I testi della paura e dell'incubo

Between 1960 and 1970 Italy undergoes a major anthropological change, triggered by the mass migration to the industrialized cities of the North from the rural areas that had been the cradle of an old and profoundly rooted culture. In this historical frame, the Italian film industry becomes the most powerful and successful in Europe, starting a period of dominance and unparalleled growth that lasted almost twenty years. Genre films represent the backbone of the industry, and horror films, even though not the majority in numeric terms, become a significant section of the Italian production; Italian horror films establish and define new trends for the genre, largely imitated and admired. The thesis analyzes and discusses these films against the broader background of the years spanning from 1960 to 1980. The most important theoretical issues concerning the subject of the research are dealt with in Chapter one, where intertextuality is viewed as the most stimulating characteristic of the genre. Through the analysis of the Gothic tradition and the enumeration of several semantic elements linked to the genre, the thesis finds in the concepts of authorship and parody its essential critical tools for the following chapters. The evolution of the genre through the period 1960-1980 is examined in Chapter two. Films and directors are discussed not simply for the aesthetic value of their works, but mainly the for the contribution brought to the setting of the trends of the genre. This chapter examines also the influence of other media (the comic books and the television) on the process. The career of the two most important masters of the period, Mario Bava and Dario Argento, is explored and discussed in detail in Chapters three and four. The originality of their work marks the entire evolution of the genre. The Italian horror cinema cannot be conceived or thought of without the films made by Mario Bava and Dario Argento in the period examined by the research.Ph