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[Paul]

From Wikipedaia

"Giallo" films are characterized by extended murder sequences featuring excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork and unusual musical arrangements. The literary whodunit element is retained, but combined with modern slasher horror, while being filtered through Italy's longstanding tradition of opera and staged grand guignol drama. They also generally include liberal amounts of nudity and sex.

Gialli typically introduce strong psychological themes of madness, alienation, and paranoia. For example, Sergio Martino's Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (also known as Eye of the Black Cat) was explicitly based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat".

They remain notable in part for their expressive use of music, most notably by Dario Argento's collaborations with Ennio Morricone and his musical director Bruno Nicolai, and later with the band Goblin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giallo

There are literally scores of gialli out there - some are brilliant examples of the genre, some enjoyable trash and others that are just plain shite. Which are the films that have you coming back for more? Here are some of my favourites, in no particular order:

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1969, Dario Argento)
Deep Red (1975, Dario Argento)
A Lizard In A Woman's Skin (1971, Lucio Fulci)
Don't Torture A Duckling (1972, Lucio Fulci)
Who Saw Her Die? (1972, Aldo Lado)
House With The Laughing Windows (1976, Pupi Avati)
Bay Of Blood (1971, Mario Bava)
The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971, Duccio Tessari)
All The Colours Of The Dark (1972, Sergio Martino)
What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (1974, Massino Dallamano)

[Stephen Grimes]

Bay of Blood  Bava
What have they done to your Daughters?  Dallamano
Eye in the Labyrinth   Caiano
Delirium  Polselli
Footprints   Bazzoni
Killer Reserved 9 Seats   Rosatti
Death Walks at Midnight   Ercoli
7 Deaths in the Cat's Eye   
+ many more i can't remember at the moment

[vigilanteforce]

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE
THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT
DEATH STEPS IN THE DARK
THE NEW YORK RIPPER
THE SHORT NIGHT OF GLASS DOLLS
SEVEN BLOODSTAINED ORCHIDS
THE STENDHAL SYNDROME
THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH
TENEBRE
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS?

I could probably think of more such as THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE, SO SWEET SO DEAD, etc.

[Dorado]

Here are some of my favourites in no particular order.

Bird with the crystal plumage.
Cat O’nine tails.
Profondo Rosso.
The Black belly of the Tarantula.
Tenebre.
The Strange vice of Mrs. Wardh.
The case of the scorpion’s tail.

[paperbag]

Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Don't Torture a Duckling
Deep Red
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
Case of the Scorpion's Tail
The Fifth Cord
Opera
Delirium: Photo of Gioia
Blade in the Dark
All the Colors of the Dark

[Jonny]

There's too many to list but here's 10 that spring to mind....

Tenebrae - Dario Argento 1982
Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) - Dario Argento 1975
Cosa avete fatto a Solange? (What Have You Done to Solange?) - Massimo Dallamano 1972
La Polizia chiede aiuto (What Have They Done to Your Daughters?) - Massimo Dallamano 1974
Una Lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman's Skin) - Lucio Fulci 1971
Non si sevizia un paperino (Don't Torture a Duckling) - Lucio Fulci 1972
Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh (The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh) - Sergio Martino 1970
Tutti i colori del buio (All the Colors of the Dark) - Sergio Martino 1972
La corta notte delle bambole di vetro (The Short Night of the Glass Dolls) - Aldo Lado 1971
Paranoia (A Quiet Place to Kill) - Umberto Lenzi 1970

[vigilanteforce]

There's too many to list but here's 10 that spring to mind....

Tenebrae - Dario Argento 1982
Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) - Dario Argento 1975
Cosa avete fatto a Solange? (What Have You Done to Solange?) - Massimo Dallamano 1972
La Polizia chiede aiuto (What Have They Done to Our Daughters?) - Massimo Dallamano 1974
Una Lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman's Skin) - Lucio Fulci 1971
Non si sevizia un paperino (Don't Torture a Duckling) - Lucio Fulci 1972
Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh (The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh) - Sergio Martino 1970
Tutti i colori del buio (All the Colors of the Dark) - Sergio Martino 1972
La corta notte delle bambole di vetro (The Short Night of the Glass Dolls) - Aldo Lado 1971
Paranoia (A Quiet Place to Kill) - Umberto Lenzi 1970

We always have at least 4 titles in common

[Stephen Grimes]

Good to see Dallamano's 'What have they done to your Daughters?' on some of the lists and if i'm not mistaken Comp has a scene from it as his signature picture 

[Jonny]

Good to see Dallamano's 'What have they done to your Daughters?' on some of the lists and if i'm not mistaken Comp has a scene from it as his signature picture 

Dallamano's 'Schoolgirl' films are all excellent, I'd have included 'Red Rings of Fear' (he scripted/story) if it wasn't for lack of a decent DVD release.

We always have at least 4 titles in common

I never look at these threads before I post in them either, I open them up and go straight to the bottom and post, I prefer to see the similarities after I've posted my list...  :'(

[Paul]

You certainly are right, Stephen – my sig features a still from Dallamano’s film. I love DAUGHTERS and think it has an edge over SOLANGE, personally speaking. I like the way in which it comes across as a hybrid of cop flick and giallo.

[vigilanteforce]

I never look at these threads before I post in them either, I open them up and go straight to the bottom and post, I prefer to see the similarities after I've posted my list...  :'(

Same here

You certainly are right, Stephen – my sig features a still from Dallamano’s film. I love DAUGHTERS and think it has an edge over SOLANGE, personally speaking. I like the way in which it comes across as a hybrid of cop flick and giallo.

That's right, I always thought DAUGHTERS was a superior movie- SOLANGE is not bad at all but DAUGHTERS, I could never get tired of. Even if RED RINGS had a decent release, it would still be regarded as inferior compared to Dallamano's movies. Not a bad film either, just not a really special one in my opinion.

[CJ]

This is such a great genre with so many superb films to choose from. But off the top of my head, my favourites would be:

Deep Red
All the Colors of the Dark
Short Night of the Glass Dolls
Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I have the Key
The House with Laughing Windows
Opera
My Dear Killer
The Bloodstained Shadow
Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Torso
Seven Blood Stained Orchids

These are the ones I seem to revisit the most. Of course the list changes as I see new films. It really is a wonderful genre, one that I can never get enough of.

[Kalibre38]

Crimes of the Black Cat
Bird With the Crystal Plumage
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
What Have They Done to Your Daughters?
Eyeball

[Fray G]

Nothing startlingly original from me i'm afraid. Just about in order of preference:

Don't Torture a Duckling
Deep Red
Solange
Lizard in a Woman's Skin
What Have.......Daughters
Your Vice is.......
Strange Vice of.......

[Peter Neal]

Obviously there's no way to ignore Argento in this list for me

1) Tenebrae
(For way too many reasons, most notably for giving me a taste for Euro horror at the right time to make me a lifelong addict )

2) Opera
(Oh no, not Argento AGAIN! Ah, what the ....! I find this movie relentlessly rewatchable and at the time of writing, it's been Dario's last true masterpiece. )

3) Blood And Black Lace
(A Five Star feast for the eyes!)

4) Don't Torture A Duckling
(I'd volunteer to remake this instantly if somebody was crazy enough to fund me! )

5) The New York Ripper
(For hitting its audience out of nowhere with a totally unexpected emotional "sledge hammer!" at the very end! One could discuss Fulci's alleged misogynist treatment of his female characters, but NYR doesn't make the debate as easy as some might think after a first, rushed glance. )