Episode 52: The Seventh Victim (1943) & Inferno (1980)

Welcome to episode 52 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 going to New York in search of missing sisters and finding ourselves in a whole heap of trouble with the powers of darkness. First, we have *The Seventh Victim* from 1943 and producer Val Lewton. This was directed by Mark Robson and stars Kim Hunter, Jean Brooks, Tom Conway and Isabel Jewell Then we are following this with *Inferno* from Dario Argento and 1980. This was his follow-up to 1977’s *Suspiria*, and was the movie in which he fully introduced the idea of the Three Mothers, three supernatural figures inspired by the writing of Thomas de Quincey. This stars Leigh McCloskey, Irene Miracle, Eleonora Giorgi, Daria Nicolodi and Gabriele Lavia. Along the way, we’ll be discussing the actresses Kim Hunter and Daria Nicolodi, and falling down some very esoteric rabbit holes, including satanic conspiracies involving the freemasons, the works and disappearance of the alchemist Fulcanelli, and the arcane world of actor, artist and self-described visual philosopher Leigh J McClosky. **References** *Val Lewton: The Reality of Terror* by Joel E. Siegel *Dreams of Darkness* by J. P. Telotte *Icons of Grief: Val Lewton’s Home Front Pictures by Alexander Nemerov*.  The Seventh Victim blu-ray from Criterion https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-val-lewton https://brightlightsfilm.com/darkness-darkness-films-val-lewton-looking-back-b-movie-master/ *Fear* by Dario Argento *Dario Argento, The Man, The Myths, And the Magic* by Alan Jones,  *Broken Mirrors Broken Minds the Dark Dreams of Dario Argento* by Maitland McDonough *Art Of Darkness the Cinema of Dario Argento* edited by Chris Gallant *Spaghetti Nightmares* edited by Luca M Palmerini and Gaeto Mistretta   Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com youtube: @thehorrordoublebill artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr\_illustration.com)