Sunday, June 21, 2015

Junesploitation Day 21: Italian Horror!

Pray it will never happen!

49 comments:

  1. Tonight Big respect to the bossman Patrick for such a fun month so I gotta go with his choice
    Troll 2 1990
    #Nilbog
    I've heard a lot of people enjoying this film ironically, its been so long I really can't remember it and I own it and own course Troll part 1 too, time to adjust my tracking and give it a go :)

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    1. Im gonna tighten my belt so i dont feel the hunger pains!
      Troll 2 1990
      What have I just watched?
      I know I own it and part 1 too but my collection is kinda large and crazy and I haven't watched this one in 20 yrs
      There is a documentary called the Best Worst Movie directed by the Kid in Troll 2 Michael Paul Stephenson who affectionately calls it The Best Worst Movie
      The acting is pretty bad, continuity errors are so obvious are they made on purpose? Its hard to tell, the Director didn't speak english, there are no Trolls on it, but somehow they did make something unique and its hard not to find something in it to enjoy, I found myself smiling most of the way through it

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    2. You can't piss on hospitality, Dennis. Troll 2 has become a popular bad movie over the past several years, but I feel Troll 1 deserves just as much attention for its craziness. Although it knows what it's doing much more than Troll 2. I can laugh at Troll 2, but I can kinda laugh with Troll 1.

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    3. I'll give it a go on the next free day ;)

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  2. Seeing as it is Fathers day as a second choice as a Fathers movie im gonna go with Frailty, Bill Paxton's amazing directors debut, could this be an Overlooked movie? I love it and I don't here it mentioned much, Happy Fathers day to you Dads out there

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  3. Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (Terror! Il castello delle donne maledette) (1974) - First viewing

    Count Frankenstein runs an interesting household. His assistants include a dwarf who likes to fondle women's corpses and spy on people having sex, a manic butler who wants rid of the dwarf and a hunchback who's sleeping with the butler's wife behind his back. The dward befriends a Neanderthal man living in a nearby cave and teaches him how to rape girls, while the count does medical experiments on another caveman, and Frankenstein's daughter and the count's young love interest take a mud bath together, 'cause why the hell not.

    This is what Junesploitation is all about!

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    1. The crew of Cinematic Titanic (R.I.P.) took a crack at this one and the results were 'meh.' Crazy movie, though, like a perverted mash-up of horny Grimm's Fairy Tales meets a sexed-up Universal Monster movie mash-up. Even scarier than the make-up and the rapey vibe throughout: them 70's haircuts and fashions (OMG!).

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  4. The House by the Cemetary (1981, dir. Lucio Fulci) (First Time Viewing): So this movie is about a family moving into a haunted house by a cemetery. The kid’s name is Bob. Remember JB’s infamous “Chappie Meltdown”? Replace “Chappie” with “Bob” and you have this movie. “Bob? Bob? Bob are you there? Where’s Bob? Bob, where are you Bob?, etc.” It’s ridiculously annoying. First hour is a little reserved (relatively.. it’s still Fulci), but stick with it because the last half hour is straight up nightmare fuel. If you thought basements were creepy before... This is probably my second favorite Fulci movie now after Zombie. Recommended.

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    1. There is no measure for how much I hate Bob. Glad you ended up liking it in spite of him.

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    2. Is it Bob, or the kid (or adult faking a kid's voice) dubbing Bob?

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    3. I'm weirdly obsessed with Bob (as evidenced by my avatar). I can't tell you how excited I got when I was watching The New Barbarians last week and Giovanni Frezza showed up. Dubbed again, of course.

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    4. You may be the world's first and only Giovanni Frezza completionist? I was hating on Bob and his annoying mom until that basement scene at the end. So effective.

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  5. THE OGRE (1988)

    A female horror writer rents a castle (is that a thing?) in Italy to work on her next book. The locals tell her the castle is cursed. You can pretty much figure out where it goes from there. It’s your basic haunted house stuff, but it’s nice to see one of these Italian flicks actually taking place in Italy instead of trying to convince us Italy is the Bronx or something. The best thing about the movie is the pseudo-synth score, which totally rocked. (The movie’s alternate title is DEMONS 3, although it’s not actually a sequel to Bava’s DEMONS. What’s more, there are at least three other movies out there also renamed DEMONS 3 that aren’t Bava sequels. I'm starting to think there are more movies named DEMONS 3 than not named DEMONS 3.)

    Accompanying short film: GOBLIN: KILLER ON A TRAIN (2011). Music video to promote the movie of the same name. It’s footage of the band in the studio cut together with clips from the movie. There you go.

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  6. Amok Train a.k.a Beyond the Door III (1989) Dir. Jeff Kwitny

    Train possession!! Italian/American/Yugoslavian co-production. Another "Beyond the Door" sequel that has nothing to do with either part 1 or 2 (Bava's part 2 also had nothing to do with 1). This one is surprisingly well shot and It looks beautiful at times for a low budget film from 1989. A group of teens are on a field trip with their satanic professor. One of the girls is a virgin and a group of satanists need to change that to summon the devil. There's some great death by train sequences including crushed by train, impaled by train and decapitation by train! There's also a scene where a girl rips her own face off which is fantastic. There is a good amount of gore and some interesting atmospheric choices. I had a lot of fun watching this one. Highly recommended.

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  7. Bay of Blood (1971)

    To: Steve Miner et al,

    I know you claim you were unaware of this one before making Friday the 13th Part II, but just between you and me, who are you fucking kidding? If that mid-coitus-double-impalement is a coincidence, it's a hell of a coincidence. It's pretty well staged in both cases, though.

    Now that that's out of the way, this was a whole lot more fun than I was expecting! I still haven't quite turned the corner on Giallo like Patrick has, but this was way less frustratingly dream-logic-y than the average Giallo, making it one of the few I've really enjoyed. Also, the alternate title is Twitch of the Death Nerve and how could you not love a movie with a title like that? Maybe it's time to start dipping my toe a little deeper into the profondo rosso waters of Italian horror.

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    1. I enjoyed it more than I thought i woyld, I had not seen it in ages, in the UK it is called Blood Bath

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  8. Barbara Steele Double Feature!
    Mask of Satan (or Black Sunday) (1960)
    Atmospheric, beautiful cinematography, and those eyes pulsing in the reanimating corpse is one of the most disturbing things I've seen all month. The acting isn't great--Steele is gorgeous, but she's either fainting or flaring her nostrils. Those seem to be her two modes in this film. It's a recommend, but won't be a repeat viewing for me, unless it's that amazing first scene.
    The Long Hair of Death (1964)
    Now this one is fantastic. There's also witch burnings, unbelievable production values, and Steele plays a dual role, but it skews much darker. Murder, conspiracy, adultery, plague--it has some unsettling comments about the sexual exploitation of women that I doubt you'd find very frequently in a film like this. It all resolved itself in the perfect if predictable ending. I'd really encourage people to check this one out, because it seems to have been largely overlooked. The few reviews I found of it online didn't even get the synopsis right. It's worth a look even (or especially) if you're not a fan of Italian horror, but just love a good gothic revenge tale.

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  10. The Whip and the Body (1963)

    There's a BDSM joke somewhere in this title that I don't quite have the heart to make in light of Christopher Lee's passing. He was truly one of the all-time greats, and there's a scene early on here where he's killed and buried. It was a bit of a struggle for me. Fortunately the movie itself was quite enjoyable otherwise. The fascinatingly filthy themes (so much whipping!) and beautiful otherworldly visuals (so much purple!) do a lot to counter the shortcomings of the story (so much melodrama!), so I'd definitely recommend it to fans of gothic or Italian horror or to anyone doing a Christopher Lee marathon.

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  11. SUSPIRIA (1977)

    I'll just lay my cards on the table and say I loved this film. It's insanely beautiful and might have my second favorite horror film score (right under Halloween) of all time. It's frightening, disturbing, and hyper violent. I loved seeing the mystery unfold, and it does not disappoint at the end. What an incredible film!

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  12. Suspiria (1977)

    I haven't watched this one in awhile, so this was a good excuse to revisit. I can't think of anything that this movie misses the mark on - beautiful visuals, engaging performances, and an amazing score. I admit that I am partial as I do a bit of ballet, but this is my favorite Argento films and definitely makes my overall Top 10 list.

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  13. Lisa and the Devil (1973, dir. Mario Bava)

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    1. I'm actually curious about this. How is it?

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    2. This could be one of two things: a straight rip-off of Carnival of Souls, with people who don't know they're dead yet walking around wondering why weird shit is happening; or, it's Mulholland Drive nearly thirty years earlier, a mystery narrative so dense it feels inaccessible. Whichever is the case, it's gorgeous, confusing, has an awesome score, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. I think there are filmmakers that believe that having a woman scream loudly is its own payoff, and I don't really share that philosophy. NSFW Trailer.

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  14. Cemetery Man (1994, dir. Michele Soavi)

    This is much more of a black comedy than a straightforward horror film, however it really didn't work for me. Rupert Everett plays a man working at a cemetery who has unwittingly taken on the task of taking out zombie corpses who come back to life 7 days after death. It's a fine premise, and I'll admit that there are some genuinely funny sequences, but there's no plot here outside of the general premise. There are all sorts of fan theories about what this movie is "about", some better than others, but none of them really holds water in my opinion. It's a messy film with a few good moments, but nothing interesting to say at its core.

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    1. I actually saw that on the big screen in 1994.
      I wasn´t impressed back then and I´m not impressed after rewatching it. It can´t decide if it wants to be sexy, funny or gory and so it´s just middle of the road on everything.
      The most interesting thing is still the casting of Rupert Everett.

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  15. The Bird With The Crystal Plumage: I think the final face off or build up to it was great. I am not sure if I was entirely in the right mood for it but I can appreciate it is a good movie. I want to see more Argento films!

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  16. The Black Cat (1981, dir. Lucio Fulci)

    Fine but unspectacular Fulci movie made disappointing by the fact that it was made during what I would argue were the peak of his powers. He takes liberties with the Poe story on which this is based, which is fine; if anything, I was bummed he didn't go crazy enough. It's totally ok and I'm glad I finally saw it (I had four different Fulci movies I wanted to watch today, because that's what Father's Day is about) but I won't be going back to it as often as some of his others.

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    1. Fulci is so hit or miss. Some of his stuff is like Horror Manna, a lot of of it is unwatchable. I'm looking at you Conquest...

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    2. I know at some point you turned the corner on Italian horror. Did you write an article about it? I'b be interested in reading about what changed your mind.

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    3. I almost watched this too but got a bit occupied and also sleepy. So not hardcore!

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    4. I almost watched this too but got a bit occupied and also sleepy. So not hardcore!

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  17. Troll 2 (1990)

    Patrick was right, this was one fun movie. That being said its also terribly done. The gist of the movie is a family heads out to the country to a small town called Nilbog and the town is full of goblins trying to eat them. Their is also horrendous acting overall, terrible goblin costumes, and some of the worst synthesizer music ever (and I generally like synthesizer music.) All that being said I think the main kid Joshua pretends like he's Elliott from E.T. and acts the shit out of the movie, he tries his best to polish this turd. I gotta see if this movie is on an old episode of How Did this Get Made podcast cause this movie seems tailor made for it.

    8 Word Review (In Preparation for SMM)

    "Half the budget went to green food dye"

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    1. This is a crowd movie for sure, I bet it kills with the right audience

      My SMM I'm going for 7 as your 8 worder is your thing and I don't want to jump on your own band wagon when your killing it ;)

      "I ain't Eating no Green Ass Burger"

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  18. Black Sunday (1960)

    If you liked Black Sunday, you'll love Asian Monday(nailed it).

    I have only seen two Italian Horror movies(The Beyond and Zombie). I didn't like The Beyond that much but I kind of dug Zombie. I don't care what anybody says but I think a zombie fighting a shark is fucking awesome. Black Sunday was pretty boring but I wasn't surprised. Most movies I've seen from that time period are slow as shit. This had the same kind of stage acting I really don't like. Someone comes in from off screen and says their dialogue then walks off. The gore was minimal and if I'm going to watch an Italian horror movie, I want to see someone's fuckin eye get stabbed. Anyway, I'm about to watch tonight's double feature: The Island of Dr. Moreau and Hardware.

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  19. Opera (1987, Dario Argento)

    Vertigo meets The Phantom of the Opera. A sustained, claustrophobic embodiment of psycho-sexual looking. Every shot feels like a POV shot. There are no establishing shots. Even the wide shots manage to feel like someone looking from afar. Looking at animals, animals looking at people, audiences looking at performers, looking at audience, looking at backstage, looking at TV cameras, looking at TVs, looking at people looking at TVs.

    Looking, looking, looking. It creates a dizzying, queasy feeling that takes Hitchcock's films and filters them through a surrealists' idea of accessing the unconscious through art. Scenes transition oddly, lines of dialogue make no sense as responses to the line previously said, the level of character urgency relative to the situation almost never matches (sometimes characters seem upset by insignificant details, often not nearly upset enough). I understand this strategy from an intellectual standpoint, but as a movie watcher I always end up detaching from the experience. Why are they talking casually about sex just minutes after she saw someone murdered? Why isn't she telling him she just saw someone murdered? I can't stop trying to force plausibility where it doesn't belong. And so I will never like this movie quite as much as it likely deserves.

    Also the song that plays when people get murdered feels like deeply cynical fanboy pandering and I hate it every time.

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  20. Umberto Lenzi's NIGHTMARE CITY (1980, 88 min.) on Blu-ray.

    There's no way the makers of the "Resident Evil" videogame series and the filmmakers behind "World War Z" didn't get at least some inspiration from this fun and nasty early 80's sci-fi horror/disaster flick. Instead of Brad Pitt bringing hordes of the undead to every city his plane lands it's the "zombies" (i.e. civilians turned cannibals by radioactive poisoning) that come by plane to just one fictitious Italian city, then proceed to wreck and kill anyone and anything in their path. These are some mean-as-shit and smart "zombies" that can organize, take bullets (except to the head, though nobody bothers to aim there) and, in Herbert West's worst nightmare realized, know how to use their tools. There are subtle digs at the Italian government trying to suppress the truth about the epidemic, but that's secondary to gratuitous nudity by a horny housewife and cheapo make-up on the angriest-looking running undead this side of "28 Days Later."

    A T&A exercise show on Italian TV that gets ravaged by you-know-who is a highlight, along with an "exploding" TV and the sight of poor old Mel Ferrer slumming as a military leader trying to solve the rapidly escalating problem. At 88 min. "Nightmare City" is a quick, cheap (though the Raro Blu-ray is rather expensive) and effective thrill ride, not to mention a heck of a lot more entertaining than Enzi's overrated "Cannibal Ferox." Recommended, especially if it ever comes back to Netflix Instant.

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  21. Specters (1987)
    Wow, did this one set me back. Donald Pleasance is an archaeology professor in Rome, studying ancient tablets within some catacombs, and it raises some spirits... maybe? They're there, then they're not. The archaeological finds in this movie lead to bupkus.

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  22. Amok Train (1989)
    This took away the discomfort of sitting through Specters. Thank you, Chaybee.

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    1. Creepy Serbian Bo Svenson is the cure for bored Donald Pleasance.

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    2. Nice Mike!!! It's pretty great, huh?!

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    3. It was pretty great. Witch lady needed Necronomicon Ex Mortis.

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  23. Cruel Jaws (1995)
    Hell YES! This is the perfect capper to a night of movies that began with the theatrical 40th anniversary screening of JAWS. This isn't just a ripoff of JAWS, JAWS 2, and JAWS 3D -- it's straight up parody! Every line is a zinger, every performance a riot. There is an actor in this movie I can only refer to as Mini Hulk Hogan -- or Mini Hogan. This movie is comedy gold!

    There's Pieces, there's Miami Connection, and then there's Cruel Jaws!

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    1. I'm going out on a limb and I'm gonna say Bruno even ripped off a line from Jurassic Park.

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    2. Whoa, to put this in the same sentence as Miami Connection is strong. Adding to my watchlist.

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    3. Uh oh, pressure! Now I hope mentioning them in the same sentence doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

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  24. Demons 2 (1986) (first time viewing)

    This weird movie has the tenants in a high rise watching on television what seems to be a sequel to the first movie (never saw the first movie). One of the demons comes out of the television into "the real world" and starts turning everyone in the high rise into demons. It's not great, but not bad either. I did think the effects and transformations were cool. Worth a look if you like early to mid 80's creature features.

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  25. Blood and Black Lace (1964)

    First viewing of my first Mario Bava movie. Was impressed without being blown away. A landmark movie that pretty much established the Giallo genre and many of the tropes we have come to expect from slasher films including overt sexuality and stylised murders.
    Like Argento, Bava's use of colour and lighting is fantastic but he seems (in this movie anyway) to be a little more restrained and less showy than his Italian counterpart.
    Overall, I enjoyed it and looking forward to checking out some more Bava.

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  26. Black Sunday (1960)

    This movie was ok for a large portion of the running time, and then near the end it got pretty great. I wasn't invested in any of the characters or situations, but the filmmaking itself was really good. I don't have much to say about this one...

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