After helming the CGI extravaganza of ‘Aquaman’, James Wan decided to scale back on his next film and return to his horror roots. As he declared in August:
“There’s been a bit of speculation as to what my next project is… all I’ll say is, I’m super excited to go back to my indie roots with this hard-R thriller. An original horror idea (not a reboot/remake or anything based on existing IP) with old school, practical effects and no giant, blue screen sets.”
Wan’s next film has yet to be named, although it is currently in production under the working title ‘Silvercup’. It is a new concept, not part of an existing property. (Wan was previously behind both the ‘Conjuring’ and ‘Insidious’ series.) Wan’s production company is named Atomic Monster, but his new project is also listed as being produced by “Giallo Films, LLC.”
The term “Giallo” set off a red flag for the horror-specializing site Bloody Disgusting, who did some digging and discovered that ‘Silvercup’ (or whatever it ends up being named) is a “Giallo film.” This refers to a sub-genre of horror films that originated in Italy, and include “slasher” elements, but are more heavily detective/murder-mystery stories with a greater emphasis on psychological terror. Among the characteristics of most Giallo films are a masked, black-gloved killer with a shiny murder weapon and a beautiful victim. These movies are also somewhat notorious for more overt sexual content than American movies of the time.
The first Giallo film is generally considered to be 1963’s ‘The Girl Who Knew Too Much’ or ‘La ragazza che sapeva troppo’, although it was filmed in black and white and lacked the gory violence and heavy sexuality of later Giallo films. Eli Roth is a big fan and cited Sergio Martino’s 1973 work, ‘Torso (I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale)’ as a major influence on his film ‘Hostel’.
While this sub-genre is mostly associated with Italy, other works like Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Psycho’ are considered Giallo films because they fit the format.
Wan’s new Giallo film will begin filming in Los Angeles this month. The picture will include cast members Jake Abel (‘Another Life’, ‘Supernatural’), Annabelle Wallis (‘Peaky Blinders’), and George Young (‘Containment’).
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