58: The Neurotic Women of '70s Giallo, feat. Sharon Gissy of Mental Filmness

About this episode

Gabe Powers and guest Sharon Gissy explore female-centric giallo films from the 1970s, discussing themes of neurosis and exploitation in horror cinema.

SPLIT PERSONALITIES! BURIED TRAUMA! DEMANDING CAREERS! SHITTY BOYFRIENDS! COLD-BLOODED MURDER! IT'S HARD OUT HERE FOR A WOMAN!! We've already talked about the giallo movies released during the genre's peak year of 1971 with Patrick and covered several of the American films found in the pages of Kier-La Janisse's House of Psychotic Women with Bill, so why not join Gabe and first-time guest host Sharon Gissy for a look at the female-centric gialli also found in Janisse's autobiographical topography of female neurosis in horror and exploitation film? This month's titles include Francesco Barilli's The Perfume of the Lady in Black (Italian: Il profumo della signora in nero, 1974), Carlos Aured's Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (Spanish: Spanish: Los ojos azules de la muñeca rota; aka: House of Psychotic Women, 1973, released in '74), Armando Crispino's Autopsy (Italian: Macchie solari, 1975), and Luigi Bazzoni's Footprints (Italian: Le orme, 1975). Please note that the podcasting app I use mistakenly recorded Sharon's laptop's built-in microphone instead of the one she was using, so there are some muffling and static issues with her audio. I've done what I could to correct this, but be…

People in this episode

Host: Gabe Powers

Guest: Sharon Gissy

Topics covered

• giallo films
• female-centric horror
• neurosis in film
• 1970s cinema
• exploitation film

Keywords

• giallo
• horror
• female protagonists
• 1970s
• exploitation
• neurosis
• Italian cinema
• Spanish cinema

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mental Filmness

Books & works: The Perfume of the Lady in Black, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, Autopsy, Footprints

More episodes of Genre Grinder

• 61. The Deep Sea Sci-fi/Horror of 1989, feat. Patrick Ripoll of 96 Greers (Part 1 of 2) · June 8, 2026 · 2h 21m
• 60: The B-Sword & Sorcery of the '80s, feat. Luana Saitta of Defend Your Trash Movie · April 13, 2026 · 1h 55m
• 59: Unconventional Biopics, feat. Tyler Foster · March 11, 2026 · 1h 48m
• BONUS EPISODE: The Most Underrated Films of the First Quarter of the 21st Century! · January 1, 2026 · 2h 13m
• 57: Environmental Horror Movies, feat. Justin Clark of Slant Magazine · November 19, 2025 · 1h 59m
• 56. Shaw Bros. Horror Movies, feat. Stefan Hammond, author of Sex & Zen & A Bullet in the Head · October 6, 2025 · 2h 12m