Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 3/08/2026 – Filmmaker Eric Jackowitz fell in love with giallo movies after being introduced to the cinematic genre via interviews he’d listened to with filmmaking idols such as Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Eli Roth, and others. His first foray into the genre was Dario Argento’s 1975 classic Profondo Rosso (aka Deep Red).
Says Jackowitz, “I thought it was the greatest watch of all time. It’s so bad it’s good, it’s so good it’s good, it’s so great it’s good! And as a lover of quote-unquote ‘cinema,’ this is a way more fun version of high art that’s also kind of pulpy and trashy.”
He rabidly consumed as many gialli as he could find, both by Argento and by other filmmakers such as Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci. But unlike most fans who would be content just to watch, Jackowitz knew he had to go a step further, to make his own giallo film.
Hence, The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much was born, and the short will premiere next week at the prestigious SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. Its plot centers on a blind violinist stalked by a black-gloved killer while preparing for a major performance with the Rome Symphony – and only her seeing eye dog knows the murderer’s identity.
For the uninitiated, giallo – which means “yellow” in Italian – is a subgenre of horror that originated in Italy in the 1960s, saw its heyday in the 1970s, and petered out by the early 1990s. Giallo novels were crime story paperbacks with yellow covers, giving the genre its name. Giallo films include elements of murder mystery, psychological thriller, eroticism, and supernatural horror. They often feature exquisite cinematography and soundtracks, but also awkward dubbing and bizarre lapses in logic in the plots. This mixture of high- and low-brow entertainment is one of the reasons giallo maintains a rabid fan base.
Jackowitz wrote the script for The Seeing Eye Dog within a month in early 2025, then contacted his friend Colton Mastro with two directives: Watch Deep Red, then read his screenplay. Mastro loved both and signed on as the film’s producer. (In addition to writing the screenplay, Jackowitz also directed, edited, and scored the film.)
The two immediately got to work to find the financing, locations, and crew. Soon they were shooting The Seeing Eye Dog over three days, casting their friends – and themselves – in the various roles. A friend’s dog played the titular star. Wanting to stay true to the genre, they made sure the look of the film was stylish, but also leaned into goofier aspects, such as dubbing all the actors with voices not quite in sync with the movement of their mouths.
Jackowitz shares, “When we sent the movie through quality control to have the DCP (Digital Cinema Package) made for the film festivals, they quickly came back with a 10-page list of where the sound sync was off, and we were like…”
“Yeah, that was on purpose,” laughs Mastro.
For added “authenticity” and spectacle, Jackowitz and Mastro created a backstory for the film, in part to help explain why it’s a short instead of a feature. The lore is that the filmmakers found canisters of an unfinished 1970s giallo in a dumpster while on vacation in Rome, and painstakingly recreated the vision of director “Enrico Januzzi.” The actors and crew also have Italian aliases in the credits, and the press materials explain the many tragedies that befell the 1975 production before it was ultimately scrapped.
Jackowitz and Mastro made The Seeing Eye Dog for hardcore fans of giallo, but also to hopefully introduce the genre to a new audience.
“My parents were culture vultures who both took pride in showing me different (art forms). And so throughout my life, I’ve just wanted to show people cool stuff and get them as excited about things as I am,” says Jackowitz.
Mastro adds, “If you don’t know giallo, I think you’ll still love the film. But if you do know it, you’ll be like, ‘Yes! You hit all these things (that are unique to the genre). We had people calling this a ‘spoof,’ but it’s more of an homage.”
Jackowitz concurs, “We’re not making fun of giallos, we’re not making fun of Italian people, we’re not making fun of blind people… It’s all out of love.”
Jackowitz already has the script written for the feature version of Seeing Eye Dog, and with any luck, he and Mastro will catch the eye of one of their idols to help them bring that vision to fruition.
The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much will have its world premiere in the SXSW 2026 Midnight Shorts Competition. The program screens Saturday, March 14, 9:15PM and Monday, March 16, 7:00PM. Check out the film’s website for future screening dates and other news: Film Website
Lotti talks with the creators here:
