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Why did the giallo killer wear gloves? Because leaving fingerprints is just so last season! This week, your Nightmare on Film Street horror hosts Kim & Jon are taking you on a suspense-filled journey into the shadowy corridors of A Blade in the Dark (1983). Say goodbye to your mundane movie nights; this week is all about eerie melodies, mysterious murders, and a villa that holds more secrets than your grandma’s recipe book!

In A Blade in the Dark, a composer finds himself in a sprawling estate to score a horror movie, but the real terror begins when reality starts to mirror the film’s gruesome plot. Is the villa haunted? Is there a killer lurking in the shadows? Or is it all just a figment of his overactive imagination? As bodies start to pile up and the line between fiction and reality blurs, you won’t know who to trust or where to hide!

Ah, the '80s! A time of neon leg warmers, cassette tapes, and some of the most gloriously over-the-top horror movie slashers ever to grace the silver screen. While the decade gave us iconic killers like Freddy and Jason, it also birthed a slew of lesser-known but equally thrilling slashers that have been gathering dust in the dark corners of horror history. These hidden gems are brimming with inventive kills, wild plot twists, and enough suspense to make your hair stand on end (and not just because of the hairspray).

So grab your VHS player, pop some popcorn, and let's dive into 10 forgotten and underated slashers of the '80s that still have some stabs left in them!

Artists Releasing 1. The House on Sorority Row (1983)

When a sorority prank goes horribly wrong, leading to the accidental death of their house mother, the sisters swear to keep it a secret. But someone knows what they did,...

Vinegar Syndrome’s annual “Halfway to Black Friday” sale is now live through Memorial Day Weekend, and as always, it’s a Huge celebration for fans of the label.

The “Halfway to Black Friday” sale is live through Monday at 11:59pm Est, and for starters, you can take advantage by saving 50% off nearly Everything in Vinegar’s shop.

The cornerstones of the celebration include Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls on 4K Uhd, exclusively restored by Vs and featuring a consummate selection of extras.

Ulli Lommel’s notorious horror classic, The Boogeyman makes its worldwide Uhd debut, freshly scanned and restored by Vs from its 35mm original negative and featuring a fresh slate of interviews along with a heaping helping of archival goodies.

Three weird and nasty Spanish rarities have been freshly scanned and restored by Vs and collected in Villages of the Damned: Three Horrors from Spain.

And Lamberto Bava...

Home video label Vinegar Syndrome just launched their Flash Pre-Order for Halfway to Black Friday 2023, and included in the mix are several brand new horror releases.

The Flash Pre-Order runs now until 11:59 Pm, Est on Sunday and it includes Six new releases, including horror films A Blade in the Dark (1983) and The Boogeyman (1980).

Here’s the full rundown, straight from Vinegar Syndrome…

“We couldn’t be more excited to kick off this Pre-Order with the reveal of our next Vsu, Paul Verhoeven’s incredible Showgirls (1995), which makes its US 4K Uhd debut, exclusively restored by Vinegar Syndrome, with no digital tinkering or smoothing plaguing cinematographer Jost Vacano’s stunning visuals.

“On the “regular” Vs side, we’re elated to at long last offer Lamberto Bava’s giallo masterpiece, A Blade In The Dark (1983), newly and exclusively restored by Vs, in 4K from its Super 16mm original negative, and available...

To mark the release of Demons 1 & 2 on 22nd February, we’ve been given 1 copy to give away on Blu-ray.

In the early 1980s, Dario Argento, the famed horror maestro responsible for such classics as Suspiria and Deep Red, branched out from directing into producing, shepherding the work of his fellow filmmakers to the screen – among them Lamberto Bava, son of the legendary Mario Bava. Together, they crafted two tales of terror that would become synonymous with Italian 80s horror, in which the veil between the real world and the silver screen is torn asunder.

In 1985’s Demons (Directed by Lamberto Bava), a motley assortment of unwitting filmgoers accept invitations to a screening at the mysterious Metropol theatre. However, as the brutal slasher film unspools, the horror breaks free from the constraints of the screen, unleashing a swarm of slathering demons, intent on spreading their evil plague across the globe. Then,...

Arrow Video have announced brand new 4K restorations of both Demons and its sequel Demons 2, presented in more vivid and terrifying ways than ever before, alongside a wealth of bonus features old and new, making this the ultimate experience in celluloid terror.

In the early 1980s, Dario Argento, the famed horror maestro responsible for such classics as Suspiria and Deep Red, branched out from directing into producing, shepherding the work of his fellow filmmakers to the screen – among them Lamberto Bava, son of the legendary Mario Bava. Together, they crafted two tales of terror that would become synonymous with Italian 80s horror, in which the veil between the real world and the silver screen is torn asunder.

In 1985’s Demons, a motley assortment of unwitting filmgoers accept invitations to a screening at the mysterious Metropol theatre. However, as the brutal slasher film unspools, the horror breaks free from the constraints of the screen,...

Halloween may be over, but there's a ton of horror content to look forward to from Shudder this December, including Creepshow and Joe Bob holiday specials:

New Shudder Specials

Joe Bob Saves Christmas — December 11 at 9pm Et

The Christmas spirit takes over The Last Drive-In as Joe Bob and Darcy close out the year with a double feature of holiday horrors. Premieres live on the ShudderTV feed Friday, December 11, and will be made available on demand on Sunday, December 13. (Also available on Shudder Canada)

A Creepshow Holiday Special — December 18

In the holiday themed, hour-long episode, “Shapeshifters Anonymous,” fearing he is a murderer, an anxious man searches for answers for his "unique condition" from an unusual support group. Starring Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) and Adam Pally (The Mindy Project), the special is written and directed by Creepshow showrunner Greg Nicotero, based on a short story by J.A. Konrath (Last Call...

Shudder is closing out a record-breaking year with holiday specials from two of their most popular series, exclusive new supernatural chillers, massive new collections focused on holiday horrors and giallo, and so much more. Take a look below for all of the classics, new movies, and series coming to the horror streaming service this December.

Joe Bob Saves Christmas - December 11 at 9pm Et

The Christmas spirit takes over The Last Drive-In as Joe Bob and Darcy close out the year with a double feature of holiday horrors. Premieres live on the ShudderTV feed Friday, December 11, and will be made available on demand on Sunday, December 13. (Also available on Shudder Canada).

A Creepshow Holiday Special - December 18

In the holiday themed, hour-long episode, "Shapeshifters Anonymous," fearing he is a murderer, an anxious man searches for answers for his "unique condition" from an unusual support group. Starring Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect...

August’s home media offerings are wrapping up in a big way this week, and I hope you’ve got your wallets ready because there are a ton of releases that genre fans are going to want to add to their collections. Fulci fans should be excited for the arrival of both The House by the Cemetery and The New York Ripper in 4K, courtesy of Blue Underground, and Severin is having their own Fulci fiesta this week, too, with their releases of Aenigma, Demonia as well as the recent documentary Fulci for Fake.

Scream Factory also has a killer lineup of titles headed home on Tuesday, including the Collector’s Edition of Tales from the Darkside: The Movie and the Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for August 25th include Dead Pit, The Beast Must Die, The Last Victim, Live Feed, Gemini, Hallucinations, and Alien Scum.

While his father Mario probably cast a longer shadow than anyone else in Italian horror cinema, Lamberto Bava has managed to leave a prominent mark on the genre through popular works such as Demons (1985) and Demons 2 (‘86). Today we’re going to rewind the clock to his official directorial debut, Macabre (1980), a truly ludicrous and bizarre film “inspired” by true events. I bet they never happened like this.

Bava Jr. certainly spent his time in the trenches, working for Dario Argento and helping his dad finish Shock (1977); while he wrote the script with friends Roberto Gandus, and Pupi and Antonio Avati as a lark after reading a newspaper story from the U.S., he was given the reins to bring this lurid story to the screen as his official calling card. And bring it he does.

Released three years later Stateside as Frozen Terror, Macabre (aka Macabro) did little business...

To live under the shadow of a famous father must be very hard, especially so if you choose to follow in his footsteps; the fact that you’re born unto him is beyond your control, but to take the same path will bring a lifetime of comparisons, unjust or not. Such is the case with Lamberto Bava; toiling on some of Mario’s films as assistant director (and a couple of Argento’s as well) gave him the confidence to fly solo, and his second feature A Blade in the Dark (1983) is brimming with that confidence – and a bit of blood, too.

Released in its native Italy in August, Blade arrived stateside through Ascot Films, but not until ’86; perhaps this was done to capitalize on Bava’s success with the Argento-produced Demons from the previous year. Regardless of the reasoning, Blade holds its own as an impressive giallo from a...

It’s been a while since I’ve taken a Fulci out for a spin; frankly the latter part of his career has generally been met with the indifference (and occasional disdain) afforded his fellow countryman Dario Argento. Fair? Well, art is subjective, but even strict apologists have a hard time defending some late in the game efforts. Which brings us to Aenigma (1987), Fulci’s take on Argento, and a fine last gasp of electric madness.

Distributed by Filman International late December in France, Aenigma didn’t see release in Fulci’s homeland until August of ’88; by this point his films weren’t even making it stateside anymore, and it didn’t show up in North America until late October the following year for a limited run. When DVDs started making noise in the early ‘00s, Aenigma was finally brought to a wider audience who promptly gave it the awkward smile of a disappointed parent.

Join me for a summer abroad as I check out a series of foreign films from countries that have made a big splash in the horror community. Of course, in the spirit of this column I’ll be taking a peek at movies that may not be as well-known as some of the classics from their particular country. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to find a few surprises together.

[Spoiler warning if you haven't seen StageFright.]

As I wrap up my international horror tour this summer, I’ve decided to make a return trip to Italy, the land of bloody black gloves and bad dubbing. A few months ago I tried to acquire a taste for giallo with a viewing of A Blade in the Dark, and while it didn’t fully win me over, I knew I wanted to keep exploring the subgenre. A recent episode of the podcast Exploding Heads covered Michele Soavi...

If your dad was Mario Bava, master of light and originator of the giallo film as we know it, you’d have a hard time following in his footsteps too; yet that is precisely what Lamberto Bava chose to do. He made some good ones right out of the gate: Macabre (1980) and A Blade in the Dark (’83) have their fans, but it was the fantastic Demons (’85) that brought him international attention. One lackluster sequel later and he was more or less relegated to the sidelines, where he found solace in Italian TV; he signed a four picture deal for a series of films under the umbrella High Tension, and the first one out of the gate was The Prince of Terror (’88), which was deemed too gruesome and shelved until 1999. I can understand why, because it does contain several gory set pieces, implied rape, and strong language. Oh, and it’s also insane and entertainingly weird.

Horror, like any genre, contains multitudes of subgenres and styles, and of course our individual tastes will gravitate to some more than others. But do you have a particular subgenre that you feel like you really should enjoy, but in reality, leaves you feeling flat to the point where you feel like you’re somehow watching it the wrong way? For me, such is the case for the giallo, our Italian forefather to the slasher. I love a good slasher as much as anyone, but when I try and translate that to something like Suspiria or Bay of Blood, something is always missing. I’d chalk it up to just not being my thing, but when I hear passionate fans discuss it, I can’t shake the feeling that if I catch one at the right time, the gears will fall into place and the majesty of the giallo will be revealed.

After nearly 40 years in the business and with 22 officially credited features as a director, Mario Bava made his final feature film with 1977’s Shock, also known to U.S. audiences as Beyond the Door II. Just three years after its release, Bava died of a heart attack. He was 65 years old.

Of all his horror films, Shock feels the least like what we have come to expect of a “Mario Bava movie.” While most of his work has an aesthetic and feel that’s very specific to his sensibilities, Shock seems like it could have been made by any number of the Italian horror directors working at that time. This is probably because, as the story goes, the movie actually was made by another Italian horror director working at the time: Bava’s son Lamberto, who co-wrote the screenplay and is a talented filmmaker in his own right, with titles...

Lucio Fulci’s 1980 film The Beyond is largely regarded as his masterpiece, and it’s hard to disagree with that sentiment. The Italian filmmaker had a long and varied career working across a number of genres, including fantasy, westerns and, most famously and frequently, horror. The Beyond finds him in total control of both his obsessions and his abilities, blending his penchant for nightmare logic, abstract formalism and, of course, gushy, gushy gore. Fulci gotta Fulci.

It’s practically useless to try and explain the movie’s plot, as this isn’t a movie that’s contingent on story. Any attempt to understand what’s really going on will more than likely lead to further frustration; better to let the images and tone of the thing wash over you. It begins with the murder of a man at the hands of an angry mob, an event which opens one of...

Let me tell ya, creeps, nothin’ gets the ol’ Xiii’s motor hummin’ quite like a fright flick that is more akin to a fever dream than one of yer more pedestrian linear narratives. And for my money (roughly equivalent to $1.32 Us cash and a third party, out of state, presumably bad check for $16.45), no one does it better than Director Dante Tomaselli! So, before we begin our regularly scheduled revoltin’ reviews (this week featuring Varsity Blood, Jersey Shore Massacre and The Possession Of Michael King) and other assorted jackanappery, let’s check in with ol’ Dante to see what bats stir in his belfry of the damned!

Famous Monsters. Since Famous Monsters is a monster mag of world renown (besides being a website full o’ great guys gals and ghouls), what putrid periodicals did you enjoy in yer frightful formative years?

Dante Tomaselli. Creepy and Eerie were sold at...

We have great news for those of you who subscribe to Full Moon Streaming. It has been announced that fifty Blue Underground titles have been acquired by Full Moon Features for their new streaming service:

“Los Angeles, CA, February 3, 2014 – Full Moon Features is proud to announce their most exciting acquisition yet – fifty of cinema’s most obscure and beloved classics from the Blue Underground label will debut on their new subscription-based video streaming service, Full Moon Streaming (www.fullmoonstreaming.com), home to the entire Full Moon Features library. The Blue Underground titles will be released once per week beginning in March, and titles will include Venom (a beloved thriller about a killer snake starring Klaus Kinski, Susan George, and Oliver Reed), Mondo Cane (the Award-Winning documentary that launched the whole “mondo” craze of the sixties), Contamination (a gory Italian homage to Alien), Violent City (the Charles Bronson action classic), Don...

Full Moon has been steadily beefing up its streaming service, and if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, this latest announcement should persuade you and then some. Read on for details, and get those smart TVs ready!

From the Press Release

Full Moon Features is proud to announce their most exciting acquisition yet – fifty of cinema’s most obscure and beloved classics from the Blue Underground label will debut on their new subscription-based video streaming service, FullMoonStreaming.com, home to the entire Full Moon Features library.

Blue Underground titles will include Venom (a beloved thriller about a killer snake starring Klaus Kinski, Susan George, and Oliver Reed), Mondo Cane (the award-winning documentary that launched the whole “Mondo” craze of the Sixties), Contamination (a gory Italian homage to Alien), Violent City (the Charles Bronson action classic), Don’T Torture A Duckling (horror/thriller from Italian godfather of...

There are a handful of directors I would do anything to see working again. I'm not necessarily talking about retired filmmakers, but those who appear to be floating in the ether. Don't Look Now and Performance director Nicolas Roeg is one of them. His movies still haunt. Michele Soavi is also on that list. There are moments in the filmmaker's body of work that threatened to trump the Italian horror masters — directors he actually worked with, including Dario Argento (on Tenebrae, Phenomena and Opera) and Lamberto Bava (on A Blade in the Dark and Demons). Soavi even made the crossover to mainstream cinema as second unit director on Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. As Soavi came into his own as a director, he edged closer to brilliance. The Church was an atmospheric twist on Lamberto Bava's Demons series, but his 1994 film Cemetery Man (a.

Lamberto Bava cut his teeth in cinema working with giallo legend Mario Bava, his father, and alongside Dario Argento and Ruggero Deodato. Italian horror fans have a special place in their hearts for his two Demons films and the underrated A Blade in the Dark contains some of his finer work. The comparisons are unfair, but Bava has never displayed the visual prowess of mentor Argento, his famous father, or even collaborator Michele Soavi. He does, however, deliver an occasionally entertaining film — even if the greatest moments are derivative of the masters.

Delirium is a late giallo, which must have been somewhat strange for fans during its 1987 release. Curvaceous red telephones, harbingers of doom for the red-lipped women answering them, were replaced with clunky cordless phones. The shoulder pads, hair, ridiculous wardrobe, and decor are epically '80s — but 26 years later, it works. Sales are booming for Pussycat Magazine, but...

The big update for "Skyrim" has already hit the PC scene, but starting today console adventurers will get a chance to forget about their loved ones all over again with a new leveling system and a Legendary difficulty mode. The update fixes several common and rare bugs that more often than not plague these huge open world games but arguably the biggest "fix" is the Oghma Infinium glitch. If you're still a greenhorn in the land of Skyrim, you'll have to level up the legit way instead of reading the mythical grimoire over and over.

Other patches smooth out some of the annoying quest item bugs that weigh you down with various "undroppable" flutes, drums, and crystals. The full patch release after the jump.

From Bethesda's Blog

Skyrim 1.9

New Features

Legendary difficulty setting Legendary Skills – Skills of 100 can be made Legendary. This will reset the skill to 15, return its Perks...

We're back with another installment in our Italian thriller feature series, this time with an often overlooked little 1983 gem from Lamberto Bava. If that name sounds familiar, it should: Lamberto is not only the son of horror icon Mario Bava, who arguably kicked the giallo genre into high gear with his incredibly stylish Blood and Black Lace, but since then he's developed his own cult following thanks mainly to the success of the Demons trilogy, produced by Dario Argento and featuring some of Italian horror's most surreal set-pieces and gruesome makeup effects. Before Demons, Lamberto was honing his craft on giallo fare, including uncredited work on his father's final film Shock in 1980. Shortly following Mario's passing, Lamberto helmed his first film Macabre, an oddball psychodrama inspired by Roman Polanski's Repulsion. That one has its fans, but it was really more of a practice run. In my view, he entered...

Interviewed by Michael Juvinall, MoreHorror.com

I recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down face-to-face with the famed Italian horror director, Lamberto Bava. Bava’s films are primarily in the horror, giallo, and fantasy genres.

Bava is the son of the legendary Italian director, Mario Bava and grandson of Eugenio Bava, a special effects artist and director from the silent days of Italian cinema. He grew up on the sets of his father’s films, learning all that he could about the business. He worked for 15 years under his father as his personal assistant, assistant director, and screenwriter on such films beginning with Planet of the Vampires (1965), Kill Baby, Kill (1966), Danger: Diabolik (1968), Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970), Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971), Baron Blood (1972), and Lisa and the Devil (1974).

Bava then began working with Ruggero Deodato on his infamous Jungle Holocaust (1977) and Cannibal Holocaust (1980) films, then with Dario Argento as...

Lamberto Bavas 1983 giallo/slasher hybrid A Blade in the Dark. Lamberto is probably best known for being the son of the man who pretty much invented, or at least made some of the greatest, giallo genre movies, Mario Bava. Lamberto has done fairly in his own right creating two of the most memorable horror movies from my childhood Demon and Demons 2. These movies are entertaining beyond words partly due to their disgusting effects and because o…...

Blue Underground released the first batch titles from their Midnight Movies collection, which include a number of cult horror releases. For those that may not be familiar with some of these movies, a new trailer has been released that contains highlights from each film.

It has also been announced that a second wave of Midnight Movies will be released this August and includes two zombie and two cannibal films.

Blue Underground introduces the Midnight Movies Collection, a series of double and triple feature special edition DVDs. Available for a very limited time only. Buy them all today because once they’re gone, they’re gone…

Available July 31st:

Midnight Movies Vol. 1: Horror Triple Feature (A Blade In The Dark / MacAbre / Shock) Midnight Movies Vol. 2: Western Triple Feature (Companeros / Four Of The Apocalypse / Run Man Run) Midnight Movies Vol. 3: Action Triple Feature (The Big Racket / Heroin Busters / Street Law) Midnight Movies Vol.

Those on the lookout for classic and obscure horror titles will be interested in today’s round-up. We have some new DVD releases to report on from Blue Underground, along with a few upcoming Blu-ray titles :

The first three titles are part of Blue Underground’s Midnight Movies Horror Triple Feature DVD set. The next 3 are part of Blue Underground’s Midnight Movies Thriller Triple Feature DVD set. Both DVD’s will be available on July 31st.

A Blade in the Dark: “Bruno is hired to compose the music for a new horror movie and rents an isolated villa to concentrate on his work. But when several beautiful young women are brutally murdered within the house, Bruno becomes obsessed with solving the savage crimes. Is a clue to the killer’s identity hidden within the film itself, or is there a more horrifying secret lurking deep in the dark?...

If there's one company we've had a love affair with forever, it's Blue Underground. Why? Because they always deliver the goods, and this time they've got two hellish triple feature DVD's on tap! Dig it!

On July 31st they're releasing a 'Thriller' DVD set that consists of:

Bloodstained Shadow:

When a young college professor (Lino Capolicchio of The House With Laughing Windows) returns home to visit his Catholic priest brother (Craig Hill of Dracula Vs Frankenstein), prominent members of the community begin to be stalked and slaughtered by an unknown killer. Can the brothers uncover the identity of this deranged fiend, even while they are being tortured by their own nightmares of an unspeakable childhood trauma?

Short Night Of Glass Dolls:

The corpse of reporter Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel of Lizard In A Woman’S Skin) is found in a Prague plaza and brought to the local morgue.

The term “giallo” initially referred to cheap yellow paperbacks (printed American mysteries from writers such as Agatha Christie), that were distributed in post-fascist Italy. Applied to cinema, the genre is comprised of equal parts early pulp thrillers, mystery novels, with a willingness to gleefully explore onscreen sex and violence in provocative, innovative ways. Giallos are strikingly different from American crime films: they value style and plot over characterization, and tend towards unapologetic displays of violence, sexual content, and taboo exploration. The genre is known for stylistic excess, characterized by unnatural yet intriguing lighting techniques, convoluted plots, red herrings, extended murder sequences, excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork and unusual musical arrangements. Amidst the ‘creative kill’ set-pieces are thematic undercurrents along with a whodunit element, usually some sort of twist ending. Here is my list of the best giallo films – made strictly by Italian directors, so don’t expect Black Swan, Amer or...

A Blade in the Dark is a film by Lamberto Bava (Demons, son of Mario Bava) which fits in perfectly in the Giallo tradition of filmmaking. You have all the necessary components: an unknown killer, a series of unexplained deaths, a theme song anchoring the film and a twist as to who is the culprit. What is most clever is that Bava here makes his protagonist a musician working on a film score so the repetition of the theme is naturalistic most of the time and can't get annoying. While if you watch it you may notice a slight similarity to Four Flies on Grey Velvet but there is a decided...