The who done it Horror movie when did this start happening

I was watching the movie "Popcorn" the other night (I love cheesy horror movies) and it got me to thinking about for lack of a better phrase the Who done it horror movie. The ones where one of the main characters is picking off the other main characters and you don't find out who until the end. I've seen this so many times it's like it's own sub-genre of horror film and it made me wonder how far back this goes.

Stay Brown,
Rev J

 

Personally when I watch a horror movie I don't want to have to think. I want to see tits, then hacking. Which is why I've always loved 'Friday the 13th' movies.

 

I agree its tits first then let the slashing begin as in the case of Funhouse (1981) where 18 year old Elizabeth Berridge is voted Breast Supporting Actress by Horror movie fans :2thumbsup:



Or Samantha Phillips (Phantasm II) or better yet the teenage girl in the original Boogeyman (1980) with the huge set of knockers :2thumbsup:


Hotwater

 

As far as I can tell the sub-genre emerged in the 60's in Italy. The films I am referring to lie in a genre of the time known as Giallo. Giallo is an Italian literary and film genre that rotates heavily around 'who done it' scenarios and usually contain graphic onscreen murders only revealing the killers identity within the final moments of the film. A whole slew of these films came out in the 70's when Mario Bava's 'Twitch of the Death Nerve' upped the anti in the violence department and their mild popularization directly led to the 80's slasher movement creating such american icons as Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees.

Google filmogrophies for the following Directors and check out their 60's and 70's flicks.

Mario Bava
Umberto Lenzi
Lamberto Bava
Luci Fulci (the Zombie film master!)
Dario Argento (overall master of cinematography and atmosphere)
Sergio Martino

There is a lot out there to enjoy if you look around!:2thumbsup: