Dario Argento probably isn't for everyone. Not only is horror the genre that seems to turn surprisingly large swathes of people off, but Argento's brand of giallo is so specific and tonally distinct, if you're not on board with the type of heightened gore and high-intensity colour scheme and hilariously abrasive music he employs, then you're probably not going to get a lot out of the rest of his filmography.

But if you are going to tackle a career such as Argento's, you need someone who knows what they're doing to guide you through. And there's nobody better for that than this month's guest, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who not only knows Argento's films back to back, but quite literally wrote the book on him.

Her insight and unique perspective means that we were treated to a view of Argento unlike any other you'll find out there. Case in point:

“I've always felt that Razorback was the Australian Suspiria. I've been laughed at a lot for that.”

It was also pretty fortuitous that when we suggested doing a mini-Hyphenate this month, not only was she up for the additional work, but turned out to be a huge fan of Herk Harvey… something we had not anticipated when we floated the idea to her. That, folks, is kismet.

Harvey was a horror filmmaker with a completely different sensibility to Argento, and unlike Argento, only made the one feature film. If you're not familiar with his name or you haven't seen Carnival of Souls, then this episode is going to whet your appetite in a big way.

We also broke a few rules with the reviews this month. We begin the segment with Woody Allen's Irrational Man (which came out in August), then continue with Guy Maddin's The Forbidden Room (which played at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August), and conclude with Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting On Existence (which didn't play anywhere in Australia in August).

Our reviews are always tilted in favour of new works by filmmakers we've covered on the show before, but not all films get releases. And we so wanted to talk about Maddin and Andersson's latest works, we thought we'd break a few of those self-imposed rules and make sure they didn't pass us by. Because they're both amazing creations from some amazing filmmakers, and it would be criminal to miss them.

Anyway, listen to the show. It's a good one.

Other notes:

• Pre-order Devil's Advocates, Alex's book on Argento's Suspiria, here!
• And post-order all of her other amazing books here, including Found Footage Horror Films: Fear and the Appearance of Reality, Rape Revenge Films: A Critical Study and all the ones she's contributed to!
• Alex refers in the show to a commercial for Fiat that Dario Argento made in Australia. You can watch the commercial here:

Outro music: score from Suspiria (1977), composed by Dario Argento, Agostino Marangolo, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli and Claudio Simonetti, and performed by Goblin

Most film lovers are obsessive collectors. It's just how our brains are wired. It's why we have all the Godfather films on the shelf, even though we only ever watch the first two, or why we have every Pirates of the Caribbean film even though we only ever watch the first two Godfathers. So, in that spirit, we took notice when our friends at Plato's Cave, the podcast that became a radio show whilst remaining a podcast, added a new host at the start of the year.

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas joined the show in March of this year, and was a great addition: funny and knowledgeable, she immediately shot up our wishlist of Hi4H guests. And not just because it will complete our collection of Plato's Cave hosts. Although we won't pretend there's not something satisfying about that. But, like the bowerbirds that we are, the moment we heard someone talking cinema in entertaining and engaging manner, we had to nab her for our show.

And so we are extremely delighted that Alexandra will be guest hosting our August episode of Hyphenates. But which filmmaker will she be discussing?

None other than the Italian master of giallo horror, Dario Argento!

Argento isn't the only giallo filmmaker - giallo being that distinct type of Italian horror that often mixed detective story suspense with psychopathic slasher villains, employing elaborate camerawork and lurid colour schemes - but he is easily the best known.

After he collaborated with Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci on the script for Once Upon a Time in the West - and let that bizarre dream team tickle you brain for a moment - Argento made his directorial debut with The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, a huge box office hit in 1970. He then went on to make cult classics such as The Cat o'Nine Tails, Opera, Inferno and his most enduring work, Suspiria.

But what is it about Argento's work that has captivated audiences - and Alex - so? And what hidden gems lie in the unexplored corners of his filmography? Join us on August 31 when we find out!