THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) – Episode 190 – Decades Of Horror 1970s
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
Release Date: 06/07/2023
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“So what he came up with … was a parasite that’s a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease that will hopefully turn the world into one beautiful, mindless orgy.” Wait a minute. Hopefully? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out David Cronenberg’s first “official” movie, (1975). Do you feel the frisson? Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 198 – Shivers (1975) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! ...
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“Damn It! I don’t like your tampering with the supernatural.” What if he just tinkers with it a bit? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they make the Decades of Horror’s fourth encounter of a strange kind with Robert Louis Stevenson’s story as depicted in Paramount’s (1920). Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 160 – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of...
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“Will you put that goddamn map away? Look, I gave you 78 men, you’ve got the National Guard, and he’s still loose in my city! And look at the hole he made!” Would that be a… manhole? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they brave the body-strewn sewers populated by (1980). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 241 – Alligator (1980) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror 1980s is partnering with the WICKED...
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“If you don’t stop pestering me, one of these mornings I’m gonna show up and start milking that cow.” Who doesn’t like milk? Don’t answer that! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out Capt. Kirk/T.J. Hooker/Denny Crane while he attempts to wage war on attacking arachnids establishing their own (1977). Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 197 – Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! ...
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“Hey, Doc. Tell her it’s an old American custom called smooch. And tell her she smooches good, huh? And tell her I’d like to give her some advanced lessons, huh?” Don’t you just love those old American customs? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they travel to a mountaintop in Japan; a mountaintop that provides the inconvenient lab location for the creation of . . . (1959)! Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 159 – The Manster (1959) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube...
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“Buk, buk, buk, buk, buk, ba-gawk, buk, ba-gawk!” You can say that again! Or can you? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they try to answer the question, “What’s up with (1989)?” (Hint: The answer is not, “Chicken butt.”) Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 240 – Luther the Geek (1989) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror 1980s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL () which now...
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“He had a heart attack.” And you get a heart attack! Everybody gets a heart attack! Is that normal? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they count the heart attacks while they continue their reverse trek through Hammer’s Karnstein Trilogy with (1971). Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 196 – Lust for a Vampire (1971) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL...
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“I find it difficult to believe that a human being can change himself into a bat, or that by feeding upon the blood of the living he can obtain eternal life. But what has this discussion to do with us, Baron Latos?” Watch and learn, grasshopper. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they travel to a house that’s a bit crowded … with monsters! Yes, they’re in Universal’s (1945)! Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 158 – House of Dracula (1945) Join the Crew on the Gruesome...
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“Oh, my god. The girl was right. The little people, they’re f***ing dolls!” A society where men are incidental? Hmm. Humans could learn from cockroaches. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr along with guest host effects artist Ralph Miller III – as they brave the phobia of many-a-folk in Stuart Gordon’s (1987). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 239 – Dolls (1987) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror...
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“Now you listen to me. Those are the first women been in this home since your ma died and I ain’t having no trash in your ma’s home.” Maybe they could just “hang” around? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they take in William Girdler’s second film, (1972), for the second episode in The Black Saint month. Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 195 – Three on a Meathook (1972) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades...
info_outline“Right! Bring in the perverts” They always make for a good police lineup. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they get their Giallo on with Dario Argento’s first shot at directing, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970).
Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 190 – The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
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An American expatriate in Rome attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of attempted murder – and is now hunting him and his girlfriend.
- Director: Dario Argento
- Writers: Dario Argento; Fredric Brown (novel, The Screaming Mimi, 1949) (uncredited)
- Produced by: Salvatore Argento (producer); Artur Brauner (executive producer: CCC Filmkunst) (uncredited)
- Music by: Ennio Morricone
- Cinematography by: Vittorio Storaro (director of photography)
- Film Editing by: Franco Fraticelli
- Selected Cast:
- Tony Musante as Sam Dalmas
- Suzy Kendall as Julia
- Enrico Maria Salerno as Inspector Morosini
- Eva Renzi as Monica Ranieri
- Umberto Raho as Alberto Ranieri
- Renato Romano as Professor Carlo Dover (credited as Raf Valenti)
- Giuseppe Castellano as Monti
- Mario Adorf as Berto Consalvi
- Pino Patti as Faiena
- Gildo Di Marco as Garullo
- Rosita Torosh as 4th Victim (as Rosa Toros)
- Omar Bonaro as Police Detective
- Fulvio Mingozzi as Police Detective
- Werner Peters as Antique Dealer
- Karen Valenti as Tina, 5th Victim
- Carla Mancini as Girl watching TV
- Bruno Erba as Police Detective
- Reggie Nalder as Needles, Yellow Jacket Assassin (uncredited)
With his first feature directorial effort, modern horror master Dario Argento immediately showed off his skill, precision, and artistry. Often looked upon as the rise in popularity for Giallo films, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) would set the bar for all the pre-slasher killer mystery thrillers for over a decade even giving the father of the subgenre, Mario Bava (The Girl Who Too Much, 1963; Blood and Black Lace, 1964), a run for his money. While Argento adapts many influences into his first of a series of films known as the “Animal Trilogy,” along with The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), his film would in turn influence many films for decades to come. Some of those films would be directed by his peers such as Bava and Lucio Fulci. Others who would pay homage would be the likes of Carpenter and de Palma. Jeff, Doc, Bill, and Chad gather to discuss the film, its creators, and its mark on the genre.
At the time of this writing, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is available to stream on a multitude of streaming and PPV services including Kanopy, Tubi, Prime Video, and Screambox to name a few. The film is also available as a Blu-ray and as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Chad, will be The Dunwich Horror (1970). Yog-Sothoth, anyone?
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