If you spend any time researching Giallo films the name Ernesto Gastaldi is bound to strike a familiar chord. Gastaldi is one of the most prolific Italian screenwriters with over 120 credits on his resume, including such classic Gialli as So Sweet... So Perverse, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, and Torso. 

In 1965 Gastaldi co-wrote and co-directed Libido, a low budget psychological thriller that would eventually be referenced as a major influence in the classic Giallo films of the 1970s. Libido is a groundbreaking film that combines moody gothic horror atmosphere with a Freudian psycho-sexual plot. Almost all of the action takes place inside and outside a single location with a bare-bones cast of four characters. And yet Libido never seems to drag or gives up its secret too easily.

One of the major plot devices in Libido is the question of the main character Christian’s mental stability. As the film progresses the viewer is constantly tasked with deciding if Christian is slowly going crazy, or if someone is trying to drive him there. There’s also the possibility of a supernatural presence, and although Gastaldi is quoted as saying that using the supernatural in a Giallo to explain the circumstances is “cheating”, audiences in 1965 certainly weren’t aware of this. 

This narrative theme isn’t necessarily groundbreaking. Popular films like Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Les Diaboliques employed a similar plot technique. Nevertheless, the “am I going crazy” theme crops up in many of the Gialli that followed Libido and Gastaldi is quite successful in using it here. With only four suspects to work with, the viewer can’t make any assumptions as to who is really pulling the strings here. 

Trying to score a Giallo from 1965 using criteria that didn’t become popular within the genre until 5 years later requires some creative interpretations. The Giallo Score is set up so that one individual is considered the main culprit and any other characters who contribute to their objective are considered accomplices. In this case, Brigitte seems to be the most dastardly of the group despite Helene likely being the originator of the plan to get Christian’s money. 

It’s also important to point out Gastaldi’s use of the childhood trauma theme in Libido. Argento and others would reuse this idea many times to give the killers in his films a motive. In this film, the trauma belongs to Christian and merely serves to provide his final push over the cliff… literally!

Libido desperately needs a proper home video release, but don’t let that stop you from seeking it out. The film is quite significant in the history of the Giallo film, not to mention an inspiring start to Gastaldi’s career and an entertaining film in its own right. If you only watch one Giallo between Blood and Black Lace and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, it should probably be this one.