Sunday, January 31, 2010

THE HOUSE OF WITCHCRAFT

(Umberto Lenzi, 1989)

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Alright, I'll take a break on the Lenzi reviews after this one! This soggy little snooze-fest is Lenzi's other contribution to the House of Doom TV series. House of Witchcraft's story is about a guy who has nightmares of entering a "house" and encountering a "witch" who throws his severed head into a large cauldron. He and his wife decide to take some time off in the country and rent an old villa. Little surprise it is the same house from his dreams. They decide to stay anyway, despite the confused-looking old hag who bumps people off in the backyard at night!

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As in House of Lost Souls, many of the scenes are recycled from Ghosthouse,whose scenes themselves were lifted from several American horror movies. It's good to see they got their money's worth out of the maggoty Death costume, and apparently you can never have enough "windstorm in the bedroom" scenes! The film looks and IS rather dull, but is improved by the Simonetti soundtrack and one decent ghoulish twist in the plot. Recommended.

THE HOUSE OF LOST SOULS

(Umberto Lenzi, 1989)

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This heap of nutty brown goodness is one of Lenzi's two contributions to the House of Doom TV series (the other being House of Witchcraft). If you've already seen his earlier film Ghosthouse, you will notice but a few similarities.

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We have another story about a group of people who end up in an abandoned building (in this case, a group of geologists are tricked into staying at a haunted hotel). Again we have the possessed TV gag, this time showing a madman slaughtering the hotel's guests. There's also a blood-dripping shower, exploding bottles, and a nonsensical subplot wherein one of the girls gets psychic flashes of the malign spirits. It's nonsensical in that everyone else gets to see the ghosts themselves, so its purpose is kinda lost on me! And forget about a couple ghosts... we have a whole party here! There's Mama ghost n Papa ghost, Little Boy ghost, and even a Buddhist monk ghost who may or may NOT also be a paraplegic skeleton!

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Of course, this is all because someone killed them and their spirits are a wee bit miffed. Why kill innocent interlopers? Why not! True, the story doesn't score any points for originality, and the look of the film is quite flat and uninspired. True also, they used bits of Claudio Simonetti's score for Demons. ALSO true is that the gore is cheap and rubbery. So why might I possibly recommend this? For starters, the first person to die in this is the annoying little kid. He loses his head in the dryer! (no, I'm NOT making this up!) That scene makes me so giddy I almost forget how on EARTH someone could lose their head in the dryer...

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I also smile when one of the screaming female leads (who seem to breed like ferrets in these movies)) gets a wallop to shut her up. NO, I'm not some misogynist sleaze. I just can't help but laugh at such tasteless, pointless, and politically incorrect scenes! Recommended for those who have burned through all the Lenzi and are still craving more of his peculiar smelling cheese.

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Friday, January 29, 2010

THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS

(Ferdinando Merighi, 1972)

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What a fun little trip is this Giallo! One thing I love about early 70's gialli is the psychedelic factor. We get groovy lighting and angles in some, zany editing in others, and in this instance, each of the murders is repeated over in several different colors! FAR out!

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It's your standard tale of prostitutes being brutally murdered, the Humphrey Bogart look-alike cop looking into it, and the usual bumps and snags along the way. The bloody deaths keep this from being another boring police thriller by adding that much-needed horror element, and there is enough sleaze and nudity to hold even the weakest of attention spans.

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The DVD is still available to purchase, but I wouldn't rush to buy it. It is entertaining, but wait until you've seen some of the better examples first. Recommended for intermediate viewers.

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Buy It

EYEBALL

(Umberto Lenzi, 1975)

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This mid-70's Giallo from Umberto Lenzi doesn't rely so much on the story as it does the sleaze. The story concerns a group of tourists in Spain who are being bumped off by a red rain-slicker clad killer who delights in removing their eyeballs.
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The premise for the whole movie and the motive for the killings is silly to say the least, but it does make for great trashy fun. There's enough nudity, lesbians, and blood to keep one from growing bored, and the film moves at a brisk pace. As with most gialli, emphasis is placed on the style of the movie, and not the substance. Two sequences that do stand out are the murder in the funhouse, and the revelation of the killer's identity at the end (I'll bet you never guess who it is!)
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This title is a little difficult to track down. Used R-2 or PAL DVDs do exist, but I'm still waiting for an official release. Until then I'll settle for my dl'd copy. It should be in your Top 20 Gialli to see, as it is fairly memorable.
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TORSO

(Sergio Martino, 1973)
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It's Giallo Time again! Here we have another excellent example of the genre. The adorable Suzy Kendall plays Jane, who escapes to friend Daniela's uncle's villa with a group of girlfriends after one of them is brutally murdered. Little do they suspect the murderer might have followed...
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Instead of the usual faceless killer in black so prevalent in the genre, the girls are stalked by a madman in a ratty ski mask. After slaughtering each of his victims, he pokes out their eyes or cuts them into pieces like a doll (this we know as there are flashbacks of said doll throughout). Some might say this was a precursor to Halloween, as the masked killer is absolutley silent and seems to appear in one spot and then the next at will. There is a fair amount of gore, but that's not what makes Torso so effective of a thriller.
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Martino makes great use of suspense to provide the chills. The creepiest sequence would have to be when Jane is locked in the house with the killer. The French film High Tension basically lifted the scene when she initially panics and starts to hide all her things in an attempt to conceal the fact that she is there. In Torso it's taken a step further when the killer locks all the upstairs doors, trapping her. Her escape is nerve-wracking, to say the least.
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Being a giallo, Torso does have the usual pros and cons. So-so dubbing, rubber heads, and red paint for blood were my only complaints. These are very much outweighed by the stylish photography, catchy soundtrack, and great cast. This has been re-released on DVD in N America, so go order it now! Essential viewing for giallo freaks.
Buy It