Gelato Giallo
Alternative Titles: N/A
Director: Bryan Martinez
Year: 2015
Starring: Jess Ferrone, Ricky Lee Barnes, Pino Cascarano, Rachel Claire
Context:
Part of a loose American scene active online with a love for the giallo genre this is the first film by writer/director Bryan Martinez who emulates Dario Argento by also being the killer of his cast.
Synopsis:
Aria has had a terrible day. She caught her boyfriend cheating on her earlier and just wants to get home to enjoy her delicious gelato. However, there is someone stalking her in the shadows. Someone with an insatiable taste for...death.
Review:
Gelato Giallo is an American short film that sets its stall out early as it seeks to pay homage to the
genre from the get go with a dash of the Italian language thrown in and the key tropes honoured as
leather gloves are donned, J&B drank and razor blades used throughout its brief sub-seven minutes
run time.
Due to the time constraints this film could never hope to emulate the convoluted mystery of the
first wave of giallo films and nor does it try, instead what we get is more akin to the modern neo-giallo
films that have surfaced over the past eight or so years featuring a truncated set up followed by the
main act or set piece and then the reveal.
As a result of this Gelato Giallo comes across more as a derivative of the neo-giallo movement than the original inspiration and nowhere is this more obvious than the choice of a digital soundtrack which primarily brings to mind its contemporaries as opposed to the classics. However the design of the killer does, invoking the spirit of Mario Bava with a dash of Argento (to say anymore may be a spoiler) and director Martinez uses this to great effect during an excellently shot murder sequence that helps to drive the film towards its final conclusion.
Martinez's love and knowledge of the genre is clear in particular the aesthetic of the killer and the use of lighting helping to deliver a tasty serving of giallo which will no doubt prove to be a strong calling card for the rookie director.
Version Reviewed:
Producer(s) 'The Film Deviant' and 'Into the Void Films' released a cut of the short film onto YouTube on 15 August 2015 and that version was reviewed.