NaschyCast #15 - EL CAMINANTE (1979)

Maybe the last thing we expected when we watched EL CAMINANTE (a.k.a. THE TRAVELLER) was that we would discover one of Naschy’s best movies. That it is also an incredibly funny, bawdy, cynical and darkly incisive view of how the world works was a revelation. The last time we strayed away from his horror output we were cursed by CRIMSON but this time we struck blessed gold! Naschy described EL CAMINANTE as the most personal and sensitive of all his films and it was also one of his most critically lauded works. Looked at as a morality play it is brilliant and as a sharp critique of the ethical deficiencies of mankind it is excellent. As writer, director and star Naschy uses the classic tale of the Devil travelling the world to explore his own philosophy of life while never losing sight of the need to make an entertaining story. Even as the fable becomes more disturbing, reflecting his unfortunate disillusionment with people, the film retains its engaging spirit. The story’s episodic nature keeps it unpredictable and fun with one adventure leading to the next as each of the seven deadly sins gets its moment on stage. It may just be that my own view of life lines up pretty closely with Naschy’s but I found a lot with which to identify in this film and I feel that it is easily one of his finest works. Graced with fantastic dialog, fine performances, a good score and a creator in full flower EL CAMINANTE is a true classic that should be seen by anyone with an interest in quality cinema. This is our most surprising discovery from Naschy’s filmography yet and I recommend that everyone seek it out.

Naschycast #15

For more information about one of the many stories Naschy adapted into this film check out this page about El Buscon. And you can write us at naschycast@gmail.com.

What I Watched In March

March was a hectic month for me here in the Pit. I worked 30 out of 31 days taking only the day after St. Patrick’s off for rest and sanity. Because of that I didn’t get the usual number of movies watched but luckily there were a higher percentage of good ones to bad than usual as well.

I am apparently one of a handful of people that saw AND liked SUCKER PUNCH. I really enjoyed it with its very basic plot but pleasingly peculiar structure and stunning visual style. It’s fast, emotional and kept me wondering what mad surprise was going to slide across the screen next. Director Snyder continues to impress me but it looks like his cred with the geeks-boys has been shattered. I've enjoyed each of his movies so far and the more he stretches to be audacious/inventive visually the more I like them but I fear his days of commercial success may be gone. I think he’ll have to do a work-for-hire project next just to try to get the money people to trust him again. In 20 years we may just be glad we got the ones we have and wonder why everyone was bitching at the time. Shame.

I gave a 10 to two films in March and they couldn’t be more different (on the surface) if I tried. THIRST is a brazenly shocking and touching vampire tale that only mad Korean Chan-wook Park could have created. I thought he would never be able to top OLDBOY but holy hell! THIRST might not be better but it is equally as good. Its unexpected humorous elements worked brilliantly and constantly made the darker points more compelling. The film is as much about romantic relationships as it is about bloodsucking as a curse/blessing and I doubt I’ll see a better genre film this year.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP was just as fantastic as I’d heard. By this time I should expect a Powell/Pressburger film to be brilliant but each time I’m caught unawares as they work their magic. I was expecting a serious film and that is what it is most of the time but the funny segments are integral to the dramatic scenes and reflect perfectly how life deals equal parts sugar and salt to everyone. I loved the structure of learning the background and history of one British soldier's path through two wars so that we understand how he sees the world in his old age. Roger Livesey was an amazing actor and his performance as Clive Candy is screen perfection while any chance to see Deborah Kerr play three different roles is always going to be OK with me. It’s an incredibly entertaining film that I know I’ll learn more from as I revisit it from time to time as I get older.

My mini-festival of Walter Hill films continued this month as I showed friends TRESPASS and LAST MAN STANDING. Crowd pleasing is exactly what both of those action movies are and the big smiles they prompted from a roomful of guys is all the proof you need of their high quality. I also caught up with Gary Sherman’s last theatrical film LISA and while it is one of the least of his directorial run it was still well worth seeing. He was such a strong filmmaker with a great directorial style and eye for staging that it’s a sad loss that he never seemed to be able to craft hits enough to stay in the game. Seriously- any man who could make RAW MEAT, DEAD & BURIED and VICE SQUAD back to back knows how to make fine exploitation cinema and should have been granted at least one film project a year forever! ROAR OF THE DRAGON was an unexpected slice of pre-code nastiness that plays like a Yellow Peril pulp story brought to life. Sexy, violent and often surprising especially when certain characters open up with a tripod mounted machine gun! Recommended!

And NetFilx continues to offer up some things I’d never heard of before right there for the streaming. VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES is incredibly poorly named as there are no zombies, there is no valley and I suspect ‘of the’ might be misleading too. Still, the film is a fast B-movie horror effort that plays a lot smoother than similar, better known cult items from the period. It sports some clever dialog, fun characters and a cast that seems to really get into the material. You could certainly do a lot worse for a feature that runs less than an hour.

Here’s hoping I have some more time off in April and can get back to melting my brain with far too many movies crammed into the month.


SEASON OF THE WITCH (2011)- 4 (knight tale that is just not very good)
THIRST (2009)- 10 (Chan-wook Park is brilliant)
THE GODSEND (1980)- 5 (OK British evil child film)
THE MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET (1942)- 5 (OK mad scientist/island tale)
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943)- 10 (brilliant)
DRIVE ANGRY (2011)- 7 (an over the top exploitation blast)
THE STRANGE LOVES OF THE VAMPIRE (1975)- 7 (beautiful)
TRESPASS (1992)- 7 (Walter Hill’s modern Treasure of the Sierra Madre adventure) (rewatch)
MANNAJA: A MAN CALLED BLADE (1977)- 8 (fantastic spaghetti western) (rewatch)
LISA (1990)- 6 (well directed but unremarkable thriller)
THE SECRET OF THE TELEGIAN (1960)- 7 (Japanese sci-fi/revenge story)
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST (2009)- 6
ROAR OF THE DRAGON (1932)- 8 (excellent pre-code pulp tale)
LAST MAN STANDING (1996)- 8 (rewatch)
BATTLE LOS ANGELES (2011) – 5 (silly and thin but Aaron Eckhart sells every second of it)
EL CAMINANTE (1979)- 8 (Naschy’s cruel philosophical masterpiece)
THE GATHERING (2002)- 7 (interesting British supernatural mystery)
LORDS OF THE DEEP (1988)- 2 (boring Corman produced ALIEN rip-off)
JOURNEY BENEATH THE DESERT (1961)- 5 (Edgar Ulmer’s slow Atlantis adventure)
THE DEADLY AFFAIR (1966)- 9 (rewatch) (even better the second time)
VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES (1946)- 7 (fast, fun B-horror picture)
SUCKER PUNCH (2011)- 8 (amazing but not for everyone)
NEITHER THE SEA NOR THE SAND (1972)- 6 (odd, sedate ghost tale)

Poster art madness

I have no idea what this Turkish film is actually about but this poster tells me all I need to know. I MUST see this movie! Hopefully with subtitles but that is not a deal breaker.

DEATH WILL HAVE YOUR EYES (1974) comes to DVD

I first caught up with this film only a few months ago in bootleg form under its original title La Moglie Giovane a.k.a. THE YOUNG WIFE and it was also known as THE SAVAGE CITY. I was blown away by the excellent, tense script and the fantastic performance by the gorgeous Marisa Mell. She really is amazing in the central role selling every nasty nail-biting twist and turn as she.....well. I don't want to spoil the film for newcomers since I think it is best seen cold. Or at least as cold as the trailer below will allow you to see it! The cool Marisa Mell blog reports that MYA Communication will be releasing the film to Region 1 DVD any day now which is good and bad. MYA has a sorry track record of committing asinine mistakes mastering their discs and of being incredibly sloppy as well. I think I've bitched before here about their lousy release of the film EVIL FACE and my disappointment with their HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE DVD is also on record. I can only cross my fingers and hope they have finally hired someone to do some simple quality control before the DVDs hit the streets. This film deserves a high quality presentation on video and Marisa Mell fans should see it regardless of how they manage to do so. If you can rent first that might be a good idea.

Naschy birthday cake!

Naschycast listener Brad had a very 'Naschy' birthday celebration recently and sent along this photo of his cake. When I say he had a Naschy celebration I don't mean he turned into a werewolf and went on a killing rampage under the full moon. Instead he asked for and received a number of Euro-Trash bootleg movies most of which featured Senor Molina. Ya gotta love that! And you really gotta love his wife for indulging and sharing this request for bizarre movies. There are wonderful ladies out there folks and Brad seems to have found one. Happy belated birthday!

Jess Franco poster art - Part 4!

I just can't stop! Until last week I had never seen this ad art for THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF and I'm starting to wonder if there might be even more images for this film out there to be discovered. I'll do some more hunting. This film is one of my Franco favorites and every time I see Howard Vernon in another film I always think of him as Orloff carrying out his mad plans.

El Santo with boobies?

Well- El Santo doesn't have the boobies. He's just onscreen with the boobies. If you understand what I'm trying to say. Back in June of last year it was noted at the Vampiros and Monstruos blog that the legendary nude version of SANTO Y EL TESORO DE DRACULA (1969) had been found confirming its existence. At that time there was no news about anyone having the chance to SEE this version of the film but that it had been located made Mexican Wrestling movie fans and monster movie fans extremely happy as they lurked in their basement bunkers.

Now it appears that lucky fans in Mexico City will be the first to actually get to see Santo leer at nude ladies while kicking Dracula's sorry ass. The film will debut next week in Guadalajara's International Film Festival as the centerpiece of a selection of vampire movies chosen by famed director Guillermo del Toro. This print of the long sought film was found by chance when producer Guillermo Calderon Stell's grandniece was researching her family's film making past. We live in exciting times my friends. I can only hope that one day I will be able to walk out of my basement with a copy of this movie clutched fiercely in my hands so that I can shout to the Heavens "We got another one!" Last year the missing footage from METROPOLIS turns up in South America and now this.

So with EL VAMPIRO Y EL SEXO off the 'lost' list I can start asking where a print of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT might finally turn up. Might I suggest Argentina or Peru? The southern hemisphere seems to be where all the cool missing movies are being found these days.