Mya DVD

Mya Returns!

2011-09-05T20:17:00.008-04:00

Apparently it was the search for a new distributor that held up Mya releases.

Currently, and subject to change, the schedule for new releases is the following:

SNACK BAR BUDAPEST - Sept. 13
PAGANINI - Nov. 8
CHINA AND SEX - Nov. 15

DEATH WILL HAVE YOUR EYES should be released on October 18th, after a delay of a few months, while LADY FOOTBALL, another delayed release, should street on November 15th.

More "One 7 Movies" -- But Where and When?

2011-03-28T21:40:00.006-04:00

One 7 Movies' releases of two Joe D'Amato films, which should have streeted by now, appear not to be visible, even on the horizon, sharing the same current fate of projected Mya DVD releases. Amazon.com lists SEX AND BLACK MAGIC as "temporarily out of stock," while SEXY PIRATES is not even listed.

Other announced titles from One 7 Movies: TRANSGRESSION, THE REAL CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, EROTIC ESCAPE, SEX DEMONS AND DEATH, and EROTIC MALICE.

Coming in March, April and May

2011-02-05T22:44:00.016-05:00

Mya's DVD releases now come once a month. The following are the latest forthcoming releases:

DEATH WILL HAVE YOUR EYES (LA MOGLIE GIOVANE) is a 1974 film directed by Giovanni d'Eramo and starring Marisa Mell, Farley Granger and Helga Line. The single review on the IMDB is complementary:

[Abridged review]: "This is a very obscure Italian giallo that I'd previous only heard of via the trailer in '42nd Street Forever' (a trailer that made it look like a police action film as I recall!). This is actually an old-fashioned giallo. Marisa Mell is a young woman who comes to Rome and soon drifts into de facto prostitution in order to survive. She meets a misanthropic doctor and would-be poet (Farley Granger), but soon falls in love with another man. Murder ensues.... This is worth checking out."

The Italian-Spanish film is also known as SAVAGE CITY. Coming in March.

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SALON MASSAGE is a 1972 German film, MASSAGESALON DER JUNGEN MADCHEN, directed by Eberhard Schroder. Looks to be a sexy comedy. Coming in April.

The film saw theatrical release as MASSAGE PARLOR '73:

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And finally....

LADY FOOTBALL. Another sexy comedy, this time from Italy and director Italo Martinenghi. 1979. Coming in May.

LATARNIA FANTASTIQUE INTERNATIONAL #1

2010-12-25T17:01:00.004-05:00

The first issue of my horror-mystery-fantasy film magazine, LATARNIA FANTASTIQUE INTERNATIONAL, is out now, with features on euro-cult films and personalities that may be of interest to readers of this blog:

The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism
Naschy Returns in Dual Role
Spirit Mountain by Becquer
The Many Faces of Barbara Steele
The Andres Resino Interview

Number 1 is a limited first edition limiting printing of 250 copies, all-color, 24 pages on 80 pound paper. Ordering info:

USA: Cost of issue is $7.50, plus $2 first class shipping/handling and bagging for a total of $9.50.

Canada: Add .50, for a total of $10.

Foreign: $11.50 total.

If you want your magazine boarded, please add $2, but that doesn't guarantee that postal delivery will not find a way to bend it.

Note: Once stock starts getting depleted, cost per issue will probably go up.

PayPal ID for payment: mirelski@aol.com

Snail mail: M. Lipinski, PO Box 2398, NYC, NY 10009. Please make check/money orders payable to M. Lipinski.

There's also a Facebook page for the magazine.

Coming in February 2011

2010-11-21T14:55:00.003-05:00

This is a fairly new film--from 2005. Certainly the most recent film that Mya has put out on DVD. Trailer below.

TRAILER Ufficiale

chiamami salomè | Myspace Video

The Mystery of ONE 7 MOVIES

2010-11-20T13:29:00.012-05:00

Four DVDs were recently announced coming from a new company--One 7 Movies--SCANDALOUS GILDA, ALIEN FROM THE DEEP, CHINESE KAMASUTRA, THE SINS OF MADAME BOVARY. All Italian films or, in the case of THE SINS OF MADAME BOVARY, partially Italian. The cover design replicated Mya's, as did the policy of offering Italian audio but no English subtitles for the Italian audio if an English audio track was present. So what's going on? The official word from Mya was "no comment," but a sheet from distributor CAV that came with the review mailings of SCANDALOUS GILDA indicated a Mya connection:

It is our privilege to introduce a new label to the U.S. marketplace. One that builds upon the best traditions of Italian and European cinema, and is certain to gain cult status in the states quickly.

One 7 Movies was founded by one of the original partners of Mya Communications and No Shame Films. Expect the most classic, the most cutting edge, and the most sought after comedies, thrillers, science fiction epics, erotica, and much more...

All films have been beautifully transfered [sic] from original vault materials, and sleeve art design is eye-catching to say the least.

[Hat-tip: Matt Bauer at AVManiacs]

So there you have it, if that explains anything really. These days there seems to be more and more mystery behind the upstart companies bringing out foreign cult DVDs. I expect the "original vault materials" will be PAL DVDs. Ah, well....

Oh, and these are priced $5 to $10 more than the already high-priced Mya DVDs (whose newer releases had a price reduction to $19.95). The One 7 DVDs will be going for $29.95, unless you find a cheaper online retailer.

Coming in January 2011

2010-10-30T12:21:00.003-04:00

Mya's first release of 2011 will be ALLIGATOR, the Sergio Martino film from 1973, starring Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli, Mel Ferrer. The film had a previous release in the United States under the NoShame label. English and Italian audio options, with optional English subtitles. Original English and Italian trailers included, as well as a poster and still gallery.

FORBIDDEN PASSION - review

2010-09-18T09:35:00.010-04:00

Despite the presence of Ornella Muti, FORBIDDEN PASSION is not an Italian film, but actually the 1973 Spanish CEBO PARA UNA ADOLESCENTE (BAIT FOR A TEENAGER). Spanish horror fans will recognize some of the names behind the film and in front of it. Directed by Francisco Lara Polop (as Paco Lara), the helmer of MURDER MANSION (LA MANSION DE LA NIEBLA) is joined by cinematographer Raul Perez Cubero, who did such a fine job on Naschy's COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE and HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE, with the musical scoring belonging to THE MUMMY'S REVENGE composer Alfonso G. Santisteban. It's amusing spotting the lesser players, such as MURDER MANSION's Yelena Samarina, and Angel Mendendez, who appeared in many brief roles in Spanish horror films, including a role as that blood-spewing guy viciously attacked by Waldemar Daninsky in a cabin in LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO.

This is, however, Ornella Muti's showcase, one of her earliest films, and despite the fact that Muti offers no nude scenes (forget the DVD cover shot), she's a beautiful and captivating presence--and sweetly innocent in this film. Craggy Phillipe Leroy, a magnetic actor who was previously seen on DVD here in the Mya release, FAMILY SCANDAL, is fun to watch as the big-shot "engineer," who hires Muti to be his secretary--and begins a seduction of the naive girl, ultimately turning her into his mistress.

The incidents in the story are rather predictable (yes, a nice-guy young man turns up to win the secretary's heart), but the film is still of interest to watch because of Muti and Leroy.

If one thought, however, that CEBO PARA UNA ADOLESCENTE was just mere frivolous romance/drama, even a "chic flick," one would be mistaken, because there's an undercurrent of an anti-establishment message that reaches a climax at the end of the film when the engineer is given an award for his accomplishments. At that moment you suddenly realize, if you are aware of Spain and Western society in those years, that you've been handed a bit of a subversive element from Polop and his screenwriters, Francisco and Manuel Summers. Those building-in-progress institutionalized projects that are featured throughout the film take on a different perspective then.

The working title of CEBO PARA UNA ADOLESCENTE was EL BENEFACTOR (THE BENEFACTOR), which further underlines the film's anti-establishment aura. Surprisingly, the film was very successful film in Spain, with over a million spectators, and may have been a reason for Polop to move away from the horror genre. The Italian title of the film was LA SECRETARIA.

CEBO PARA UNA ADOLESCENTE saw previous DVD release in Europe, so Mya perhaps used that source. The print is rather worn, lacking any boldness in its original colors, and, on occasion, splicy. Here it's offered up widescreen anamorphic, in its Italian dubbing, with optional English subtitles.

The DVD is available from Amazon.com

October & November Releases

2010-08-23T22:11:00.010-04:00

We're back after a little vacation from the blog to announce two forthcoming releases from Mya, both sequel films: DESIRABLE TEACHER 2 in October 2010 and THE FISHMEN AND THEIR QUEEN the following month in November. Note that this is the first time that only one title per month is being released by Mya.

DESIRABLE TEACHER 2 (PIERINO COLPISCE ANCORA) is a sequel to a previous release from Mya, DESIRABLE TEACHER (Italian title: PIERINO CONTRO TUTTI, 1981). The sequel, released the following year, also stars Alvaro Vitali as Pierino.

THE FISHMEN AND THEIR QUEEN (LA REGINA DEGLI UOMINI PESCE) is Sergio Martino's follow-up to his very popular THE ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN (L'ISOLA DEGLI UOMINI PESCE, 1979). The 1985 film is set in the future and does not star any of the actors/actresses from the earlier film. Certainly not as well considered as the first "fishmen" film, it will still be welcome to have this rarer movie available for viewing and study.

Umberto Lenzi Responds

2010-06-20T10:25:00.006-04:00

I had a chance today of asking by-now legendary director Umberto Lenzi a few questions about his early career in making adventure, pirate and peplum films. This is an area of Italian film history that needs more attention and research. These films traveled throughout the world and were seen by millions, and are remembered by many with fondness. While we, euro-film fans, generally talk about Italy's gothic horrors, spaghetti westerns and gialli, it was these adventure and historical romances that were the beginning of Italy's domination of film product available to many countries, including the United States.

I was interested in whether Lenzi initiated the production of these type of films, which for him (as director) started with QUEEN OF THE SEAS (1961), and he answered that as a young director at the time, he could not choose the projects he would be involved in. Regarding Emilio Salgari, the author of the Sandokan novels and other Far East adventure tales like LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE, yes, in his childhood he was a fan of Salgari's books.

Umberto Lenzi worked with three recognized peplum actors during this period--Steve Reeves, Richard Harrison and Alan Steel (Sergio Ciani)--so I asked for a comparison, and Lenzi responded that only Harrison was a good actor.

Lenzi also added that he had many adventures shooting these Salgari films in the swamps of Celyon and in Singapore and Malaysia, but the worst experiences were with leeches and the terrible heat of those locations.

Finally, I asked, do these films hold a special warmth in his heart after so many years:

"In my heart I have a special warm place only for the actresses."

Molte grazie, Umberto, for your time and all the entertaining films you have made in your career!

SANDOK - review

2010-06-15T14:24:00.008-04:00

The second I saw that this film was in scope presentation and that the colors were fine, I smiled my considerable satisfaction. I'd been expecting the aspect ratio of Mya's newest DVD release to be strangled to a 1.85:1, but not so, thankfully. SANDOK--original title LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE (THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT), which I'll use in this review--is not the first NTSC DVD release of a film based on the work of Emilio Salgari (the silent film CABIRIA has that honor), but it's a very welcome introduction to the niche genre of family-friendly jungle adventures in the euro cinema of the 1960s.

Emilio Salgari (1862-1911). For a while, I've been fascinated by the Italian films based on the works of Salgari, an Italian author who is unknown in the United States, but an institution in Italy and many other parts of the world. Salgari's most famous romances take place in the Far East, particularly Malaysia. Euro-film fans would recognize a few of the movies based on his novels, in particular the two SANDOKAN films starring Steve Reeves and both directed by Umberto Lenzi, who also helmed the 1965 LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE. Lenzi, along with director Luigi Capuano, represented the Salgari film during the 60s, with Capuano employing Ray Danton and Guy Madison in major roles, while Lenzi, or his producers, chose former peplum actors Reeves and Richard Harrison.

Last year I read Salgari's MYSTERY OF THE BLACK JUNGLE in the commendable though slightly abridged/censored English translation by Nico Lorenzutti. What struck me most about that Salgari novel is that the hero had a wavering moral compass and did not hold back expressing his fears.

LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE also has a hero whose moral compass is dictated by circumstances and self-interest, though his fear factor is almost zero. Richard Harrison plays Alan Foster, a care-free gambler/traveler/thief/scoundrel who loses all his money in a game with the powerful Rajah Sindar. Owing the Rajah more money than he can ever hope to acquire, he must pay back the debt or face certain death. The Rajah informs him of one possibility of payment: acquiring the heavily protected "Mountain of Light," a fabulous diamond that holds significant religious value, as well as unheard of monetary worth. The debt will be dismissed if Foster gets the diamond for the Rajah. Foster escapes from the Rajah's palace, where he was imprisoned and, seduced by the wealth the jewel represents, proceeds on a journey to try to steal the diamond for himself. Along the way he meets up with Sitama, a faking fakir, played by dance choreographer and actor Wilbert Bradley. (Bradley is splendid in this film.) The two team up to acquire this coveted jewel that can bring incredible riches to its owner and guarantee a life of pleasure and indolence.

The witty interplay between Foster and Sitama, the balancing roles of Western anti-hero and a colorful member of the indigenous lower-class, reminded me much of "Blondie" and Tuco from THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. And this would make sense as Sergio Leone and his writing crew would have been Salgari fans in their youth. Any in-depth analysis of the spaghetti western will certainly have to address the influence that Salgari's works had on Italian filmmakers like Leone.

There is a love interest that evolves later in the film, and this is the film's weakest element, as it's one of those affairs that only is real in cinema: enduring love based on a few moments of meeting.

The film proceeds at a relaxed, even pace, not encumbered by the need to rush things (a sin of much filmmaking these days), until the near end, when it winds up too quickly, so much so that the viewer may want to rewatch the last ten minutes or so. An amusing send-off alerts us to a commentary on colonialism that comes from left field, leaving one thinking for a moment if Salgari's novel may had more substance that just being a simple adventure tale.

LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE is a splendid adventure tale, the kind young audiences in the 1960s would have loved on Saturday matinees or TV showings, and that older audiences would have sat through with appreciation, whether they were viewing the film in New York or Bombay. Exotic family entertainment, much distanced from the giallo, cannibal and horror films that Lenzi would be involved with later in his career, and a sumptuous set-design and on-location presentation wonderfully showcased by the cinematography of Angelo Lotti and Lenzi's crisp direction.

With Sandokan being Saligari's most famous chartcer, Mya decided to retitle LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE as SANDOK. But there is no "Sandok" in the film and the film has no relation to the character Sandokan. Unfortunately, there is no English audio track present (there must be one in existence, as the film was released in an English version under the titles JUNGLE ADVENTURER and TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS). The English subtitles are generally fine, with some occasional grammatical pitfalls. Colors are quite good, and, as noted, the aspect ratio is correct.

LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE opens up American viewers to an important phase of Italian B film history and Salgari's romances. Hopefully Mya will follow up this Salgari adventure with more Salgaris, perhaps the original Sandokan films from Lenzi--SANDOKAN, LA TIGRE DI MOMPRACEM (SANDOKAN THE GREAT) and I PIRATI DELLA MALESIA (SANDOKAN: PIRATE OF MALAYSIA). If not, then other adventure romances from the Italian cinema of the 1960s will certainly be appreciated by euro-cult enthusiasts.

SANDOK is available from Amazon.com.

Sandokan Fever!

2010-06-12T17:34:00.006-04:00

I'm currently writing a review of Mya's newest DVD, SANDOK, a film based on a novel by Emilio Salgari, and felt motivated to put on this blog one of my favorite YouTube clips: a sing-along of the Sandokan song, written by the De Angelis brothers for the mega-hit SANDOKAN TV series from Italy. The Sandokan character was Salgari's most known creation. (Sandokan, btw, has nothing to do with the SANDOK film; the only connection is Salgari).

TV's Sandokan, Kabir Bedi, is the surprised and moved actor during this clip.

Coming in September 2010

2010-06-03T11:23:00.010-04:00

THE GIRL FROM CORTINA is the 1994 LA RAGAZZA DI CORTINA, a Sergio Martino production with brother Luciano scripting and Maurizio Vanni directing. A late entry in the giallo genre, it appears.

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RED HOT ZORRO is the 1972 French/Belgium film LES AVENTURES GALANTES DE ZORRO. Jean-Michel Dhermay stars as the legendary Spanish "fox," with Gilbert Roussel directing. But wait... The underpinning of the film is actually THE THREE SWORDS OF ZORRO, with the Dhermay scenes being bawdy inserts of Zorro chasing women and having sex. A Spanish-Italian co-production, THE THREE SWORDS OF ZORRO (1963) starred Guy Stockwell as the masked avenger. Ricardo Blasco directing. (Hat-tip to Pieter Boven of 10,000 Bullets.)

One assumes that Mya's release will be taken from a French DVD released in 2003. That release was not English friendly, so expect English subs with this one.

A Call for the NTSC DVD release of INHIBITION

2010-06-01T16:43:00.006-04:00

If I were to select a short list of films that best represent euro-cult, Paolo Poeti's INHIBITION would be one of the primary films on such a list.

One of euro-cult's most memorable faces, Ivan Rassimov, plays Peter Smart, who arrives in Morocco in cowboy hat and boots, American jeans, a supply of cigarillos, and a cool laconic attitude. His only baggage seems to be a suit and dress shoes, which he carries over his shoulder in a suit-carrier, as if it were a saddle. Smart is an identifiable character from the euro-cult pantheon who has to live by his wits and whatever particular skill he has that sets him above others. For Smart, it isn't a swift gun as his Western predecessors may have had, but acute gambling skill.

Claudine Beccarie plays Carol Levis, a rich, obnoxious widow, who suffered sexual indignities at the hands of her sadistic husband. Primed to give back the hate she received, Carol now cruelly lords over her servants and her young female companion and sex toy, Anna, played by Ilona Staller (future porn star name: Cicciolina). Carol's world is cold and brutal, though comforted by wealth and luxury and yes-men and yes-women. When Peter Smart enters her world, a challenge erupts. Who will win this battle--Carol or Peter? And what lessons will be learned, if any?

There's an awkward disparity in Beccarie's face. Some would consider her unattractive, but she's just right for this film and its need for a bitchy European femme. Beccarie had a provocative film career, starting off in 1972 in porn shorts. Well into her porn career, she consented to do the self-revealing EXHIBITION, an art-house film that managed to get shown in Lincoln Center and reviewed in Time Magazine. Time's critic, J.C., wrote:

She is a woman of principle. That is, Claudine Beccarie disdains foul language and absolutely draws the line at performing sex acts with animals or film producers.

She will carry on, either solo or in various combinations, almost any other amorous activity, provided it is being filmed by professionals and the price is right. She refuses, however, to discuss her politics on camera. Too personal Exhibition, a French documentary about Claudine's life, loves and heavy thoughts, has certain pretenses at social and psychological significance. The heroine may be observed, shedding tears in closeup, as she tells how she was raped by an uncle when she was only 15. This assault precipitated a descent into prostitution and an unfortunate marriage in which her soldier husband insisted on having a child against his wife's express wishes. "He tied me down to the bed and everything," she reveals. All of this occurred before Claudine's ascent to stardom in a series of quickies produced by France's newly burgeoning porno industry.

The selling of INHIBITION played upon Beccarie's notoriety (as is obvious in the title take-off on the EXHIBITION film). My guessing game is that it was with INHIBITION that Beccarie wished to distance herself from her porn past, which may be why, according to an entry on the IMDB, she held a protest fast in front of the French theater that showed the film with added X-rated inserts. Beccarie never made it into A films, but instead found probably unwelcome employment in low-brow exploitation R-rated films, like FRAULEIN KITTY and HELLTRAIN.

As with any emblematic euro-cult film, what makes INHIBITION work is the entirety. The actors, the foreign setting, the direction, and, importantly, the music. The soundtrack by Guido and Marizio De Angelis is wonderfully hip and sexy, and so euro-1970s that it's a crime it hasn't yet been released on an authoritative CD.

There are frequent scenes in INHIBITION where Poeti's fluid direction, the musical score and the editing merge into some of the best moments I've seen in euro-cult. The entire long credit sequence at the beginning is a superb testament to everything working with easy flow and what appears to be easy artistry. I must have replayed these first ten minutes or so a hundred times, and those moments still manage to hold the same transfixing and exhilarating power as when I first saw them.

Several years ago, INHIBITION was released by NoShame in a PAL-format set in an uncensored edition that gave previous viewers delightful moments never before seen, including a genuinely hot masturbation scene with Beccarie that sizzles with the lonely meaning of, and physical need for, self-gratification. The film was presented in Italian audio only, but an English audio track exists. (INHIBITION was shown on US cable TV and also received a video release in the States.) Seeing as it was a NoShame release, it must be more accessible for Mya to put in on their schedule--one hopes.

The 1970s was a time when international adventure of embracing sex and experiences in foreign, more exotic countries still remained viable. Terrorism and kidnappings, and worse, of Westerners were not threats, and globalism and the internet had not yet shed their blinding light in the more mysterious corners of the world. INHIBITION is now a languid memory of a time that was, a precious memory that makes the film a hallmark of euro-cult cinema.

Coming in August 2010

2010-05-16T22:53:00.004-04:00

FORBIDDEN GAMES is SOGNI PROIBITI DI DON GALEAZZO CURATO DI CAMPAGNA, a 1973 sex comedy directed by Emanuele Di Cola, cinematographer for such films as HELL COMMANDOS, SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER, and NIGHT OF THE DEVILS.

SEXY RADIO is a Spanish film, originally titled EL ESCOTE. Another sex comedy, it seems.

Coming in July 2010

2010-03-29T20:42:00.005-04:00

EROS PERVERSION (1979), directed by Ron Wertheim, starring Carlo De Mejo, Viju Krem, and Ajita Wilson, is a musical (?) take on Shakespeare's THE TWELFTH NIGHT, with a bunch of nudity thrown in.

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FORBIDDEN PASSION (1974), directed by Gianluigi Calderon, starring Gabrielle Ferzitti and Ornella Muti, was ~~originally titled APPASSIONATA. A father-daughter sexy drama, controversial in its time (and probably now, too).~~ [With the release of the DVD, it's clear this is another film, the 1973 Spanish CEBO PARA UNA ADOLESCENTE (BAIT FOR A TEENAGER), directed by Francisco Lara Polop.]

Star Video back cover. I've no idea what the dog is doing there.

Herman (I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF) Cohen was one of the distributors of APPASSIONATA in the U.S.

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NAKED CITIES is I SEGRETI DELLA CITTA PIU NUDE DEL MONDO (1971) from Luciano Martino, with brother Sergio the scriptwriter. A mondo travelogue movie with scenes from Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, etc.

Missing in Non-Action: The Last Decameron

2010-03-27T21:15:00.002-04:00

This seems to have passed under the radar, but Mya's projected release of Joe D'Amato's THE LAST DECAMERON (SOLLAZZEVOLI STORIE DI MOGLI GAUDENTI E MARITI PENITENTI - DECAMERON Nº 69) has been canceled, no reason given. This was supposed to have been number 37 on Mya's schedule, with an announced street date in November, 2009.

KREOLA - review

2010-03-18T22:02:00.008-04:00

Via a Mya DVD, I reviewed about a week ago the first film I saw from Antonio Bonifacio (BLIND DATE). Here's the next offering of a Bonifacio film from Mya, KREOLA (1993), which answers a bit more the question I had in the earlier review of where one should place Bonifacio among his Italian director brethren. KREOLA makes the case (again) for a Joe D'Amato comparison, as the film is an erotic drama filmed in Santa Domingo, a genre and locale that imitates D'Amato to some extent. As with BLIND DATE, Daniele Stroppa is responsible for the script.

The sight-seeing and island atmosphere portions of the film are impressive, making one imbibe laconically in the sun, sand, beach, and lush greenery of many scenes, while the story elements--well....

Kreola. Wide mouth, big breasts, empty head. Trying to enjoy the pleasures of an earthy vacation island....

Andy, her husband, hoping the island will rouse passion, as he struggles with impotency....

Old-geezer, Survivor-type stud boatman who lives on the island. My hero, Leon....

Leon makes his move on Kreola, with zero resistance from her....

Leon even gets in some backdoor action. "You're hurting me!" moans out Kreola....

Leon has many women aching for him, including Iris....

Her ex-fiance, Marco, is upset at Leon for taking his woman away from him....

"I'm a dead ringer for a young Sophia Loren, so why is my part as a barmaid so small? I should be playing Kreola." (I agree.)

The plot thickens as Andy and Marco decide to grow a pair and deal with Leon....

The End....

Disappointing and completely irrational considering what went before.

Mya's release boasts a sharp, colorful print, full-frame. (Was this film supposed to head straight to cable television's erotic programming slots?) Fine, clear sound, too. English and Italian audio tracks; no subtitles.

KREOLA is available on Amazon.com.

BLIND DATE - review

2010-03-12T09:33:00.012-05:00

A somewhat unsophisticated giallo/erotic film from 1990 that arrived at the last gasp of the giallo genre, BLIND DATE (originally titled APPUNTAMENTO IN NERO/APPOINTMENT IN BLACK) is an effective suspense-mystery marred by frequent lapses in logic and character development. The only relatively full-bodied backstory concerns the lead female character, Angela Baldwin (Mirella Banti), whose rape when a girl leaves mental scars she seems unable to erase or psychologically conquer. Fifteen years after that traumatic event, Angela, now a sexual provocateur, is presumably attacked in a rest room of a seedy movie theater (showing EMMANUELLE 5!). Is she an unfortunate crippled victim of continual sexual violence or is there something more insidious going on? And who is that man with the sunglasses who appears to follow her? And what deceits are occurring between her husband, a respected diplomat, and a blonde fashion model who is staying at their residence? Once it kicks in, the film begins to throw curve after curve, keeping the viewer on his (or her) toes.

Unfortunately, screenwriter Daniele Stroppa (who appears as the mysterious stranger in sunglasses) leaves out key explanations, as if more interested in the surprise element of his plot twists than in explaining just why certain things are in place, or, perhaps, director Antonio Bonifacio snipped pages out of Stroppa's script to keep things moving. There is an unfortunate lack of character motivation and backstory in one of the key players in this evolving game of deceit, so much so that when the "curve" with this person arrived, I sighed out my grievous disappointment. Not too long after that, however, the final curve of the movie arrived, and then I smiled my satisfaction. You win some, you lose some.

For Antonio Bonifacio, this was his first film after being an assistant director on films like TOP MODEL for Joe D'Amato, with whom he worked with three times in the late 1980s. He fairs pretty well here, unafraid to experiment on occasion, as in a moody slow-motion sequence that provides a nice atmospheric respite. The standard giallo confrontation in a shower between the killer and the female victim is handled by Bonifacio and his scriptwriter with some originality. (The woman manages to fight back, instead of assuming shocked victim status, ready for the slaughter.)

Without having seen Bonifacio's other films, it's too early to tell for me just where he stands among his Italian exploitation compatriots. I sense, though, that he hovers around the Joe D'Amato range, which is not a bad placement.

The keyboard score by Marco Rossetti (as "Mark Ross") is energetic and interesting (a bit on the Goblinish side at times, too), punching up the suspense and frequent erotic interludes. According to the IMDB, Rossetti has only three film scores to his credit (all for director Antonio Bonofacio). He has a Facebook page where you can sample some of his music. The selections are quite good and indicate that he should be used far more often in film scoring than he has been.

Mya's retitlement, BLIND DATE, makes no sense, as there is no dating here, nor (if one is going the literal route) is anyone blind. Picture quality on the Mya release is significantly better than I expected, though a tad on the soft side. The transfer is not taken from an old video release (thankfully), but, it seems, from a 2009 Italian DVD release on the Avo Films label. An English audio track has been added to the Mya presentation, which surprisingly comes out with much more force and clarity than the rather drab Italian audio track. As is generally typical with Mya releases, no English subtitles are provided for the Italian audio. This is an anamorphic widescreen transfer, btw.

BLIND DATE is available on Amazon.com.

ANNA, THE PLEASURE, THE TORMENT - review

2010-03-10T16:23:00.009-05:00

I was very pleasantly surprised by ANNA, THE PLEASURE, THE TORMENT (Italian title: ANNA, QUEL PARTICOLARE PIACERE). This 1973 film was completely unknown to me, as I never saw the NoShame DVD, released in 2005 under the title SECRETS OF A CALL GIRL, or the film in a bootleg version, nor did I read up on the film before watching it. Very naively, I expected a sexy, lighthearted comedy, with perhaps some elements of a drama thrown in. Boy, was I wrong!

Edwige Fenech plays Anna Lovisi, a cashier at a coffee shop who leads a stifling lower-middle class life, lacking a boyfriend and living at home with unpleasant, dissipated parents. Enter Guido Salva (Corrado Pani), a charismatic tough-guy hood who captivates and seduces Anna to become his girlfriend. As the relationship develops and Guido attains, rather easily, Anna's heart and soul, Guido reveals himself to be more and more a son-of-a-bitch in regards to her, first using her in a drug smuggling operation, then, with aggressive doses of intimidation and physical violence, compelling her to begin a debilitating life as a high-class prostitute. The process involves an eye-opening descent into the world of vice that hides behind gambling and dance clubs and exquisite hotels and mansions, a world that destroys the moral foundations of a human being, be it man or woman, the abuser or the abused.

In case you are unfamiliar with the film, I won't give away the plot details which transpire once Anna becomes a whore, nor will I say anything about presence of Dr. Lorenzo Viotto (played with likable and gentle cadences by John Richardson), but know that the ending is particularly emotional, though some hardened souls may deem it too sentimental and weepy.

Another surprise is that this compelling and emotionally charged drama comes from director Guiliano Carnimeo, known for Sartana spaghetti westerns and such low-brow exploitations as EXTERMINATORS IN THE YEAR 3000 (1983) and THE RAT MAN (1988). Good to see the names of euro-cult stalwarts Ernesto Gastaldi and Luciano Martino in the writing credits; the film has to be considered another high mark in their careers.

For this release, Mya used the earlier NoShame release, while leaving out the featurette "Memories of a Call Girl" that contained interviews with director Giuliano Carnimeo, star Edwige Fenech and writer Ernesto Gastaldi. The NoShame liner notes booklet is also not around. A trailer and poster/still gallery from the NoShame edition has been retained.

Picture quality is one of the best from Mya, and the 2.35:1 aspect ratio impresses with its well-crafted use by cinematographer Marcello Masciocchi.

Given the picture quality and the content of this film, there's no question that ANNA, THE PLEASURE, THE TORMENT is one of the best releases yet from Mya.

The Mya DVD is available on Amazon.com, as is the earlier, now out-of-print NoShame release.

LUST update

2010-03-09T11:53:00.004-05:00

I've been informed by the official powers that be that Mya's release of LUST is NOT Polselli's OSCENITA. Rather the film is TORINO CENTRALE DEL VIZIO (TURIN, HEADQUARTERS OF VICE), a 1979 "poliziesco" directed by Bruno Vali (with Polselli the uncredited director according to the IMDB). The film stars frequent Polselli actress, Rita Calderoni.

Trash Online's bootleg of this title describes: "Super-rare, almost lost film by Bruno Vani and co-directed by the late, great Renato Polselli. It is interesting to see how a filmmaker like Polselli does in the crime/police genre. What you can expect is a film full of violence, sleaze, rape, nudity and various sexual situations. Mastered from impossible-to-find materials, this is a fair quality print."

Coming in June 2010

2010-03-03T10:09:00.011-05:00

LUST is Renato Polselli's 1980 QUANDO L'AMORE E OSCENITA. A review on the IMDB summarizes: "A group of people come together and talk about transgressive sexual subjects. This is inter-cut with often graphic sex scenes involving rape, torture, bestiality, lesbianism, masturbation and other subjects you may or may not be able to think of."
[See 3/9/2010 "LUST update"]

Mya releases of Sergio Martino's film work continues with two more titles:

NAKED OBSESSION is SPIANDO MARINA (1992), which already had an Italian DVD release. Coming from the catalog of Diana Films, it should be in good quality. UPPERCUT MAN (1987, Italian title: QUALCUNO PAGHERA?) is also known as THE OPPONENT. A boxing drama with Daniel Greene, Keely Shaye Smith, Guiliano Gemma and Ernest Borgnine, it had a video release in the United States in 1993. Keely Shaye Smith, btw, is now Mrs. Pierce Brosnan.

Coming in May 2010

2010-02-12T11:41:00.010-05:00

A 1992 film (Italian title: AL CALAR DELLA SERA), directed by Alessandro Lucidi. According to one Italian website, the film "mixes eroticism, violence and, partly, rape and revenge." The film stars Daniela Poggi (LAST ORGY OF THE THIRD REICH, THE LAST HAREM, etc.):

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A Spanish-Italian erotic comedy (Italian title: SETTE RAGAZZE PERICOLOSE) directed by Pedro Lazaga and written by Tulio Demicheli. From 1978, by which time Spain allowed nudity in their theatrical releases. The plot summary on the IMDB: "Seven female friends decide to play an erotic game. They try to seduce as many aristocrats and middle-class men as possible by their charming personalities." The film stars Spain's "Sophia Loren"--Nadiuska:

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I'm particularly looking forward to this 1965 film, directed by Umberto Lenzi and based on a novel by Emilio Salgari (1862-1911), one of the world's most renowned adventure authors (though nearly completely unknown in America).

Originally titled LA MONTAGNA DI LUCE (U.S. title: TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS), the adventure film was shot in Techniscope, but if Mya uses a 2007 Italian DVD release from Cecchi Gori Home Video as their source, the presentation may be in 1.85:1. Cover of the Cecchi Gori Home Video:

SATAN'S WIFE review

2010-01-25T09:45:00.016-05:00

I've been intrigued by this film ever since I acquired several relatively hot stills from it about a dozen years or so ago. Never had an opportunity to view the film until now, with the release by Mya of SATAN'S WIFE, a re-title of the English version, RING OF DARKNESS. The Italian title is UN OMBRA NELL'OMBRA, which, according to my limited Italian assistance from a translation program, can be translated as A SHADOW WITHIN A SHADOW.

Any Italian film from the 1970s that contains satanism and nude female practitioners is deserving of innate curiosity and potential appreciation. UN OMBRA NELL'OMBRA (1977) has its faults, but is intriguing enough, and has moments of pure devilish exploitation going for it, to make the film notable and worthy of some background research.

Pier Carpi (1940-2000) only directed two films (UN OMBRA and POVERO CRISTO), but had a substantial resume in the arts, with work in fumetti (comics), including the Italian versions of Mickey Mouse, Batman, and Superman. He created and wrote for the fumetti HORROR, and had a hand in the renowned DIABOLIK publication. His creative wings also embraced authorship, and he won various literary and journalism awards in his career. Carpi had an interest in esoteric, satanic and religious subjects, as exemplified by such works as LE SOCIETA SEGRETE (THE SECRET SOCIETIES), I MERCANTI DELL'OCCULTO (MERCHANTS OF THE OCCULT), RASPUTIN ULTIMO PROFETA (RASPUTIN THE LAST PROPHET) CAGLIOSTRO (which was made into a film in 1974 by Daniele Pettinari). UN OMBRA NELL'OMBRA is, in fact, based on a book of his that appeared a couple of years before the book's filming began, although the script may have been developed first, as the IMDB mentions, accurately or not, that Carpi had tried to get the story filmed in the 1960s, without generating interest from financial backers until William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST became a mega world-wide hit. (No doubt the popularity of THE OMEN also had a hand in the making of the Carpi film.)

One judges that Carpi had some difficulty in putting into his film all the important ingredients of the book, as the film traverses a choppy narrative, with seemingly important characters turning up to then, inexplicably, never be seen or referenced to again. One is led to believe that "The Professor," played with sleazy charm by Ian Bannen, will be a pivotal presence in the film, as we see him philosophize about good and evil while teaching chess and underlining the symbolic nuances of the white and black pieces. He then makes a couple of relatively important appearances soon thereafter, but after the Devil chases him away, he is never seen again. Frank Finlay's appearance as "Frank" is curiously brief and inexplicable. John Philip Law turns up as a priest who is about to renounce the priesthood, but he, too, is around for a limited time and then gone.

If one can gather something about the novel without having read it, one senses a treatise/meditation on good and evil, Catholicism and Satanism, and, in particular, the lonely angst of women inhabiting a shadowy world within the shadows. The film touches on these points, but doesn't underline them in the whole, an intellectual deficit that leaves the viewer somewhat unfulfilled. If Carpi's book were available in an English translation (it isn't), one could read the source and fill in the substantive gaps. This is denied us and will probably always be, unless Carpi becomes a cult figure whose works will necessitate translation.

Because of holes in the plot, the back copy of the Mya, written by someone with panache, presents a welcome, informative synopsis:

"Four beautiful young women surrender to the fiendishly charm of Lucifer himself. But their nights of unholy pleasure have a price: they can't have sex with other men, for the Lord of Darkness is a very jealous lover indeed. The otherworldly fruits of these bestial couplings go by the names of Almarisa and Daria. While the former starts to loathe herself as soon as she realizes who her father really is, the latter perversely learns how to enjoy her devilish skills to wreak havoc in the human world. To put an end to her hellish endeavours, a very unlikely exorcist is enlisted."

(By the way, I love the end ballyhoo of the back copy text: "Long sought after lost classic of Italian psychotronic horror genre, SATAN'S WIFE features some of the weirdest scenes ever committed in films. Ripe with fleshy sex babes, blood, gore, bizarre visuals and otherworldly rituals, this lost nugget of exploitation was unearthed from the deepest vaults of forbidden cinematic pleasures.")

The film has an impressive international cast--Anne Heywood, Lara Wendel, Valentina Cortese, Irene Papas, Ian Bannen, Frank Finlay, John Philip Law, Marisa Mell.... One wonders if some in this cast were not only seduced by the money offered to them, but by the possibility of making a supernatural film with deeper intellectual elements than what would have been the norm in those days.

The exploitative nudity in the film didn't touch all the female stars, with a body double being used for Irene Papas. I don't know if this legendary Greek actress, with her fantastic tragic face, ever had a nude scene, but if ever the opportunity presented itself, it was here, in her role as a wealthy woman who, seeking the love of a man, debases herself at night by becoming a common prostitute.

Neither Anne Heywood nor Lara Wendel were strangers to nude scenes, however. What make Wendel's nude scenes noteworthy is that she was around 13 years old when she made them for this film.

I should mention my one casting disappointment--Ezio Miani. Miani, who made only three films in his career, turns up as Lucifer here, but he's not a figure who inspires fright nor remarkableness. (The Lucifer role would have been excellent for someone with such distinct saturnine looks as Ivan Rassimov.)

Despite his limited directing credentials, Pier Carpi handles his assignment very well, helming everything with a sure and smooth hand. Set design is appropriately satanic, with the presence of Luciferian-themed paintings and sculpture that may reflect Capri's own collection or of compatriots that he knew. The music by Stelvio Cipriani has a Dario Argento-ish aura and portions of it were later reused by Cipriani for other scores, including SOLAMENTE NERO (THE BLOODSTAINED SHADOW).

Though filmed in 1977, UN OMBRA NELL'OMBRA had to wait two years to see release in Italy. I don't know if the film ever had a release in the United States, but if so, it probably happened in limited play in grindhouse theaters. The film was certainly missing from the catalogs of U.S. video companies during the heyday of video and because of that it became a lukewarm holy grail among American euro-cult aficionados.

Mya's presentation is sourced from a video element. Though overall the element seems to be in fine shape (I noticed only one video-sourced flicker), pixelation will be noticeable from time to time in black areas. The biggest problem in not having access to an original print element is that scenes in the dark or in shadows are difficult to fully make out, which in the case of UN OMBRA NELL'OMBRA is unfortunate. As a plus, the Mya DVD is in anamorphic widescreen.

The DVD is on sale at Amazon.com.

UPDATE: John Bernhard aletred me over at the Latarnia forums that the Mya release is missing a scene: "It's a coven scene where the devil is about to make a new convert, but before he mounts her, the other women converge on Satan and prevent him from taking another initiate." He directed me to a November 2007 post by Johan Melle at the LoveLockAndLoad message board, where we learn exactly what's missing, with screen captures. Good work, Johan!

Incidentally the run-time of the Mya presentation is about 1:27:25. The more complete version, seen on an old Belgian video, runs 87 minutes, PAL time, which when transferred to NTSC speed would be about 90-91 minutes. I agree with the commentary on the LoveLockAndLoad board that there's a good possibility more scenes were shot for the film, but left out at the editing stage.

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Poster artwork above: 1) Italian locandina, 2) Turkish poster

SATAN'S WIFE preview

2010-01-22T18:43:00.007-05:00

I'm working on a review of Mya's latest release, Pier Carpi's SATAN'S WIFE (aka RING OF DARKNESS). Here's preview of part of the film. The Mya release contains English audio, as well as Italian. Quality is about the same as this YouTube clip. Music by Stelvio Cipriani.

The young girl, Daria (Laura Wendel), has increasing Satanic powers, which her mother Carlotta (Anne Heywood), one of Satan's brides, wishes to temper. Marisa Mell, as a black arts adept, also appears in this preview.

THE REAL EMANUELLE - review

2010-01-11T14:59:00.006-05:00

AMORE LIBERO - FREE LOVE (out now on DVD as THE REAL EMANUELLE) is one of those part travelogue, part erotic feature, part mondo films that was a subgenre the Italians crafted on their own, as opposed to borrowing riffs from American, English or German films. (Though one wonders if films like SOUTH PACIFIC and MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY had some impact on the consciousness of these filmmakers.) This 1974 film offers up the carefree native life of the tropical islands, where the stresses of the European white male are eased and finally dissipated by erotic meetings with sexually-open, cheerful island women. Euro-cult queen Laura Gemser disposes of her minimal clothing at every opportunity, while another femme turns up (played by Olga Bisera) who gives Gemser a run for her nude money. But it is Gemser who shines in her debut film role with her open smile, friendly come-on manner, and slinky, sexy body.

For the Javanese beauty, AMORE LIBERO represented her introduction to Italy. A model, her photos had piqued the interest of the producers, who contacted her agency with an invite to do an audition for the forthcoming film. Gemser obviously passed the audition, and soon found herself in Seychelles Islands working with such actors as Enzo Bottesini and Venantino Venantini under the direction of Pier Ludovico Pavoni.

The story has young engineer, Francesco Ferraro (Enzo Bottesini), arriving to Emerald Island to conduct tests that will initiate the building of a silver mine. A previous engineer sent by Francesco's employer has disappeared, ostensibly with an island maiden. Francesco tries to continue his work, while staying with an eccentric white inhabitant, Antoin (Venantino Venantini), who seems to be an unofficial overlord of the place. Even before arriving to the island, Ferroro meets Janine (Laura Gemser), a seductive island girl. On the island, she easily coaxes him into being her lover and the pair become a familiar sight among the natives as Jeanine introduces Francesco to the ways of island life and its people.

While things go along at a sunny erotic pace, the film starts turning strangely dark towards the middle with the introduction of black magic acts. It appears that Antoin is adept at the black arts and using these arts to attain control over what happens on the island and with Francesco.

This is where things get really interesting. A Christian mass held on the ocean, with worshippers arriving by boats, is juxtaposed with a rather revolting, though sickly transfixing mondo scene, the skinning of two bats, one of which is used as a mock-Christ on a cross by Antoin. Hallucinogenics come into play, and the island's white woman Katia (Olga Bisera) dances in a midnight voodoo-type ritual, nude and wild with drugged abandon. Antoin appears as a devilish violinist, further descending the film into the hellish weird. This macabre atmosphere is not perpetual, but its insertion into the plot makes for a far more compelling film than AMORE LIBERO would have been otherwise.

AMORE LIBERO - FREE LOVE was later retitled to THE REAL EMANUELLE to take advantage of Gemser's internationally popular "Black Emanuelle" series. This print carries the AMORE LIBERO - FREE LOVE credits.

Mya's presentation is one of their most problematic. Sourced from an obvious video element (there are a couple of tape rolls during the beginning credit sequence), the presentation is of bootleg video quality, with a lack of clarity and too murky for many scenes shot with shadows and darkness in play, hindering the clear representation of the film's frequent nude scenes. Of course, the balm is that this film is rare (even Gemser has apparently not seen it) and has never been available on the DVD market in the States and with English subtitles. The presentation also keeps much of the widescreen ratio, though the sides are still cut off if judged by the credit sequence.

Perhaps one day, some company will bring out this film with the dedication and the more financially expansive pockets of a Severin. Severin's release of BLACK EMANUELLE'S BOX Volume 1 and Volume 2 were exemplary. If AMORE LIBERO ever gets this treatment, we can finally see Gemser's debut performance in all its unclothed, crystal clear glory. Till then, this Mya DVD will have to do.

THE REAL EMANUELLE is on sale at Amazon.com.

Below: Mya Blog Bonus. Laura Gemser tries a horse ride in a photoshoot during the filming of AMORE LIBERO. That's a lucky horse, btw. Olga Bisera also rode it bare pussy.

And here's an interview with Venantino Venantini, one of the hardest working men in euro-films, with over 140 credits. Seems quite a character:

Coming in April 2010

2010-01-05T19:17:00.010-05:00

Mya continues on!

Scheduled to street April 27th:

CRIME OF PASSION (DELITTO PASSIONALE, 1994), Serena Grandi, Florinda Bolkan, Fabio Testi. Directed by Flavio Mogherini. The plot summary on the IMDB states: "When Peter's wife, a famous writer, is murdered in a hotel where she spent the night with her lover, the police begin investigating. Peter and his wife didn't get on well and she was thinking of divorcing him. Peter too had a lover, Milena. They had a handicapped daughter... Inspector Ivan Zanova investigates."

SWEET TEEN (FRITTATA ALL'ITALIANA, 1977) directed by Alfonso Brescia, starring Antonio Cassagrande, Dogmar Lassander, Karin Schubert. Looks to be a sex comedy/drama.

WITHOUT TRACE (A TUTTE LE AUTO DELLA POLIZIA, 1975), starring Antonio Sabato, Luciana, Paluzzi, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ettore Manni. Directed by Mario Caiano. An IMDB review by "rundbauchdodo":

"This extremely rare and hardly known film (as far as I know, it was never released outside of Italy) is an interesting mix of a classic crime story and a typical giallo. In the first half of the film, there is only one murder to be solved, but as soon as the police comes closer to the truth, people are killed in usual giallo style, during thrilling and atmospheric intense scenes. This mixture may seem odd (one may ask why the film wasn't made in giallo style right from the beginning), but it works quite well and keeps the tension up until the end. The murder scenes are nasty, and the identity of the killer really a big surprise. The movie has also its tragic moments, but never becomes exaggeratedly melodramatic."

Another reviewer titles his review: "Excellent blending of Giallo and Polizi styles." The film is also known in the U.S. as THE MANIAC RESPONSIBLE.

HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE - review

2009-12-14T13:34:00.025-05:00

The early 1970s were banner years for Paul Naschy. In less than half a decade, ever since LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO (THE MARK OF THE WOLFMAN) introduced Paul Naschy as a horror film star in 1968, Naschy had made a name for himself as the premier exponent of Spanish fantastique. Impressively, not only was he an actor in these films, but their scriptwriter as well. His 1970 LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS (English title: WEREWOLF SHADOW) became a surprise hit in Spain, inspiring Spanish producers to fund domestic horror films. The Spanish horror boom of the 1970s arose primarily because of one man: Paul Naschy.

By 1972 the thirty-seven year old Naschy had made six Waldemar Daninsky wolfman films and the first Spanish giallo film, JACK EL DESTRIPADOR DE LONDRES (JACK THE RIPPER OF LONDON). 1972 was destined to be Naschy’s most productive and luminescent year. A total of eight movies filled his filmography for that year: DISCO ROJO (RED LIGHT), EL GRAN AMOR DEL CONDE DRACULA (COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE), LOS CRIMENES DE PETIOT (THE CRIMES OF PETIOT), LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS (English title: VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES), LA ORGIA DE LOS MUERTOS (English title: THE HANGING WOMAN), EL ESPANTO SURGE DE LA TUMBA (English title: HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB), EL RETORNO DE WALPURGIS (English title: THE CURSE OF THE DEVIL)—and EL JOROBADO DE LA MORGUE (THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE). At least four of these films, including the hunchback film, were to become key titles in Naschy’s oeuvre to be spoken about with reverence and enthusiasm among fans of Naschy and Spanish horror.

Sharing a similar mood of decay and a baroque/grotesque sensibility, EL JOROBADO DE LA MORGUE could be considered a follow-up to the earlier EL GRAN AMOR DEL CONDE DRACULA. Both films were produced by writer/journalist Manuel Leguineche and directed by Javier Aguirre, two intellectuals who employed the horror genre for subterfuge against the decades-long fascistic government of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Leguineche, a friend of Naschy’s father, had solicited the actor/scriptwriter for two horror films treatments, and within a month Naschy provided both the Dracula and hunchback stories. Leguineche also brought in experimental filmmaker Aguirre to direct, an inspired choice as these two Aguirre films would become landmarks in Spanish horror cinema. (Naschy would also appear in another Aguirre film a year later, EL ASESINO ESTA ENTRE LOS TRECE [THE KILLER IS ONE OF THE THIRTEEN], but his role was minor and the film not a success.) Joining in as producer on the hunchback film was Francisco Lara Polop, a scriptwriter who would direct his own horror film that year, the luxuriantly atmospheric LA MANSION DE LA NIEBLA (English title: MURDER MANSION).

Critical to the film would be its visual look. Cameraman Raul Perez Cubero, whose future would hold three nominations for Spain’s version of the Oscar, the Goya, and a win for his cinematography on YOU'RE THE ONE (2000), handled the photography, as he had done in EL GRAN AMORE DEL CONDE DRACULA. In both films he evoked a memorable texture of morbidity and the other-worldliness inhabited by the damned and the forgotten.

For Naschy his role would be one more addition to his ever-growing roster of portraying classic monster parts. He had already played a wolfman (numerous times), Mr. Hyde and Count Dracula, so it seemed natural for him to appear as a hunchback, this one named Wolfgang Gotho in tribute to Mozart and the wolf in Naschy.

Most of the cast assembled had been already initiated into fantastique. Maria Elena Arpon, who played Gotho’s primary love interest, is otherwise best remembered by euro-cult film fans as the first cinematic victim of the Blind Dead in Amando de Ossorio’s LA NOCHE DEL TERROR NOCHE (English title: TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD, 1971). The Austrian actress Maria Perschy had a substantial resume by 1972, with credits that included Jess Franco’s THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU (1969) and Gordon Hessler’s MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1971).

The role of the scientist, Dr. Orla, was handled with flavorful efficiency by the sympathetic-looking Alberto Dalbes, who was on his way to becoming a frequently employed actor in Jess Franco movies. Born in Argentina in 1922, Dalbes studied Philosophy and Literature for a teaching profession, but dropped that ambition to embrace acting. Before moving to Spain in the 1960s, Dalbes had a successful theatrical and film career in his native Argentina during the 1940s and 50s.

Another Argentinean, Rosanna Yanni, essayed the curious role of Elke who, through either perverse inclination or romantic idealism, falls in love with the hunchbacked simpleton. Born Marta Susana Yanni Paxot in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1938, Yanni began her entertainment career at twenty-two as a chorus girl at the Buenos Aires National Theater and later modeled in Italy, to finally settle in Spain in 1963, where she found regular work in comedies, adventure films and horror films. Her first horror film was, in fact, Naschy’s first--LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO. Her four films with Naschy, two with Jess Franco, and one with Blind Dead creator Amando de Ossorio have yearned her the affection and admiration of euro-cult film fans.

Vic Winner (Victor Alcazar) had already appeared with Naschy in EL GRAN AMOR DEL CONDE DRACULA and now took on his typical middling leading man role. Like Yanni, he would star in four Naschy films and is considered part of a beloved-by-fans Naschy troupe. Despite his calm, even lethargic looks, Winner energized himself in the future with scriptwriting and directing (non-horror) films under his real name and as Victor Barrera.

Antonio Pica’s solid and handsome presence typecast him as a police inspector in four Naschy films, while his crime-investigating partner in the hunchback film, Manuel de Blas, had played the Dracula role in Naschy’s, LOS MONSTRUOS DEL TERROR (English title: ASSIGNMENT TERROR, 1970). At the time Blas was married to Spanish cult-film icon Patty Shepard (another Naschy co-star!). He has remained a busy actor to this day.

Splendid locales were employed. The impressive Bavaria-like town of Viella in the Pyrenees Mountains substituted for Feldkirch, Austria, while the expansive cellars of Spain’s first king, Philip II, became the eerie subterranean hell in which Gotho hides and Dr. Orla sets up his laboratory. Madrid’s Hospital Provincial morgue provided a most suitable location for the shuffling midnight footsteps and barbarity of the hunchback.

The palpable gruesome atmosphere of the morgue scenes was easily inspired by the actual doings of the morgue staff. Naschy details one such moment in his autobiography, MEMOIRS OF A WOLFMAN (Midnight Marquee Press, 2000; translated by Mike Hodges): “On one occasion a dead man’s head was left poking out of the casket, and when one of the attendants pushed down on the rotten corpse, it sprang up and spewed a green vicious liquid over him.”

Permission was given to use a real corpse for a head-severing scene. Naschy took two swigs of whiskey but couldn’t get past the first cut into the throat. A dummy head was used thereafter.

In the film’s most talked about sequence, Naschy was set upon by real rats. Naschy had to be inoculated against possible rabies, and one would have expected Maria Elena Arpon to have been afforded the same precaution, as that was her, not a mannequin, lying on a slab with the rodents nestling and nibbling all over her.

“It was as terrifying as it was real,” Naschy commented about his rat scene in his autobiography. “The Ibys Institute caught a load of rats in the sewers and left them without food for some time. Once loosed on the set the filthy little beasts proved able to leap up to a meter high, sinking their needle sharp teeth into anything at hand. I felt their bites on several parts of my anatomy and wondered what would have happened to me if I hadn’t been wearing protection. It wasn’t a nice scene to shoot.”

As payment for their furious cameo roles, some of the rats were burned alive on camera. It was as terrifying as it was real.

On a deeper level of significance, Dr. Orla symbolized authority, while Gotho represented the subdued working class, striving for a ludicrous goal manufactured by leaders who know that the goal can never be attained but use it anyway to secure cheap labor and subservience. At one point, Dr, Orla makes it clear: “You see, Gotho, how the most insignificant person can be of use to science and to humanity. All you have to do is let yourself be led by a real leader.”

The film’s evolving outrageousness and grotesqueness, issuing from the pit of Spain’s monarchist and inquisitorial past, even from mankind’s primordial past, could not help but subliminally shake the principles of faith and tradition propping Spanish society. What better ruse than to use a horror film, which had been traditionally thought of as trash by many critics, as a release of political and social commentary (and sexual imagery) forbidden by the regime of Generalissimo Franco?

Unlike EL GRAN AMOR DEL CONDE DRACULA, Naschy’s hunchback film lacked the frequent nudity of the other film’s export version, however. A promotional still of a bare-chested Naschy with an equally bare-chested Rosanna Yanni exists, but such a scene never made it to the finished product, though Yanni’s breasts are very briefly on display in the uncensored international cut. Otherwise, in terms of nudity, the film is chaste at this point, probably having been pruned significantly when the script was sent to Spain’s censorship board and then when handed in for review.

And there are several moments that would have easily lent themselves to generous displays of female flesh: a whipping scene at a reformatory and Gotho’s kidnappings of women, one taking place while a woman is showering. There may have been good reason not to shoot, or promote, a “double version” for these scenes. With the censorship that EL GRAN AMOR DEL CONDE DRACULA suffered (in one interview Naschy mentioned 36 cuts!), the producers would have been justified in not having this new film go through excisions that could have hollowed out portions of their film around the world.

For his performance as Wolfgang Gotho, Naschy won the Georges Melies Award for best actor at the Second International Festival of Fantastic Cinema in Paris in 1973, beating out such established figures as Christopher Lee, Jason Robards and Herbert Lom. At the festival where he received his award, he met director Terence Fisher, who complimented him on his role and showed enthusiasm in making a Jekyll and Hyde picture with the Spanish actor/scriptwriter. (Dare we note some similarity between EL JOROBADO DE LA MORGUE and Fisher’s 1974 FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL?)

For Naschy the award had particular significance. It meant that his name and the Spanish horror film had entered the ranks of actors and films recognized and applauded on an international scale. EL JOROBADO DE LA MORGUE would validate what LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS had begun. The Spanish horror film had come into its own.

Now, weeks after the death of Paul Naschy on November 30, 2009, the first appearance on NTSC DVD of this Naschy classic comes from Mya to street in January. From what I can tell the source is the Spanish version (released by Spain's TriPictures several years ago) with the brief nude scene involving Rossana Yanni replacing the Spanish clothed edit. Pluses include English subtitles for all three audio track--Spanish, Italian and English. It has been Mya's policy not to have English subtitles when English audio is present, but thankfully here the company has gone the extra mile to supply English subs. There's also a photo/pressbook gallery (borrowing from Anolis' German DVD release of this title), a comparison between the nude scene and the non-nude one, the American trailer, and the Italian credits sequences (the beginning credits have different music replacing the familiar accordion um-pa-pa, and are white lettering over a black background). Colors are quite good, with blacks being very solid. Picture quality is a bit on the soft side. There's some slight aliasing and shifting to the picture at times, which will probably be more apparent on better systems will larger monitors. I also noticed two quick, minor horizontal breakups during a fight scene between Gotho and the Vic Winner character. The DVD can be ordered from Amazon.com.

German trailer for the Anolis DVD edition:

Shake-ups at ADA

2009-12-10T17:21:00.006-05:00

Variety is reporting that the sales staff of ADA (Alternative Distribution Alliance) is being merged into Warner Brothers' distributing arm, WEA. The article continues:

"A source said that 17 staffers are exiting the company. Among those departing is former ADA president Andy Allen, who had acted as a consultant to the firm for the past couple of years. WMG is also reportedly closing ADA's video arm, Filmworks; VPs Jay Douglas and Rob McDonald are ankling as a result."

Why does this concern us? Well, ADA (which used to be Ryko until April) distributes Mya in the United States, as well as other indie DVD labels such as Blue Underground, Synapse and Mondo Macabro!

At the moment this news doesn't appear to affect these DVD labels and their distribution, but one wonders if this is not a bad sign in that direction.

BTW, Warners owns 95% of ADA.

UNTIL DEATH - review

2009-12-10T10:06:00.011-05:00

Lucio Fulci thought he was going to direct this film, but instead the helming chores eventually went to Lamberto Bava, son of Mario Bava and a fine filmmaker in his own right. PER SEMPRE (UNTIL DEATH) was a feature for Italian television, part of the 4-film series, Brivido Giallo (literally, Yellow Shiver). The other films in this series: UNA NOTTE AL CIMITERO (GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE), LA CASA DELL'ORCO (THE OGRE) and A CENA COL VAMPIRO (DINNER WITH A VAMPIRE). The now-defunct Italian NoShame division released a box set in 2006 with all four films, subtitled "Gli Incubi di Lamerto Bava/The Nightmares of Lamberto Bava." Of these, only THE OGRE has yet to be released by Mya.

I've not seen a significant amount of Lamberto Bava's output, but UNTIL DEATH makes me take special notice as this film is a splendid chiller that starts slowly, builds up its mystery, then, in the last 15 minutes or so, unleashes some terrifying sequences and images--not gross-out horror, but horror of incident, with some subtle, but impacting special effects and makeup.

Italy's master of cult screenplays, Dardano Sacchetti, had a hand in the story and script of lovers, Linda (Gioia Scola) and Carlo (David Brandon), who do away with and bury Linda's husband. They proceed to lead quasi-normal lives thereafter as restaurateurs, until the appearance several years later of a mysterious, handsome and intense young man, Marco (Urbano Barberini), who begins a simmering seduction of Linda. But along with Marco arrive occurrences that Linda's husband may still be alive. Are these occurrences the work of a noisy cop who dines at their restaurant, a squeeze play upon the couple's guilt? Or is something else, something more frightening happening?

All three actors are spot-on in their performances, and Simon Boswell's electronic score is sure to provide a nostagic fix to euro-cult fans who remember the Italian age of horror of the 1980s when Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci were kings. Lamberto Bava handles everything with smooth discipline and focus, injecting eerie suspense and touches of fantasy when necessary, before letting nightmares attain full expression at the end.

As with other films from the Dania catalog, UNTIL DEATH is very good pictorially. The English audio suffers later in the film from some minor ticking; unfortunately the superior Italian audio, which contains more pronounced incidental sounds (like water lapping when the characters are by a lake) is not subtitled in English, as is the norm for Mya titles that have an English audio track.

The Mya DVD is available at Amazon.com.

---------------

The start of a splendidly chilling sequence from UNTIL DEATH:

See you later....!

Coming in March 2010

2009-12-05T10:16:00.004-05:00

"The Films of Antonio Bonifacio." Or at least two of them: APPUNTAMENTO EN NERO (1990, aka, SCANDAL IN BLACK, NAKED RAGE, BLIND DATE--Mya's title) and KREOLA (1993).

BLIND DATE is supposed to be a nasty and sleazy later-day giallo. There's a review of the film on the Euro Fever blog--but, warning, a lot of spoilers there. KREOLA stars the Valentina woman, Demetra Hampton, who was actually born in Philadelphia! The one review of this film on the IMDB is not positive, but it does imply a slight supernatural element.

Now it will be for us to evaluate the work of director Antonio Bonifacio!

Coming in February 2010

2009-11-21T23:59:00.015-05:00

Only one film is on Mya's schedule to come out in February of next year: ANNA - THE PLEASURE, THE TORMENT, with Edwige Fenech. This had been released by NoShame in the United States in 2005 as SECRETS OF A CALL GIRL. The original Italian title is ANNA, QUEL PARTICOLARE PIACERE (ANNA, THAT PARTICULAR PLEASURE.)

Mya's promo copy reads:

International sex symbol Edwige Fenech stars as Anna, a girl as beautiful as she is naïve, who falls into an abusive relationship with international crime boss Guido. He soon forces Anna deep into the abyss of depravity, violence and prostitution and, looking to start a new life, she escapes from Guido and seeks the help of Lorenzo, a sensitive doctor. But Guido finds her and wants revenge on the woman whose life he has so ruthlessly controlled for so long. In the end, Anna has no choice left but to face her wicked tormenter and fight him with all her strength.

This will be the 44th release from Mya.

Cover of the CD soundtrack release from Hexacord (limited to 500 copies):

Originally RCA put out the score on LP, with far less cues:

The score featured the vocals of Edda dell'Orso.

EVIL FACE - review

2009-10-30T08:44:00.011-04:00

As the director of what were to become a couple of "video nasties" in Britain (SS: EXPERIMENT CAMP, SS CAMP 55: WOMEN'S HELL), Sergio Garrone is certainly an institution in euro-cult films. While his Nazi-exploitation films are notoriously known, his work in the horror genre, limited as director to two films, is rarely seen. Mya's release of LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE (THE HAND THAT FEEDS THE DEAD; on the Mya DVD as EVIL FACE) now provides one half of Garrone's horror output, the other half being LE AMANTI DEL MOSTRO (LOVER OF THE MONSTER), a film that shares much of the same cast, crew and locations. Both films are distinguished by their placement in a late 19th century East Europe or Russia, a world seemingly separated from humanity, where passions and bizarre weirdness can flourish, unseen by society or any national authorities. It helps enormously that Klaus Kinski is at the head of these two productions, and that the music by Elio Maestosi and Stefano Liberati provides an emotional handle on the stories and passions of the characters.

LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE takes its cues from surgery horror films like EYES WITHOUT A FACE and THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF. Here Professor Nijinsky (Klaus Kinski) attempts to surgically reclaim the beauty of his burn-scared wife Tanja (Katia Christine), the daughter of the late Baron Ivan Rassimov (yes, "Ivan Rassimov"!), who died tragically in a laboratory fire. Professor Nijinsky, a devoted assistant of Rassimov, needs the skins of beautiful women for his work. With the unexpected but welcome arrival of a newly married couple, Nijinsky finds his most suitable source of flesh in the bride (also played by Katia Christine).

Garrone builds up his suspense through a stately, not flashy, progression of incidents. It's not art, but it does have eventual impact, providing several memorable frissions in the last fifteen minutes or so of LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE. (Btw, the original title makes no sense in the context of the film; Mya's new title--EVIL FACE--is suitable, however much it lacks in finesse.)

Klaus Kinski performs with his usual mixture of somberness and intensity, though his presence on the shoot must have been limited, as in most of the lab scenes a stand-in, mask covering face to hide the duplicity, takes his place. Kinski's most amazing moment comes when he talks to a doll, Anjuska, about his love for his wife and his dejection over her betrayal. Though the set-up may seem completely ridiculous, Kinski manages to searingly impress us with his character's suffering sincerity. It's a dazzling lesson in acting.

Special effects are handled with gruesome expertness by Carlo Rambaldi, and the set decoration and costume design by co-producer Amedeo Mellone are precise and fine. Though obviously done on a limited budget, the film has a suitably rich veneer for its intentions.

As with their presentation of L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO (LUCIFERA, DEMONLOVER), Mya uses an obvious video element for its source. This time, though, the presentation is in the film's proper aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (non-anamorphic) and the colors are bolder and the picture sharper. If it weren't for the numerous video imperfections that streak throughout the play of the film, and the noticeable aliasing that comes from using analog video, the quality would have been quite good.

Mya's presentation is in the original Italian language, with optional English subtitles. (The film probably never had English dubbing.) Included is a picture gallery, mainly of Italian photobustas. There are a couple of cover shots of recent CD releases from the score, one cue from which is obviously used for the menu screen, as it has a fuller and cleaner timbre than what comes across in the film itself.

EVIL FACE is available on Amazon.com.

LUCIFERA, DEMONLOVER - review

2009-10-16T14:00:00.029-04:00

L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO, the original title of the film now released by Mya as LUCIFERA, DEMONLOVER, was chiefly known by euro-horror enthusiasts for a couple of lascivious stills that have appeared in magazines and books since the film's production date of 1971. Otherwise, the film, which apparently has never had English dubbing, was little seen, except by those who chose to order a video or DVD-R from bootleggers. Even then, the film was not available with English subtitling. At the very least its appearance on the Mya DVD is welcome, because now, with optional English subtitles, the Anglo-speaking viewer can understand what the hell is going on. Other aspects of this release are problematic, as will be discussed later in this review.

It's understandable why L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO never had a theatrical release in the United States. Despite those hot stills, the film contains little exploitative elements and drive. A cave scene with nude women and a nude blonde vampire seems tacked in and provides little eros, only a smattering of ridiculousness; an end torture scene, though it promises much, is demur even by 1970s standards. L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO doesn't even rely on atmosphere that much, but rather on incident, plot. These are presented in a pleasing old-fashioned, matter-of-fact way, a tale for a campfire or beside a cozy hearth on a cold windy night.

[Spoilers in the paragraph below.]

At its heart L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO is a fairytale of a woman and the Devil. Three women in contemporary Europe, impelled by one--the adventurous Helga (Rosalba Neri)--arrive to visit a castle that is rumored for housing the Devil. They spend the night at the castle, with Helga falling into a night-long dream of a past life in another century in which she became the bride of the village's prime young and handsome bachelor, Hans. The Devil (Edmund Purdom) intrudes, however, seducing Helga, who craves more than what a traditional life can offer--and torrid passion from a lover, which the gentile and boyishly clumsy Hans cannot provide. The Devil is never to be trusted, of course, and he lays a trap for Helga that will see her caught by the townspeople as a witch. Yet the film doesn't end with a mere Faustian warning, for not only does the Devil win, but the woman does, too. We find out that, contrary to the records of her trial, she did not repent her sins and dealings with the Devil, and has now turned up, reincarnated, to relive her frightful yet pleasurably consuming experiences in a dream. The night and the dream over, the contemporary Helga's last expressions are of wistful, if not bemused, contentment. She is pleased. The Devil is pleased, as well. Both share a common knowledge and satisfaction of their passionate connection in another life. It is this no-regrets, anti-religious stance, subtly underlined, that raises L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO above many other Devil stories, which tend to be moralistic warnings about dealings with demons and evil.

Composer Elvio Monti's catchy music helps the picture establish the proper euro mood, and the Italian countryside breathes with the spaciousness of a different, more tranquil time. Occasionally, cinematographer Antonio Midica's compositions attempt to recall Dutch paintings, but there's a periodic clunky element to Francesco Bertuccioli's editing that reveals the low-budget nature of the film--and the possible cuts made to it.

Shamefully, Paolo Lombardo, the scriptwriter and director, almost hides Rosabla Neri's body from us, shooting any nude scenes with her in a coy manner. What was he thinking? (Or did Neri insist on such prudish tactics?) He also duplicates a lovers-beyond-fire scene from LADY FRANKENSTEIN, though it's unlikely he was familiar with this film during his helming of L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO.

It is not Rosalba Neri who makes a strong impression, however, but Edmund Purdom, who has only minutes in the film, yet steals every second with a reptilian seductiveness and charm. When he was briefly a major Hollywood player in the early part of his career (THE EGYPTIAN, THE PRODIGAL, etc.), the Jesuit and Benedictine-educated Purdom seemed a stiff presence, but here he's loosened up completely and enjoying himself. A delightful devil.

It's unfortunate that Edmund Purdom passed away in January 2009, so that we are denied having an opportunity ask him about his euro product that's now seeing more light of day on DVD. I've a feeling that Purdom would probably have forgotten much about this film, though, as would Neri, but it would have been interesting to trek with him his Italian journey and impressions after his Hollywood days.

Mention should also be made of Robert Woods, who, as Helmuth, provides an inflamed sincerity to his role as Hans' rival and an anchor to the more serious elements of the story.

For the DVD presentation, Mya uses a noticeable video element that will look the poorer the better one's player system. In darker scenes tinges of muddiness compromise the picture and, just as reminder of the source material, stark video glitches momentarily pop up now and then. Furthermore, the presentation is full-frame, slicing off the film's more generous original widescreen framing. There are glaring day for night errors that no one seems to have had any concern to correct, probably even when the film was being theatrically exhibited around the world in the 1970s. Curiously, the opening credits are played over a black screen, unlike the drive to the castle that shows up in another version. (Check this blog page.) Despite these disappointments (which some will rightfully howl about), enough comes across, so that one can enjoy film on its own merits. Remember: it's the story that counts. Engaging the viewer through incidents and a fairytale's innate appeal, L'AMANTE DE DEMONIO is ultimately haunting, at least for me, and will leave a positive impression behind that so many other films, louder and with far heftier budgets, cannot produce.

L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO (LUCIFERA, DEMONLOVER) is available from Amazon.com.

Two Reviews

2009-10-07T22:54:00.004-04:00

Here are reviews of Mya's ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN and ITALIAN SEX, with screen captures, by Eric Cotenas over at DVD Beaver. The good news with FISHMEN is that it's correctly audio pitched, unlike the PAL NoShame DVD.

Mya's January 2010 Releases

2009-09-28T17:44:00.003-04:00

Mya's January 2010 releases have been announced: BLADE OF THE RIPPER (previously available in a now OOP NoShame release as THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH), DESIRABLE TEACHER, SEX ADVICE and SATAN'S WIFE. I'm particularly looking forward to SATAN'S WIFE, otherwise known as RING OF DARKNESS. A Pier Carpi film, it stars Anne Heywood, John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, with music by Stelvio Cipriani. Satanism and nudity Italian style. The cover art for this is most suggestive...with that phallic-looking thumb placement.

The Fishmen Are Coming!

2009-08-21T17:34:00.006-04:00

The Mya release of ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN, delayed for a while, is around the corner. Rights issues related to Roger Corman's acquisition of the film (that would be re-edited and released as SOMETHING WAITS IN THE DARK and, later, SCREAMERS) have been resolved.

An Avalanche of November Releases!

2009-08-01T11:50:00.006-04:00

Mya is projecting street dates of six releases on November 24: HUMAN COBRAS (L'UOMO PIU VELENOSO DEL COBRA), Laura Gemser's film debut THE REAL EMANUELLE (AMORE LIBRO), THE CRICKET (LA CICALA), LADY MEDIC (LA SOLDATESSA ALLA VISITA MILITARE; Edwige Fenech stars), Joe D'Amato's THE LAST DECAMERON, and THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE (EL JOROBADO DE LA MORGUE; Paul Naschy stars). I'll be discussing each film in the weeks to come.

Correction

2009-07-16T13:34:00.009-04:00

I've confirmed with Mya that the October release of the Klaus Kinski horror film EVIL FACE is actually LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE (THE HAND THAT FEEDS THE DEAD) and not LE AMANTI DEL MOSTRO, as previously noted. Ironically, I had earlier mentioned how both films, shot concurrently or back-to-back, get mixed up by many.

Here's a locandina from LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE:

And an early video release:

Someone on the Italian eBay is auctioning a book of over 160 photos from this film. A sample:

Hmm, our kind of film!

Just as it would have been good to have LE AMANTI DEL MOSTRO on DVD, so it will be good to have LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE in that format. Hopefully, the companion film will also be released by Mya in the future.

Mya's October Releases

2009-07-10T18:01:00.009-04:00

There's no stopping Mya! Scheduled to street October 27 are the following titles: EVIL FACE (LE AMANTI DEL MOSTRO, 1974), FAMILY SCANDAL (PECCATO ORIGINALE, 1980)and GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE (UNA NOTTE AL CIMITERO, 1987).

Let's take a look at the first of these future releases--EVIL FACE.

The DVD artwork is a combination of an Italian locandina for LADY FRANKENSTEIN and poster work for the Jess Franco film, JACK THE RIPPER. Below is the original locandina for the film, which certainly would have been effective:

The Italian poster looked like this:

The English translation of the Italian title is LOVER OF THE MONSTER. I'm not aware of it ever being titled EVIL FACE. The film is directed by Serigo Garrone, the infamous director of S.S. EXPERIMENT CAMP, and was shot back-to-back or concurrently with THE HAND THAT FEEDS THE DEAD (LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE), with which it is sometimes confused. Amusingly, several of the names of the characters--"Polanski," "Ivan Rassimov"--are in-jokes.

The website Santo & Friends states:

"A beautifully shot gothic horror film starring Kinski who gives a excellent and sympathetic performance. The cinematography and music do much to enhance a captivating story. Dutch actress Katia Christine is exceptionally gorgeous as Alex’s unloving wife."

You are a Great Read Award

2009-07-06T23:00:00.004-04:00

I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that this blog has just received a "You are a Great Read!" award from the Marisa Mell Blog run by Mirko di Wallenberg. This is an award that a blog gives three blogs that they feel stand out from the many others out there, and then those blogs give the award to other blogs, and so on. Mirko (good name!) said of this blog:

"First, there is the always entertaining "MYA"-blog "http://myadvd.blogspot.com/" solely dedicated to a relatively new DVD label publishing Italian movies that have never been published before on DVD or making some older movies again available for a new generation. In these harsh times I find it very courageous to start a new DVD label while a lot of the other companies are quiting the once blooming market. Mya offers each month several new releases and that should be supported by all the fans of Italian genre movies!"

Thank you, Mirko, and now I'll have to select three blogs myself!

THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE trailer

2009-06-18T15:24:00.004-04:00

I'm preparing a major review of THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE, the latest DVD from Mya, which seems to be doing well, having sold out at least in the renowned Kim's Video Store, here in Manhattan. Meanwhile, below is the American trailer for the film, which was released in the States as THE FEMALE BUTCHER.

Regarding the music experiment I placed on the blog, and the poll asking readers' opinion of it, 40% liked it very much, 20% weren't bothered by the music, while the remaining 40% nixed the idea in some form. I myself was having troubles, going in and out of posts, updating them, and having the same song replayed whenever I would move away from the main page. And the music conflicted with any YouTube clip. I still may do something with euro-music, but have it as a separate blog that people could listen to at their wish and convenience.

Mya's September Releases - UNTIL DEATH

2009-06-17T22:13:00.004-04:00

The third release coming from Mya in September is Lamberto Bava's UNTIL DEATH (FINO ALLA MORTE, 1987). Shot for Italian DVD, this film has a good reputation, with a reviewer on the IMDB remarking: "The film that this one takes most of its influence from is undoubtedly the 1946 masterpiece The Postman Always Rings Twice (which coincidently (or not) was remade six years before this film), and this is shown by the central plot and characters; all of which are clearly reminiscent of the earlier film. However, this is an Italian movie - so you can count on a few over the top surprises!" And: "...the film features some brilliantly atmospheric music along with a quality cast of actors, most of which have worked with big names such as Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento."

Another reviewer: "When it comes to atmosphere and horrific mood-setting, this definitely is one of Lamberto Bava's best accomplishments. The music is also good and the acting is far above Italian standards, with Gioia Scola (Lucio Fulci's 'Conquest'), Urbano Barberini (Dario Argento's 'Opera') and especially David Brandon, the mean-looking actor from 'Delirium' and 'Caligola – the Untold Story'. Recommended!"

This film was released on DVD in Italy by NoShame in 2006.

Mya's September Releases - NAKED AND VIOLENT

2009-06-13T16:07:00.011-04:00

Before he became a master of the giallo form, director Sergio Martino was responsible for a few "mondo" movies. One of these, NAKED AND VIOLENT (AMERICA COSI NUDA, COSI VIOLENTA, 1970) is forthcoming from Mya in September and not on the Mya master list I provided a couple of months ago. So, another surprise.

This is a very rare film, with almost nothing written about it that I could find. According to a listing for the film in a couple of Italian websites, NAKED AND VIOLENT is a look behind the facade of then contemporary America, showing the moral and spiritual poverty of the country, and underlying this by exploring such mondo subjects as bourgeoisie orgies, crime, racial persecution, etc. Edmund Purdom does the narration, and Bruno Nicolai handles the music. Purdom also narrated Martino's first mondo (which was Martino's first film), MONDO SEX (MILLE PECCATI... NESSUNA VIRTU, 1969), of which author Mark Goodall wrote in SWEET & SAVAGE (Headpress, 2006): "... well-executed, colourful, crisply edited and entertaining.... One can see from this film why Purdom was favoured so much as the voice of English mondo. His narration is hugely varied, expressive and like Ustinov, Purdom delights in 'admiring' pretty young girls and aping the accents of foreigners...." One expects something similar with NAKED AND VIOLENT, though taking place in the United States, obviously. Should prove interesting.

Italian poster:

Belgian poster:

Mya's September releases - LUCIFERA, DEMON LOVER

2009-06-08T14:33:00.015-04:00

Good stuff coming up from Mya in September--all horror/exploitation related. First up is LUCIFERA, DEMON LOVER. This 1972 film, directed by Paolo Lombardi, stars Edmund Purdom and Rosalba Neri. The original Italian title is L'AMANTE DEL DEMONIO. The single review on the IMDB acclaims: "Wonderful Pop-realistic masterpiece, with one of the best Rosalba Neri's performance." The trivia comment is: "Rosalba Neri was really scared shooting this horror movie." Midnight Video's promo reads: "Rosalba and two girlfriends visit a remote mansion where she comes across a portrait of a woman who looks much like her. While sleeping, she has dreams of this woman's (her) past which include: cave dwelling rapists, sadistic vampires, inquisition and a mysterious red-hooded, cloaked, disappearing swordsman. An extremely obscure, haunting and hypnotic film with beautiful scenery and photography that is a must for Rosalba Neri fans. An excellent film in original Italian dialog (never available in English spoken)."

As noted by Rogerio Ferraz over at Lovelockandload.com (hat tip to "bdc"), the artwork is taken from a Lucifera fumetti (with additional breast covering), which may be the first time a fumetti cover has been employed for a DVD cover. (Fumetti artists were notorious for taking images from films and other artwork, so that's why you see the familiar face from Freda's THE GHOST in there.) The connection with the fumetti is unclear at this point.

And here's a clip from this film:

Later addition: Below is the opening credit sequence. Nice euro-music from Elvio Monti. What's interesting is there's no mention of the film being based on the Lucifera fumetti (in fact, the source is given as a Grand Guignol tale), indicating to me that there's no connection between the two, aside from the title given this DVD release. What I think happened is that the Lucifera fumetti was apparently subtitled "L'amante del demonio," hence the confusion. The Lucifera adults-only comic began in 1971 and ended in 1980. The character was created by Giorgio Cavedon; the illustrations were done by Leone Frollo, Edoardo Morricone, and others.

RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR review

2009-06-01T12:50:00.016-04:00

Originally titled in English THREE GIANTS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, the Italian title--IL RITORNO DEL GLADIATORE PIU FORTE DEL MONDO (THE RETURN OF THE STRONGEST GLADIATOR IN THE WORLD)--has been simplified for the Mya DVD release as RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR. The film's theatrical Italian release occurred in the summer of 1971. By that time, the sword-and-sandal (or peplum) film had long disappeared as being a viable genre, though occasionally an attempt was made to pump some life back into it, particularly after the success of John Milius' CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982).

Brad Harris (who, for you youngsters, looks a bit like Daniel Craig, but with genuine toughness) stars as Marcus, a former gladiator from the border of the Roman Empire, who now holds a high position in the Roman army. He is sent on a secret mission to a rebellious part of the Empire, which just happens to be that area he once called home. Joining him are two companions, one of whom, a habitual thief, The Fox (played by Raf Baldassarre), is the comedic presence in the film. There's a lot of potential in such a plot, but the problem is that the script doesn't take advantage of this intriguing idea at all, meandering instead into a series of ho-hum escapes and fights.

Brad Harris was born July 16, 1933, and was one of a group of American strong types who went to Italy to initiate careers in the Italian film industry after Steve Reeves made such an international impact with HERCULES (1958). Harris' first role in Italy was GOLIATH AGAINST THE GIANTS (GOLIATH CONTRO I GIGANTI, 1961), and he followed that with two more peplums, SAMSON (SANSONE) and THE FURY OF HERCULES (LA FURIA DI ERCOLE), both shot back to back by Gianfranco Parolini in 1961. These films, and similar ones like THE DESTRUCTION OF HERCULANEUM (ANNO 79: LA DISTRUZIONE DE EROLANO, 1962), made Harris a well-known peplum B-star, but he didn't limit himself to the genre when the signs started coming that the genre was passing its golden period. With the James Bond spy craze abooming, Harris found employment in copycat films, many produced by the West Germans, such as the Kommissar X series with Tony Kendell as his partner.

Harris was also a part of the adventure comedy THE THREE SUPERMEN IN TOKYO (TRE SUPERMEN A TOKIO, 1967), directed by RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR's Bitto Albertini. One gathers that the original English title of RETURN OF GLADIATOR--THREE GIANTS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (which is seen on the print Mya has used for the DVD)--is purposefully patterned after the titles of the Supermen film and its follow-up, also directed by Albertini and also starring Harris, THE THREE SUPERMEN IN THE JUNGLE (CHE FANNI I NOSTRI SUPERMEN TRA LE VERGINI DELLA GIUNGLA, 1968). Who knew that the Supermen films were so successful as to initiate imitations.

In his career Brad Harris was active behind the camera, too, executive producing KING OF KONG ISLAND, THE MUTATIONS, and other films. His long and varied filmography makes Harris leader of the peplum pack of actors, in terms of staying power in the film business. He's still active out there with AbOriginals (part of his Modern Body Design business), which, as the name suggests, deals with developing exceptional abs, a Harris physique trademark. Now in his mid-70s, Harris maintains a splendid physique, exercising daily, seven days a week, from 40 to 45 minutes and watching his diet. (Check out his routines and nutritional program in this IRON MAN MAGAZINE online article.) He appears to live very well by his motto: “Stay Fit, Have Fun, Harm No One, Inspire Everyone.”

Though he's around a lot in RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR, Harris seems underused, relying chiefly on acting skills that none of the strongmen peplum actors were particularly favored with. What they were favored with, and cultivated, were well-muscled bodies, and here the film just briefly shows off Harris' attributes in the film's best segment--the test of strength where two teams of horses, at opposite ends, attempt to pull apart the hero.

The legendary Massimo Serato (working under the name of "John Barracuda"!) is okay here as the villain of the piece, but obviously no match for Harris when the two have their final confrontation. Michel Lemoine (NECRONOMICON and CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH) fares better in a slimy second-tier villain role, but like Harris, his talents are underused.

Considering the low-budget on pained display, the scenes of armies marching and the final battle show surprising merit, including the use of a cast of several hundreds. These scenes, however, seem to be borrowed from another film or outtakes from another film. I’d like to know which film, as they promise the potential of a decent historical movie.

There are a couple of comedic segments in RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR that seem odd, given the more rigorous tone of the script. The worst one is a post-eating burping contest that follows a sped-up film segment of the heroic threesome ravishing a cooked chicken. And then there’s the amazing "golden shower" scene, when The Fox, hiding away from soldiers, gets a steady downpour of pee on his face--and into his open mouth! I wonder if the Supermen films had this type of broad slapstick.

I remember watching films like RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR when I was in the Army and stationed in Panama. There, I would adventurously go to Panama City's poorer neighborhoods to catch odd euro-films that were never exhibited in the United States. The print quality of these films was typically mediocre, diluted of freshness and vibrancy of color, and the projection was equally subpar, but one came away with an appreciation at experiencing the underbelly of Italian cinema in a non-deluxe environment found in a poor country. (In an online interview, Harris refers to himself as being a star in third-world countries.)

Mya's release is acceptable, though certainly not taken from vault elements. (I doubt anyone has really saved the negative of this film under exacting condition, but who knows?) The action behind the beginning credits suffers from some digital effects, but the rest of the film seems to play out fairly smoothly, with a possible exception or two. Though listed in some places online as having an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, the film is presented in scope (ca. 2.23:1), non-anamorphic, with an Italian audio option, but no English subtitles for that option, something that appears standard on all Mya releases in which an English audio track exists. A pity here, because the English dubbing is fairly drab while the Italian dubbing actors are much more lively and secure in their performances.

The Mya DVD is available at Amazon.com

Rare Italian poster for this film:

FATTY GIRL GOES TO NEW YORK review

2009-05-18T09:04:00.021-04:00

It takes a brave reviewer, even when supplied with a free review copy of the DVD, to watch a film with a title like FATTY GIRL GOES TO NEW YORK (1982). That title and a comedic DVD cover seem to be a warning to all that "only a limited Italian audience into wacky Italian comedies is going to enjoy this film." That's actually not far off from the truth, but FATTY GIRL does allow for some considerations otherwise, and in an odd, perhaps unnerving way, the film does stay in the mind a bit longer than most dispensable movie product.

FATTY GIRL (CICCIABOMBA in the original Italian) is really a showcase for the singer/actress Donatella Rettore, a complete unknown in the United States, but someone with a following in Italy--and perhaps in a few other European countries as well. She has a very lengthy Italian Wikipedia entry devoted to her, and there's an official site, too, as well as an extensive unofficial site. Rettore fans are sure to pounce on this DVD release.

In a fat suit and with her cheeks stuffed, Rettore plays Miris, a sassy, overweight girl who rebels at the establishment and the Church, and is the leader of an ugly girls club at her school. She is played a cruel pratical joke by the hunk of the school. (Well, she did get him expelled from school.) About to commit suicide, Miris spots a prize winning notice in a box of chocolates in front of her. The prize: a free trip to New York. There, she's noticed by the Baroness Judith von Kemp, (played by Anita Ekberg, a welcome familiar presence in this film), whose deceased rich husband had invented a weight-reduction formula which the Baroness wants to test out on a subject. The guinea pig will be Miris.

Rettore handles the dual parts of fatty and skinny very well, particularly when she has to speak pigeon Italian as an American, but I have to say both her fatty and skinny roles got on my nerves--the fatty because of her obnoxiousness and loudness, the skinny because of those awful dog hairstyles that were popularly outrageous in the disco era and which Rettore wears as the then-epitome of contemporary coolness and sexiness.

The surprise is that all this fluffy comedy stuff was directed by Umberto Lenzi. Yes, the Umberto Lenzi of EATEN ALIVE and MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, and he does a respectable job throughout.

The New York scenes are quick location shoots, with the New York interiors being helmed in an Italian studio. I'm fascinated by such Manhattan location shoots, as they give glimpses into a gritter but still hip New York, including a Times Square that teemed with porno theaters and peep show stores--and adventurers like myself. I was living in the neighborhood at the time FATTY GIRL may have been shot there.

Ultimately, FATTY GIRL GOES TO NEW YORK ends on a happy note for everyone. The fade out song, which is begun with a convertible car ride down Times Square's Broadway, is "This Time," composed by Richard Kerr and Gary Osborne. Kerr is best known as having co-written several of Barry Manilow's hits, including "Mandy," and one does get a hybrid Manilowish glow about this rather sweet and innocent film from Lenzi.

FATTY GIRL GOES TO NEW YORK is available from Amazon.com. The film is in 1.85:1 ratio, non-anamorphic, in Italian audio only, with optional English subtitles. Print quality is on the soft side, but certainly acceptable.

Stephen Forsyth - Multidisciplinary Artist

2009-05-13T22:08:00.007-04:00

In doing some background research for my review of Mya's THE REVENGE OF THE CRUSADER, I came across a few videos that featured Stephen Forsyth, the co-star of that film and lead actor of Mario Bava's HATCHET FOR A HONEYMOON. Though I must have read this info on Tim Lucas' blog, in which Lucas writes about Forsyth's unused musical contribution to the maverick James Bond film, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, I've forgotten that Forsyth has had a post-acting career as a composer, performer, artist, photographer. Here's one of his videos:

Stephen Forsyth also has a website, where you can find out more about this work:

stephenforsyth.com

Forsyth's unused song to the Bond film, written with Jim Ryan, is available for listening here. The singer is Phyllis Hyman. The song was headed to be the theme song for NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, but the composer of the film's score, Michel Legrand, threatened to sue, claiming he had the contractual right to be composer of the film's title song. Legrand's resulting song was terrible (as was his score) and a precious opportunity was lost.

Incidentally, a YouTube video that merges the film's credit sequence with Forsyth and Ryan's song has been taken down due to terms of use violation, no doubt a complaint generated by the film's current owners who do not want to embarrass their deficient product. A rescoring of NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, using Forsyth and Ryan's discarded song, would do wonders for this film.

CRAVING DESIRE review

2009-04-28T09:32:00.006-04:00

I didn't expect to be depressed after seeing CRAVING DESIRE (GRAFFIANTE DESIDERIO, 1993). Really depressed. I expected that the film would be a kinky soft-core sex item that would, if successful, pleasantly stir the libido and nothing more. But, though it has some wonderful kinky moments, CRAVING DESIRE raises troubling and serious questions I wasn't expecting in regard to the man-woman relationship. Are the women a man falls in love with and lusts after a negative force in a man's life? Is there no "good woman" who will value and accept a man, if he is a nice guy, for what he is? And what is that damnable power a woman has that can drive a man to madness or destruction?

Ron Nummi plays the handsome and successful real estate executive, Luigi Muscati, who is nearing the date of his marriage. We meet his fiancee (played by Simona Borioni) and she is a poster girl for the bitchy female, situated in her own mind and behavior as Princess Who Must Be Obeyed, with giant expectations of how the man who is fortunate enough to be graced by her presence should act. As she gets ready for brief lovemaking, she admonishes Luigi: "Don't put your shoes on the bed. One of your habits that have got to go." Getting into bed, she nags him about the dripping faucet in the bathroom, and then: "Oh, God, what cold feet!... Don't mess my hair, it took me hours to get into shape!... You're so clumsy!" Hey, she's acting this way and they are still not married. Talk about jumping the gun!

Gliding into the picture is Luigi's cousin, Sonia, who has not had contact with him since she was a girl. A fully developed woman now (very much so!), Sonia's eyes twinkle with admiration and a mischievous coquetry. She initiates acts of seduction, while Luigi, still honorably devoted to his fiancee, tries to defend himself. Soon enough, the expectant happens: Luigi dumps his bitchy fiancee for the pleasures and giddy freedom that Sonia so joyously and provocatively offers. For Luigi, sex is now the best he's ever had. Where a man's penis goes, his head and heart follow. But, wait, there's a price to pay around the corner, which I won't get into so as not to spoil the plot.

Ron Nummi has an unassuming, likable, almost childlike presence here, thankfully absent any arrogance, and while initially you don't think he could handle the more dramatic parts of a role, Nummi, when necessary, proves himself to be an admirable actor with thespian stretch. As to the actresses.... Ah, this is the type of film that confirms (or keeps up the pretense) that every Italian woman wears sexy black stockings under her dress, and that sooner or later, a lingerie tease will be spotlighted for the man (temporary or not) in her life. As Sonia, Vittoria Belvedere is suitably hot and wild, and male viewers will greatly appreciate the moments when she reveals her body. Serena Grandi, known in the U.S. mostly for starring in Tinto Brass' MIRANDA (1985), is the epitomee of the MILF. To her, I surrender, and accept any damnation coming my way.

Both script and direction are by Sergio Martino, one of Italy's great directors of genre cinema. (THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TALE, MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD, etc.) Martino still remains active these days, and it's good to know that he's been able to keep himself employed in smaller cinematic dimensions, such as CRAVING DESIRE.

Because CRAVING DESIRE is presented full frame, the film as a TV quality to it, as if it were prepared, in part, for the United States soft-core cable market, with an option for worldwide theatrical viewing. If I'm correct in assuming that this film was partially planned for the U.S. cable stations, it may justify the presence of an American actor like Ron Nummi in the film, who obviously is speaking English, as opposed to most of the rest of the cast, who, clearly speaking Italian, are dubbed into English. Picture quality on the Mya DVD is impressive, though the audio (both English and Italian) seems on the tinny side.

Recently, the parody site, The Onion, had a piece about a fictitious Lifetime Television channel for men that would have a similar weeping ethos to the very real Lifetime Television for women. CRAVING DESIRE would be a perfect film placed in such a male channel's schedule. While watching such films as CRAVING DESIRE, men could cry over their fate and take solace in their united destiny of needing and delighting in women, but being damned by them too. But would this be a manly activity?

CRAVING DESIRE is on sale from Amazon.com.

Original Italian poster:

Mya's August Releases

2009-04-27T11:26:00.019-04:00

Streeting August 25th.

Lamberto Bava's DINNER WITH A VAMPIRE (A CENA COL VAMPIRO, 1988):

Sergio Ammirata's ITALIAN SEX (SESSO IN TESTA, 1974):

Camillo Bazzoni's MAFIA CONNECTION (E VENNE IL GIORNO DEI LIMONI NERI, 1970) [aka BLACK LEMONS]:

The second listed title is not on "The List," so we may see, on occasion, unexpected releases from Mya. Below is the cover of an Italian DVD of this title. This film is a sex comedy, btw.

Later addition:

I thought that the cover for ITALIAN SEX looked familiar and that the artist was trying to capture Laura Gemser. And the stand-alone pose on the Mya DVD is rather odd. A Google search turned up the answer. Here is a cover from the X-Rated DVD of EMANUELLE IN THE COUNTRY, obviously taken from an original poster, which the Mya DVD also uses:

THE REVENGE OF THE CRUSADER review

2009-04-21T13:02:00.009-04:00

A co-production between Italy (Imprecine) and Spain (Hispamer Film), THE REVENGE OF THE CRUSADER (1964) is a rarely seen movie, scripted by Riccardo Freda, that adds one more small piece to the bigger picture of the European adventure-romance film. Imprecine also co-produced with Hispamer Riccardo Freda's GIULIETTA E ROMEO (JULIET AND ROMEO), for which Freda wrote the screenplay and directed. Jose Luis Monter is credited as director of REVENGE, but the possibility exists that some, if not all, of the work is Freda's, as credit forgeries for quota purposes in foreign co-productions were not uncommon during this time. And, as sometimes happened in his career, Freda would walk off the set before finishing a film, handing completion off to someone else. The Italian credits make particular note of Freda by announcing before the title credit that the film is "realizzata" by him. If THE REVENGE OF THE CRUSADER is Freda's work, it will not advance his reputation much, however.

The original title, GENOVEFFA DI BRABANTE, clues us in that this was a star vehicle for Spain's Maria Jose Alfonso, a historical drama/romance set during the times of the Crusades, but not an epic filled with battles or any cast of thousands dazzle. What most will not know here in the States is that the film is actually based on a popular European legend. A Wikipedia entry informs us about Genovefa of Brabant:

"Her story is a typical example of the widespread tale of the chaste wife falsely accused and repudiated, generally on the word of a rejected suitor. Genovefa of Brabant was said to be the wife of the palatine Siegfried of Treves, and was falsely accused by the majordomo Golo. Sentenced to death she was spared by the executioner, and lived for six years with her son in a cave in the Ardennes nourished by a roe. Siegfried, who had meanwhile found out Golo's treachery, was chasing the roe when he discovered her hiding-place, and reinstated her in her former honour.... The Genevieve tale first obtained wide popularity in L'Innocence reconnue, ou vie de Sainte Genevieve de Brabant (pr. 1638) by the Jesuit Rene de Cerisiers (1603-1662), and was a frequent subject for dramatic representation in Germany." Italy already visited the subject in a Primo Zeglio directed film made in 1947.

The film does have laughable replacement of actors with obvious stunt doubles with little attempt to hide that the doubles are not the original actors. (This must have been especially noticeable on the big screen.) In fact, in the beginning of the film, it's almost impossible to connect the characters to the actors, as doubles hold much of the screen time. A later sequence, involving Genoveffa and a deer (that's noticeably stuffed) and then a wolf attack (with an obvious male double substituting for Maria Jose Alfonso) raise the laugh meter where laughter shouldn't even be present.

While it's nice seeing Alperto Lupo of ATOMIC AGE VAMPIRE on the screen in a heroic role, the captivating presence here is Stephen Forsyth, known to euro-cultists for his role as John Harrington in Mario Bava's HATCHET FOR A HONEYMOON. Forsyth plays up his villainous role with gusto, continually exhibiting the brewing insanity in his piercing eyes and tweaking what may have been a homosexual veneer to his character. His performance is not as wild and over-the-top as what John Drew Barrymore would do in similar historical tales, but it is authentic and mesmerizing in its own dimensions, and sure to delight those who may have little interest in seeing this film. And his character has use for the axe here, just as his Harrington character would in the Bava film.

Despite the faults of this admittedly minor film, I have to admit to being moved by a couple of scenes near the end. Stephen Forsyth's performance is a vital element in keeping the film percolating, as leads Lupo and Maria Jose Alfonso merely perform their expectant duties. Carlo Rustichelli's score is appreciated for its workman-like job, and the talented composer shines with a melody employing a beautiful female vocal that is, unfortunately, little played in the film. The directing is fairly standard, but there is one murder sequence, coming late in the film, that is brilliantly realized, with its silent corridor and sinister steps perspective, and which reminded me of some of Freda's best work. Was he responsible?

The Mya presentation is in Italian audio only, with removable English subtitles that are occasionally too literal and oddly phrased. Picture quality is good. The framing at 1.85:1 is slightly tight at times for what probably was a 1.66:1 European exhibition, but generally this framing issue is not a problem and unnoticeable. My copy had some instances of brief motion jerks, indicating some PAL to NTSC conversion issue, but another reviewer of this DVD didn't mention this, so perhaps the problem is just my disc.

It's always good to have such a film, based on a European legend unfamiliar to Americans, available for the curious, the connoisseur and the collector.

The Mya DVD is available from Amazon.com.

ARIZONA COLT RETURNS German Trailer

2009-04-20T18:35:00.004-04:00

ARIZONA COLT RETURNS will be released by Mya on July 28th. Here's a German trailer for this film to whet your spaghetti western appetite. Directed by Sergio Martino, ARIZONA COLT RETURNS stars Anthony Steffen as Arizona Colt. Giuliano Gemma played the character four years earlier in 1966, with Michele Lupo directing. (I suspect the Colt films were made closer together, though.) Ernesto Gastaldi was involved in both screenplays. The catchy music for RETURNS is by Bruno Nicolai.

"The List" Completed

2009-04-19T11:01:00.003-04:00

I've finished identifying and posting IMDB commentary snippets of the films that make up Mya's projected future DVD releases. Aside from minor work in standardizing everything, the list is now done and you can read what films and genres are ahead on Mya's release schedule:

The List

What surprised me most while I was filling in the list is how many giallo films are on it, many notorious and also many rare. There are a couple of spaghetti westerns in there, a good number of horror films (including a few from the 1960s), and the expected Decameron films and sex comedies (but not as much as I thought there would be).

So let's hope for the best, as this is a treasure drove.

SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS review

2009-04-14T21:21:00.013-04:00

While most eyes in Mya's release schedule have thus far been on FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, another film, a better one I think, has been unfairly overlooked. SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS (1982) has an interesting transformational history. The project started out as a two-parter for Italian TV (100 minutes for each part) and then morphed into a theatrical feature. I'm not clear on whether the two parter ever got actualized (it appears not), but scenes exist from it that were not in the subsequent main feature and which are now included in the supplemental section of the Mya DVD.

SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS concerns the connection a young woman in New York has with "the Immortals," who are represented by the Etruscans who once resided in a part of Italy and held mystical rites in sulfur-steaming caverns. This young woman, Joan Barnard, is naturally a reincarnation of one of the Immortals, and she travels to Italy to uncover the meaning of her dreams and the reason for the murder of her husband, the archeologist Arthur Barnard (played by John Saxon) who was found with this head brutally twisted around, apparently an old Etruscan method of sacrifice or extermination.

SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS brought me wonderfully back to the days when Italian horror cinema ruled the exploitation venues of the world. This is not only due to the subject matter, partially incoherent and partially psychotronic in that unique Italian way, but to the periodic clunky dubbing, the vapidness of the lead actress, the presence of an over-the-hill elder American actor (Van Johnson), the fluid direction from such a genre master as Sergio Martino and an intriguing script by the now legendary Ernesto Gastaldi, the world view that human life is cheap, and the score by Fabio Frizzi, which may be the most important element in giving SCORPION a Fulci feel without this being a Fulci film. There is even the obligatory weekend shoot in New York (with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in view) to evoke the memories of similar films that left the Italian production line in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Because the initial purpose for this film was for a television presentation, there is little gore and zero nudity, but instead SCORPION relies on the bizarre method of murder--the twisting of a head till the front is at the back--and sinister atmosphere to intrigue one and keep one captivated. And there's plenty of atmosphere, with much spooky adventuresome entries into and explorations of corridors and caverns below the earth, all scored melancholically yet tensely by Frizzi. (The television only scenes in the supplemental section are also damn chilling, too.)

As Joan Barnard, actress Elvire Audray is simply terrible--a doe-eyed pretty presence with little substance and acting skills on display. True, much of the fault can be placed in the fact that she seems to have been mouthing her lines in phonetic English for later dubbing, exaggerating the words in the process, so that she appears to be speaking more slowly--and therefore dumbly--than she should. To make matters worse, the actress dubbing her is also woefully uninspired. Somehow, however, Elvire Audray and her faults fit in with the foreign exploitation feel of this film. An exceptional actress would undoubtedly have spoiled the mood.

Many of the other players are euro-acting professionals, however, interesting faces with a viable presence--and it's always nice to see John Saxon turn up in something like this. There are a number of points still unresolved or not further brought up by the time the film ends, this due no doubt to the pruning of what must have been a much longer script. Why, for instance, is Joan continually sweating? (One can surmise because she's connected spiritually to the ancient Etruscan steaming sulfur pits.) What is the final significance of the "two tails" of the Etruscan scorpion design? Is the supernatural presence in the Etruscan cavern the lover/husband of the woman who would be reincarnated as Joan Barnard in the modern world?

Had SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS ever appeared in its full two-part form, it may have proved to be a notable and fascinating television program, one mentioned frequently in books on Italian horror and a holy grail for many. As it is, despite its faults, it can be easily considered a minor gem.

The Mya DVD is on sale at Amazon.com.

Mya's July Releases

2009-03-28T18:28:00.006-04:00

As noted by the DVD Aficionado website, Mya's July releases will be DEVIL IN THE FLESH and ARIZONA COLT RETURNS. Both films will street July 28th. DEVIL IN THE FLESH already had an NTSC release from NoShame a few years ago, while ARIZONA COLT RETURNS, which stars Anthony Steffen, Aldo Sambrell and Rosalba Neri, saw a German DVD release on the Koch Media label. The Mya DVD will be the film's first U.S. DVD release.

NoShame's description for DEVIL IN THE FLESH can very well be utilized for the Mya DVD:

One of the most controversial Italians films of the 80s, DEVIL IN THE FLESH takes Raymond Radiguet’s classic novel and updates it to modern times. Dealing with the legacy of Italy’s "leaden years" and the aftermath of the social struggles headed by the extreme left wing revolutionary groups, DEVIL IN THE FLESH caused a critical uproar upon it’s release due to its highly-charged political and sexually frank subject matter. Marushka Detmers (THE MAMBO KINGS) stars as Giulia, a young woman engaged to marry Giacomo, her fiancée who’s sitting behind bars because of his political activity. Restless in her appetites and inner turmoil, she meets a young student named Andrea and a passionate affair quickly ensues. But when the day arrives in which she has to face whether she wants to share her life with Giacomo or not, Giulia takes a surprising decision…

Boldly directed by Marco Bellocchio (GOOD MORNING, NIGHT) and featuring superb cinematography by Giuseppe Lanci, DEVIL IN THE FLESH is a powerfully erotic film that deserves to be discovered and appreciated without preconceptions. With it’s mixing of political and sexual issues, Bellocchio retains the strength and relevancy of the classic text and makes a strong contemporary statement in favour of absolute artistic and political freedom. As controversial as films get, DEVIL IN THE FLESH remains one of the most important Italian films of our time.

As with the NoShame release, the Mya DVD will present the film in its original widescreen aspect ratio, digitally re-mastered from the original negative, and uncut and uncensored.

Update 3/29: As I was working on filling up info on "The List" today, I noticed that both DEVIL IN THE FLESH and ARIZONA COLT RETURNS are on it, but way down on the list, numbers 109 and 118 respectively. This means that Mya's more immediate titles, to be released this year, could come from anywhere on the list and not just from the top batch.

The Only Game in Town

2009-03-27T00:21:00.003-04:00

Well, in the world, actually. We've received information that the 01 Distribution release of FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET in Italy has been halted, which means the Mya release is the only DVD available of this title.

The FOUR FLIES Controversy

2009-03-24T19:24:00.007-04:00

It appears the LoveLockAndLoad message board came out with the news first for Anglo-speaking folks--a translation of a posting on the Profondo Rosso website owned by Dario Argento and Luigi Cozzi. Here's the translation:

>>Good news and bad news. The good news is that the much sought after film by Dario Argento, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, has finally been released on dvd in the United States and an Italian release was announced for May by the distribution company 01, (Who are none other than RAI Cinema)

The bad news is that lawyers working for the Argento family have begun proceedings to stop both releases. Why? Because Dario and Claudio Argento, who own all territory rights except for America (where it's owned by Paramount) were only informed of this release by chance. An unknown foreign company sold the rights to Four Flies on Grey Velvet to RAI, but Dario and Claudio claim they never sold the rights to this unknown foreign company, so, according to them, they regard it is a gross act of audio/visual piracy.

Injunctions have already been issued to prevent the release of Four Flies on Grey Velvet in Italy. In the meantime, RAI has announced they have temporarily suspended distribution of Four Flies on Grey Velvet, at least until the rights issue has been cleared up.<<

I've queried Mya about this troubling information and was told that they are confident that this will not affect the U.S. release, as the Argentos do not own the U.S. release rights.

There are numerous suppositions one can generate over this rights thing. Through the years, fans have heard varying stories about the rights to FOUR FLIES, the one particularly prevalent was that the rights were complex and that ownership was spread about several entities. (Which is why, the explanation goes, the film has been out of official circulation for decades.) Now, according to the Argentos, they own all rights except those in the United States. Certainly the identity of the "unknown foreign company," and the story behind its supposed acquisition of the FOUR FLIES film, would probably direct us to some truth.

These issues will not be resolved at this point, and it may take legal action to settle who owns what, if any legal action will be forthcoming. Stay tuned.

The List!

2009-03-19T20:12:00.087-04:00

Here is a list of forthcoming releases from Mya that should carry the company through 2011. The list should not be considered definitive, as there may be changes. Order of release has not yet been established. This is an amazing, enticing and thrilling list, many films of which euro-film fans in the United States have been waiting for years, even since the digital disc format began, to see on NTSC DVD. A thank you to Mya's Marcello Rossi for providing this blog with this information.

[New: I'll be filling in info, mostly from the IMDB, to identify all the films on the list. This info will be in light blue. Unless otherwise identified, all quoted comments are taken from the IMDB.]

1. CARMEN NUE (1984 Fra/Spa) Diretto da Albert Lopez

IMDB plot summary: Erotic version of the well-known novel "Carmen" of Merimee with the use of the music from the opera of the same name from Georges Bizet.

Comment: "Carmen err... topless...."

2. PIERINO CONTRO TUTTI (Italia 1982) Diretto da Marino Girolami

Comment: "This movie, like the bulk of Italian movies of the period, is full of 'borderline humor' that consistently borders on what some may call 'poor taste'. But that is exactly what makes this movie such a laugh riot! This is the type of movie where beautiful women get their dresses torn off by passing buses, blinds fly up at the wrong time and almost nothing is sacred."

3. LA ROSSA DALLA PELLE CHE SCOTTA (1971 Ita/Tur) Diretto da Renzo Russo

Comment: "If you are a fan of Eurostarlet Erica Blanc, you will probably enjoy this movie in which Blanc plays a role very similar to the sexy succubus she played in 'The Devil's Nightmare'. Blanc plays an artist's mannequin come to life who starts out as a mute fantasy figure but soon turns into nightmarish femme fatale who tortures the artist with her increasingly blatant infidelities."

Note from Mirek: This movie was released on DVD in middling quality and slightly cut by Retromedia as THE RED-HEADED CORPSE. It had previously been released on video in the "Private Screenings" series as SWEET SPIRITS. Aside from Blanc, the film stars Farley Granger. I like this film a lot.

4. ATTI IMPURI ALL’ITALIANA (1976 Italia) Diretto da Oscar Brazzi

Another sex comedy, this one is about a provocative female doctor who settles in a small Italian town in Tuscany. The one IMDB review mentions that the actress is "almost nude throughout the whole story," which certainly can't be a bad thing.

5. AMORE ALL’ARRABBIATA (1976 Italia) Diretto da Carlo Veo

The IMDB gives a clue that this may be a sex comedy, as the English export title is CRAZY, CRAZY LOVE.

6. ARABELLA ANGELO NERO (1989 Italia) Diretto da Stelvio Massi

Known in English as THE BLACK ANGEL. IMDB plot summary: Arabella is a nymphomaniac who has sex with any man. One day, her husband, a writer, meets her and another man. She has a strange reaction: kills the lover. Her husband hides the corpse. From that moment on, he encourages her meetings with other men, and writes down the experiences in his new book.

Comments: "... giallo heaven and not to be missed!"

"An attractive woman (the VERY voluptuous Tini Cansino) visits a bizarre brothel. The police raid the place and in very kinky scene (which violates both political correctness and, one would hope, standard police operating procedures in Italy) a male cop handcuffs her, bends her over the hood of his squad car, and rapes her...."

"...it's much more sleazy and entertaining than its American cousins."

7. DI MAMMA NON CE N’è UNA SOLA (1974 Italia) Diretto da Alfredo Giannetti

Mother love, it seems! Comment: "An obscure little Italian film, roughly a muddled Italian attempt at black comedy. Marcello is obsessed with his mother Paolina (Senta Berger), and not in an altogether healthy way." Well, the mother is played by Senta Berger....

8. FRITTATA ALL’ITALIANA (1976 Italia) Diretto da Alfonso Brescia

An erotic film with Dagmar Lassander and Karin Schubert.

9. LA BOLOGNESE (1975 Italia) Diretto da Alfredo Rizzo

Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide: "Longtime Italian actor Alfredo Rizzo (Cinque Tombe per un Medium) directed this standard softcore melodrama about a young woman who becomes a prostitute with the hopes of raising enough money to start a career as a model for romantic fumetti books."

10. DOLCI ZIE (1975 Italia) Diretto da Mario Imperioli

Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide: "This tatty sexploitation film deals with a young man who lives with his grandfather. His three aunts lust after him and finally manage to gain custody thanks to a naive but well-meaning priest, leading to the usual game of musical beds, only slightly enlivened by the taboo theme. Femi Benussi and Orchidea de Santis are probably the best-known castmembers to Eurotrash buffs...."

11. NOTTI PECCAMINOSE DI PIETRO L’ARETINO (1972 Italia) Diretto da Manlio Scarpelli

A film in the Decameron erotic genre (Decamerotici).

12. PROFESSIONE BIGAMO (1969 Ita/GermEst) Diretto da Franz Antel

A comedy. The American title was THE VIKING WHO BECAME A BIGAMIST.

13. FRATELLO HOMO SORELLA BONA (1972 Italia) Diretto da Mario Sequi

Comment: "The original Italian title of this film is a rude pun on Franco Zeffirelli's BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON (1972) i.e. BROTHER MAN, SISTER WHORE and, in essence, it's one of an extensive series of medieval sex romps made in the wake of Pier Paolo Pasolini's THE DECAMERON (1971)."

14. LA MOGLIE VERGINE (1975 Italia) Diretto da Marino Girolami

With Edwige Fenech, Carroll Baker and Ray Lovelock. Lots of nudity, apparently.

Comment: "Highly implausible but fairly effective Italian sex romp...."

15. QUANT’è BELLA LA BERNARDA TUTTA NERA TUTTA CALDA (1975 Italia) Diretto da L.Dandolo

A decamerotico with Mariangela Giordano.

16. MIDNIGHT BLUE (1979 Italia) Diretto da Raimondo del Balzo

This is another LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT variant, with three females being held hostage by three men.

Comment: "Midnight Blue is rather gritty and director Raimondo Del Balzo is successful in creating a grim and foreboding atmosphere, which excellently compliments the plot."

17. MORBOSAMENTE VOSTRA (1985 Italia) Diretto da Andrea Bianchi

Comment: "This is the film in which former European star Karin Schubert makes her debut as an adult movie actress, and that means exactly getting into the porn business. The plot is about a rich and respected married lady who suffers from amnesia, just to discover that she's being leading a double life as a hooker (even joining three-some in-between multiple sexual encounters) as a result of a psychoanalyst's treatment."

18. PRIMO TANGO A ROMA – STORIA D’AMORE E D’ALCHIMIA (1973 Italia) Diretto da Lorenzo Gicca Palli

Another decamerotico, this time with Erika Blanc and Rosabla Neri!

19. FOLLIE DI NOTTE (1978 Italia) Diretto da Joe D’Amato

Comment: "If you are a D'Amato fan like me, you really need to check this one out.... There is really not much to tell without writing spoilers, so if you're wandering what is this one about, the only thing I can tell you is that after Amanda's opening performance, get ready for some of the funniest, grotesque and unexpected shows featuring lots of pro dancers, rituals and hardcore sex."

20. STRANO RICATTO DI UNA RAGAZZA PER BENE (1974 Italia) Diretto da Luigi Batzella

Another film with Rosalba Neri, though she doesn't play the main female character. That honor goes to Brigitte Skay (A BAY OF BLOOD). Director Paolo Sovay was also responsible for THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT, NUDE FOR SATAN and THE BEAST IN HEAT, so this film may be one to pay attention to.

Comment: "This movie starts out with a long gratuitous topless dancing scene in a disco, a long gratuitous topless dancing on the beach, and more brief but equally gratuitous orgy scene.... It's kind of hard to categorize this movie. It doesn't really have the mystery elements of a giallo thriller. It kind of turns into nihilistic hostage drama at one point like an Italian 'terror' film."

21. ATTENTI ARRIVANO LE COLLEGIALI (1975 Italia) Diretto da Giorgio Mille

The English title is THE CO-EDS ARE HERE! College girls on vacation. A 1979 version added hardcore inserts.

22. SETTE RAGAZZE DI CLASSE (1979 Italia) Diretto da Pedro Lazaga

A Spanish-Italian film with Janet Agren and Nadiuska ("the Spanish Sophia Loren").

IMDB plot summary: Seven female friends decide to play an erotic game. They try to seduce as many aristocrats and middle-class men as possible by their charming personalities.

23. QUANDO I CALIFFI AVEVANO LE CORNA (1973 Italia) Diretto da Amasi Damiani

Appears to be a 1001 Nights-type film, a cousin of decamerotici. English translation of the title is: WHEN THE CALIPHS HAD HORNS. Gordon Mitchell has a part.

24. A CHI TOCCA TOCCA (1978 Italia/GermEst/Israele) Diretto da Gianfranco Baldanello

English title: THE URANIUM CONSPIRACY.

Comments: "Hunky secret agent man Fabio Testi (as Renzo) beds women, hunts uranium, and pals around Venice with handsome hetero partner Assaf Dayan (as Dan)."

"As a spy thriller involving nuclear weapons, this was quite an exciting flick especially during the boat and car chase scenes. Filmed in many European locations and some sea locales, there were many intrigues that got me hooked throughout the picture."

25. E VENNE IL GIORNO DEI LIMONI NERI (1970 Italia) Diretto da Camillo Bazzoni

USA video title: BLACK LEMONS. With Antonio Sabato, Florinda Bolkan, Peter Carsten.

Comment: "A movie which shows the dismal social plague of the Mafia: a man imprisoned who comes back to his city and discovers that death of his wife was not an accident, an inquiry which goes on to catch 'big fishes', honour questions to solve...."

26. A TUTTE LE AUTO DELLA POLIZIA (1975) Diretto da Mario Caiano

A thriller in the "Schoolgirl Gialli" genre with Antonio Sabato and Luciana Paluzzi. Also known as THE MANIAC RESPONSIBLE.

Comments: "A teenage girl from a wealthy family mysteriously disappears. After her body is found at the bottom of a lake the police begin an intense investigation that leads to a teenage prostitution ring and several more bloody murders, but the actual killer may be someone much closer to the home."

"This extremely rare and hardly known film (as far as I know, it was never released outside of Italy) is an interesting mix of a classic crime story and a typical giallo. In the first half of the film, there is only one murder to be solved, but as soon as the police comes closer to the truth, people are killed in usual giallo style, during thrilling and atmospheric intense scenes.... The murder scenes are nasty, and the identity of the killer really a big surprise."

"Excellent blending of Giallo and Polizi styles... The film really takes off in the final third when many Giallo themes start being incorporated and we are treated to three murder scenes; the final one of which is particularly bloodthirsty and a scene that the great Dario Argento would be proud of!"

27. ARRIVA DORELLIK (Italia 1962) Diretto da Steno

Comment: "This movie is so funny that certain scene made me laugh so hard I cried. This is a spoof off from year before 'Danger: Diabolik' with also starred Terry-Thomas. The plot has comedian Johnny Dorelli as a phantom hitman who is in need of work so he hired to kill all 400 people who is next to inherit a fortune. Lots of funny gags that makes this film a classic."

28. IL SORRISO DELLA JENA (1972 Italia) Diretto da Silvio Amadio

English title: SMILE BEFORE DEATH. With Rosalba Neri. Directed by Silvio Amado after he helmed AMUCK. From the IMDB comments, this seems a giallo classic, though not that well known.

Comments: "... interesting plot twists and excellent acting."

"... stylish thriller that involves not only a confusing web of love affairs and relationships, but also - towards the climax - a bundle of twists that are guaranteed to surprise every viewer without becoming implausible at any moment."

"This is a rare Giallo in that, by the conclusion, most aspects of it make sense and while Smile Before Death is hard to track down, I recommend making the effort!"

"Tamburi and the gorgeous Neri spend a lot of their screen time nude and that certainly helps too. Quite possibly the best thing about the film is a theme that is so catchy with Amadio using it at every opportunity. You will definitely be humming it for days after watching this one."

29. IL MOSTRO DELL’OBITORIO (Spagna,1973) di Javier Aguirre

English title: THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE. Starring Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy. The release of this euro-cult classic from superior elements would be a real treat.

30. LA Più ALLEGRA STORIA DEL DECAMERONE (Germania,1971) di Adrian Hoven

This is actually THE LONG SWIFT SWORD OF SIEGFRIED!

31. I RITI EROTICI DELLA PAPESSA JESIAL (Francia,1975) di Mario Mercier

This could be a good one. A Satanic sect, orgies, violations, tortures. The title is translated as: THE EROTIC RITES OF PAPESSA JESIAL. (Papessa is a female pope.) Why have I never heard of this film?

New addition: A bit more research turns up that this film has been released here on DVD as A WOMAN POSSESSED on the Pathfinder label.

32. LE MILLE E UNA NOTTE E UN’ALTRA ANCORA (Italia 1973) Diretto da Enrico Bomba

Chalk one up for another 1001 Nights film.

33. 6000 KM DI PAURA (Italia, 1978) Diretto da Bitto Alberini

Aka, SAFARI RALLY. With Joe Dallesandro.

Comment: "This movie has Joe playing Joe Massi, one of the best sports car racers around. Him and his ex-mentor/driver instuctor named Stark, are both vying for a first place finish at the SAFARI RALLY which is coming up soon.... This movie was pretty interesting, and had it's funny moments besides the funny dubbing job."

34. BYLETH – IL DEMONE DELL’INCESTO (Italia 1972) Diretto da Leopoldo Savona

Comments: "The young Duke Lionello Shandwell (Mark Damon) morbidly loves his sister Barbara (Claudia Gravy), and when he learns Barbara is married Giordano, a middle-age man, his jealousy becomes explosive, trying to separate the consorts in every way. In the meantime some mysterious crimes are followed (victims are all women, killed with a three-points blade), so the whole village is stunned. Blood's ceremonies, insane love and incestuous relationships are the dominant elements in this film."

"This strange cult oddity has been all but forgotten since its release in 1972, and I'm not really surprised at that - as while it certainly is a film with some merit, it's also really bizarre and I have no idea who the target audience might be. The name of the title is a demon, who apparently also happens to be the king of hell and who can curse a man to live in incest.... The film benefits from a handful of beautiful women who don't seem to mind taking their clothes off, which is also nice and care is taken with the locations also."

35. IL MARCHIO DI KRIMINAL (Italia 1967) Diretto da Fernando Cerchio

With Dutch-born Glenn Saxson and the ravishing Helga Line.

Comment: "Second and last entry in the 'Kriminal' series – good-looking, light-weight Italian capers with an exotic touch originating from a comic strip."

36. BAILA GUAPA (Italia 1979) Diretto da A. Tagliavia

Singer/actress Gloria Piedimonte (Nazi Love Camp 27) stars.

37. IL BANDITO DAGLI OCCHI AZZURRI (Italia 1980) Diretto da Alfredo Riannetti

Aka, THE BLUE-EYED BANDIT. With Franco Nero and music by Ennio Morricone.

Comments: "Excellent delitto thriller starring Franco Nero as a middle-aged, brown-eyed cripple who works as an accountant for a bank. Little do his employers realize it's a disguise that he has perfected so that he can rob them blind and in the process flashing his natural blue eyes to throw them off the track."

"A surprisingly gripping and unusual thriller on which star Franco Nero also served as executive producer, this emerges as a reasonable mix of characterization and more traditional crime-drama thrills."

38. BLACK KILLER (Italia 1971) Diretto da Carlo Croccolo

Spaghetti western with Klaus Kinski.

Comment: "A dark, gritty and to the bone nihilistic western, that is really fun to watch. By all means one of the cheaper spaghetti's. But it's blessed with many cool scenes of violence, strange dialog and good old sleazzzzz. There's more than one moment of unnecessary nudity here."

39. SETTE MAGNIFICI CORNUTI (Italia 1974) Diretto da Luigi Russo

Femi Benussi stars. Title translates into "Seven Magnificent Cuckolds," so I would expect an erotic comedy.

40. LA SMAGLIATURA (Fra/Ita 1975) Diretto da Peter Fleischmann

With Michel Piccoli, Ugo Tognazzi.

Comment: "Greece 1974 - during the brutal era of the military government, and innocent tourist manager (Ugo Tognazzi) is accused of being a member of the illegal resistance movement. Two secret agents (Michel Piccoli and Mario Adorf) are bringing the innocent victim to Athens. During their trip, their car breaks down, and they're stopping in a small village. From now on, everybody is fighting against each other, and a psychological cat-and mouse-play is starting... [A]n outstanding European 'Politthriller'.

41. IL SESSO DELLA STREGA (Italia 1973) Diretto da Angelo Pannacciò

Aka, THE EVIL EYE and SEX IS A WITCH. With Susan Levi, Jessica Dublin, Camille Keaton.

Comment: "This film has everything the fan of Eurotrash looks for: abundant nudity and sexual situations, hallucinatory sequences accompanied by bad early 70's rock music, nonsensical supernatural storyline, tasty splash of blood & gore, moodily lit baroque settings, with the whole gorgeous package punctuated by a distinct odor of perversity."

42. I SOGNI PROIBITI DI DON GALEAZZO CURATO DI CAMPAGNA (Italia 1973) Diretto da E. Di Cola

Comment: "'The forbidden dreams of Don Galeazzo country priest'...literally! A beautiful nineteenth-century priest lives and carries out his mission in a rural small town. His little church is attended very many local girls, and the young priest is been involved in turbid and morbid sexy-situations sooner.... Definitively a must!"

43. LA TIGRE VENUTA DAL FIUME KWAY (Italia 1975) Diretto da Franco lattanti

With George Eastman and Gordon Mitchell.

IMDB plot summary: In Thailand, a young, honest and courageous boy undertakes to remit to the family of his dead American friend all his belongings, jewels and money earned through many years of hard work in a foreign country. But America is far away and ready to destroy and kill for a few dollars! To keep his promise he must travel far, and to move fast to fight his way through unbearable dangers and difficulties.

44. L’UNICA LEGGE IN CUI CREDO (Italia 1976) Diretto da Claudio Giorgi

A "polizieschi" with Raika Juri. Gordon Mitchell has a small part. English translation of the title: THE ONLY LAW IN WHICH I BELIEVE.

45. UN UOMO CHIAMATO DAKOTA (Italia 1972) Diretto da Mario Sabatini

English title: A GUNMAN CALLED DAKOTA. Spaghetti western with Gordon Mitchell.

46. WEEK END PROIBITO DI UNA FAMIGLIA QUASI PER BENE (Ita/Fra 1971) Diretto da Jean Dewever

Drama with Georges Geret, Sylva Koscina, Maria Schneider.

47. VERGINITA’ (Italia 1974) Diretto da Marcello Andrei

Two dramatic episodes about virginity, one taking place in Czarist Russia, the other in Sicily. Franca Gonella, Angela Goodwin, Dagmar Lassander, Ada Pometti star.

48. ZORRO IL RIBELLE (Italia 1966) Diretto da Piero Pienotti

Well, it's a Zorro film, that's for sure. English title: ZORRO THE REBEL. Director Pienotti wrote and directed a considerable amount of adventure and peplum films in the 1960s, so this is one I'm looking forward to. Howard Ross plays the masked avenger.

49. LA BAMBOLA DI SATANA (Italia 1969) Diretto da Ferruccio Casapinta

This could be a euro-cult delight.

Comment: "A delightful girl (Erna Schurer) spends the tormented night in a creepy castle infested by Satana. However truth hides many mysteries behind the scary appearance. Someone probably wants to take possession of the castle inherited by the girl...the satanic themes introduce the horror elements into director Ferruccio Casapinta's fantastique, getting his inspiration from the world's most successful Italian comic-books of the time, from the stories featured in the 60's in magazines as 'Satanik' and 'Malik' to the adult comic strips such as 'Oltretomba' and 'Sukia'."

50. I CRIMINALI DELLA GALASSIA (Italia 1965) Diretto da Antonio Margheriti

Known here as WILD, WILD PLANET. Part of Margheriti's Gamma One Quadrilogy.

Comments: "This is one of the undisputed camp classics of science fiction, right up there with Queen of Outer Space. The future, it turns out, will look very much like a mid-sixties Paris catwalk! There are some stunningly beautiful women wearing amazing clothes and mile high bouffants in this 'science crime fiction' tale of illicit medical experiments carried out on a space station."

"Freaky classic with a touch of '60's weirdness."

"A WEIRDNESS CLASSIC!"

51. LA MORTE VIENE DAL PIANETA AYTIN (Italia 1967) Diretto da Antonio Margheriti

Aka, THE SNOW DEVILS. Another entry in Margheriti's Gamma One Quadrilogy.

Comment: "Another glittering entry for Margheriti, who with Mario Bava is undoubtedly Italy's best director of Science Fiction. The plot combines the Abominable Snowman with an errant planet, a regular feature in Margheriti's work, from which the Snowman, the only survivors of the planet Aytin, are intending to disturb the meteorological balance of the Earth."

52. IL PIANETA ERRANTE (Italia 1966) Diretto da Antonio Margheriti

Aka, PLANET ON THE PROWL. Another of Margheriti's Gamma One films.

Comments: "A destructive series of freakish natural disasters decimate the earth. The cause of said disasters turns out to be a barren, yet lethal, living and breathing asteroid that's hurtling through space on a collision course with our world. It's up to an intrepid team of astronauts led by courageous ramrod Commander Jackson (a suitably stiff'n'stalwart Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) to destroy the asteroid before it's too late. The fate of our planet depends on Jackson and his team successfully accomplishing their desperate mission. Director Antonio Margheriti keeps the pace moving along at a steady, speedy clip and plays the utterly absurd story ludicrously straight."

"Wow. If you're a psychotronics lover you've probably seen this one, but if not, check it out."

53. I DIFANOIDI VENGONO DA MARTE (Italia 1966) Diretto da Antonio Margheriti

Comments: "Antonio Margheriti's second entry in the GAMMA ONE QUADROLIGY series of Italian Spaghetti Science Fiction movies is a marvel of form over substance. I love the ultra low budget production design, at times histrionic or wooden acting, the funky 1960s color schemes, and the brooding, mind-boggling sense of pending cosmic doom that infuses nearly every minute of the production. It is almost a perfect translation of the Spaghetti Western to SciFi terms: A good looking film composed of individual moments, some of which are actually quite evocative."

"Visually impressive Euro B Sci-fi movie."

54. I PIANETI CONTRO DI NOI (Ita/Fra/Germania Est 1962) Diretto da Romano Ferrara

Aka, PLANETS AROUND US, PLANETS AGAINST US.

Comments: "PLANETS AGAINST US is a moody and atmospheric but also rather at times slow moving film with somewhat indifferent direction. The film has some elements of NOT OF THIS EARTH and THE INVISIBLE RAY. An alien disguised as a human shows up on Earth and like Mr. Johnson NOT OF THIS EARTH, Bronco repeatedly shows ignorance of everyday things, and acts cold and distant. Bronco also, in one scene he is bothered by bright lights (Mr Johnson was bothered by loud noises.) From THE INVISIBLE RAY, the film borrows the idea of a deadly touch. Michael Lemmione is quite good (as far one can judge a dubbed performance) as the icy Bronco. His piercing eyes are used to good advantage."

"Plan 9 meets La Dolce Vita."

55. LA VENDETTA DI LADY MORGAN (Italia 1965) Diretto da M. Pupillo

We need this one. A little seen classic from Italy's Golden Age of Gothic Horror.

Comment: "With its cheerful mystery and sadism, an abundance of creepy sequences, and a wonderfully over-the-top performances by Erika Blanc, Gordon Mitchell and 'Mister Evilness' Paul Muller....'La Vendetta di Lady Morgan' is one of the most beloved kitsch classics from the Golden Age of Italian Horror. Plus... it's in marvelous black and white vision!.... Morbid eroticism, ineluctable destiny and impetuous immorality: these are the classic elements of Italian Gothic Horror Cinema that make the difference with Anglo-Saxon horror style."

56. LA COLT ERA IL SUO DIO (Ita/Germania Est 1972) Diretto da Luigi Balzella/Joe D’Amato

A spaghetti western, known in its English title as GOD IS MY COLT. 45. With Jeff Cameron and Donald O'Brien.

IMDB plot summary: An Army agent goes undercover to clean up corrupt Langford City full of Mexican outlaws.

57. UN DETECTIVE (Italia 1969) Diretto da Romolo Guerrieri

Aka RING OF DEATH. With Franco Nero, Florinda Bolkan, Adolfo Celi.

Comment: "Franco Nero stars as Belli, an immoral and brutal detective trying to get to the bottom of the murder of a man named Romanis. There are plenty of suspects: was it glamourpuss English model Sandy (Delia Boccardi)? Jealous young Mino (Maurizio Bonuglia)? How about Mino's frosty stepmother (a gaunt looking Florinda Bolkan)?"

The reviewer notes the awful video version released in the US ages ago, which was cut and terribly pan/scanned. I have this video and concur, so it will probably be a revelation to see this film complete and in correct aspect ratio.

58. E COSI DIVENNERO I TRE SUPERMEN DEL WEST (Ita/Spa 1973) Diretto da Anthony Blod

Aka THREE SUPERMEN OF THE WEST. With George Martin.

59. KARAMURAT LA BELVA DELL’ANATOLIA (Ita/Turchia 1976) Diretto da E. Hofbaver

With Daniela Giordano. Shot in Turkey.

IMDB plot summary: The Khan rules the country justly except for the province under Mustapha's dictatorship who controls his underlings via making them cocaine addicts. Karamurat(Cuneyt Arkin) the Khan's best man is sent to settle the score with the usurpator. On his way he has to fight, among others, Ali Baba's thieves and Kung-Fu fighting Chinese dope merchants.

Comment: "The main benefit of this adventure movie with plentiful kung-fu fights is the titular hero's way of kicking and beating as many villains as possible. Kara Murat uses an unusual martial art to accomplish his mission- to defeat an evil governor of certain district of Turkey,whose assassins kidnapped Kara Murat's brother and killed brother's wife. Although there is very little blood or gore present in all fight scenes, some techniques employed by Kara Murat bring a new perspective to the genre of kung-fu films. Our action hero seems to be capable of levitation as his whole body in horizontal position hits villains and puts them to sleep."

60. LA LUNGA CAVALCATA DELLA VENDETTA (Italia 1972) Diretto da T. Boccia

Known here at THE DEADLY TRACKERS. A western with Richard Harrison and Anita Ekberg.

61. NEL MIRINO DI BLACK APHRODITE (Ita/Grecia 1979) Diretto da Pavlos Filippou

Aka, BLACK APHRODITE. Starring the transsexual Ajita Wilson.

IMDB plot summary: New York, American Intelligence Agency offices. AIA's boss is informed that an important arms lot is about to be delivered to an African revolutionary gropu, via Athens, and decides to send in a team of his best agents to neutralize the gangsters; he chooses the name of the operation, "Black Aphrodite," as Tamara is going to be the leader of this dangerous mission, and she is a sexy black woman.

Comment: "I love this film. Annik Borel is wonderful, and the wooden acting of the rest of the cast is made up for by her utter perfection. I first saw her in La Lupa mannara, and the very next day went in search of other films with her in them. I bought this one and was not disappointed."

62. NOVELLE GALEOTTE D’AMORE (Italia 1972) Diretto da Antonio Margheriti

Otherwise known as DECAMERON 3, so you know what you are in for.

63. L’OCCHIO DEL RAGNO (Ita/Austria 1971) Diretto da Roberto Bianchi Montero

English title: EYE OF THE SPIDER. With Klaus Kinski, Antonio Sabato, Van Johnson.

Comment: "A somewhat noir-ish 70's Italian crime film. Diamond robber, who got left behind into the hands of the police, gets out of prison and teams up with the funder of the robbery, who never saw the loot, to get even with the other members of the gang."

64. QUANDO L’AMORE E’ SENSUALITA’ (Italia 1973) Diretto da Vittorio de Sisti

English title: WHEN LOVE IS LUST. With Ewa Aulin, Agostina Belli, Femi Benussi. Music by the legendary Ennio Morricone. An Italian review mentioned (I'm translating) "indecent situations, integral nudity, orgies, group love, dialogues of extreme rawness, with anticlerical acrimonies and disgusting brawls." Sounds good to me!

65. A CENA COL VAMPIRO (Ita) Diretto da Lamberto Bava

Aka, DINNER WITH A VAMPIRE.

Comments: "The great master of horror movies from Europe, Lamberto Bava, really gets it going with this true-to-the-tone vampire NEW classic. The movie delivers it in great style with one of the most sexy vamps of all times, played by the beautiful Isabel Russinova, and classic vampire movies clichés, like the castle(a beautiful moorish/mediterranean one), the hunchback-like butler, the Christopher Lee alike main vampire."

"This is one hell of a Great movie. All of the characters are nice in some way and the actors does a OK but most certainly not a excellent job. In a Scooby Doo like style the movie is more a comedy than a real horror movie, and for a change it works well. Some minor gore is also in here, including torn out hearts and gory skeletons but those scenes are not much worse than the ones in any Indiana Jones movie. What i like so much about it is that it have this Hammer feeling into it but yet it stays fairly fresh and never gets boring with some typical 80s feeling mixed into the blend. i definitively recommend this to all those who like cheezy Italian movies and horror comedies."

66. DENTRO (UNA NOTTE AL) IL CIMITERO (Ita) Diretto da Lamberto Bava

English title: GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE. Originally appeared on Italian TV. The best the IMDB comments say about this is: "There are some atmospheric moments and the zombies look very creepy."

67. FINO ALLA MORTE (Ita) Diretto da Lamberto Bava

English title: UNTIL DEATH. Also known as THE CHANGELING 2: THE RETURN.

IMDB trivia: This is the film that ended the partnership between Lucio Fulci and Dardano Sacchetti. Fulci claims he came up with the story, Sacchetti wrote a treatment and they were to make it together, but it continually fell through. Eventually Sacchetti copyrighted the story himself and made the film with Lamberto Bava. Sacchetti claims that the story had been his all along and Fulci was just upset because the project never took off with him as director.

Comments: "Inconspicuous but nevertheless stylish Lamberto Bava thriller with a couple of remotely suspenseful sequences and an attractive Italian cast. The plot sounds very familiar but, although Bava doesn't really pretend to be original, he still manages to make his film look innovating and compelling at times."

"Probably Lamberto Bava's best film."

68. LA CASA DELL’ORCO (Ita) Diretto daLamberto Bava

Aka, DEMONS III: THE ORGE.

IMDB plot summary: A sexually confused young woman is haunted by childhood memories when she moves into an old mansion in Italy with her husband and young son.

Comment: "The Ogre is a film made for TV in Italy and wasn't intended to be a sequel to Demons as Lamberto Bava even mentions it on the interview on the Sheirk Show DVD, but it was called Demons III to be part of the Demons series. The music in Demons and Demons 2 was 80's rock music while this is more creepy music and while the first two was gory horror Demons III: The Ogre is a architectural horror so that's how Demons III isn't a proper sequel to Demons but I still like this film."

69. LA RAGAZZA DI CORTINA (Ita) Diretto da Maurizio Vanni

English title: THE GIRL FROM CORTINA. Likened to THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH.

70. AL CALAR DELLA SERA (Ita) diretto da Maurizio Lucidi

A man goes after the stranger who raped his wife.

71. FEMMINE INSAZIABILI directed by Alberto de Martino

Aka, THE INSATIABLES. With Dorothy Malone (!), Robert Hoffmann, Luciana Paluzzi, Frank Wolff, John Ireland. Music by Bruno Nicolai.

Comments: "The Insatiables" (which is the English-language release title of "Femmine Insaziabili") is a marvelous treat from beginning to end. The plot steers itself from drama to comedy to adventure to thrills to suspense, and so on and so on, to say the film is insatiable is not an understatement."

"Ernest Hemmingway's The Killers, Italian style."

72. HYPNOS FOLLIA DI UN MASSACRO directed by Paolo Bianchini.

Aka, MASSACRE MANIA. With Ken Wood, Rada Rassimov, Fernando Sancho, Robert Woods. Music by Carlo Savina. A hybrid giallo/sci-fi film.

73. GIALLO A VENEZIA directed by Mario Landi.

With Leonora Fani, Jeff Blyn, Gianni Dei, Mariangela Giordano

Comments: "'Giallo a Venezia' is, without a doubt, one of the sleaziest movies ever produced in Italy. Along with 'The New York Ripper' (1982,Lucio Fulci) and 'The Killer Is Still Among Us' (1985, Camillo Teti) this is possibly the nastiest giallo ever made.... The violence in "Giallo a Venezia" is truly shocking. A prostitute is stabbed repeatedly in the crotch in one of the most sickeningly audacious murder sequences ever filmed. Another gory highlights include Giordano being tied naked to her kitchen table and having her leg cut off with a handsaw by the killer and Marizia's lover being doused in gasoline and set alight. The long sex scenes are pretty explicit and it's quite obvious that Landi's intentions were only to show as much sex and blood as he could. To sum up, if you like sleaze and extreme gore then you should check this one out. Recommended!"

"... [T]he sleaze factor is so high it's off the scale. The dead couple are at the centre of the plot, and the film consists of many flashbacks in which we see how the husband took pleasure in humiliating and sexually abusing his timid wife. The poor actress who plays Flavia (the wife) suffers the indignity of being stripped naked and roughed up in nearly every scene she appears...."

"'Giallo a Venezia', an extremely sadistic and vile film that stands out as perhaps the most misogynistic giallo ever made. Needless to say I loved it.... The violence is extremely brutal. We're treated to scenes involving whipping, vaginal mutilation with a pair of scissors, limbs cut off slowly from a living victim, a body placed in a refrigerator and a burning of a live body and several rapes. In addition to the large amount of violence found on screen 'Giallo a Venezia' is also pretty heavy on in the sex and nudity department featuring several sex scenes, lots of boobs and bush and a scene of a woman masturbating."

"Trash masterpiece."

"Wow! I don't think there is another film out there this messed up!.... The sex will keep most males very interested and the gore scenes will thrill all gore hounds far and wide!!! Watch Giallo a Venezia for a real THRILL!!!"

74. I RAGAZZI DELLA ROMA VIOLENTA directed by Renato Savino

Inspired by a real incident.

Comment: "This extremely obscure Italian production tells the story of a modern day neo-Nazi youth gang that meets in a place decorated with swasticas and a poster of the 'Führer'. The members of this gang are all bored teenagers from rich families. One of the gang prefers playing pin pall to getting a girlfriend, because playing pin ball literally gets him off. The leader of the gang indulges in violent sexual fantasies, which ultimately leads to rape and murder."

75. IL COMPLOTTO

This is either the 1969 euro-spy film directed by Sergio Grieco starring Ken Clark or the 1973 French film directed by Rene Gainville about the OAS and Algeria. It's probably the former, if it's referring to an Italian film.

IMDB comment on the Grieco spy film: "The entire production is visually impressive especially an interrogation and gunfight sequence that takes place in a lumber yard."

76. IL FIORE DAI PETALI D’ACCIAIO directed by Gianfranco Piccioli

Aka, THE FLOWER WITH THE DEADLY STING. A 1973 giallo starring Gianni Garko and Carroll Baker.

Comment: "Nothing is what it seems in this twisty giallo and when the revelations start coming toward the end, everything that has gone before is turned on its ear."

77. IL TUO DOLCE CORPO DA UCCIDERE (1970) directed by Alfonso Brescia

In English, the translation may be YOUR SWEET BODY TO KILL. Looks like a giallo type film. With George Ardisson. Spanish/Italian coproduction.

78. IL VIZIO HA LE CALZE NERE (1975) directed by Tano Cimarosa

VICE WEARS BLACK HOSE, aka REFLECTIONS IN BLACK. With John Richardson, Dagmar Lassander, Magda Konopka, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Daniela Giordano. Music by Carlo Savina.

Comments: "This is one of your sleazier gialli right up there with scuzzy favorites like 'Strip Nude for Your Killer' and 'The Slasher Is a Sex Maniac'.

"Director Tano Cimarosa seems keen to keep the focus on sleaze and savagery throughout, and if we're not witnessing a woman being slashed open with a razor blade, we're watching two of them getting it on."

79. INTERRABANG (1969) directed by Giuliano Biagetti

With Haydee Politoff (Naschy's love interest in COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE).

Comments: "Italian Gialli from the late 1960s differed in a number of ways from those made in the wake of Dario Argento's BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. Before gore and set-piece slaying, gialli like Umberto Lenzi's ORGASMO and Lucio Fulci's ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER were bloodless, psychological murder mysteries that relied on plot twists, sexual situations, and irony for their thrills and INTERRABANG is more of the same with director Giuliano Biagetti making the most of an extremely low budget, a trio of beautiful European starlets, and an enigmatic premise."

"Interrabang is, superficially, a very beautiful film. The location used is serene and picturesque, and when you add a trio of lovely and often half naked ladies into the mix; you have a film that was probably a lot of fun to make. It's also not a bad film to watch as while things do get a bit silly at times; there's plenty of twists and turns in the plot and director Giuliano Biagetti manages to keep things interesting with only his small cast to rely on."

80. L’AMANTE DEL DEMONIO (1972) directed by Paolo Lombardo

English title: THE DEVIL'S LOVER. With Edmund Purdom, Rosalba Neri.

IMDB plot summary: Creepy tale about a sorrowful night passed in a nightmarish castle, so the house of the demon. Many horror elements are mixed with erotic atmosphere.

Comments: "Wonderful Pop-realistic masterpiece, with one of the best Rosalba Neri's performance."

Obviously, we need to have this film.

81. L’ARMA L’ORA IL MOVENTE (1973) directed by Francesco Mazzei

English title: THE WEAPON, THE HOUR AND THE MOTIVE.

IMDB plot summary: A sexually-promiscuous priest is stabbed to death inside a church.

Comment: "Giallo of a superior kind."

82. L’INTERROGATORIO (1970) directed by Vittorio de Sisti

With Benjamin Lev, Paolo Gozlino, Brigitte Skay.

Drama about a young man wrongly accused of murder.

83. L’OCCHIO DIETRO LA PARETE (1977) directed by Giuliano Petrelli

English title: THE EYE BEHIND THE WALL. With John Phillip Law, Fernando Rey, Olga Bisera.

This sounds like a wild ride:

Comments: "The movie starts with a scene (missing from some prints) of a young man (John Phillip-Law) raping and murdering a woman on a train. Later he rents a room from an elderly wheelchair-bound voyeur (Fernando Rey) and his much younger 'wife' (Olga Bisneros). The elderly man enjoys watching the younger man through the a hole in the wall where he has set up a periscope-like device. There is something decidedly homoerotic about this. The first thing he sees, for instance, is the younger man get forcibly raped by a big black guy he has picked up at a cheesy disco (where a German-looking extra takes all her clothes off to a wretched disco beat). Then he sends his 'wife' over to seduce the young man, and its eventually revealed the true nature of the couple's relationship and how he came to be in the wheelchair.... Obviously, this movie is quite a collection of psychopathia sexualis (people like Freud and Reich would have loved it). Which is not to say it is necessarily very sexy (unless impotence, voyeurism, rape, gay interracial rape, pubic-hair fetishes, wife-swapping, child abuse, incest, and bad disco music really turn you on). But there is something fascinating about the sheer wretched excess of perversity on display here."

"'The Eye Behind the Wall' is a bizarre and very sleazy sexual thriller. Sadly writer/director Giuliano Petrelli never made another film after this. It actually reminded me Alfred Hitchock's masterpiece 'Rear Window'. The film is atmospheric and features a good amount of nudity and sleaze."

"The film is very atmospheric, shows quite an amount of nudity without becoming too sexploitative, and boosts a moody soundtrack. Sadly, this obscure oddity remains extremely hard to find. But if one can get hold of it, he shouldn't waste the opportunity and watch it: It's a really remarkable and quite unique film."

84. L’ORRIBILE SEGRETO DEL DR HICHCOCK (1962) directed by Riccardo Freda.

English title: THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK. With Barbara Steele, Robert Flemyng.

Comments: "Gorgeously filmed, totally insane Gothic pastiche from Riccardo Freda holds its marvelously overwrought tone through to the fiery climax. At the center of it is Barbara Steele's Cynthia.... It's all both lavish and ludicrous, and profits from Steele's incredible screen presence and the weight of its own images. Spectacular use of color, as well. Essential viewing."

"Definitely, this splendid movie is still the only one to match up to 'La maschera del demonio' (1960, Mario Bava) as the most brilliant and complex Italian Horror film (in any age, of course). Beautifully shot, with an unforgettable performance from Barbara Steele (arguably her best!) and outstanding macabre atmosphere."

85. L’OSCENO DESIDERIO (1978) directed by Giulio Petroni

English title: OBSCENE DESIRE. With Marisa Mell, Chris Avram, Jack Taylor.

"This post-'Exorcist' and 'Omen' possession film is quite odd. It has some typical Giallo elements and until the second half of the movie, it is left unclear whether there is something supernatural going on or not.... [T]he climax delivers an unexpected downbeat twist to surprise the audience."

86. L’UOMO PUMA (1980) directed by Alberto de Martino

Comments: "This movie is perfect in every way. The music is great, especially when pumaman flies. And the way he flies is so realistic, I can't believe this was made in 1980. He has to be the best superhero ever- his flying, his puma vision, and his hands are claws. And Kobras - can you possibly imagine a better villain? His suit alone makes me nervous. And most of all, the acting is superb- the whole film is so lifelike, that sometimes I think there really are pumamen. 10 out of 10, no question."

"This is a terrible, terrible movie. However, it's absolutely hilarious, more than most comedies are: when I watched it I was howling with laughter for most of its running time."

"This movie will NEVER grow old! It is the best movie I have ever seen, ok maybe my version was "edited" by a trio of sarcastic friends, but nevertheless, you will believe the mystical "Aztec" religion. It is so well done and detailed, you will forget that the Aztecs were nowhere near the Andes mountains. Pumaman, aka Liberachi in Dockers, is a superhero who could take out the Justice League, Fantasitc Four, The X-Men, Spider Man, Batman, and Even Superman all at the same time and not even break a sweat! I mean c'mon, who could possible stand up to his uncanny ability to sense danger?"

87. LA LUNGA NOTTE DI VERONIQUE (1966) directed by Gianni Vernuccio

English translation of title: THE LONG NIGHT OF VERONIQUE

Never heard of this one, but as it's from the period of Italy's Golden Age of Gothic Horror, I'm very curious.

Comment: "A university student goes home to his bucolic village for a family funeral, and meets a beautiful, ethereal young woman, who it seems died during the War and is now roaming the area as a wraith searching for her true love."

Zona Cult comment: "Approaches the style of Mario Bava."

88. LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE (1974) directed by Sergio Garrone

Aka, THE HAND THAT FEEDS THE DEAD. With Klaus Kinski.

Comments: "Klaus Kinski is in fine form as our 'mad scientist', attempting to correct a past mistake. The laboratory he uses is also one of the best ever, just eye-popping. Very obscure in America, but available subtitled from the usual sources. This is one of the greats, and almost nobody even knows about it."

"Kinski is a 19th century doctor who starts dabbling in RE-ANIMATION when he finds an old laboratory in his basement. Things go terribly wrong in the lab and he screws up his own good/evil balance, or something. This was about as good as a good Hammer film, but a lot weirder."

89. LA MORTE BUSSA DUE VOLTE (1969) directed by Harald Philipp

Aka, DEATH KNOCKS TWICE. With Dean Reed, Fabio Testi, Anita Ekberg, Adolfo Celi. A West German-Italian co-production.

Comments: "DEATH KNOCKS TWICE is an excellent vehicle for both leading man Dean Reed (in this film he reminds me of a cross between James Franciscus, Tab Hunter, and the pre-burnout Jan-Michael Vincent), who plays a detective out to solve a murder and robbery while stumbling across other corrupt activities, and for leading hunk Fabio Testi, who opens the film with a semi-nude outdoor love scene and seems to play half the film without his shirt on."

"Death Knocks Twice is a somewhat interesting thriller that is often considered a part of the Giallo genre, despite putting much of its focus on other areas of the plot; which shows in a nutshell just how meandering this film is considering that a murder plot makes up the backbone of it. The film was made in 1969; just before the Giallo genre would gain popularity and Italian directors would go into overdrive making them. This one was actually a co-production with West Germany; thus further calling it's credibility with the genre into repute. The plot focuses on Francisco di Villaverde; a talented artist who has a deadly hobby, which involves strangling girls after having sex with them. He strangles a girl on the beach and this is witnessed by a couple of body guards, who just so happen to work for a local gangster who just so happens to want to buy a piece of property owned by Francisco di Villaverde. This story is then fused with a love story between the artist and the gangster's wife as she can't resist his charms in spite of his murderous nature."

"This movie has a lot going for it. The great Fabio Testi plays a deranged artist who can't seem to resist strangling his female partners during sex. The voluptuous Anita Ekberg (the fountain-bather in Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita') is an older, married female art dealer who just can't resist Testi's possibly homicidal charms and becomes the potential victim of an elaborate murder plot. The villainous Adolf Celli plays her oft-cuckolded husband, a scary gangster called "The Professor". Even a young Femi Benussi gets into the act in one of her earliest have-naked-sex-and-get-brutally-murdered-minutes-later cameos."

90. LA MORTE SCENDE LEGGERA (1972) directed by Leopoldo Savona

English title: DEATH FALLS LIGHTLY.

Comment: "Death Falls Lightly is a Giallo of the ultra rare variety, and while it has nothing on the best of what the genre has to offer; Leopoldo Savona's film is still a very solid genre entry. The film takes on an almost dreamlike atmosphere and presents a very isolated and focused mystery inside a deserted hotel building."

91. LA MORTE VIENE DAL BUIO (1972) directed by Roberto Montero

Aka, THE SLASHER IS A SEX MANIAC. With Farley Granger, Sylva Koscina, Femi Benussi.

Comments: "This little seen but nonetheless notorious Italian giallo opens with the SECOND-best footage imaginable. A bunch of policemen are standing in the room where the horribly mutilated body of an attractive woman has just been discovered, and this disturbing discovery heralds the search for a sadistic killer. The absolute best horror opening would of course be that we actually witness the killer take the life of his victim but, no worries, as we're treated to that not more than ten minutes later already and several times after that!"

"'The Slasher' has a pedestrian plot of multiple murders of beautiful married women who cheat on their husbands. Not only is the lovingly rendered pictorial dwelling on their naked bodies both before and after death disturbingly unnecessary, this distasteful film's message seems to be that women who are unmarried can be acceptably promiscuous. However, once they are married and continue to be promiscuous they deserve death."

"The rap on this giallo is that it is especially moralistic and misogynistic; however,I found the first charge to be untrue and the other greatly exaggerated. A crazed killer is murdering unfaithful wives and leaving photographic evidence of their dalliances next to the bodies. This certainly SEEMS pretty moralistic."

92. LA NOTTE DEI DANNATI (1971) directed by Fillipo Walter Ratti

Aka, NIGHT OF THE DAMNED/NIGHT OF THE SEXUAL DEMONS. With Pierre Brice.

"This title deserves all the attention a cult movie should. It has all the elements proper to the genre it represents. A witch, a castle, a malediction, an 'investigator of the occult', some morbid sexual themes, a rich and grainy photography focused on warm and thick colors like red and orange so that it resemble that of another great movie: 1962's Riccardo Freda's masterpiece "L'orribile segreto del dottor Hichcock".... If you're into Jess Franco or Mario Bava don't hesitate to search for this movie, it will worth the time and money."

93. LA NOTTE DEI DIAVOLI (1972) by Giorgio Ferroni

Aka, NIGHT OF THE DEVILS. With Gianni Garko, Agostina Belli.

Comments: "Story about a man who breaks down and seeks shelter with a less than ordinary family with an extraordinary dilemma. Let's just say things do go bump in the night for this family of the woods. Night of the Devils unfortunately is vastly unseen. It has lots of things going for it, like a cast that is truly gung-ho and some pretty good writing. The atmosphere is dark and ominous which gives the film a really great feel."

"It's always nice to find an obscure gem like this. This film is VERY good. Don't let the other reviews here fool you. An intelligent viewer who actually WATCHES and takes in all the atmosphere built up will find a lot to reward them. One should not go into this with the typical 2 second attention span so prevalent today. The film is intelligently made and builds slowly but surely."

"I've seen this movie many times and it is very good and scary. Even i like the story of Aleksey Tolstoi, which this movie is based of. This is one of the best atmospheric horror-movies. Agostina Belli is so beautiful and a much more believable Sdenka than Susy Andersen was in Mario Bava's Black Sabbath. I love this twist ending much more than the ending of Bava's Wurdelak."

94. LIBIDO TERROR (1965) directed by Ernesto Gastaldi, Vittorio Salerno

With Giancarlo Giannini, Dominque Boschero.

Comments: "This thriller by renowned Italian screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi is a very early Giallo - made just shortly after Mario Bava's first modern Italian thriller SEI DONNE PER L'ASSASSINO (1964) that is considered being the first real Giallo at all. But LIBIDO, shot in black and white, is not only one of the earliest Gialli. It is also one of the most accomplished."

"Even with all the renewed interest in Italian gialli these days, it's a little unfortunate that this one will probably never be re-released on DVD because it is one of the few gialli filmed in black and white. And that's too bad because it is really an excellent little film. A young boy sees his father murder his mistress during a bondage session in a mirror-filled room. The father apparently commits suicide by jumping off a cliff (although his body was never found)and the boy eventually ends up in a mental hospital. Years later as a young man he returns to his childhood home with his wife, his lawyer, and his lawyer's sexy girlfriend. A number of strange things begin to happen and the man begins to suspect that his father is still alive."

95. MADELEINE ANATOMIA DI UN INCUBO (1974) directed by Roberto Mauri

English title: MADELINE, STUDY OF A NIGHTMARE. With Camille Keaton.

Comment: "This is a rare and obscure film, it has some nice ideas but the director doesn't follow them very fine and so we get a confusing plot. The end of this ambitious movie is quite original and interesting tough, if we think this is from 1974."

96. NO IL CASO E’ FELICEMENTE RISOLTO (1973) directed by Vittorio Salerno

English title: NO, THE CASE IS HAPPILY RESOLVED.

Comments: "While fishing at a quiet lake, a blameless civil servant happens to witness a murder. Although he and the killer suddenly stand in front of each other, the witness (Signore Santamaria) manages to escape. At home, however, he decides not to call police, assuming that he won't be bothered by the incident any further. The murderer, on the other hand, plays his only card: He goes to police, claiming that he is in fact the witness and the Santamaria the killer."

"A classic 'italian story', in which an innocent and ignorant worker (witness to a crime) pays in the place of the real guilty, a high society professor. Besides the not so original topic the movie offers good acting performances and depicts perfectly the life of a low-class worker living in the suburbs of an italian city in the mid-70's."

97. NON AVER PAURA DELLA ZIA MARTA (1988) directed by Mario Bianchi

English titles: DON'T BE AFRAID OF AUNT MARTHA, THE MURDER SECT

Comment: "The Murder Secret is a crazy giallo/slasher which, although directed by Mario Bianchi, was 'supervised' by Lucio Fulci. This inevitably means that the final product bears more than a passing resemblance to a Fulci flick, ie., it has a decent smattering of cheesy gore and a story that lacks any logic or cohesion. However, even with its flaws, The Murder Secret is still an entertaining film with enough good bits for it to be worth a watch."

98. NON SPARATE SUI BAMBINI (1978) directed by Gianni Crea

LoveLockandLoad Forum-Stephen Grimes: "Obscure crime from spaghetti western director Crea (FINDERS KILLERS,ON THE THIRD DAY ARRIVED THE CROW) with Giancarlo Prete as an honest factory worker who gets fired from his job and ends up commiting robberies so he can pay for his dying father's hospital treatment, things go badly wrong after a big heist and they end up taking a classroom of infants hostage at a nursery school."

99. SETTE ORE DI VIOLENZA PER UNA SOLUZIONE IMPREVISTA (1973) directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini

English title: 7 HOURS OF VIOLENCE. With George Hilton.

A "polizieschi" (police crime actioner).

100. L’UOMO PIU’ VELENOSO DEL COBRA (1971) directed by Bitto Albertini

Aka, HUMAN COBRAS. With George Ardisson, Erika Blanc, Alberto de Mendoza, Janine Reynaud, Aurora de Alba.

Comment: "Although the first thirty-minute of this Spanish-Italian co-produced Giallo sets in Europe and USA (and it should be said this thirty-minute is definitely of a cheap B-action-film rather than of a Giallo), this is a Giallo which is best known with and only with regard of its unique setting in Kenya. And I can admit this Kenyan setting produces almost unexpectedly visual impacts, especially in the sequence that Tony Garden disposes of the troublesome body of the almost strange girl and then the police find it."

101. SUGGESTIONATA (1978) directed by Alfredo Rizzo

With Gabriele Ferzetti.

Plot synopsis from Digitmovies soundtrack release: An engineer and former fascist (Ferzetti) comes back to Italy to resume possession of his own lands. A widower with three sons, the man has a relationship with a sexy girl (Giorgi). The girl, influenced by the sociopolitical speeches of her own father which she had listened to when she was only 13 years old, succeeds to isolate herself with her lover's sons and pulls them into a dark dimension of madness. The protagonist will find himself in front of a series of crimes - without ever understanding if political revenge or something else is involved.

102. TESTA IN GIU’ GAMBE ALL’ARIA (1972) directed by Ugo Novello

With Corrado Pani, Maria Pia Conte,

Almost zero info on the web concerning what this is about. It could be one of those Decameron take-offs.

103. TRHAUMA (1980) directed by Gianni Martucci

Comment: "This little known Italian thriller (which is 'correctly' spelled Trhauma) tells a typical giallo story, but has clearly been influenced by John Carpenter's Halloween. A group of people spend a weekend at a friend's house. Early in the movie, one of the females is killed by a disfigured killer, who rapes his victim post mortem.... [A] highly watchable movie that will satisfy giallo-, slasher- and sleaze-fans alike."

104. UN BIANCO VESTITO PER MARIALE' (1972) directed by Romano Scavolini

Aka, SPIRITS OF DEATH. With Ida Galli, Ivan Rassimov, Luigi Pistilli.

Comment: "Here's a strange and unsettling giallo that borrows much from the maestro of the macabre, Mario Bava. The film is set entirely on an eerie, isolated estate and, like 5 DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON and BAY OF BLOOD, has an ambiguous plot centering around murder and mayhem which provides director/cinematographer Romano Scavolini with ample opportunity for a number of unusual set-pieces.... [C]lassic 'style over substance' thriller from the Golden Age Of The Giallo."

"Romano Scavolini's 'Spirits of Death' is a stylish giallo with some gory murders. The photography is beautiful and the atmosphere is creepy and nightmarish."

105. UN OMBRA NELL’OMBRA (1979) directed by Pier Capri

Aka, RING OF DARKNESS. With Anne Heywood, Valentina Cortese, Frank Finlay, John Philip Law, Marisa Mell, Irene Papas.

Comment: "This is one of the best Italian sleaze films I've seen. The plot has a teenage girl who is interested of occultism and has supernatural powers.Her mother is a member of satanist group and is afraid what influences it'll have on the girl."

"Gratuitous nudity seems to be the main raison d'etre of this one. It ends with a bizarre naked catfight between the decidedly middle-aged Anne Heywood and her obviously teenaged daughter (Lara Wendel)."

106. UNA JENA IN CASSAFORTE (1968) directed by Cesare Canevari

Aka, HYBRID. With Dmitri Nabokov (yes, Vladimir's son).

Plot synopsis from A-Z site: Several men and women make their way to a large mansion as guests. They relax for a while, then get down to the business that they are there for. A rich man called Boris has died and left a fortune of diamonds in a huge safe. Someone pulls a lever and the steel casket rises from a pool in the garden. Each of the guests has a key, and the safe can only be opened when all keys are used. However, one of the guests for the life of him can't find his key. The angry guests suspicions are centered towards Janine, but even a strip search reveals nothing....

107. OSCENITA' (1980) directed by Renato Polselli

"Wow! Quando l'amore è oscenità, or more commonly known as Oscenità, is a very rare and hard to find film.... The film presents an array of nasties, from intercourse with a tree branch, candle masturbation, whipping, switchblade foreplay, orgies in the presence of animals, a woman urinating in a bucket, black magic lesbian rituals, toe masturbation, women fooling around with a real corn on the cobb, and last but not least; a scene with a woman and a donkey, which makes the one in Emanuelle in America seem very tame!!"

"'Oscenita' is perhaps the most scandalous Renato Polselli's film.Banned for few years in Italy due to its transgressive sexual content and released in theaters in 1979 this piece of sleaze offers several sexually explicit scenes including masturbation with a candle, whipping, rape and sexual intercourse with a donkey."

108. RIVELAZIONI DI UNO PSICHIATRA SUL MONDO PERVERSO DEL SESSO (1973) directed by Renato Polselli

Comment: "Amazing stuff! Purports to be a documentary with a psychiatrist interpreting the bizarre newspaper stories of rape, orgy, bestiality, bit more rape, S&M, more orgy (pretty good actually) and a someone pretending to iron his lady's nightie with her still in it and someone pretending to be a dog- oh and a threesome where the two men get it off. Along the way we get to see more glorious minis, both skirts and dresses than I've ever seen in one film and hardcore sequences."

109. DIAVOLO IN CORPO (1986) directed by Marco Bellocchio

Street date: July 28, 2009.

English title: DEVIL IN THE FLESH.

Comments: "Well-worth seeing! Marco Bellocchio succeeds in analysing the rot and opportunism affecting a typical bourgeois family in the late 80s.... A very authentic, not at all dogmatic film, one which succeeds in showing the erotic side of love without falling into the trap of cheapness or boredom."

"This 1986 Italian-French remake of the 1946 film of the same name turns up the heat early, and doesn't let us come up for air."

"Notable because of it's notorious explicit scene when the gorgeous Maruschka Detmers takes her young lover's penis from his trousers and into her mouth. Even without this moment the film is a splendid if slightly disturbing passionate and blindingly sexy ride."

110. ANNA QUEL PARTICOLARE PIACERE (1973) directed by Guiliano Carnimeo

Aka, SECRETS OF A CALL GIRL. With Edwige Fenech, Corrado Pani, Richard Conte, John Richardson.

Previously released on the NoShame label.

Comments: "Edwige Fenech takes the lead role and does brilliantly with it. Her role here requires her to a little more than just take her clothes off, and she rises to the occasion well. It's easy to forget that she can act considering her roles in many of her films, so Secrets of a Call Girl serves as a nice reminder!"

"This is not the kind of movie that I usually go for, but something about Secrets of a Call Girl worked for me. Maybe it was just the charismatic presence of Fenech or the brutal character played by Pani, but I couldn't take my eyes off the television. In the end, Secrets of a Call Girl is an incredibly sad, moving film. If the ending doesn't affect you and all but bring a tear to your eye, you might need to seek help."

111. LO STRANO VIZIO DELLA SIGNORA WARDH (1971) directed by Sergio Martino

English tite: THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH. With Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov.

This is an exceptional giallo that was previously released on the NoShame label. That disc is out-of-print and commands high prices on eBay, so this Mya edition will be welcome indeed.

Comments: "Martino's film has ... some stylish and violent murders but fortunately he didn't concentrate only on them. The locations are simply stunning, and the end twist is surprising and certainly original in my opinion. I think this is among the best of the giallo genre, on the same level with Mario Bava's 'Blood and Black Lace', the films by Argento and Tonino Valerii's 'My Dear Killer', for example, to name just a few."

"Sergio Martino's giallo masterpiece 'The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh' (also under the inferior titles: 'Next Victim' or 'Blade Of The Ripper') is one of the best films in the Italian cult genre. This was Sergio Martino's first (er..um..excuse the pun) stab at a Giallo thriller, and it's one that defines the genre as much as Argento's 'The Bird With The Crystal Plummage'. Directed in 1970, Sergio Martino set the standard for Italian Hitchcockian slasher films."

112. LA CODA DELLO SCORPIONE (1971) directed by Sergio Martino

English title: THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TALE. With George Hilton, Anita Strindberg, Alberto de Mendoza, Ida Galli (Evelyn Stewart), Janine Reynaud.

Another previous release from NoShame.

Comments: "Director Martino keeps the story moving at a fast pace while the viewer tries to guess the identity of the killer. Anita Strindberg (also memorable in 'Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key' and 'Who Saw Her Die?') is a stunning-looking heroine. It's one of Martino's best films."

"[T]his film boasts the stylish direction that Martino fans would expect, as well as a twisty plot, some finely done murder set pieces, and beautiful Athenian location shooting."

"'The Case of the Scorpion's Tail' excellently delivers all the elements a great Giallo needs. The film is stunningly suspenseful from the beginning, the score by Bruno Nicolai is brilliant, the plot is wonderfully convoluted, and the killer's identity remains a mystery until the end. Regular Giallo leading-man George Hilton once again delivers an excellent performance in the lead. Sexy Anita Strindberg is absolutely ravishing in the female lead."

113. GIOVANNONA COSCIALUNGA (1973) directed by Sergio Martino

English title: GIOVANNONA LONG-THIGH. With Edwige Fenech.

Previosly released by NoShame.

Comments: "A milestone in Italian trash comedy. Although its artistic value is negligible at best, 'Giovannona Coscialunga disonorata con onore' (somehow translatable as 'Long thigh Johanna raped with kindness') should be remembered as the prototype of the sexy-comedy-Italian-style that haunted Italian cinema in the 70s, like did the so-called 'spaghetti western' in the 60s."

"Italy didn't exactly hold back when it came to ripping off films back in the seventies - everything from Dirty Harry to Jaws got the Italian treatment, but I must say I never expected to see an Italian sex comedy version of the classic romantic comedies of thirties USA! Even more surprising than the premise of this film is the fact that it's good!"

114. CASTA E PURA (1981) directed by Salvatore Samperi.

English title: CHASTE AND PURE. With Laura Antonelli, Fernando Rey.

Comment: "The movie is about a rich girl that everybody's interested in only to get a hand on the loads of cash she inherited. Between her tyranic father (Fernando Rey, getting old and less picky with scripts, it would seem) and some pimpin' playboy (Massimo Ranieri, looking sleazy and dubious), her doctor wants her to get laid, and apparently so does the village priest !"

115. IL BIANCO IL GIALLO IL NERO (1975) directed by Sergio Corbucci.

English titles: THE WHITE, THE YELLOW, AND THE BLACK/SHOOT FIRST . . . ASK QUESTIONS LATER. With Guiliano Gemma, Thomas Milan, Eli Wallach.

Comment: "This time around the famous 'other Sergio' takes a stab at the comedy/spaghetti sub-genre which was ever so popular in the waning days of the Euro Western. 'Bianco, il giallo, il nero, Il' is more or less a bizarro take on the East meets wild West classic 'Red Sun'.... Many unintentional laughs and moments of genuine surreal weirdness set to the equally strange Guido & Maurizio De Angelis score almost guarantee this film to delight fans of the genre and confuse and frighten the average viewer."

116. IL CONSIGLIORI (1973) directed by Alberto de Martino

English titles: THE COUNSELLOR/COUNSELOR AT CRIME. With Thomas Milan, Martin Balsam, Francisco Rabal, Dagmar Lassander, Perla Cristal.

Comment: "Il Consigliori is a poliziotti film from 1973. Martin Balsam, a regular of these types of films plays Don Maggadino, a powerful San Francisco mob boss. His consigliori (lawyer) played by Tomas Milian, another familiar face in Italian films has just gotten out of jail.... This movie is fantastic. It has all the elements of an action movie plus many values of the Mafia system.... A must for Mob film and Italian action film fans."

117. LUCREZIA GIOVANE (1974) directed by Luciano Ercoli

With Simonetta Stefanelli, Massimo Foschi, Ettore Manni.

A historical drama about Lucrezia Borgia, so expect illicit love and murder.

118. ARIZONA SI SCATENO’ E LI FECE FUORI TUTTI (1970) directed by Sergio Martino

Street date: July 28, 2009.

English title: ARIZONA COLT RETURNS. With Anthony Steffen, Rosalba Neri, Marcella Michelangeli, Aldo Sambrell.

A great score by Bruno Nicolai highlights this spaghetti western.

119. SEI GIA’ CADAVERE AMIGO TI CERCA GARRINGO (1971) directed by Juan Bosch

English title: DIG YOUR GRAVE FRIEND. . . SABATA'S COMING. A Spanish-Italian co-production. With Richard Harrison, Fernando Sancho

"This is a very entertaining spaghetti western. It is a serious revenge story with a little bit of humor thrown in. It has an interesting story, and the humor succeeds without dominating the tone of the film. The music score is also very good, and surely won't disappoint any spaghetti western purists who see the movie."

Mya's June Releases

2009-03-19T14:44:00.009-04:00

Mya will be releasing the following films June 30. The descriptions that follow are from Mya's promo sheets.

ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN (201019)

It's 1891: Lieutenant Claude de Ross (Claudio Cassinelli), a military doctor, and a few newly escaped convicts are shipwrecked on a mysterious tropical island. They soon come across a strange couple: the sadistic Edmund Rackham (Richard Johnson) and the beautiful Amanda Marvin (Barbara Bach). The doctor finds out that Amanda's father, professor Ernest Marvin (Joseph Cotten), is a mad scientist who is experimenting on horrible human-fish mutations. While Professor Marvin is convinced that he's doing his research for humanitarian motives, Rackham has other plans, since he has discovered an incredible secret lying beneath the island.

MONIKIA (201020)

Monika (Gloria Guida) is young, beautiful and virgin. She is only 16 years old, and, beside getting the attention of all her classmates, she also attracts older men. She has a relationship with a boy, Leo, but she doesn't know that he uses to pimp the girls he seduces to rich businessmen. One of Leo's client befriends Monika and becomes so obsessed that he pays Leo to get her. But Monika turns her attention to her art professor, unknowing that he too has his secrets.

Joe D'Amato's HORRIBLE (aka ABSURD, THE MONSTER HUNTER) (201021)

A man is running, followed by a priest. He comes across a house but the tall gates are locked so he begins to climb them, however he slips at the top and impales himself on the spikes. Injured to death he's taken to an hospital. Once there, the doctors discover that this man has an amazing regenerative power and his blood coagulates very quickly, making him almost indestructible. Sergeant Ben Engleman is put on the case, and he finds out that the priest has the answers: this man, Mikos Stenopolis, is the result of a nuclear scientific experiment gone wrong. He's now completely insane and will kill everybody who crosses his path, showing no mercy.

UBALDA (201022)

Inspired by the International success of Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Decameron (1971) and Canterbury Tales, Italian filmmakers rushed out a slew of like-minded comedies in the bawdy vein of Renaissance humorist Giovanni Boccaccio, known collectively as "Decamerotica." Medieval ltaly is the setting for this ludicrous la ronde involving a bumbling knight (Pippo Franco, of Billy Wilder's Avanti!) torn between his unfaithful wife (Black Emmanuelle's Karin Schubert) and the comely Ubalda (Fenech), the bored bride of the village miller who has the local men in a state of arousal despite her ample charms being constrained in an iron chastity belt. Directed by Mariano Laurenti, who teamed with Fenech again for Naughty Nun (1972) and The Winsome Widow (1974), Ubalda, All Naked and Warm was never released theatrically in the United States and is available only on this exclusive DVD, remastered from the original vault negatives and completely uncut and uncensored.

Mya Responds

2009-03-08T12:02:00.011-04:00

Marcello Rossi, of Mya DVD, has graciously responded to some of the questions I sent to him about the company and some of the comments I've made here in an earlier entry.

Here are the summaries:

1) The owner of Mya is not Michele de Angelis, as I thought (de Angelis was the co-owner of NoShame), but Salvatore Alongi, who worked for NoShame, as did Marcello Rossi. There is no formal relationship, however, between the companies. NoShame is out of business in Italy, just as in the USA.

2) Mya releases have to be, indeed, budget conscious. Part of this is due to a significant drop in DVD sales overall.

3) The missing frames in Mya's presentation of FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET were in the original negative and due to damage at the beginning and end of reels. I still want to ask a follow-up question on this issue in an interview I'd like to do with Mr. Rossi, but from his response, it appears the missing seconds (which may be less than 40) were not on the negative. [Another update: I've checked the scenes that have been mentioned as cut. I counted 12 seconds missing from the two connecting scenes that follow the burglary of Roberto's house beginning at 21:36, then 12 seconds from the party scene that follows the murder in the park, and 17 seconds from the two connected scenes that follows the murder in the men's room. A total of 41 seconds.]

4) The negative was not in pristine shape. A technicolor lab in Rome had to spend 40 days in cleaning it up. So, obviously, extra time and money was spent on this release.

5) The audio tone is correct. The telecine was 24 fps and the NTSC presentation is 24 fps. The German DVD is presented at 25 fps, so one can't go by that, as the tone will be obviously higher.... This is sure to be a controversial response, as there are posters on message boards who swear that the tone is off and are considerably bothered by this. As I have stated, I wasn't able to spot anything that stood out as being off, except for a brief snippet of Morricone's music in the end credits, where there is a warble. [I have since gone over this again, and the warble is present in the Italian audio, too, both before and during the end credits.]

6) The color-timing in the park scene is correct and as originally intended.

7) The setting of the paragraphs on the back are correct. A space separation was given between the plot and the commentary section, and also the last section that addressed the restoration. Also, the separation between "Velvet" and "finally" is present, but not that visible due to the italization of "Velvet."

I thank Mr. Rossi for taking the time to respond and hope to have an interview with him and Salvatore Alongi in the near future. A thanks to Mike Den Boer for initiating the communication.

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET review

2009-03-01T12:53:00.041-05:00

In the current online brouhaha over the defects of the Mya presentation of Dario Argento's third giallo film, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (4 MOSCHE DE VELLUTO GRIGIO, 1971), one issue seems to be underdiscussed: Is the film any good?

Well, FOUR FLIES is certainly a good giallo, with three effective suspense scenes, but for me it is the least of Argento's three "animal" gialli and perhaps not worth the emotionally-charged over evaluation of audio pitch and a missing few seconds here and there. True, it is disappointing that the Mya release did not get the film down right. Consumers have a right to expect the best presentation possible, and in this case, the film was promoted as being "full and uncut" from original negative elements. The back copy of the DVD even makes this sales pitch by having the appropriate explanatory text highlighted in bold:

Now FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET finally returns, fully uncut and with an astounding picture and sound quality. A long and accurate restoration work was made directly on the original negative elements, which have remained untouched for more than 30 years.

Clearly, considering that we now know that the film is cut and that the sound quality on the English dub is not what it could have been (though not as terrible as some would make out), whoever wrote the above either didn't know the truth or was simply lying. And the "long and accurate restoration work" missed properly color-timing an important park sequence.

What does shine is the pictorial quality of this release, pristine in its wonderfully wide Techniscope framing. And with the film being sourced from an Italian negative, the Italian audio is likewise blemish free, though lacking in the real life acoustic ambiance of the English audio. Check out the audio differences in the party scene that begins at about 34:04. While the English dub contains the background noise of the party when Nina, the Mimsy Farmer character, talks on the phone (as would naturally occur in life), the Italian dub evaporates it almost completely. Even if you choose the Italian dub, Mya does not provide English subtitles, excepting in the instance of the reinstated minute and a half of footage that comes near the end of the film and which was cut from the film's American release. Unconscionably, even Italian newspaper headlines in the film, as well as notes written by the killer in Italian, are not subtitled in English either.

It now appears that the English audio was lifted from a German bootleg release on the RetroFilm label, with the expected resultant loss in quality and tone, as were lifted the American trailers for the DVD's supplemental section, and the American opening and ending credits. This indicates that Mya had access solely to the Italian print and, presumably, the rights that went along with that print. One assumes that English language rights to FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET are retained by a company that Mya did not deal with.

It can't be stressed enough that Mya is releasing its DVDs with the least amount of expense possible. (Which is why English subs are lacking on all the company's releases unless there is no English audio available.) The guessing game has been that Mya has emerged out of No Shame, and we know what happened to that company. It went kaput in the United States and I'm sure lost a bundle of money. So the reason for the current cost-cutting business plan is obvious. Anyone who hopes that Mya will offer up replacement discs for a corrected version of FOUR FLIES can wait till rice becomes the national dish of Italy instead of pasta. It ain't going to happen, folks.

So we have to make do for now with what we have--which is the ability to see and evaluate a little seen Argento film from the early 1970s, in excellent visual quality.

The story kicks in with its mystery right from the opening credits. A sinister man, hiding behind sunglasses, keeps following around town a successful drummer, Roberto Tobias, to be finally confronted by Roberto in an empty theater. An accident appears to occur, with Roberto seemingly stabbing the stalker with his own knife, as someone situated in a balcony, wearing a mask, takes photos of the incident, a spotlight on Roberto. Aware of his predicament, Roberto must remain quiet, as further threatening and violent incidents hound him into trying to figure out who is his tormentor.

Argento keeps various red-herrings percolating throughout, so that you may just be caught off guard when the murderer is finally revealed. (Either as an indication of how good Argento is at this game or how little impact the film made on me when I first saw it about twenty years ago at an Argento retrospective--with Argento in attendance--I forgot who the murderer was!) Argento also slips in a few mysteries that may be red-herrings themselves. For instance: Why does the maid look mannish? Why do the stalker's sunglasses make contact with confetti twice?

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET cleverly plays around with sexual identity, homosexuality, even perversity, juggling these issues among various characters and plot points. It's an effective sleight of hand that keeps one guessing and intrigued.

Acting-wise, the film comes up short, however. While Mimsy Farmer is generally fine in her role, and shines in it when necessary, the Brooklyn-born Michael Brandon is a surprisingly dull presence throughout. I don't know what Argento wanted of his performance, but Brandon's Roberto is the least interesting or sympathetic of Argento's main male characters in his early films. Why Brandon was chosen to carry this film is a mystery to me, but perhaps Argento was seduced by a certain similar look that Brandon had with him at the time. If so, the alter-ego choice fails to generate interest or spark.

I've only one favorite character here: The flamingly gay detective Gianni Arrosio, played by Jean-Pierre Marielle, who strikingly resembles photos of Fu Manchu author Sax Rohmer. Some may consider Marielle's portrayal cliched and offensive, but it's the only one that has novelty and zest. (A thankfully brief meeting between Arrosio and another gay man does go over-the-top, though.) Other side characters, such as the "God/Godfrey" one played by Bud Spencer, are mundane or too obvious to be of interest.

The DVD's back copy appears to have been stitched together, in part, with help from IMDB comments, a bad sign of sneaky plagiarism on the part of whomever wrote it. Example:

Back copy: "Roberto (Michael Brandon) is a young handsome drummer playing in a rock band. For the last week he has been stalked by a mysterious guy with dark sunglasses."

IMDB comment by "Coventry," posted on January 19, 2008: "Roberto is a young handsome rock drummer playing in a band alongside his friends. For the last week he has a guy with a fancy suit and dark sunglasses stalking him for no apparent reason."

I mean, come on, fellas, there are Argentophiles who would have been delighted to write your back copy for free and put a little more meat to the bone. But, I guess, it must be too much trouble to try to secure the services of such people, if you can spend half-an-hour on the internet and get something with ease.

The back copy is also set sloppily. There is no space between the first and second paragraph, while there is space between the second and the third, and the third and the fourth. And there is no space between the words "velvet" and "finally" in first line of the last paragraph.

When taken as a whole--the missing seconds, the audio difficulties, the borrowings from a bootleg release, the back copy's sloppiness and IMDB-sourced phrases--Mya's FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET emerges as a problematic release, disheartening in the lack of love and high standards that put it all together. That said, it is worthy of a purchase if you are interested in the giallo film and Argento in particular. A double-dip, however, in case another company comes out with a superior version, is unlikely for me. It's just not that good of a film to warrant luxuriant spending in these economically tight times.

Click here to order the DVD at 33% off list price.

Below, some more screen captures from the Mya DVD:

THREE AND A HALF FLIES?

2009-02-28T14:48:00.006-05:00

I have the Mya DVD of FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET and will be watching the totality soon and reporting back here, but already there are noises on message boards that the Mya DVD may be slightly botched.

At this time, these seem to be the main problems:

1) The English audio is problematic. It seems in a lower register (slowed down), with the dialog being on occasion hard to make out or even absent in one snippet.

2) There are about 40 seconds missing. These missing seconds are from transition scenes, with the next scene being noticeably too quickly cut into.

On the plus side, the film looks the best it ever has on the video or DVD format, and the Mya DVD reinstates a minute and a half of footage cut from the original English release.

I've spot checked the disc and wasn't bothered by any lower register vocals, but my review was too hasty and brief to accurately access if there is a genuine problem here and not just an issue emerging from the general perfectionist pickiness over DVDs that message boards can burrow into.

Some message board members have expressed the hope that Mya will fix the problems for a replacement disc, but, given Mya's austerity and lack of contact information, I don't think this will happen.

More on this release forthcoming.

THE BLIND WOMAN OF SORRENTO review

2009-02-26T22:00:00.012-05:00

While awaiting a viewing of the latest Mya DVD release, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, I'm going back to the first release from Mya--THE BLIND WOMAN OF SORRENTO (LA CIECA DI SORRENTO), a 1934 Italian film that heralds an early performance by diva actress Anna Magnani.

Based on a popular 1852 novel by Francesco Mastriani, the film is tight with intriguing plotting and cross-plotting, the central focus being whether a young woman, blinded when a child upon the murder of her mother, which she witnessed, will recognize the murderer, now a persistent suitor attempting to inherit the fortune of the blind woman's father. Insistent suspense is provided by a young doctor who arrives from England to perform an operation on the woman that will regain her eyesight, a doctor who happens to be the son of the person wrongly convicted of the murder of her mother.

Anna Magnani does not play the blind woman, but an important side character, the mistress of the murderer. Still in her twenties here, Magnani bristles with the intensity and solidity that she would become famous for later in her career.

The film has the expected older-fashioned acting style of the 1930s--dramatic glances and poses--though this comes across these days as charming and an endearing artifact of an earlier time. Direction, cinematography and set design are all top-notch.

My chief impression while watching this movie was how well many filmmakers knew in those days how to craft their material so that interest in the story was maintained throughout and a sense of fullness was achieved. It's a somewhat melancholic impression, but also one that is appreciative of the chance to view such films, whether on television or via a DVD.

Mya's presentation is in Italian audio with optional English subtitles. Picture quality is good for a film this age.

Click here to order the DVD.

DOOR INTO DARKNESS Review

2009-02-04T16:17:00.000-05:00

DOOR INTO DARKNESS (LA PORTA SUL BUIO) presents the four episodes of a Dario Argento produced short giallo series that first appeared on Italy's RAI television in 1973. Previously available in a PAL edition (which quickly sold out), Mya's DOOR INTO DARKNESS marks the first official appearance of this series in the United States. The original film elements have been either lost or destroyed, so any presentation must be sourced from video elements, something that is visually obvious when one views the two-disc set from Mya. Despite this, DOOR INTO DARKNESS is sure to be of value to Argento-philes, though its importance to the casual horror fan will be minimal. The episodes themselves spark and maintain a viewer's interest, but for this reviewer fail to ultimately deliver the thrilling surprises found in Argento's best theatrical feature films. All of the episodes are introduced by a then very young-looking, and, at times, surprisingly good-looking, Argento.

The first episode, "The Neighbour," establishes an efficient fission scenario of a young couple, with baby, who stay overnight in their new groundfloor apartment, over which, in the upper apartment, an older man has just murdered his wife. Naturally, this murderer will soon be threatening the young couple. The couple behavior regarding their baby, however, is unrealistically portrayed, though necessarily so, given how the couple's dilemma resolves itself. A solid effort, directed by Luigi Cozzi, but, because of the couple's odd unthinking lack of care for their child, somewhat wobbly in realism.

The second episode, "The Tram," was helmed by Dario Argento under the alias of Sirio Bernadotte. This is one of those mysteries that challenges the viewer to figure out a classic crime puzzle: How a person can murder someone in full view of witnesses and not be found out. The murder happens aboard a tram, and there are at least half a dozen passengers who should have seen the murder happen but didn't. Unfortunately, a vital clue to the solution of the puzzle is kept from the viewer until nearly the end, and when that clue arrives the identity of the murderer becomes anti-climatic. Still, the episode has it delightful moments, particularly when the detective's wife is chased in the night through the tram yard by the culprit.

The third episode, "Eyewitness," is described in Argento's introduction as the last, so there must have been some switch in order in this, and the previous PAL release's, presentation. A woman, driving home late from the city, almost hits a blonde female who shoots out in front of her car. When she gets out of the car to examine the fallen blonde, she discovers blood streaming out of the blonde's back and a lifeless glaze in her eyes. She notices someone in the woods, who approaches, gun in hand.... Escaping, the woman tells her story to the police, who investigate the supposed scene of the crime--and find neither body, nor any trace of blood. Apparently reshot by Argento when he became dissatisfied with the original director's efforts (Roberto Pariante), this episode will have you on the edge of your seat at times, though if you've seen enough murder mysteries you will be able to figure out what's happening fairly easily. In other words, it's not the mystery that works so much, as it is the way the scenes of suspense are handled.

The fourth episode, "The Doll," is another effort by Cozzi. In this one, a violent mental patient escapes from an asylum and the search is on to find this person's whereabouts before murder occurs. As with "Eyewitness," the viewer who has seen similar mysteries will be able to figure most of what's happening, making Argento's challenge to do so in his introduction empty bravado. Erika Blanc fans should note that she appears briefly in this episode.

Mya's two-disc set also contains Cozzi's 83 minute documentary on Argento, "Dario Argento: Master of Horror," which shows the Italian director in action (on TWO EVIL EYES) and being interviewed, and presents various clips from his films. Unfortunately, Cozzi's lengthy introductions to the television episodes, made for the PAL DVD release, are not to be found in the Mya presentation, so we are denied learning the backstory to this series produced, and partially writen and directed, by Argento.

Because of mundane film elements on display, and the general low-budget nature of the series, DOOR INTO DARKNESS comes across as somewhat depressing and certainly lacking the stylish sleekness of Argento's movies. If you are not an Argento maniac, DOOR INTO DARKNESS should at least satisfy your curiosity, give you an idea of what an Italian TV series from the 1970s is like, and provide you with a few chills and thrills. If you are an Argento maniac, and don't yet have this series in another edition, then this DVD set is clearly for you.

Click here to order the DVD.

Mya's May Releases

2009-02-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Ryko Distribution has announced more Mya DVD releases, this time for May 19: THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE, THE RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR and THE SWEET PUSSYCATS. List price for each DVD is $24.95. Below are the covers and sell sheet descriptions (with minor corrections). Beware: Some spoilers are presented in the plot synopses.

THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE. When Countess Erzsebet Bathory (Lucia Bosé) is accidentally splattered with some blood drops from one of her nubile maidservants, the Countess finds out that the blood can preserve her skin young and beautiful. Compelled to kill innocent young girls to use their blood, the Countess is helped by her husband Karl (Espartaco Santoni), who fakes his own death and pretends to be a vampire to fool the superstitious villagers about the source of the exsanguinations. In the meantime Karl finds himself attracted to Marina (Ewa Aulin), the young daughter of a local innkeeper, perhaps another victim for the Countess. Sell Points/Extras Features: Believed one of the best adaptation of Elizabeth Báthory’s legend, this is one of the most disturbing and chilling movies from Spanish horror cult director Jorge Grau (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie). The Legend of Blood Castle is presented in its original full Spanish edit. Deleted and alternate (more explicit) scenes are included as extra contents. Extra: Deleted scenes, Alternate scenes, Italian opening credits, Poster gallery

RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR. Rome, 310 A.D. The Roman Empire is beginning to collapse, and Proconsul Tullius Valerius (Albert Farley) fears that provincial governor Gaius (John Barracuda) has been secretly working with those Germanic barbarians seeking to end Roman rule. Valerius then orders to former gladiator Marcus (Brad Harris) to go undercover and investigate this situation. In Gaius’ territory also lives Lycia (Maria Pia Conte), the beloved of Marcus. Gaius soon learns of Marcus’ plans, and has him captured and unfairly accused of murder. Led to believe that Marcus is guilty, Lycia turns against him, and Gaius condemns the gladiator to be pulled apart by teams of horses. Sell Points/Extras Features: International star Brad Harris leads this classic sword and sandal movie, set in ancient Roman times. Directed under the moniker of Al Albert by genre specialist Bitto Albertini.

THE SWEET PUSSYCATS. Count d’Alsay (Ernst Stankovski) and Colonel Delaroche (Sieghardt Rupp) live in opposite sides of the same castle, of which they contend the ownership. The two gentlemen bet each other who will be the first to bed their respective new virgin maid, and the winner will have the castle. In order to win his bet, Delaroche is forced to ignore his lusty fiancee (Edwige Fenech), who quickly turns her attention to another officer. In the mean time a whole stable of local prostitutes gets involved in the act. Sell Points/Extras Features: This erotic comedy is one of the first efforts by gorgeous Edwige Fenech, who would later become the queen of Italian sexy movies. A rare title, presented fully uncut, in which the young Fenech generously shows herself more than usual. Extra: Photo and poster gallery.

Dario Argento's DOOR INTO DARKNESS

2009-01-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

Streeting January 27, 2009 (which means it's technically out now), DOOR INTO DARKNESS is the first American release of Dario Argento's 1973 4-episode TV series for RAI television. Each episode lasts between 54 and 61 minutes. A vintage documentary on Argento, directed by Luigi Cozzi and clocking in at 83 minutes, is included. The MYA release contains two discs. The series was made when Argento was still in the midst of his impacting "animal trilogy." I've never seen these episodes, so I'm very much looking forward to viewing them.

Here is an in-depth review from 2004 of the German DVD release of this title. Beware, though, some spoilers.

Mya Communication

2009-01-26T20:09:00.000-05:00

There's considerable cyber-converse on horror/euro-cult message boards about Mya Communication, a new DVD company that is putting out Italian film product, to include long-awaited classics like Dario Argento's FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. No one knows exactly who is behind this new company, but the supposition is that it is someone who was associated with NoShame, a company that used to release Italian films on DVD here in the States before it disappeared, while still remaining active in Italy. Curiously, Mya Communication does not have any presence on the web, so this blog is picking up the slack.

It would be best to start off by listing the films Mya has already released and is scheluded to release, with street dates.

THE BLIND WOMAN OF SORRENTO - Nov. 18, 2008
PROVOCATION - Nov. 18, 2008
THE VIRGO, THE TAURUS AND THE CAPRICORN - Nov. 18, 2008
THE INVETERATE BACHELOR - Jan. 27, 2009
THE MANIACS - Jan. 27, 2009
BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS - Jan. 27, 2009
DARIO ARGENTO'S DOOR INTO DARKNESS - Jan. 27, 2009
FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET - Feb. 24, 2009
A POLICEWOMAN IN NEW YORK - Feb. 24, 2009
SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS - Feb. 24, 2009
FATTY GIRL GOES TO NEW YORK - March 31, 2009
TOP GIRL - March 31, 2009
CRAVING DESIRE - April 28, 2009
PASSION - April 28, 2009
THE REVENGE OF THE CRUSADER - April 28, 2009

As one can see, this is a very healthy release schedule. Surprisingly so.