Beyond Naschy #40 - Jack Taylor Tribute

When we lost Jack Taylor in May of this year there was a realization of what a gap his passing left in cinema. A regular face in Euro-Cult films from the 1960’s to the 21^st century, his withering glances and wry smile were often the addition to a film that made it special. Whether playing a villainous businessman or a reluctant hero he was always a welcome sight. Over the years he worked with Jess Franco, Paul Naschy, Amando De Ossorio, Ridley Scott, Monte Hellman and Roman Polanski in roles of such varied nature that only his mighty mustache was a (near) constant.

Bob Sargent once again joins the show as we pick our favorite five or so Jack Taylor performances from across his career.  This allows us to talk about his most entertaining roles and emphasize his contributions to movies in which he might have only been a supporting player. Among his many onscreen adventures he was menaced by a werewolf, stalked by the Blind Dead, seduced by a naked female vampire and accused of being a chainsaw murderer – but that only scratches the surface! Join the three of us as we marvel over Mr. Taylor’s lengthy resume and pine for an English translation of his autobiography.

If you have any thoughts on the mighty Jack Taylor naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Hopefully Troy will be more than a pre-recorded portion of the next episode. Thanks for listening! 

Beyond Naschy #39 - ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966)

Our journey through Naschy adjacent Jess Franco films continues with ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966)! Part of the brief spurt of Euro-Spy films that sprang up in response to Bond-mania the film features Eddie Constantine playing a slightly comedic version of his many tough guy roles. The film centers on a mysterious group of bronze-skinned automatons who are assassinating important European dignitaries. When their eyeglasses are removed, they turn into vegetative zombies and when killed their odd skin tone changes to pale white. Interpol calls in Constantine’s character Al Pereira to investigate. Throw in a seductive villainess, some mad science and Q-style gadgets and you have a breezy, fun adventure – at least for some. Not all Franco fans seem to like this one.

Bob Sargent joins Troy and I as we romp our way around Alicante with Pereira and try to unravel this bizarre mystery. We discuss the year the world turned to color and how this final black & white Franco film fits into his 60’s output. Bob recommends other Eddie Constantine films and I vow to track down more of his earlier crime movies. Where is the much hoped for Lemmy Caution boxed set, already? We relate our various reactions to the film’s amusing tone and note how easily it could fit into the Pink Panther universe. This is definitely not your average Jess Franco crime thriller and that might be why we enjoyed it.

 

If you have any comments about this or any other of Uncle Jess’ movies naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. We may not let Bob chose the next Beyond Naschy topic but you never know! Thanks for listening. 

Video - ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966) Trailer

Here is the French language trailer for this Jess Franco Euro-Spy film. It is not one of his most beloved films from the 1960's but I love it and I have a few friends that enjoy it as well. Beyond Naschy podcast episode on the way soon! 

Poster Art for ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966)

 

Euro-Spy Poster Art

 

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 8: Ep 1 - LSD - FLESH OF THE DEVIL (1967)

Turn on, tune in and drop out with Adrian and I as we enter the wild, wild world of 1960s psychedelics. In this episode we take a trip with secret super-agent Rex Miller as he infiltrates the evil international crime organization E.C.H.O. (just don't ask anyone what it stands for) and foils their plans to drug the world with LSD. At least, that's what might be going on. It's honestly hard to tell.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite psychedelic Italian films, or if you've ever had a powerful radio transmitter inserted into your body. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. You can also find our YouTube channel here.

We also now have a small but developing merch store on Zazzle, so check it out if you have always wanted to wear our logo in public.

Please also remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

Euro-Spy Poster Art Again!

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 7: Ep 6 - FENOMENAL AND THE TREASURE OF TUTANKAMEN (1968)

In this phenomenally good episode, Rod and Adrian get to grips with a film that makes very little sense whichever language you watch it in. Yes, it's that dastardly master of crime/ vigilante hero (delete as appropriate, we couldn't work it out) Fenomenal! Thrill as he kicks drug dealers into the sea! Gasp as he climbs walls very carefully! Worry in case he bumps into the furniture with that mask on! Giggle as we wonder how anyone could NOT know who Fenomenal actually is! Is there more than one choice?

You can see the whole film for yourself on YouTubeYouTube.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Italian comic or masked hero/ villain-based films, or if you have ever tried to steal priceless Egyptian relics. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. You can also find our YouTube channel here.

Please also remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice and thank you for listening!

Wild, Wild Podcast S7: E4 - THE THREE FANTASTIC SUPERMEN (1967)

What's better than one Superman? That's right, it's three Supermen! And if you add Adrian and Rod, that makes five. Strap on your suction cups, grab your mini-capes and join them in them in this super-exciting, very silly adventure film that combines elements of the Peplum and the Eurospy with Batman and The Green Hornet. The Three Fantastic Supermen is nothing if not ambitious. But we never do figure out where the movie takes place.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Italian comic or masked hero/ villain-based films, or if your children were ever replicated by an evil genius intent on world domination. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. You can also find our YouTube channel here. 

 

Video - ARGOMAN (1967)

If you've never seen this mad film - now is the time! Adrian and I will be talking about it soon on the next episode of Wild, Wild Podcast!

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 7: Episode 2 - SUPERARGO VS DIABOLICUS (1966) and SUPERARGO & THE FACELESS GIANTS (1968)

In this episode Adrian and I grab our bulletproof spandex and head for the wrestling ring for a tag team bout with Superargo! Based on his previous form, it's not likely to end well for our two middle-aged podcasters. Yes, Superargo is here, in a double-bill featuring maniacal mad men, secret underground lairs, killer robots, deadly swamps, femme fatales and extremely valuable cocktail olives!

Video - SUPERARGO VS DIABOLIKUS (1966)

Wild Wild Podcast on the way!

The Bloody Pit #189 - 1960's Mabuse Films!

I welcome writer Holger Haase to the show to discuss the 1960’s Dr. Mabuse films! Holger has written an essay published for Kindle called ‘The Many Masks of Dr. Mabuse: Mabuse in the 1960s’ and reading this prompted me to finally talk directly to Holger. The two of us have known each other for decades but it took our mutual love of these German crime films to use the internet to speak in a non-text based way. It was a little weird. 

We go (mostly) chronologically through the six films discussing each in turn. If you want to follow along at home here’s a list of the movies we talk about in this episode:

1. THE 1000 EYES OF DR. MABUSE (1960)

2. THE RETURN OF DR. MABUSE (1961) 

3. THE INVISIBLE DR. MABUSE (1962) 

4. THE TESTEMENT OF DR. MABUSE (1962)

5. DR. MABUSE VS SCOTLAND YARD (1963)

6. THE DEATH RAY OF DR. MABUSE (1964)

We touch on the cast members with extra attention to the ones that show up in multiple films even when their character’s names mysteriously change. Scriptwriter Ladislas Fodor’s impressive career is discussed as well as directors Fritz Lang and Harald Reinl who brought their many talents to the series. This series of films seems to have been forgotten over the past couple of decades, overshadowed by the original Lang films from 1922 and 1933. We hope to spur some interest in cinema fans curious to discover the hidden joys of these clever crime movies. They really are addictive!

 

If you have thoughts on the Mabuse films or the krimi cycle that they parallel thebloodypit@gmail.com is where you can send them. We’ll be happy to hear from you. Thanks for listening. 

 

Classic Euro-Spy Poster Art

Review - LUCKY, THE INSCRUTABLE (1967)

This is without a doubt one of my favorite Jess Franco movies. When I sit down for a Euro-Spy film I’m usually hoping for a serious espionage tale with a strong plot, great action, glamorous locations, beautiful ladies and a real sense of danger to the proceedings. But as I’ve watched more and more of the genre from its brief 1960s heyday, I’ve realized that what generally fuels these tales is a desire to not just play in James Bond’s sandbox but to kick the sand into the Bond franchise’s face. Even the most serious of the Euro-Spy films have at least a few moments in which they wink at the camera either in acknowledgement of the cinematic theft in progress or as a nod to what the audience might expect but that the smaller budget productions could simply not supply. If the film maintains a serious tone except for those few throwaway moments I can still fully enjoy the story and become caught up in the thrills. But if the film descends into silliness for the sake of cheap laughs I start to be distanced from the film and can only appreciate it at a much lower level. My general resistance to the overly humorous Spy thrillers is rarely overcome completely so when it IS overcome it’s a sign that (in my opinion) there is something really great being done by the filmmakers.

 

A good example of this is the brilliant relaunch of the French OSS:117 film series several years ago. Reimagined as a comedy thriller it managed to nail every target it aimed to hit while being both exciting and funny. But of the 1960s versions of spy comedies there are few that stand out as truly funny for me. I often wonder if they might have played better in their time as the Bond phenomenon swept the world than they do now. They almost had to, I guess. I suspect it’s similar to how the terrible/sad SCARY MOVIE franchise plays to big crowds on release but ages very poorly as the current events being mocked are left behind and forgotten.

But, back to LUCKY THE INSCRUTABLE! This film is great! Because I generally don’t like the overly humorous Euro-Spy movies I should not have enjoyed this at all but, against all odds, I did. Through some alchemy of filmmaking genius (yes- I said genius) Franco managed to make a funny, silly, witty, fast paced romp that, while never being credible in the least, is so damned amusing that I found myself being swept along. I swear I had a smile on my face for the whole film. I have no idea how well it would play in another language but the English dub is packed with quotable lines that more than once had me laughing out loud. 

Ray Danton is great as the smirking Secret Agent everyone knows (even when he’s in disguise) busy working his charms on ladies around the world as he attempts to track down counterfeit currency plates. The plot is, of course, just the thinnest of threads used to hang each gunfight, fistfight, romantic encounter, car chase or daring escape as we watch Danton and his co-stars have fun running through their various roles. Dante Posani plays a kind of sidekick accompanying our man Lucky on his adventure, Barbara Bold is present as a nice piece of tanned eye candy and the amazingly sexy Rosalba Neri shows up as a whip wielding Albanian General. Wow! Miss Neri’s character wasn’t needed in any way but I am SO glad she was present.

While the main target being skewered in this spoof/satire is clearly the Bond series Franco throws in a few other things too. Periodically there are still/posed shots with comic book-like word balloons commenting humorously on the action and when the film shifts location there is a full comic description (often in Italian so I’m not always sure what’s being communicated) to one side of the still moving image. It’s almost as if once things start moving, he didn’t want to slow down for anything. I suspect that if he had I would have focused on the silliness of the entire affair and had less fun. I also loved Franco’s two separate cameos – one as a man stabbed in the back who still somehow delivers his important message to Lucky and the second as a train hopping hobo who is found sleeping under a cow. You kind of have to see it to understand.

And did I mention the fantastic score by Bruno Nicolai? It’s a classic of the genre with a theme song I cannot get out of my head. I’ve known the music from this film for years from a Nicolai compilation CD but having the visuals finally linked to the sound is wonderful. Everything about this film says ‘We’re having a good time; we hope you are too’. 

Luckily, I found Lucky’s antics to be completely captivating and I can heartily recommend the film to the curious Euro-Trash enthusiast. I can honestly say that I laughed for almost the entire running time and I can’t say that about most comedies of any vintage. I really wish a good Blu-Ray of this film would get a release. The bootleg I watched is a passable way to see this gem but it deserves much more exposure.