Recently many of the Mario Bava films went out of print and so many collectors are picking them up, and so, soon after we see modern Italian Horror maestro's Dario Argento's titles moving off the shelves. In addition there is a small selection of Lucio Fulci titles that are also disappearing. What will become of these films is hard to tell. Recently, other titles have gone out of print and so I thought I would make a nice recapitulation of these Italian Horror Masters:

 

Mario Bava

Black Sunday

Black Sabbath

Twitch of the Death Nerve (aka Bay of Blood)

Shock

Kill Baby Kill (newly listed)

Mario Bava Box Set (newly listed)

Possession/Shock

Four Times That Night

Planet of the Vampires

The House of Exorcism/Lisa and the Devil

Bay of Blood (Simitar)

The House of Exorcism

Lisa and the Devil

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Baron Blood

Rabid Dogs

There are a few of the Image Enertainment Mario Bava Collection still available that I would definately keep an eye on. The ones I would pick up now are:

*Knives of the Avenger*

Hatchet for the Honeymoon

5 Dolls for an August Moon

Some of the lesser, but equally respectable Italian Horror directors are:

Riccardo Freda

I Vampiri (although listed as Mario Bava Collection, Riccardo and Mario collaborated as director on this film, even though Bava is uncredited in the film itself. According to 'Horror All'Italiana', it states "...Bava dedicated almost his entire career to horror and left his authorship on it, Freda made the first official gothic movie in Italian cinema, I Vampiri (The Devil's Commandement), as early as 1957."

Antonio Margheriti

Perhaps best known for his film Castle of Blood (Danza Macabra). This film has been compared to the influence of Bava's own classic Black Sunday (Mask of Satan). Perhaps both starring the Italian Horror Scream Queen Barbara Steele and they both appeared in a similar time (1964 and 1961 respectively).

The Virgin of Nuremberg

Blood for Dracula (assistant director)

Flesh for Frankenstein (co-directed)

Cannibal Apocalypse

Web of Spider (Nella stretta morsa del ragno)

Long Hair of Death

Massimo Pupillo

Terror Creatures from the Grave

Bloody Pit of Horror

Renato Polselli

The Reincarnation of Isabel (Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento, which translated is "Black Magic Rites & the Secret Orgies of the 14th Century")

Other classics include:

Lady Frankenstein

Nightmare Castle

If you are interested in learning more about Italian Gothic Horror, I highly reccomend the book Bizarre Sinema! Horror all'italiana. It is an excellent book and resource. It is produced by Glittering Images and there is a total of 5 books in the series and I highly reccomend each and every one of them.