I Am Curious (Giallo): Q & A with Giallos Flame

By Eric Weber

One of my favorite things to do is put on my iPod and listen to some menacing or ominous horror movie soundtrack while walking to my car after work. I love to play tracks from Halloween II and pretend I’m a character in a horror film. Someone like Jamie Lee Curtis or Jessica Harper in Suspiria. As I stroll through the dark and desolate parking deck, I’ll imagine that I’m being pursued by some shadowy figure in a dark trench coat. I’ll stop and look around cautiously, peering around the corner to see if someone (or something) is behind me. If I’m feeling particularly brave (and sure that no one is around), I’ll break out into a run towards my car, imagining the killer is close behind me. I’ll drop the keys (on purpose) and fumble with the lock before quickly jumping into the car. Whew. Another murder attempt diverted. You see, I’m completely obsessed with horror movie soundtracks.

I’ve never been one that has been particularly interested in or followed “popular” music. I don’t have any favorite bands and I’ve barely been to any concerts. My entire musical tastes have evolved from my life-long obsession with movies. If I do have any favorite bands or vocalists, say Blondie or Tom Jones, it’s because I somehow, somewhere heard their particular songs used in a film. I can remember seeing Gremlins and actually sitting through all of the end credits just so I could listen to the weird and wacky theme song. I had to have the soundtrack and can recall going to Camelot Music and getting my dad to buy me the soundtrack on cassette tape. I would drive my mom crazy by listening to it every day. As I got older, I continued to collect more and more soundtracks, primarily from horror or exploitation-type titles.

Over the past few years I have become increasingly interested and obsessed with the soundtracks to the Italian horror, poliziotteschi (police crime thrillers) and giallo films of the 1970s and 80s: a really interesting time period in soundtrack history where there was a sort of weird renaissance of eclectic, experimental, and unusual scores being produced.

Probably the most famous band of this time period is the Italian group, Goblin. They are most well-known for providing the bizarre and relentless scores to two iconic horror films of the 1970s—Suspiria and Dawn of the Dead. Their progressive rock-influenced mix of drums, synthesizer, and guitar have also been featured in other Dario Argento films like Deep Red, Tenebre, and Phenomena amongst others.

As I watched more and more of these movies, I started taking note of who composed the music. I began to see the recurrence of certain names. People like Fabio Frizzi, whose incredibly downbeat and simple synth title track to Lucio Fulci’s Zombie remains an unforgettable and popular tune amongst DJs and remix artists. Other composers like Stelvio Cipriani (Piranha II, Nightmare City, Twitch of the Death Nerve), Bruno Nicolai (All the Colors of the Dark, The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, Eyeball) and the most famous Italian composer of all, Ennio Morricone, increased my passion for this particular “sound.”

It’s also worth mentioning that this “sound” also branched out to include American musicians whose work was also heavily used in films. Artists like Tangerine Dream with their electronic soundscapes and the eerie, droning synth scores of director/composer John Carpenter. Most people instantly think of his iconic, piano-driven Halloween theme, but I strongly encourage everyone to check out his work from Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13, and The Fog.

Eventually I reached a point where I felt I had found all of the artists that focused on this style of music. Then one day while reading the Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue, I found a review of an album by a group called Giallos Flame. The article said something along the lines of, “If you love Goblin, Fabio Frizzi, and Tangerine Dream—this music is along those lines.” I immediately wanted to find out everything I could about them so I bought their first three albums: Violent Professionals, Live from Dunwich, and the first self-titled album. I was amazed at how well they nailed the Italian “sound.” It was like discovering a long lost soundtrack to some non-existent Argento movie.

Many of the tracks are named after well-loved Italian exploitation films—titles like Death Walks at Midnight, Nightmare City, and The Killer Must Kill Again—a nice touch that added to the sense that this group knew exactly what they were doing.

In the process of writing this article, I was allowed the amazing opportunity to talk with the man behind Giallos Flame. So in honor of their recently released new album, House at the Edge of the Dark, here is a Q&A with Ron Graham.

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