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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep794: Accademia Giallo: THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1963)

Ep794: Accademia Giallo: THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1963)

Your favorite nightmare know-it-alls are back with an "Accademia Giallo" look at The Girl Who Knew Too Much!

In Mario Bava's 1963 thriller (also called Evil Eye), a mystery novel-loving American tourist witnesses a murder in Rome, and soon finds herself and her suitor caught up in a series of killings.

Widely regarded as the first giallo film, Bava's thriller plants the seeds for a genre that would later explode with lurid sex, graphic killings, and countless pairs of black leather gloves. This comparatively tame but phenomenally engrossing mystery, features great performances, breathtaking cinematography, and a deft balance of horror and humor (without being classified as a "horror-comedy").

Ian and the frightful faculty look at how thrillers changed after Girl; discuss the wild differences between the Italian release and the American International Pictures release, and put to rest once and for all Sean Cunningham's claims that Bava's work in no way influenced Friday the 13th!

Also, Ian engages in his own life-and-death struggles with his webcam!

"Accademia Giallo" is Kicking the Seat's monthly deep dive into Italian Horror's "giallo" sub-genre. Join us LIVE in the chat for laughs, lessons, and lots of bad accents! Class begins promptly at 2pm CST!

Show Links

Ep795: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: BACK TO SCHOOL (1986)

Ep795: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: BACK TO SCHOOL (1986)

Ep793: Qualities of MERCY: An Interview with Filmmaker / Actress EMILY LAPE

Ep793: Qualities of MERCY: An Interview with Filmmaker / Actress EMILY LAPE