The Bloody Pit #128 - SEVEN DEATHS IN A CAT'S EYE (1973)

Adrian Smith comes back to the show to discuss this giallo dressed up in gothic clothing.

Longtime listeners to The Bloody Pit will notice that this is the second time I’ve talked about SEVEN DEATHS IN A CAT’S EYE (1973) on the podcast. Normally we wouldn’t repeat a film but Adrian really wanted the chance to pick apart this colorful Antonio Margheriti film and compare it to his earlier black & white gothic movies. Plus it’s coming out on Blu-Ray in the states soon so now might be the time for it to reach a larger audience. We talk about the cast, the use of colored lighting and the oddities of giallo plotting that can often lead a bizarre chase to the same places. Adrian is amused by the not very Scottish location shooting and the distinct absence of Scottish accents among most of the cast of characters. He also gets a bit confused by the MacGrieff family legend that insinuates that murdered people might pop back up as vampires. We advance a few theories about why the titular cat might have been chosen for its color and Adrian points to some very non-period music that plays during a fireside romantic scene. Oh! And we do spoil the killer’s identity simply because we wanted to talk about the ways in which this story slots very comfortably into the genre. We close out the show with some information about Adrian’s two podcasting ventures including one of which I will be a part. Busy, busy!

If you have any comments or suggestions the email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com and we’d love to hear from you. Thank you for listening to the show and we’ll be back soon. 

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Brief Thoughts - UNKNOWN ORIGINS (2020)

The other night I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something interesting to watch in a few spare hours before bedtime. I spotted a movie described as a police thriller with detectives on the hunt for a serial killer with an odd methodology for choosing victims. Intrigued, I pushed play and that is all it took for me to stumble across quite a fun, entertaining movie that I will now recommend to you. UNKNOWN ORIGINS (2020) is exactly what it says on the tin but it's also packed with much more.

My first surprise was that it is a Spanish film – sometimes I forget that most Spanish movies are not horror!  NetFlix offers both an English dubbed soundtrack or the original Spanish with English subtitles so I choose the subtitled version. Because I want to have other viewers experience this tale in a similar way to myself, I'll refrain from giving away some of the neat little details that really turned this into a fun exercise. I'll just say that there is a hunt for a serial killer and that there is one character who is steeped in comic book stories and history whose knowledge factors into the investigation. Beyond that I'll just point the curious toward this movie and urge you to check it out. It's not quite perfect as there are at least a couple of moments when the script is rushing relationships to a friendlier status than it should. But overall, this is a smart, entertaining thriller with at least one foot stuck firmly in the superhero realm. It manages to be ‘of’ that genre while still commenting on it from several different angles. The subtitles were excellent but recent Spanish films that I've seen on Netflix with English dubs have been respectable and not something you have to overlook. Whichever audio you pick I think you’ll enjoy this little gem.

Trailers From Hell - REVOLT OF THE SLAVES (1961)

It appears that Brian Trenchard-Smith and I share a love of old sword & sandal epics with little regard for their flaws or foibles. I just found a copy of this one on Blu-Ray so I must check it out soon! 

Naschycast #67 - TODOS LOS GRITOS DEL SILENCIO (1975)

The busiest years of Paul Naschy’s career were the early 1970’s. Moving from one project to the next at incredible speed he often finished one film while still writing the final draft of another and negotiating a deal for a third. During this period, he produced some of his best work including a large percentage of the movies that still define his image as a Spanish horror icon. But a few of his films from the 1970’s were thrillers that, for various reasons, were rarely distributed outside of Spain or even dubbed into English. This has made it very difficult to see these movies and for non-Spanish speakers to comprehend them in the rare instances of locating a copy to watch. Thank the stars for the fun-subbing community out there on the internet!

Troy and I finally get a chance to see TODOS LOS GRITOS DEL SILENCIO (1975) and we are so happy that not even the crappy VHS sourced print can dull our enthusiasm. Yes, there are a few scenes that are a little too dark to be sure of what we’re supposed to be seeing but the fact that solid subtitles are onscreen means that we can follow the story anyway. And that turns out to be very important with this film because it is a twisty murder mystery that falls easily within the giallo genre even if it doesn’t have a few of the usual elements you might expect. ALL THE SCREAMS OF SILENCE has very little blood since the killer’s preferred method of dealing death is a silenced gun (hence the title) and the amount of flesh on display is low which might factor into this thriller being so underseen for the past forty plus years. No gore or nudity? What were they thinking? But the film does have a great performance from Naschy as a journalist chasing the bullet-slinging murderer while at the same time trying to locate his missing girlfriend. Are the two mysteries connected? With a script by Jacinto Molina you can bet some surprises are coming in the third act.

 

We begin the episode with some news about the upcoming Blu-Ray release of TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD and hint at a few more commentary tracks from the Naschycast down the road. Also, we mention a new podcast project coming soon from our buddy Adrian Smith that will be of interest to fans of European Cult cinema. And we end the show with several letters from listeners that put some fresh ideas in our head for possible YouTube projects too. If you have any comments on the podcast naschycast@gmail.com is the address and we’d love to hear from you. Thanks for listening to the show! 

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Trailer - THE DAY THE SKY EXPLODED (1958)

Have you ever been so sure that you have already seen a movie that you tell others that you saw it years ago? And then you watch the trailer and realize that you were probably wrong? Because nothing looks familiar for a full minute and twenty-seven seconds. Guess I need to check this off my 'to watch' list and then go podcast about it! 

THE ABOMINABLE DOCTOR PHIBES (1971) Poster Art

TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD on the way to Blu-Ray!

News broke today over at the Rue Morgue website that Synapse will be bringing out the Spanish horror classic TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD later this year! Some details of the extras were part of the announcement including that the disc will sport three commentary tracks - one by film historian Troy Howarth; another with one of the film's stars Lone Fleming (!) and a third by myself and Troy Guinn! We are thrilled to have been able to be a part of this release which looks to be one of the most impressive packages Synapse has ever put together. Click on over to the Rue Morgue page for more information and add this disc to your 'must buy' list! 

Lex Barker Tarzan Movie Posters

I'm finally getting around to watching the entire run of Barker's Tarzan films and wishing I had one of these amazing pieces for my wall! 

 

What I Watched in March

The biggest ‘new’ film I watched last month was the much-anticipated full-length version of JUSTICE LEAGUE. While not perfect it was a huge improvement over the neutered/altered cut released to theaters four years ago. Retaining the feel of the previous two movies in the series it gloriously extended the universe to even grander vistas allowing the sweep of the tale to take shape without rushing events. I could argue that certain sequences could have been truncated for time but even the most obviously unnecessary moments such as the ladies singing as Aquaman returns to the sea add to the world building in a way that makes things feel more grounded. I’m impressed that we were finally able to see this vision realized and I think it is one of the best of the last decade’s slew of superhero films. It shows a dense, dark realization of the meta-human concept can be done even as the general public is told that such movies take the wrong approach. We may never get the originally planned sequels but at least we have this film for future cinema historians to use as an example of paths not taken. I guess we’re doomed to ‘keep it light’ for the foreseeable future.

THE LIST 

THIRTEEN WOMEN (1932) – 7 (Myrna Loy takes revenge) 

MOLLY (2017) – 5 (post-apocalyptic action let down by poor fight choreography)

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (2009) – 8 (rewatch of the full-length version) 

NIGHT GAME (1989) – 6 (Huston cops hunt a serial murderer) 

THE CAT & THE CANARY (1939) – 6 (Bob Hope comedy/mystery)

KEANU (2016) – 7 (very funny Key & Peele story) 

PILLOW OF DEATH (1945) – 5 (rewatch on Blu) 

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942) – 7 (rewatch) 

KING CREOLE (1958) – 8 (Elvis in an actual movie!) 

MURDER MANSION (1972) – 8 (rewatch on Blu!) 

BRAIN DEAD (1990) – 7 (I avoided this one for too long) 

MURDER IS MY BUSINESS (1946) – 6 (PRC Michael Shayne mystery) 

NAKED GIRL MURDERED IN PARK (1972) – 7 (interesting giallo – Blu has awful sound) 

JUSTICE LEAGUE (2021) – 9 (Wow!) 

HORROR EXPRESS (1972) – 8 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT (1972) – 7 (giallo with a blind protagonist)

TORCHY GETS HER MAN (1938) – 6  

AN EYE FOR AN EYE (1981) – 6 (Chuck Norris vs. Christopher Lee!) 

BEYOND TERROR (1980) – 6 (bizarre, sloppy but entertaining Spanish horror) 

TRAIL OF THE YUKON (1949) – 6 (Chinook’s first adventure) 

THE FRENCHMAN’S GARDEN (1978) – 8 (rewatch)

Homage to the ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN (1958) Poster Art

Well done! 

Random Science Fiction Movie Poster Art!

Poster Art for THE FINAL PROGRAMME (1973)

Not sure which I prefer. 

The Bloody Pit #127 - THE FINAL PROGRAMME (1973)

Randy Fox returns to dive back into the science fiction films of the 1970’s.

Unfortunately, THE FINAL PROGRAMME (1973) is one of the lesser-known SF movies from the 70’s. There are many reasons for that including it being savagely cut for American release and that its cast is devoid of major movie stars. But a more relevant reason it is largely unknown is the type of science fiction tale it tells. Adapted rather faithfully from the first of Michael Moorcock’s series of Jerry Cornelius novels it hews closely to the arch tone of the book in ways that might frustrate some viewers. Plot points are not spoon-fed, explanations for odd occurrences are not always made and anyone looking for a solid hero will be left wanting. The motivations for the main character are, by turns, dark or driven by melancholic grief when they aren’t just completely inscrutable. Aware that the world is crumbling around him Jerry seems content to chase his psychotic brother Frank but often affects a disinterest in nearly everything else. “Well, for a start, I'm going to sit here and get smashed out of my mind. And I also have it on very good authority that the world is coming to an end. I thought I'd go home and watch it on television.”

Randy and I spend the first thirty minutes of the show discussing the book series with a focus on the first, of course. We then (eventually) get into a deep look at the film using a faulty synopsis that causes me to complain about one of the more common errors made when summarizing this movie. We talk about the fine cast, the director’s comments about the movie and the difficulty of crafting such a large-scale tale on a small-scale budget. We touch on the locations and the music as well as author Moorcock’s choice for sonic accompaniment that was overridden by designer/writer/director Robert Fuest. And we finally wind our way to the mad ending that is the sole false note for Randy. This touches off a spirited discussion of how I would have liked the final scenes to play out to move things closer to the unfilmable ideas in the book. And then I quote star Jon Finch from an old interview about his involvement in the film. We have a pretty good time!

If you have any comments on the film or the podcast thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to reach us. Which 1970’s science fiction film should we dig into next time? Let us know. And thank you for listening!

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Jerry Cornelius Paperback Covers

I've been very much in a Cornelius mindset lately with a podcast brewing on the subject.