Welcome to episode 38 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts

This week we are returning to the world of the 1940s horror noir and the Italian giallo, with two highly influential movies that would shape some of the tropes that we now see as standard in many films

First up, we have The Spiral Staircase from 1946 directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy Maguire, Ethel Barrymore, George Brent, and Kent Smith

Then we follow this with Six Women for the Killer, also known as Blood and Black Lace from 1964 and director Mario Bava. This stars Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Ariana Gorini and Thomas Reiner.

Recommendations

The Killers: https://youtu.be/qN8CKO-_th8?si=bSjwl02I927bTgmG

The Girl Who Knew Too Much: https://youtu.be/kHolwKaXHHw?si=uiiNHwREjIZaWhIn

The Whip & The Body (1963)

Black Sabbath (1963)

References

The File on Robert Siodmak by Joseph Greco

American Gothic Six Decades of Classic Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby

https://metrograph.com/the-strange-affair-of-robert-siodmak

https://offscreen.com/view/siodmak-spiral-staircase

https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/dec/21/christmas-holiday-my-favourite-christmas-film-gene-kelly-robert-siodmak

https://www.dasmagazin.de/magazin-historie/

https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/siodmak

https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd11861472X.html#ndbcontent

https://abergavennylocalhistorysociety.org.uk/gallery/Ethel%20Lina%20White.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/obituaries/ethel-lina-white-overlooked.html

The Haunted World of Mario Bava by Troy Howarth

So Deadly So Perverse by Troy Howarth

Blood and black Lace by Roberto Cuti (Devils Advocates Series).

Special features and interviews on the blu ray release of the film from Arrow Video

https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-mario-bava

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bava

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spiral_Staircase_(1946_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Siodmak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_and_Black_Lace

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youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)