Giallogy: Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll

A rare Spanish entry in the giallo genre, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1973) begins with a drifter ex-con finding work at the remote mountain estate of three very different, yet equally eccentric sisters. Then the dead bodies start piling up around town. Beautiful, blue-eyed village women are being murdered, their eyeballs carved out … Continue reading Giallogy: Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll →

Lost and Found: Blue Jeans

As a glimpse into the freewheeling approach to sexual politics in 1970s Italy, Mario Imperioli’s Blue Jeans (1975) is eye opening, and not just because of stunningly sexy star Gloria Guida. The erotic-dramedy captures a moment in time, when the post-sixties sexual revolution collided head on—and groin first—with institutionally ingrained misogyny and old fashioned Italian … Continue reading Lost and Found: Blue Jeans →

Giallogy: Amuck!

Beautiful blonde Barbara Bouchet runs Amuck! in a novelist’s Venetian din of inequity, while trying to solve her lesbian lover’s disappearance! If that doesn’t sound like a rip-roaring good time aboard the giallo express, I don’t know what does. “An explosion of sexual frenzy” sums it up beautifully! Trust me, Amuck! is most definitely a … Continue reading Giallogy: Amuck! →

Lost and Found: Pets

Well, now. Boy howdy, what a movie! Okay, so I recently watched Pets (1973) for the first time and, wow, it’s bizarre. Probably because it feels like three increasingly disturbing vignettes strung together to form a strange, road-trip-style movie. This disarming oddness is part of what makes it a memorably strange cult film. However, the … Continue reading Lost and Found: Pets →

Giallogy: The Psychic

I love giallo movies. I tend to watch them in bunches, like when I recently plowed through The Psychic, aka Seven Notes in Black (1977), Puzzle, aka The Man Without a Memory (1974), and Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971). Gialli offer an intoxicating blend of glamorous women, gorgeous Italian (or other gorgeous European) locales, … Continue reading Giallogy: The Psychic →

Rapture: Debbie Harry, Live and on Fire

I’ve done some research but I’m having difficulty pinpointing the exact date, location, or photographer for these stunning stage shots of Debbie Harry. I believe they’re all from the same Blondie show in 1978, but which show that is I’m not sure. 1978 was a big year for the band as their third album, Parallel … Continue reading Rapture: Debbie Harry, Live and on Fire →

The Art of the Ad: Sex, Lies, and Video Games, Part IV

The golden age of arcade and video game advertising is such a fertile period for unabashedly sexy and blatantly sexist ads that we’re back with a fourth installment of material. This is starting to become the Friday the 13th of the Starfire Lounge, with sequel after sequel. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got … Continue reading The Art of the Ad: Sex, Lies, and Video Games, Part IV →