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
“Lucifer! Lucifer! Barabas! Barabas! By Santanica, Santanica! Come! Come! Etcetera?” Keep it down in there! Sounds like you’re trying to raise the dead. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Gregory Crosby, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss (1974), a microbudget Canadian horror flick with a micro-release. Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 240 – Corpse Eaters (1974) 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...
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“Ah, my friend. Our theory of glandular stimulation through electrical impulses was correct. A few days ago, you were as small as your companion, and now look at you!” Glandular stimulation? Is that a thing you can get? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they all go sans-after-shave while investigating (1940), starring Bela Lugosi! Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 202 – The Devil Bat (1940) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to...
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“Keep your shirt on, asshole.” Did he mean on “your” asshole or is he calling you an asshole? It does make a difference, you know. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they follow the battle for survival between the tiny, very hungry, escaped, galactic prisoners and a band of mostly courageous, small-town residents and farmers in (1986). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 283 – Critters (1986) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new...
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“You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now you die.” Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it, B-O-O-Y-Y-Y? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Gregory Crosby, and Jeff Mohr – as they cover this legendary franchise-starter, Don Coscarelli’s (1979). Balls of steel, anyone? Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 239 – Phantasm (1979) 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 () which now...
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“The son of a b**** was strong as hell! Like a demon with an iron club! I was sure I’d wind up as rust on that club.” Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Dirk Rogers – as they take in this Japanese classic from writer and director Kaneto Shindô, who brought us Onibaba (1964). The film is Kuroneko (1968, Black Cat), also known by its original title, Yabu no naka no kuroneko. Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 201 – Kuroneko (1968) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube...
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“One hundred years before this story begins, it was a time of darkness in Transylvania, a time when Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and a small band of freedom fighters conspired to rid the world of vampires and monsters and to save mankind from the forces of eternal evil. … They blew it.” Will the Monster Squad blow it, too? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they follow the battle between the young monster fighters and the pseudo-Universal Monsters in (1987). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 282 – The Monster Squad...
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“Are you trying to say that Abby has… flipped out?” Uh, pretty much. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Gregory Crosby, and Jeff Mohr – as they cover the oft-mentioned, discussed at last, William Girdler’s (1974), featuring William Marshall, Carol Speed, Terry Carter, Juanita Moore, and Austin Stoker. Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 238 – Abby (1974) 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...
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“There are certain unseen things that are more real than those which you can see and touch. I know that.” This episode’s opening is a recording from in which It!, a golem movie starring Roddy McDowall, is discussed. It’s the Grue Crew’s introduction to Chad’s talents. Sounds just like Roddy, right? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guests Bill Mulligan and Joseph Perry – as they discuss their favorite films from each decade of the Classic Era. They’re calling this episode Grue Crew...
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“I’m running this monkey farm now, Frankenstein!” Who wouldn’t want to run the monkey farm? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss George A. Romero’s (1985), a film worthy of sitting alongside Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 281 – Day of the Dead (1985) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! Gruesome Magazine is partnering with...
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“They celebrated a ceremony last night. All that blood indicates the procession by the devil Balujaru.” “All that blood,” you say? What about all the drums? No one could get a wink of sleep! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Jerry Chandler – as they again discuss some European horror, this time from Spain, with Amando de Ossorio’s (1974). Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 237 – The Night of the Sorcerers (1974) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get...
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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