Black leather gloves, razor-sharp mysteries and colours that seem to bleed from the screen. Discover the films that created Italian giallo cinema, from Mario Bava's pioneering thrillers to Dario Argento's extravagant nightmares.

A failed mechanical guardian gave The Prisoner its most unnerving creation: Rover, a giant white balloon that hunted escapees across a Welsh holiday village. The story behind the cult television monster involves a stubborn go-kart, frantic prop work and one of the happiest accidents in British science fiction.

In December 1970, a surreal Mexican western began playing after midnight in a New York cinema, attracting an audience that conventional Hollywood barely knew existed. The extraordinary success of El Topo helped transform late-night screenings into a countercultural ritual and changed the meaning of cult cinema forever.