ARK OF THE SUN GOD (1983) trailer

I have avoided the various RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK rip-offs for more than 25 years now but I feel it may be time to finally indulge. That this one was made by Antonio Margheriti places it high atop my 'Want List'. It looks like so much fun!

NIGHT OF THE SKULL (1976)

Years ago when I first started exploring European Trash Cinema I caught several of director Jess Franco’s movies. Across the board they were crap. And not just boring pieces of wasted celluloid. I’m talking about huge piles of rancid refuse with a stink that could have knocked a buzzard off a gut wagon. Bad bad bad!

But, since I’m a cinema masochist and I continued to read glowing praise from cult film aficionados I kept coming back for more. And after about 5 or 6 movies I finally struck pay dirt. THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF was one of Franco’s first movies and it is a black & white beauty. Dark and twisted, weird to the point of perversion and strangly for old Uncle Jess- it had a freaking narrative! You might be shocked that this is one of the standout traits of this film but let me assure you that if you can locate a narrative in SUCCUBUS, FEMALE VAMPIRE, VAMPIRES LESBOS or a host of his other films from the 70s then you are either smarter than I or you have better prescription drugs. Indeed the first thing most folks notice about a lot of Franco’s movies other than their often astonishing lack of skill is their astonishing lack of story. On many a wasted night I have wondered if he had a tale in mind when he turned the camera on or was just hoping something interesting happened before the film stock ran out.

Well, those days are behind me and the turning point was ORLOFF. After that I found more “Good Franco’s” including THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS, THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z, 99 WOMEN, TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS, FACELESS, KISS ME MONSTER, THE BLOODY JUDGE and his flawed but fascinating COUNT DRACULA. To find these I had to wade through a dozen others with the most loved by Franco fanatics usually being the ones I think of as sleep aids. Seriously- if anyone tries to defend VENUS IN FURS just ask them how many times we really need to see someone walk down a flight of steps before we know they went down the damned steps! My guess would be one but the slower viewers out there might need two. Not 6 or 7 freakin’ times! Maybe the extras were for those that had trouble staying awake.

Any hoo- I continue to watch Franco films because sometimes his varied interests and mine overlap and when he can control his desire to go nuts he can make a fun movie. One of our shared interests seems to be Old Dark House stories and little did I know when I picked up NIGHT OF THE SKULL that I was in for a good one. Set in 1800’s England the story is an admitted riff on THE CAT AND THE CANARY with some nice curveballs thrown in to make it weirder. I love these kinds of movies and coming across this one unexpectedly was great. Both the period and setting are favorites of mine so all the film had to do was maintain a certain level of quality and I’d keep watching. Luckily it was much better than I expected. That the print on this Image DVD is only in Spanish adds to the cool factor as well. All those proper English characters speaking Spanish is amusing. For me at least.

A man in a black cloak and scary skull mask is skulking about the manor house of an English aristocrat. The owner of the house is a wealthy older fellow obsessed with a book of apocalyptic verse. After reading aloud a passage about people dying through earth, fire, water and air he is attacked by the mystery man and buried alive in the garden outside. The mans family is called together for the reading of his will and once a second version of it turns up along with another illegitimate offspring more corpses start appearing.

As with all stories of this type things get complicated and convoluted with the final revelation being a nice surprise. A nice cast of Euro Trash stalwarts are on hand with Lina Romey looking less attractive than usual with her hair pulled back, William Berger doing his best with a small role and several others I recognize but can’t place without internet help. Lina even shows some skin as you might expect from that cheeky exhibitionist! Franco turns up as well as a drunken lawyer but isn’t as distracting as his cameos usually are.

So chalk one more up in the WIN column for Jess Franco. If I find another 20 or so good‘uns the career scales might start to balance! Of course he’s made nearly 200 damn movies and there is no way I’ll ever see them all. Unless I lose my mind.

Forget I said that.

Italian Action Films are Coming!

I have only recently begun to get interested in the sprawling action films produced in Italy in the 70s & 80s. It's a natural outgrowth of my love of the horror genre simply because so many directors worked in both areas. This one was directed by Antonio Margheriti who made CASTLE OF BLOOD, WILD WILD PLANET, WEB OF THE SPIDER, THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH and a host of other great movies. On June 26th I'll be able to see THE LAST HUNTER. I love you Dark Sky!

COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD (1976) trailer

While going through a lot of Italian crime films last year this one stood out from the pack. Really well done with one incredible ending.

THE REAPING (2007) & DISTURBIA (2007)

Two recent theatrical viewings have made me think about the art of film criticism. I will state upfront that I don’t consider myself a film critic so much as a guy who loves movies. I like to watch them and then talk about them afterwards. It ain’t science and it may not be art but I likes it! But my lack of pretension about critiquing movies does not keep me from reading real paid-for-their-opinion writers both online and in print. Often I find my own perceptions about films to be out of alignment with the general consensus and no more so than with the horror genre. Without going into detail I find that horror is still looked down upon by the majority of film writers. It often seems horror is seen as the deformed bastard stepchild the industry keeps around because it knows how to scare money out of the kids. So I went to see these two movies with the foreknowledge that one was frowned on and the other was given a congratulatory pat on the head.

Of course it was the horror movie that got the crappy reviews. And strangely both movies are essentially remakes of older, better films.

THE REAPING tells the story of a university professor and former priest (Hillary Swank) who spends her time traveling around the world debunking miracles. She gave up her faith years before after a terrible incident in Africa that robbed her of her family. She is contacted by a teacher from the small bayou town of Haven to disprove what locals think is a reoccurrence of the Biblical plague of blood. When Swank and her colleague arrive in the town they encounter hostility from the residents and more events that appear to replicate the rest of the 10 plagues of Egypt.

Structured exactly like the classic THE WICKER MAN the film follows that template carefully but manages to add some twists of its own. It’s not a great movie but its triumphs are better than its failures. I feared it would succumb to PG-13-itis and wuss out as the climax approached but I was happily surprised. The filmmakers actually had the balls to pull the trigger on some very rough stuff including child murder, ritual human sacrifice and other bloody deeds. And even though it ends up stroking the ego of Christians as a whole it paints a dark picture of religion with good and evil as a balancing act that must be maintained. I think the point when most mainstream critics (and unadventurous viewers) turn against THE REAPING is when the supernatural elements start kicking into gear. So just about the time the movie really starts to surprise me I would bet most folks sneer. It’s a shame because it’s at this point that the film takes a brilliant turn and becomes a real horror film. By the time the locusts arrive and begin killing folks in hideous bug fashion a line has been crossed and there is no longer a way to rationally explain events. That can be a great moment in a well done horror film and this one hits it. It’s far from perfect but it is a solid 2 & ½ star film and quite enjoyable for genre fans. For others, I would guess less so.

The second theatrical viewing of the week was DISTURBIA. This film is getting generally good reviews and I think they’re deserved. Immediately identifiable as REAR WINDOW lite it tells the story of teenager Kale (Shia Labeouf) being sentenced to three months of home incarceration for a violent outburst at school. Held in place by an electronic anklet he can’t venture further than his own suburban yard without drawing the wraith of the police for the entire summer. Initially defiant he begins to go a little stir crazy once his mother limits his entertainment possibilities and begins to watch his neighbors as a diversion. This is made more interesting when a new family moves in next door with a beautiful teenage daughter who is fond of the house’s swimming pool. But just as Kale begins to make contact with the young lady he notices that another neighbor might have a connection to a series of murders in the nearby city. Indeed, this older man’s actions seem very questionable even if our Peeping Tom can’t nail down anything verifiable. He eventually resorts to using his best friend and that pretty girl next door to investigate things and the situation gets trickier and more dangerous until Kale’s mother is pulled in as well.

Although a little light this is a well told story with not a single misstep. The movie is paced well with just enough information about our main character to get us on his side and be drawn into the mystery across the street. The young cast does a very good job the and the script is smart in its slow build always holding strictly to what can be seen from Kale’s vantage point. The suspense grows as more info trickles in and even the conflicts with the boy’s mother and an emotional clash between the burgeoning teenage couple serve to amp up the tension. If the film has a flaw it’s that it seems a little too derivative of its obvious source- almost a remake done for the kids. I think that Hitchcock would have found a way to give the story a little more heft by making the danger more visceral but this is still good. It just could have been better. Regardless, the movie is sure footed and the tense final 20 minutes are quite gripping. And I should mention that David Morse turns in a fine performance as the possible murderer hiding in pleasant suburbia. He’s able to say volumes with the almost mechanical twitch of his mouth into an insincere smile.

THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (1976)

I’ve been reading about THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (a.k.a. THE LAST DESIRE) for years without ever setting eyes on a copy. If my recollections are right Sinister Cinema has been selling a copy for years but Video Watchdog has warned that it was the cut down American import version. I know of no DVD release of it anywhere in the world so again my lack of patience rears its ugly head and its bootleg time once more.

I’m not sure if the print I have is uncut but I kept a watchful eye and I couldn’t find any big plot jumps or story gaps in evidence. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things missing but I’m hoping it was complete. It certainly seemed whole and it definitely lives up to its good reputation.

Of course the reason I first became interested in this one was because of Paul Nacshy’s role as a rich jerk who likes his guns. Nacshy was a hired man on this film having no input on the script but I like to think he could spot a good thing when he saw it. That he had worked with director Leon Klimovsky before is a good indicator of why he might have had confidence in the film. This is a solid piece of apocalyptic science fiction in the vein of ON THE BEACH with a bit of THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and a few other better known end-of the-world thrillers. Its very well paced and smartly played with the story carefully whittling down the mostly unsympathetic characters until two of the least hateful …….but then I shouldn’t give too much away. It’s quite good and for fans of these kinds of doomsday tales it is highly recommended.

I’ll give a brief synopsis. A group of wealthy folks gather for their annual weekend of hedonistic De Sade inspired debauchery at a secluded castle. Owned by one of the decadent group it sports a large set of underground catacombs in which the participants drink, drug and fornicate themselves into a stupor. But this year’s festivities are just getting started when a large boom sounds outside the place rattling the buildings foundations. When they investigate they find that everyone above ground at the time of the far off nuclear blast is blind from the flash. Realizing that they can wait out the eventual fallout in the catacombs they quickly ride down to the nearest town for supplies to discover that the entire town’s population is blind. A stupid bit of arrogance from one of the sighted people causes a violent outburst and the wealthy have to retreat quickly. From there on it’s just a question of who will survive and how.

Suitably downbeat and very engrossing I found this film to be one of the best of its type. Indeed I’d go so far as to call it a near classic and after a re-watch soon I may think better of it. This is a little seen gem that really deserves to be discovered by genre fans.

BLACK SUNDAY (1960)

In celebration of the release of the Bava Box Set of five of his films here is the excellent trailer for THE MASK OF SATAN a.k.a. BLACK SUNDAY. Is this his greatest film?