Maestros of Italian Horror Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mario Bava

Mario Bava (1914-1980) directed some of the most influential horror movies ever. "Bay of Blood" (aka "Twitch of the Death Nerve") was heavily 'borrowed from' by the makers of "Friday the 13th". Bava's first film as director, and the very first Italian science fiction film, was "Le morte viene dallo spazio" (1958).

Answer: Blending in with the faces in a picture

Released in 1975, "Deep Red" is considered by many to be Argento's masterpiece. The killer's face can be seen early in the film, blending in with faces in a painting in a victim's house. Because the scene is shown so briefly and because there are so many strange paintings in the hallway, we don't realize this until we are shown again at the end. Argento's horror memorabilia store, located in Rome, is named after this film.

Answer: Murder in the Cathedral

"Reazione a catena" (literally, "Chain Reaction") has a bewildering array of alternative names depending on where and when it was released or re-released. It was for a while marketed as the sequel to Wes Craven's controversial, "Last House on the Left". "Murder in the Cathedral" is a play by T. S. Eliot.

The chain reaction of the (Italian) title refers to a brutal sequence of murders perpetrated by numerous killers that all stem from the initial murder of a wealthy land-owner.

Answer: Riz Ortolani

Riz (Riziero) Ortolani was born in Pesaro, Italy in 1931. His title song for the 1962 documentary, "Mondo Cane" won a Grammy and was nominated for an Oscar. He has written or contributed to the soundtracks of over 200 films.

Answer: "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" ("4 mosche di velluto grigio")

"A Lizard in a Woman's Skin" (1971) and "Don't Torture a Duckling" (1972) are both early examples of 'Gialli'. 'Giallo' films (named after the bright yellow covers--giallo means yellow in Italian--of pulp crime novels sold at news stands), are thrillers usually featuring black-gloved killers, with a twist ending, and often with elements of horror films. "A Cat in the Brain" (1990) is a late horror spoof, featuring much footage taken from his earlier films. "Four Flies on Grey Velvet", also a Giallo, is a 1971 Dario Argento film.

Answer: Two small children shoot their parents.

After a series of brutal murders, the children are the only people left to complete the cycle and rid the bay of the last potential threat to its pristine state. This controversial scene contributed to the film being banned in the U.K. until 1994. The wheelchair-bound Countess is murdered in the opening scene.

The famous impaling ('borrowed' by the makers of "Friday the 13th") occurs midway through the film. The scene of the woman falling through the stained-glass ceiling is from Dario Argento's "Suspiria" (1977).

Answer: Freiburg, Germany

Mater Suspiriorum is featured in "Suspiria" and set in Freiburg, location of one of the three houses designed by the architect, Varelli. The other houses are in New York (for Mater Tenebrarum, featured in "Inferno") and Rome (for Mater Lachrymarum, featured in "The Third Mother").

Answer: "Rabid Dogs" ("Cani arrabbiati")

The rabid dogs of the title are a group of criminals who, after a botched robbery, kidnap a woman, a man, and a sick child. Upon his death in 1980, the film was completed by Lamberto Bava who, as well as being a director himself, had served as his father's assistant on most of his films since 1965. "Door to Silence" (1991) was Lucio Fulci's last film as director. "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (1971) and "Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key" (1972) are Gialli directed by Sergio Martino.

Answer: "Zombie 2" (aka "Zombie Flesh Eaters")

In an attempt to cash in on the success of "Dawn of the Dead", which had been presented in Italy as "Zombi", Fulci's zombie classic was given the title "Zombi 2". Regarded as one of Fulci's best efforts, the film is notable for some innovative scenes of gore, including a zombie being attacked under water by a shark and a famously lurid scene of an eyeball being pierced by a large splinter on a door.

The film's plot is very simple: an abondonded ship arrives in New York Harbor, the daughter of the ship's owner (played by Tisa Farrow, Mia's sister) sets off to find her father, she heads to Matul, an island in the Caribbean, with a journalist friend and finds an island over-run with zombies from which they must then escape.

Answer: "Cannibal Ferox" / Ruggero Deodato

While Ruggero Deodato made several cannibal films (eg. "Cannibal Holocaust", "Jungle Holocaust"), "Cannibal Ferox" (1981) is not one of them. Also known as "Make Them Die Slowly", it was directed by Umberto Lenzi.