The Black Belly of the Tarantula
The Black Belly of the Tarantula is a 1971 film from Italy and France, directed by Paolo Cavara, running 99 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1971 · 1970s films
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Director
- Paolo Cavara
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (37/100)
- Also known as
- Black Belly of the Tarantula
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
The killer paralyses you first so you feel it. A first-rank giallo nobody name-checks.
The hook is nasty and precise. The killer jabs victims with an acupuncture needle that leaves them paralysed but fully conscious, so they feel every second of what comes next. Giancarlo Giannini plays the weary detective a year before he became an art-house name, and the cast stacks up three Bond girls in Barbara Bouchet, Claudine Auger and Barbara Bach. Paolo Cavara, who had a hand in Mondo Cane, directs with real control and lets Ennio Morricone's score do the creeping. It belongs in the top rank of the form and almost never gets mentioned alongside the Argentos and Martinos, which is the canon's loss.
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The cycle in depth
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
Filed alongside
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
A bridal-couture killer who narrates his own psychosis, and the best ghost gag Bava ever staged.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
A family curse, a killer in a red cloak, and a legend that kills every hundred years.
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key
Best title in the genre. Poe adaptation with Edwige Fenech and a black cat.
Pieces
Spanish, incoherent, and gleefully stupid. 'Bastard! Bastard!'
Short Night of Glass Dolls
Narrated by a paralysed man presumed dead. Unusual and very good.
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
The Martino/Fenech formula, arriving fully formed. Cut and retitled Blade of the Ripper in the US.
The College Girl Murders
The point where the black-and-white krimi tips over into full-colour giallo delirium.
The Case of the Scorpion's Tail
Martino at his most efficient. Nobody wastes a frame.
All the Colors of the Dark
Satanic paranoia in Swinging London. Edwige Fenech is excellent.
The Case of the Bloody Iris
The Fenech giallo distilled to its purest form: models, murders, and no reason to solve any of it.
StageFright
A killer in a giant owl mask, a locked theatre, and Soavi announcing himself.
The House with Laughing Windows
A rural giallo with no gloss and a deep, patient dread. Often voted the best one going.