes, with people from different times and places being frightened by different things. One of the most fascinating examples of this occurred during the 60s-70s in Italy, with a group of genre filmmakers collectively deciding that, to them, horror meant gory whodunnits with surreal visuals and blood that looked more like paint than corn syrup.

And while that initial Giallo movement has long since faded into obscurity (with modern audiences being less receptive to obvious dubbing and cheesy practical effects), there are still some intrepid filmmakers out there who are attempting to keep the spirit of the genre alive with neo-Giallo productions meant to remind us that horror movies don’t always have to be realistic. And in honor of these stylishly retro features, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six modern-day Giallo flicks for your viewing pleasure.

Stars: Miles Mitchell, Dean Bone, Sally Collett, Samantha Neale, Richard Brake, Andrew Lee Potts, Daniel-John Williams, Steven Blades, Jennifer K Preston, Theo Preston, Jordaine Lincoln, Rufus Hound, Katie Sheridan, Finbar Healy | Written by James Bushe, Patrick Michael Ryder, Christine Barber-Ryder, Greig Johnson | Directed by James Bushe, Patrick Michael Ryder, Greig Johnson

Tales told around the fire, especially a campfire, have been one of the primary ways humans have passed on myths, lore and scary stories in general as long as humans and fire have co-existed. And the movies have picked up on that, using it as a framing device in Grim Prairie Tales, Screams of a Winter Night and plenty of others.

In the aptly named anthology film Lore, a quartet of campers, Dan, Mark, Donna, and Sally share their stories with their guide, the exceptional creepy Darwin.

After informing them of the evil history of the ground their tents are pitched on,...

Maximiliano Contenti's giallo love letter The Last Matinee leads Arrow's December SVOD lineup and we have an exclusive clip just for Daily Dead readers! Debuting on Arrow on December 1st to subscribers in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland, The Last Matinee will kick off Arrow's December releases, which is packed with an eclectic mix of titles that will please any genre fan:

December 1 will see the arrival of The Last Matinee (UK/US/CA/Ire), Santa Sangre (US/CA), All the Colors of the Giallo (UK/US/CA/Ire), King Boxer (UK/US/CA/Ire), The Boxer from Shantung (UK/US/CA/Ire), Five Shaolin Masters (UK/US/CA/Ire), Shaolin Temple (UK/US/CA/Ire), Mighty Peking Man (UK/US/CA/Ire), Challenge of the Masters (UK/US/CA/Ire), Executioners of Shaolin (UK/US/CA/Ire), Dirty Ho (UK/US/CA/Ire), Heroes of...

Maximiliano Contenti’s horror flick attempts to unpick voyeurism but lacks the sophistication of others in the genre

Nostalgia for idiosyncratic analogue film style is the simplest explanation for the recent giallo revival – but maybe there’s more to it than that. This most stylised of horror modes is perfect for our over-aestheticised age, so the newcomers – such as Berberian Sound Studio, Censor and Sound of Violence – make artists and viewers accessories to violence, often unleashed through that giallo mainstay, the power of the gaze. Set almost entirely in a tatty Montevideo rep cinema, Uruguayan slasher The Last Matinee joins this voyeuristic club, even if it ends up more in the raw than the refined camp.

On a rainswept night in 1993, engineering student Ana (Luciana Grasso) insists on taking over projectionist duties for a screening of Frankenstein: Day of the Beast. She shuts herself in the booth, trying to ignore...

From Uruguayan filmmaker Maximiliano Contenti comes The Last Matinee, a blood-soaked love letter to the cinematic experience. Starring Luciana Grasso, Ricardo Islas, Julieta Spinelli, Franco Duran and Pedro Duarte, The Last Matinee follows a mysterious eye-nibbling killer who stalks a group of unsuspecting moviegoers and theater workers one rainy afternoon. The Last Matinee debuted in theaters earlier this month and is headed to VOD tomorrow, courtesy of Dark Star Pictures and Bloody Disgusting.

Daily Dead recently had the opportunity to speak with Contenti about his approach to The Last Matinee and during the interview, he discussed wanting to transport viewers back to a simpler time at the movies, the inspirations behind the film’s story and showcasing the directors and the movies that turned him into a film fan throughout his childhood as well.

Congratulations on the film, Maxi. It was so much fun. I would love to hear a...

Even if it’s been a while since you’ve physically sat in a movie theatre, there are some things that you just don’t forget. Like that sticky sound when you walk on the soda soaked floor, the constant crunching of popcorn, or that annoyance you feel when the couple in front of you won’t stop making out. I can’t say that I have missed any of those little aggravations, but when you watch someone else deal with them in a movie, you can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. That said, if you’ve ever worked in a movie theatre, that nostalgia might actually feel like dread.

Ana (Luciana Grasso), begrudgingly working the closing shift at a Montevideo theater, comes in from the pouring rain. After convincing her father that she knows how to run the equipment without him, and shooing off her infuriating coworker,...

Reel Suspects has acquired world rights to Renata Pinheiro’s sci-fi thriller “King Car,” which recently world premiered at Rotterdam in the big screen competition.

The elevated genre movie revolves around Ninho, the son of a taxi company owner who has an extraordinary connection with cars and can talk to them. Ninho became friends with the car that saved him from a traffic accident as a child, and now he can also hear the old wrecks complain about the law banning them from the roads. Together with his uncle, Ninho converts the write-offs into futuristic vehicles with consciousness.

Reel Suspects will be handling international on the film outside of Brazil. The movie stars Luciano Pedro Jr, Jules Elting, Clara Pinheiro and Adelio Lima, among others. “King Car” was produced by Sérgio Oliveira.

“With its retro-futuristic cars and ecological tale, [‘King Car’] shows that Brazilian genre cinema is something to keep a close...

Uruguay’s government has announced new and ambitious film-tv legislation aimed at converting the small Latin American nation into a far larger film-tv hub via a new series of cash rebates for international shoots and co-productions with Uruguay.

Coming as Uruguay neighbors Brazil and Argentina battle huge challenges to state film funding – an incentive free in Brazil, a decimation of state funding in Argentina tanks to Covid-19 – the new regulation in Uruguay looks set to accelerate a disappear of productions from Latin America and runaway international shoots to its shores.

Measures take in a qualitative leap in the ceiling put on cash rebate plus a plunge in the minimum expenditure in Uruguay required to access them.

Announced Nov. 25, the regs, framed in an Uruguay Audiovisual Program (Pua), establish four action lines. International shoots and international co-productions filming in Uruguay with a local expenditure from $300,000 to $4 million receive a 25% of spend...

Paris-based outfit Reel Suspects has acquired “The Three,” directed by up-and-coming Armenian-Russian filmmaker Anna Melikyan. “The Three” will have its international premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and will be distributed in Russia by Disney in December.

Penned by Melikyan and Evgenia Khripkova, “The Three” revolves around a husband, a wife and another woman.

The cast is headlined by local stars Konstantin Khabenskiy, Viktoriya Isakova, and Yulia Peresild, a young Moscow theater actor. Melikyan produced the film through her banner Magnum film company, along with Natella Krapivina and Artem Vasilyev.

“We are really exited to work on Anna’s most recent work. A subtle romance driven by an amazing cast and signed by a wonderful cinematographic camera work. Festivals and buyers will fall surely under the charm,” said Matteo Lovadina, the CEO of Reel Suspects, who will start selling the film at the American Film Market, which kicks off Monday.

Reel Suspects has acquired world rights to Marat Sargsyan’s feature debut “The Flood Won’t Come” which will have its world premiere at Venice in the Critics’ Week section.

Produced by Ieva Norvilienė at Tremora, “The Flood Won’t Come” revolves around a famous colonel who has acted as a war consultant in different countries for many years and returns to his homeland when a civil war breaks out.

The movie is headlined by popular Lithuanian actors Valentinas Masalskis and Remigijus Vilkaitis. The lithuanian drama “Sargsyan” marks the feature debut of Sargsyan, who previously directed the short film “Lernavan” in 2009.

Reel Suspects’ slate also includes “Une Dernière Fois” (“One Last Time”), the debut feature of Olympe de G, a well-known French director of commercials and music videos; as well as Maximiliano Contenti’s Uruguyan horror movie “Al Morir La Matinée,” and Anthony Scott Burns’s Canadian science fiction thriller “Come True.

Exclusive: Paris-based sales co Reel Suspects has added Uruguay-Argentina horror Al Morir La Matinee (English title Tbd) to its line-up ahead of the Cannes Virtual Marche.

Directed by Maximiliano Contenti, the Spanish-language movie is set in a Montevideo movie theatre (remember those?), following events after a silent killer enters the venue’s final screening. The young girl in charge of the screening will have to face the threat to save her life and that of the present audience. Luciana Grasso and Ricardo Islas lead the cast.

Contenti has directed several shorts and docs, and has been running his Uruguay-based production outfit Yukoh Films since 2013. He is also currently in production on music documentary Hot Club Of Montevideo.

Retina was written by Manuel Facal and produced by Contenti with Lucia Gaviglio, Alina Kaplan, Daniel Pensa and Miguel Rocca.

Reel Suspects will also be continuing sales efforts on titles including My Name Is Baghdad,...