Indeed, Giallo proved itself a very fluid genre despite its set of rules and tropes. A genre that took inspiration from so many others (expressionism, gothic horror, noir, krimi) could not help but be pulled in several directions by a growing roster of very skilled and creative filmmakers.

Many gialli would become known for their highly stylized and romantic imagery – opulent, ostentatious settings, shining blades and painted nails, killers wearing black gloves, wide-brimmed hats and dark mackintoshes that would look just as at home on a catwalk as in the murderous shadows. Films such as Bava’s Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970) and Giuliano Carnimeo’s The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972) were like Italian fashion houses brought to life, using the Italian notion of ‘La Bella Figura’ to add a very attractive aesthetic to these violent thriller stories. Perhaps taking their cues from the literal fashion house of Bava’s earlier Blood and Black Lace (1964), the next wave of directors clearly understood that “Alongside stylish camera work, lavish interiors and effortlessly cool soundtracks, fashion in giallo cinema is integral in giving the genre a distinctive look” (Nisbet, 2015).

But the style went beyond the visual. Giallo content was fuelled by modern sexuality and counterculture, incorporating feminism and an analysis of outdated sexual opinions. Blood and Black Lace, Fulci’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin and Massimo Dallamano’s What have you done to Solange? (1972) played with the idea of violence as a punishment for beauty, or liberated sexual activity. The (often but not always male) killers represented the old belief that sexual potency should be hidden and women remain obedient and subservient, and the victims were often modern, sexually liberated women, the kind who were battling against outdated opinions in real society the same way they were battling brutal, misogynistic villains at the movies.