This year’s January Giallo at the Music Box Theatre started off when a bang! I mean, having the chance to see any Paul Naschy film on the big screen is a rarity as it is, but then to have a screening of Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974) made it even better. What a way to not only start the year off by seeing this Naschy flick on January 1st, but a great way to start off the January Giallo festival as well! I was a little worried being that it was screening on New Year’s Day that the crowd might not come out for it, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a very crowded theater that evening. A very cool evening, indeed.

I was out there for the second screening, the 1978 made-for-TV movie called Closed Circuit, that I’m still on the fence about! Really enjoyed the film but that ending . . . But once again, there was a really good turnout for it. I had planned to hit the next screening, the French film The Strangler (1970), but it was just way too cold to be heading anywhere outside, let alone an hour drive into Chicago.

Now, it’s not unheard of for a director of an important or even a newer film to make appearances at a theater, usually there to help promote their latest project, or maybe a for a retrospective screening or something. But to finish out the Giallo series, the Music Box went overboard. Not only were they going to be screening Torso (1973), but legendary director Sergio Martino was going to be there in person for the screening and Q&A before the screening!!! Mr. Martino is 85 years old, and he’s flying around the states for a couple of different screenings of some of his famous films. As you could tell from the Q&As, he was still sharp as a tack, still full of life and love of cinema. And to make the series even better, they added a screening of his 1971 film The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh the following day on Tuesday, where he did another Q&A session.

I went out for both screenings because . . . I had to. Liquid Cheese head cheese Dave Kosanke came out with me for the event on Monday and met up with our friend Bryan Martinez of the Giallo Room. On Tuesday, Bryan and I met up with our Academia Giallo host Ian Simmons for the screening of Strange Vice and got to hang about and talk of all things giallo. Such a great evening.

It’s not often you have the chance to be in the presence of a true master of the giallo. At the screening of Torso, with damn near a sell-out crowd, the question was asked of the audience of how many people there had never seen the film before, and I’d say about a third of the audience raised their hand. I’ve always been a fan of this film, but seeing it that night, with close to a full house, was almost like experiencing the film for the first time. People jumped when they were supposed to. You could hear the collective ‘gasp’ during some sequences. It just truly made the screening a very eventful one.

So, a HUGE thanks to the Music Box for continuing to create these incredible events and giving the fans the opportunity to see these films on the big screen. Plus, since the January Giallo series has become so popular, we have people that haven’t even seen the films still coming out for the experience. That just shows you the power that Ryan, Will, Katie, and all of the hard-working staff at the Music Box have, programming titles that will automatically draw a crowd. Because they know and respect the audience, and work hard to continue to show them a great time. And as I saw this last month, the audiences respond to that.