Horror News and Commentary

Mario Bava Homage on YouTube

A neat little film dedicated to giallo master Mario Bava has been eeking its way across the Net of late. Writer/director Semih Tareen completed the 7 minute film, "Yellow" (aka "Giallo") as a student project at the Seattle Film Institute.

On his YouTube post, Tareen says the film is "a technical and artistic exercise in employing traditional elements of the giallo film using a broad range of the color palette and the dynamic camera work."

In a nutshell, giallo is a genre of Italian horror/crime films from the 1960s. The word giallo is Italian for "yellow" and stems from the genre's origin in a series of 1920s mystery/crime pulp novels with yellow covers. Eventually these books were adapted into films and evolved into the horror/crime movies made famous by directors such as Mario Bava and Dario Argento.

These films are characterized by extended murder sequences, stylish camerawork and unusual musical arrangements. Tareen achieved all three in "Yellow." You can definitely see shades of Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" and Argento's "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" in its bold colors and eerie music. The grainy 16mm film also adds to the retro feel of the piece.

Don't take my word for it, though. Check it out for yourself. Click the video below. -- Shannon Nolley