Giallo Movies and Unsolved Murders w/ Jenny Ashford

The Parallax Views #HalloweenPodcastMassacre continues as the 13 O'Clock Podcast's Jenny Ashford returns to discuss her new game design venture Giallo Games, based on the 70 Italian horror/thriller movies of the 60s-80s, and spooky cases from her three volume book series The Faceless Villain: A Collection of the Eeriest Unsolved Murders of the 20th Century.

We begin the discussion by talking about horror movies and Jenny's various board games based on giallos, or Italian murder mystery thrillers, like Dario Argento's Suspiria (arguably not a giallo but it gets lumped in) and Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace. We talk about two games in particular, The Three Sorrows and A Crimson Drop on a Crystal Palette. We also talk about the various giallos that Jenny is a fan of like All the Colors of the Dark starring Euro-starlet Edwige Fenech and Lucio Fulci's The Psychic. And, of course, we take a detour to talk about the greatness of John Carpenter. And we note how Mario Bava's Bay of Blood aka Twitch of the Death Nerve is a proto-slasher as well as chatting about the weirdness of Dario Argento's cinematic collaborations with his daughter Asia Argento.

Additionally, we talk about women in horror fandom and why women are attracted to the genre despite it's penchant for misogyny. In this regard we also discuss rape/revenge films like I Spit on Your Grave and Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45. Is there something cathartic about such films for some female viewers? We talk about how I Spit on Your Grave is completely unglamorous in it's depiction of violence against women whereas many films of its type glamorize said violence. We also talk about how horror films have been influenced by women and in this regard mention how Daria Nicolodi was instrumental in the early film's of her former husband Dario Argento.

Then we pivot to the real-life horror of unsolved murders that Jenny writes about in the 3 volumes of The Faceless Villain trilogy. First, of course, we delve into how Jenny got the title for the series. Then we discuss a question that immediately pops up for readers of the trilogy: Why Iowa? In other words, why do so many cold cases occur in the mid-west. This leads us to a discussion of the Black Dahlia case and the theories of Steve Hodel, son of Black Dahlia murder suspect George Hodel. Additionally, we talk about ax murders and why they're connected to so many unsolved murders in the early 20th century.

From there we delve into a potpourri of different cases from the trilogy including:

- Unsolved murders that have been tied into the JFK assassination conspriacy theories, specifically the shooting of JFK's alleged mistress, who may have introduced the late President to LSD, Mary Pinochet Myers
- Lover's lane murders and how they're not just something you see in movies or urban legends. In this regard we talk about the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and the movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown; this leads to an odd sidetrack conversation about the Amityville Horror and paranormal investigator Ed and Lorraine Warren, now famous for one of their investigations being the basis of The Conjuring
- The murder of Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan; the potential connection of "The Serial Killer You've Never Heard Of" Edward Wayne Edwards; the problem with trying to close cold cases with characters like Edward Wayne Edwards or Henry Lee Lucas
- Jane murders including the Lady of the Dunes case and it's potential connection to Steve Spielberg's Jaws thanks to... Stephen King's son Joe Hill? Yep. you read that right; oh, and one of the suspects is the notorious mobster Whitey Bulger
- The gruesome cases of the Houston Icebox murders, the Tattington suitcase murder, the Pink Socks/Fred the Head murder, and the Nude in the Nettles
- Hitchhikers murders including the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders whose suspects include Ted Bundy, the Zodiac Killer, the Hillside Stranglers
- Unsolved disappearances; the chilling case of Tara Calico's disappearance and the polaroid photos found that may or may not show or tied up along with a young boy
- The Smiley Face murders, the so-called "Manchester Pusher", and conspiracy theories

This Episode Brought to You By:

The War State:
The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963
by
Michael Swanson
of
The Wall Street Window