The Devil has Seven Faces

Hiya gang! We have two interesting things today. It is International Women's Day, showcasing women in life of what has been and what is yet to come. Ask your mom, aunt, grandma what contributions women have given to science, engineering, plans that have shaped the future and written works. Today is also a very good woman's birthday and to show how hard a worker she is, yeah you guessed it. She has to work today.

So Happy Birthday Wendy! Sorry the price of success means not too many days off but you're doing what you like.

Today we have intrigue, a double-cross, a mistaken identity and a jewelry heist!!! c'mon this is good stuff. Okay menfolk it is a Giallo as well. There, gain some of you back? Muhahahahaha, dance puppets,dance. This is The Devil has Seven Faces a.k.a. Bloody Mary a.k.a. The Devil has 7 Faces a.k.a. Nights of Terror

Yes these borders are ridiculous.

Our trek into this film is with cinematographer/director Osvaldo Civirani (Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun, Kindar the Invulnerable, Operation Poker, The Beckett Affair, Return of Django, and the Two Sons of Trinity) brings us a thriller Giallo with a pair of twins and some mayhem ensues.

Julie Harrison (Carroll Baker of Baby Doll, Something Wild, How the West Was Won, the Sweet Body of Deborah, Paranoia, A Quiet Place to Kill, Knife of Ice, Bait and Star 80) is a conservative, straight laced businesswoman. Mary on the other hand, is foot loose and fancy free. A girl that is a love 'em and leave 'em kind of gal. Julie starting receiving threats, harassment at home in the night and even unwanted and less than welcome visitors dropping by. Having no idea what is going on until...they call Julie Mary; her sister's name.

A pack of thieves proceed to scare Julie and don't believe she isn't Mary, trying to pull a fast one on them. They already can't trust Mary so this must be another one of her tricks, yet they can't help but think they may have the wrong girl.

Okay, fine. It's a wig. Jeez

With this relentless terror happening; Julie turns to two friends, Dave Barton (Stephen Boyd of Seven Days from Now, Island in the Sun, Ben-Hur, Lisa, Imperial Venus, The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Third Secret, Genghis Khan, Fantastic Voyage and Carter's Army) a hotshot lawyer and Tony Shane (George Hilton of Any Gun Can Play, Sartana's Here...Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Holy God, Here Comes the Passatore!, Double Game and College) a race car driver with guts and glory mentality.  Both men are not competitive with each other, in spite of they are both attracted to her. With a bit of cooperation and knowing shady men in dark places they found out a group of jewel thieves lifted a massive diamond from the Maheraja and one of the crew got left behind holding the bag.

Julie starts looking into the theft to encounter an insurance investigator by the name of Steve Hunter (Luciano Pigozzi of Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory, The Castle of the Living Dead, The Devil's Man, Vengeance, Blackie the Pirate, Yor, Hunter of the Future, Escape from Hell, The Exterminators of the Year 3000, Strike Commando and Zombie 3) hot on the trail.

Can Julie get out of this pickle? Will the thieves get their justice?

The film is pretty solid. We got a lot of association with slasher infecting Giallo with the cliche' POV wearing leather gloves and a blade slicing up topless jiggly girls. The most important elements in Giallo is mystery, dark story line, murder and a bit of nudity. A lot of critics professional and amateur alike treat this almost like a buddy cop drama mixed with a crime thriller.

Just go through IMDB on Mario Bava and you will see different examples of Giallo and you'll understand my meaning. I'm not bashing fellow critics, just asking them to do a bit more research into the subject matter you are praising or damning and I sat through that abysmal Zombie Lake!!

Lemme in! I GOTTA PEE!!!

Shot in the Netherlands, this 90 minute thriller was a good cast, Stelvio Cipriani's (The Lickerish Quartet, Guns for Dollars, A Bay of Blood, Death Walks on High Heels, Baron Blood, The Killer Is on the Phone and Tragic Ceremony) composure was spot on.  For my younger readers you would have heard his compositions in Death Proof, Planet Terror and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

All praising goes to Carroll Baker. She really pulls off her double roles, the intensity of the film and the complete opposites of the twins. We have a good screenplay with dare I say, a bit too many subplots and red herrings. It was almost they were trying to outdo each scene.Clever camera work with the Eastman Reversalscope, a good enough car chase (Could have been better) and suspenseful argumentative and physical fighting in a windmill of all places. At the end of the day, this was a decent mystery and not the typical sleazy look most Giallo get labelled due to the use of so much nudity. I would recommend this one for the causal viewer and the Giallo fan alike.

Think we oughta let that girl in?

Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eyes

Okay Rotten Readers, Readers of the Rotten.  After the copious amount of Indie, A list and B-grade films, I decided I need a change. Yeah this week I am just diving into Italian movies, ranging from Giallo to action films.  An Italian Infusion if you will. With that in mind I am checking out a Giallo directed by Antonio Margheriti (Hercules, Prisoner of Evil, Giants of Rome, Dynamite Joe, The Unnaturals, Death Rage Yor, Hunter of the Future and Jungle Raiders) this is Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye a.k.a. Cat's Murdering Eye a.k.a. Seven Dead in the Cat's Eye.

Dinner party of the Damned!!!

Yeah you have to take in account for foreign distribution and redistribution happening over the years. And re-redistribution for DVD and Blu-Ray naturally. Um anyone else feel the title might be a giant spoiler? Well at any rate, we are moving on.

In a remote Scottish village (because of course it happens in an isolated little town!) a serious brutal murder of a man happening in...well it either dungeon of torment or possibly old timey BDSM. The safety word is pumpkin. Our man of the moment is being worked over with a straight razor while a pudgy and irritable yellow tabby looks on. Maybe this murder is for Fluffy's amusement or the rats to dine on him. The rats that make squeaky toy noises. I normally use a stuffed toy mouse on a string or laser pointer. I guess my cat is less demanding.

A carriage makes its way to Dragonstone Castle, deep in the highlands of Scotland where the Scottish sound nothing like Christopher Lambert or Adrian Paul. A young schoolgirl Corringa (Jane Birkin of Blow-Up, Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun, La pirate, Dust, The Woman in My Life, This Is My Body and A Hell of a Day) is visiting her mother, Lady Alicia (Dana Ghia of Burn!, The Bloodstained Butterfly, My Dear Killer, Peccati di gioventu, Together Forever and California) as she has many summers at this very castle.

Thankfully she driven up by the sweaty creeper Angus (Luciano Pigozzi of The Devil's Man, King of Africa, Hatchet for the Honeymoon, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Escape from Hell, The Last Hunter and Yor, the Hunter from the Future) from Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory. A guy so ennerving around young women if he was an action figure he would come with a hypodermic needle or a bottle of ether and wet rag.

Starve your rats at least two days of optimum flesh devouring.

As they make their way through the courtyard, we get a piano chord of ominous dread and see what looks to be a gorilla peering though a window. The significance? Yeah no idea. Damn dirty ape! Given its numerous rooms, the castle seems to be turned into a boarding house or just jam packed with guests of the area. Mouseketeers! Sign off!

Father Robertson (Venantino Venantini of Warriors of the Wasteland, The Exterminators of the Year 3000, The Adventures of Hercules, Final Justice, The Erotic Dreams of Cleopatra, The Flying Devils, Ocean, The King's Whore and Tango Bar), Corringa's aunt, Lady Mary MacGrieff (Francoise Christophe of The Three Musketeers, Vengeance of the Three Musketeers, Les Thibault, L'affaire Saint-Romans, Marie Love, The Free Frenchman and Fiesta), Dr. Franz (Anton Diffring of The Man Who Could Cheat Death, Where Eagles Dare, The Blue Max and Victory), French teacher Suzanne (Doris Kunstmann of And Jimmy Went to the Rainbow Foot, Hitler: The Last Ten Days, Vienna Crime Squad, The Peppercorns and For Heaven's Sake) and her cousin and heir to the MacGrieff title, Lord James MacGrieff (Hiram Keller of Fellini Satyricon, Orestes, Strogoff, Noa Noa, Rome Wants Another Caesar and Lifespan).

Alicia and Mary are in deep conversation about the cost of the castle and Alicia simply cannot use the inheritance from her late husband other than for Coringa's scholastic and well being. Methinks hubby really didn't love Alicia much but that's just one reviewer's theory.

With the dinner party in full swing, seems an apt time to discuss family legends and curses, right?

Bit awkward to work into small talk. "So I understand when a cat walks over a casket, the deceased can end up being a vampire and plague the living members. Pass the potatoes please."

Mother, your roots are showing.

After the less than successful dinner party, Lady Alicia retires for the night...dun dun dun!!! in that she is suffocated by a pillow via a gloved hand as that creepy orange tabby watches on. Perhaps the cat controls the murderer. Slay more of the HOOMANS and then clean up my poops! Obey! OBEY!

FYI, the local law enforcement as are useful as any of the state troopers during a Friday the 13^th flick. I was surprised they were given firearms and live ammo. I wouldn't trust these collective heads of knuckle to open a can of beans that was previously opened.

With a death toll slowly building up, one is left to wonder who is the killer, why these deaths are happening and who is next?

The Techniscope is giving a great pan around, some solid zooms and really give depth into what is being filmed. Lot of hand held work, 45 degree slant shots and the editing giving the daylight shots an eerie vibe is impressive.

The castle itself is amazing but clearly not Scottish architecture as we are in Italy at Castello Massimo where all $600 sunglasses are made. See what I did there?

The musical score is excellent for setting the tone and you almost get a vibe of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians as a underlined theme. Jane Birkin was quite good in it and well let's face it, lovely may not cover her well enough. It was creepy, good set pace and I enjoyed it.

James' smoking hot French teacher.

Torso

Well folks, I'm back. Something something headaches. Sorry it gets a bit repetive to type over and again. So after the odd film earlier I thought I would dabble back into the realm of Giallo and multi-genre director Sergio Martino (Slave of the Cannibal God, Alligator, Don't Play with Tigers, Screamers, Hands of Steel and 2019: After the Fall of New York) handles today's film. This is Torso a.k.a. The Bodies Presented Traces of Carnal Violence a.k.a. Carnal Violence.

Car problems?

We open on an erotic photo shoot with sleazy jazz for porno, a naked woman and man and some suggestive placements for dolls. Eerie looking dolls. Not sure if they are going for some interpretation of Dolly Dearest or they want to arouse Chucky but hey I never claim to understand every facet of art.  Ah good, it has devolved into a threesome or he's telling the girls a secret...with his penis. Got it!  Clearly a layout for Hustler. Where the heck was my mind?  I guess not enough in the gutter for a change. Sorry a bit too much exposition there. Journeying back after the carnal effects, we cut to an art history exhibition and lecture. Um, because they're also nude? The paintings not the class. That could be awkward.

Professor Franz (John Richardson of Black Sunday, One Million Years B.C., On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) and student Daniela (Tina Aumont of Texas Across the River, Man, Pride & Vengeance, Satyricon, Sergeant Klems and The Mechanics of Women) wrap themselves in a philosophical and spiritual debate on the paintings of Perogino and you can see the professor does have respect for her opinion. He feels that Perigino's lack of religious upbringing meant he could not possibly begin to delve into the immortality of the soul or the effects of Christianity has on the populous. Murders now! I'm having too many existential thoughts. Get to the murders. 

Student Jane (Suzy Kendall of To Sir, with Love, The Penthouse, Thunderball, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Fraulein Doktor and Van der Valk) does her own thang. Yeah I know I will pay for that. The red herring has already planted as we are to believe it is the wanker in the neckerchief (Stefano not Fred from Scooby Doo) who is the killer. The foreshadow is fair but Daddy's not buying, kiddies. But enough of that, next sex scene. Oh and in a Mini Cooper car smaller than the Reliant Robin. Good God, this girl has to be limber for that. Hey those breasts look real. I'm confused!

Maybe Makeout Murder Point wasn't the best place for sexing it up but what do I know. After coitus, John (Fausto Di Bella of A Tale of Love, Torso, Il messia, Escape from Galaxy 3 and Computron 22) spots a ski masked perv outside the Mini and beats cheeks to catch him and give him one for; thus leaving his girl Flo (Patrizia Adiutori of Torso, Tales of Canterbury, Play the Gale or Leave the Bed, Winged Devils and Giovannona Long-Thigh) unarmed, outmanned and slasher bait. Our killer has Jason Vorhees stealth capabilities and a scarf for throttling. Serial throttler sounds like a chronic masturbator though. Don't worry. A stabbing do happen and cut scene to morning later we find John was no better off. Looks like he called Mike Tyson a mediocre boxer. 

Are we end an exposition shot?

La polizia are hard at work. Inspector Closeau er I mean Martino (Luciano De Ambrosis (Without Family, Heart and Soul, Tomorrow is Too Late, Aretino's Blue Stories, Torso and They Were Called Three Musketeers But They Were Four) is dealing with this as best as his dubbed actor will allow. Sadly he didn't get the all powerful voice of Edward Mannix but I digress, it's still imposing.

Student Carol(Conchita Airoldi of The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Torso, Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears, The Cousin and Closed Circuit) can't stop eye banging the mysterious doctor and his fondness of scarves. If she hadn't been waved over by Daniela, I think she would have stalked the doc and given him an afternoon delight (Ask your parents, kids).

The girls decide to take a break from their classes and head to Daniela's Uncle's villa. Oh God I see where this is going. Yup probably a sentient cave, mutations and a demand for human blood. No wait, that was Sorority Girls and the Creature from Hell. This could be classier.

Jane and the Professor (No Mary Anne sadly) seem to hit it off very well. Dude you just made tenure, don't go blowing it over a young girl. That kind of activity will get you fired or killed. You're in a Giallo for crying out loud! Shape up!

So can you strangle girls by the dozen with this scarf?

Apparently the night time is the right time for a prostitute. Our snobby and foppish art student Stefano certainly believes that. Hmm I don't remember the conversion rate from dollars to lira, plus this is 1973 and the exchange differs now. Ugh fine I didn't want a prostitute anyway so JUST FINE! A bit of darkness ensues but no more than you expect in these films.

Carol still has her heart or loins set on the doctor as she keeps running into him. She also seems to have the hots for Daniela's Uncle? Um Daddy issues? Carol gets high with a couple of bikers and stumbles out in the worse kind of blocking. The dreaded day for night. Ugh, hate that lens.

Carol's made some poor life choices but I am sure it won't come back to haunt her too much.

With some amazing cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando (Erotic Exploits of a Sexy Seducer, Slave of the Cannibal God, Loggerheads, A Policewoman on the Porno Squad, Alligator, The Good Thief, Ironmaster, 2019: After the Fall of New York and Warrior of the Lost World) and the handiest and heaviest Eastman Arriflex possible. They are pushing at least three cameras on this job so there is kitty in the coffers. The gore effects are pretty solid, the story has a decent pace and the cast are lovelies of both gender. Good suspense and tension is ratcheted well.

Don't worry horn dogs, plenty of nudity to go with your gore. It's Giallo for crying out loud. Going for the whole POV into the psycho-sexual madman's mind and pulled it off nicely. Of course any more sneers at kink and perversion from society's stand point and I was going to assume this was the founding fathers of the MPAA. 

You're out of order!! ALL OF YOU!!!

Fun with Bava: Blood Brides

Welcome to the week. At the suggestion of my Rotten Ramblin' On co-host Shawn I tackle some more Mario Bava for your reading pleasure and my viewing enjoyment. A brilliant idea so I decided to dive right in on that today. With a series of unexplained murders of young brides-to-be, these grizzly deeds go unchecked. This is Blood Brides a.k.a. Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Honeymoon, Red Wedding Night and An Axe for the Honeymoon.

Italian Clint Eastwood??

Manager of bridal dress factory John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth of Love and Marriage, In a Colt's Shadow, Fury in Marrakesh, Death at Owell Rock, Acid Delirium of the Senses, Black Jesus, and Blood Brides) seems to suffer from narrative's disease. Thankfully no echo reverb like Chuck Norris in The Octagon. John also seems to have an Oedipus complex. While he is cool and collective on the surface, he has inner demons needing to be kept at bay with his older wife Mildred (Laura Betti of Teorema, The Canterbury Tales, 1900, Art of Love, To Catch a Cop, Mamma Ebe, All the Fault of Paradise, Sweets from a Stranger, Widow's Walk, The Blue Rose, Courage Mountain, Suffocating Heat and The Rebel) while he comes to grips with his obvious dementia. John keeps flashing back to some event in the past, something his own subconscious is attempting to forever conceal from him.

That being said he and the wife usually start the day with a screaming match at the breakfast table of John belting out about a divorce and Mildred will have none of it. John storms out of the house and to his office where he meets Helen Wood (Dagmar Lassander of Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, The Black Corsair, Seagulls Fly Low, Sugar, Honey and Pepper, The Black Cat, The House by the Cemetery, Devil Fish, The Pleasure, The Family and Tommaso), a full-figured gal applying for modeling for the bridal gowns after the previous model..."disappeared".

Why, this model is dead on her feet. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

With this new model put into employment, one of the lovelier models, Alice Norton (Femi Benussi of The Hawks and the Sparrows, Blood Brides, So Sweet, So Dead, The Countess Died of Laughter, When Love Is Lust, Special Killers, Tales of Erotica, Blood Money and The Private Lesson) seems to want to leave the salon due to getting married, so John offers her a choice of any of the dresses in storage. Foolishly trusting her boss who has embraced his inner goofballs he proceeds to hack her to death with a meat cleaver and dispose of her body with the furnace of his greenhouse.

Hmm, why does the cameraman have no pants?

The next day Inspector Russell (Jesus Puente of Teatro de siempre, Aventuras y desventuras de Mateo, Primera hora, Obsesion, El teatro, Novela, Blood Brides, Shouts of Anxiety and You're te One) comes snooping around Harrington at the request of Alice's fiancee giving Harrington pause as Russell points out that six models have disappeared from his bridal salon but no real evidence can bring Harrington in. Meaning John will have to kill with a tad bit more discretion. Meanwhile John is becoming smitten by Helen with plans of spending the rest of his days with her as soon as he gets rid of the nuisance that is his wife Mildred.

Will Mildred get more than split ends?? Will Helen ever figure out John belongs in the wacko basket??

Okay a few things of note now. Stephen Forsyth does an amazing balance of creepy and broken so well I wondered if they were just drugging his drinks on set or if the guy is a manic depressive. It was actually spellbinding watching him work. Patented Bava close up on hands and eyes while eerie as crap music ranging from a harpsichord to small orchestral plays gently in the background.

The story takes its time, builds suspense and gives gore fans some love as well. With lens shots through glass cut doorknobs, vases and mirror work, it gives the effect that the walls of reality are crashing down on John and he doesn't know what to do. Inspector Russell has been dubbed with the glory of authority of Edward Mannix. Man that guy got a lot of work. Sorry fellas but no large quantities of nudity. If you really need that in your giallo movie, toss me a message and I will point you in the direction for it to be found. This my friends is a psychological thriller.

Canoodling on a train can lead to DEATH!!!

Italian Exploitation: So Sweet, So Dead

And we are back for another helping of Italian Exploitation Week. Well after getting drafted into the Emanuelle series I thought I could find something wholesome to watch and then I remembered the week so on to the Horror Erotica. So a pleasant tale of a serial killer offing unfaithful wives and leaving compromising pictures to show their guilt. Not sure that warrants being stabbed to death but what do I know,eh? Feeling Giallo like this can only mean one thing, the cops are bumbling asses with the exception of maybe two of them. This is So Sweet, So Dead a.k.a. Bad Girls, Penetration, The Slasher...is the Sex Maniac, Romance Mortal and Confessions of a Sex Maniac.

Their forbidden love is subtitled.

Rife with alternative titles, let's see if my print for this is grainy than Cheerios or if it was deemed worthy of a cleaned up print to better show the gacking of unfaithful women. No title cards, music or build up. Boom. Dead blond on the bed, naked, stabbed and throat slashed. Well that sets a new record for me. The Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger of Rope, Strangers on a Train, The Edge of Night, The Prowler, The Imagemaker and Very Close Quarters) surveying said dead girl and cut to orchestral opening, title cards and whisked away to the morgue. The girl's death was the slit throat and the rest of the wounds were post-mortem. Yup, our villain was so pissed off at this girl he attempted to mutilate her. Boy you guys do suggest the best film genres.

Inspector, the subtitle agrees with you.

Deeper investigation points out the late girl was wed to a high ranking general making the investigation tricky as some racy photos indicates her stepping out on her man. After a lengthy interviewing/interrogation of small time thieves, thugs and hookers the inspector heads home trying to make heads or tails of this horrific murder with next to no suspects or relatives of the deceased to talk to without raising a scandal. Over coffee his lovely wife,Barbara (Sylva Koscina of Man of Iron, Hercules, Hercules Unchained, Lisa and the Devil, Dracula in the Provinces, The House of Exorcism, Clara and Nora and Some Like It Cool) and she pleads with Capuana to tow the line and make the Commissioner happy. Leaving no evidence aside from the naughty snaps, they have to figure out who the lovers are to the victim. Meanwhile another gorgeous girl is out on her husband getting some action.

Gurgle.

Our killer/photographer is stalking these women and keeping records of their misdeeds on film. Serena (Femi Benussi of The Hawks and the Sparrows, Blood Brides, Stripe Nude for Your Killer, The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance and Corpi nudi) finished with her mustachio Lothario and opts to freshen up so her husband is not suspicious. The day for night lens is incorporated in the chase and honestly it actually works this time around. Avoiding clouds and even the waves in afternoon tide could be as easily explained as late evening tide. Frankly I am confused how this fits in the Horror Erotica subgenre when it feels more Giallo but I guess they could go hand-in-hand.

With a second death in a high ranking circle of people the inspector's job just got difficult, Serena's lover confesses her loss and is worried the police will track and blame him for her death but his well paid lawyer tells him to not worry and all will be handled. The morgue attendant, Professor Casali (Chris Avram of Time to Live, The Rage Within, Sentence of God, So Sweet, So Dead, Cuore, Enter the Devil, Voodoo Sexy and Emanuelle in Bangkok) are busting ass trying to find a connection to these wealthy and powerful people. Are they doing a copycat murder to off their wives thus avoid almony? Is there something sinister going along with these brutal murders? How come none of the men these women were cheating on with didn't also die?

The inspector has a heart-to-heart with the professor's attendant swimming around the obvious red herring and no clearly not the killer but a perv taking snaps of the dead girls..for his own entertainment. Yeah I think he needs to be fired but creeper aside he doesn't seem driven enough for a killer. Barbara chatters with her high society friends and it is revealed they knew the other girls and I don't think Barbara bothered to tell her husband that. GASP!!! PLOT POINT!!

With the upper crust tying the inspector's hands for the sake of reputation and avoiding scandal, they sure are up to their adultery. Politics are as usual, dragging this case into the dirt.

The sex scenes are softcore but steamy enough. The composer Giorgio Gaslini (But You Were Dead, The Sisters, The Pacificist, Night of the Devils, So Sweet, So Dead and When Women Were Called Virgins) captures a bit of disco, jazz and suspenseful music. Blended together brings out the scenes rather well telling the story. Overall the story is fair, the gore mild and the nudity isn't slapping you in the face. I had the uncut Euro release so sadly no English dubbing. A friend of mine told me that one of the credited voices for the Inspector was supposedly legendary porn star Harry Reems. 

Late night jog obviously.

 

Italian Exploitation: The Case of the Bloody Iris

Alright, I was flooded with folks wanting to know about Italian Exploitation. You see this ranges from anything to the likes of: Giallo (The graphic murder mysteries with gore, violence and nudity), Creature Feature, Mundo (Action/Adventure and Western with violence,nudity and foul language), Naziploitation (Depicting the Nazis as sex perverts, hedonists and creepers), Nunsploitation (Nuns violated of virtues, guns, drugs, prostitution and supernatural entities) and Erotic Horror (Serial slashers, giallo like scenarios, supernatural monsters, entities and Satanists with gobs of nudity). Now while all that sounds awful in some degree or another, remember that several of these same genre can be found in American, UK, European and loads of Japanese films too so no need for the more sensitive readers to be that upset. I shall endeavor to give examples of these subgenres even though I have covered more than a handful last week with Edward Mannix Week. Also expect a Rotten Reelz Reviews Audio Review some time this week.

Today I found an obscure Giallo film brought to us by director Giulaiano Carnimeo (Find a Place to Die,I am Sartana, Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, The Diamond Peddlers, My Wife Goes Back to School The Exterminators of the Year 3000 and Rat Man) a man ranging from Westerns, Post Apocalyptic films and Giallos so this could be well worth the viewing. This is The Case of the Bloody Iris a.k.a. Erotic Blue, Why Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer's Body? And Why Are Those Strange Drops of Blood on the Body of Jennifer.

Oh that's no good.

Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech of Blade of the Ripper, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, All the Colors of the Dark, Black Belly of the Tarantula, Private Crimes, Donna and Hostel: Part II) a model by trade and her friend Marilyn Ricci (Paula Quattrini of I soldi, Il leone di San Marco, I demoni, The Case of the Bloody Iris, No alla violenza, I Don't Speak English and Festival) get a rather swanky high-rise apartment for a steal.. Turns out the previous tenant was brutally murdered. Not for the apartment I think but still that better be full disclosure it did or didn't happen in the apartment.

Johnny Walker Blue. No ice.

Finding Sheila dead in the elevator is model/erotic act/wrestler Mizar Harrington (Carla Brait of Blindman, The Dead Are Alive, Torso, Erotomania, Yuppi du, 1990: The Bronx Warriors and Escape from the Bronx), a sassy black gal built like a dancer but as agile as a cat. She was pretty noncommital with said dead girl in the elevator and tells two other tenants if the cops need to talk to her, she gives out her name and apartment number then scoots for an audition.

The previous tenant Sheila (Annabella Incontrera of The Assassination Bureau, Return of Sabata, Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Clap, You're Dead and Stigma) leaves behind her father, Professor Issacs (George Rigaud of July 14, Escuela de campeones, Horror Express and Black Jack) is investigating this brutal murder and discover the identity of the killer to see he or she brought to justice. The oddest standing is the architect finding the perfect girl for his ad. Um that is what an ads salesman would do but whatever. Andrea Barto (George Hilton of My Dear Killer, All the Colors of the Dark, The Two Faces of Fear, The African Deal, Mark of Zorro, Taxi Girl, Double Game and Don't Play with Tigers) is attempting to recruit Mizar for his work and glances at Jennifer during her shoot becoming enticed by her.

Okay you are a frightened bunny rabbit.  Action!

No sooner has Jennifer and Marilyn moved into the late Sheila's apartment, Jennifer feels as though she is being stalked by someone. When interviewed by the police, one of the butterfingered donut munchers let slip a masked killer has been offing pretty models and she better watch her step.

But who is this killer? Why is he slaughtering these girls?? Will we hear Edward Mannix's voice??

Our beautiful dolly/vehicle mount and hand held shots are all over Lazio, Rome and these are some of the steadiest shots in any environment. Nothing out of focus unless it was requested that the background becomes more important than the foreground. With the 35mm Techniscope give the Eastman color as per usual that means those cameras are heavier than the Arriflex by at least 25 lbs so hope those boys got back braces and shoulder massages each day. There is neutered versions of this topping out at 86 and 90 minutes. The full version is 94 minutes. Must have been far too smutty for some countries.

Like any good Giallo our killer is not revealed both physically or reasons why until the last 15 minutes. Until then it leaves you guessing who the murderer is and frankly this film does that well. Why it gets grumbled at would probably be light on the gore and heavy on the boobage. For the sleazy intended vibe, the soundtrack is catchy and will stay in your head, the footage is stellar, shadow and light play is awesome. Influences of Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci as there is a lot of focus on eyes but unlike Fulci, there was no plucking or gouging of them.

So yes if you don't mind eerie but mild gore, gorgeous girls taking their kit off and a suspenseful murder mystery, then step right up. I think it goes without saying not one for the kids but hell I don't know with what parents let them watch anymore. Last video/dvd store I was at, someone was renting Saw VI for her 10 year old. Charming right?

Inspector Not Morse is on the case, dammit.

Edward Mannix Week: A Bay of Blood

Welcome back readers if I have any left after the cannibal/zombie showdown film of Zombie Holocaust. Trust me, I suffer its scars more than you. Unless you went out and saw it. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??!!!! Anywho, hows about a scary Italian horror movie? Okay stop running, it is not Bruno Mattei. I'm talking the master of the Giallo movies, the cream of the crop of scare, the building blocks that made Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci want to be directors. The one and only Mario Bava (Hercules in the Haunted World, Black Sunday, Evil Eye, Blood and Black Lace, Kill Baby, Kill, Danger: Diabolik, Blood Brides, Baron Blood, The House of Exorcism and Beyond the Door II). This is A Bay of Blood a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve, The Last House on the Left Part II, The Antecendent, Bay of Blood, Bloodbath, Blood Bath, Ecology of a Crime, Chain Reaction and Bloodbath Bay of Death.

Robert Evans Italiano!

This film is better known by Twitch of the Death Nerve in the states but that's a bunch of savages that know no better. Pity them. No offense fellow Americans but A Bay of Blood just sounds soooOoO much better a title. Twitch of the Death Nerve sounds like an organ harvesting film.

Our macabre tale opens with some 360 pans and a view of the lake house. Photo phobics, it wasn't bad tracking like an Uwe Boll flick. You will be alright. A spinster wealthy wife (Isa Miranda of Everybody's Woman, The Secret of Helene Marimon, Abandoned, A kiss for a Killer, When Stangers Meet, Compact and The Avengers TV series) has met her end of days violently. The reason? Well it was either too many bedpan changing or the sick amount of money she was worth.

Hangin' out. Hangin' out with my homies..Gonna have ourselves a party.

Won't lie to you, her "suicide" is creepy from the gag for air, to her body swaying limply from hanging. With a suicide note planted by her dearly grieving husband, a mysterious switchblade is jabbed into is back by person unknown. Hmm guess this is a lot of dough offhand.

Soon family members, daughter Renata (Claudine Auger of Thunderball, Yoyo, Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Devil's Lieutenant, Secret Places, The Repenter and Love of a Woman) and her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli of For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Great Silence, Illustrious Corpses, Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison and Luigi Ganna detective) start poking around the lakehouse trying to make heads or tails of Renata's late mother's suicide and where has her father gone off too. A real estate agent Frank (Chris Avram of Time to Live, The Rage Within, Sentence of God, So Sweet, So Dead, Cuore, Enter the Devil, Voodoo Sexy and Emanuelle in Bangkok) is hoping to charm and swarm his way into Renata's heart for the signature on the house for some cool breezy cash for land development. He can't miss, right?

And I am told I never put up nudity. Pshaw!

Two couples zip off around the lake in what looks like Jon Pertwee's Bessie to frolic and be teens/twenty somethings...only they seemed to have disappeared...one by one.

With a bit of sleuthing, Renata seems to feel as though there may be more people involved for the land and money of her mother's. She even starts questioning whether Albert didn't have a hand in it. With this amount of dough on the table, everyone and anyone is a suspect.

Will these murders be solved? Are there still more to come? Who is to blame?

Worry not readers as Edward Mannix graces us with his insidious voice as Albert's English dubbing. Thought I forgot, didn't you? WELL ANSWER ME!!!

A quick bit of trivia, this film has had an impact on Friday the 13^th Part 1 and 2 as two of the murders in it are lifted and almost shot for shot exact as homage. Hell even the locations where the murders take place are so similar it is eerie as hell.

The shooting locations had no woods to speak of, so Bava waved several different tree branches in front of the cameras to give the illusion of a run or romp through the woods. According to Laura Betti, it looked so silly to view this, the cast and crew had a hard time not laughing at the simple yet brilliant solution to a lack of woods in the area. Yeah a dude waving sticks at the camera would have made me chuckle too. Hell the tracking shots are so steady and smooth, you would swear they are dolly tracked but no. Turns out Bava with years experience in cinematography shot these amazing images with...get this. A frigging kid's wagon. Yeah the little red wagon saved the day. The camera was mounted on a pole, surrounded by sandbags to reduce any wiggle and just rolled along. Awesome right?

Because of its intensity, unearthly vibes, good story presentation and decent casting a lot of folks consider this a precursor to the slasher genre and I am inclined to agree. I mean Black Christmas, The Town that Dreaded Sundown and even Halloween have to tip their hats to their grandfather of macabre. Still love Last House on the Left Part II title considering Craven released the original a year after this flick but who needs nutty things like timelines and consistency?

Hold me closer, Tito Fuentes...

Giallo Journeys: Strip Nude for Your Killer

Greetings and welcome back to Giallo Journeys Day 4. We are back with exhibitionist sexploitation lady extraordinaire Edwige Fenech (Blade of the Ripper, Desert of Fire, All the Colors of the Dark, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Naughty Nun, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, Sex with a Smile, Taxi Girl and The Schoolteacher Goes to Boys' High) and helmed by erotic horror and macabre director Andrea Bianchi( Cry of a Prostitute, Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife, Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror, Exciting Love Girls, The Seduction of Angela, Maniac Killer, Massacre and Fleshy Doll) portrays the tragedy or parable of a killer brought to madness due to a young model dying on an operating table while having an abortion...so clearly others must perish too.   This is Strip Nude for Your Killer.

Evening ma'am. Interest you in a copy of the Watchtower?

Doctor No Harm gives our young model a mickey to cover up this illegal activity so she died other circumstances. The sly and cold doctor meets his fate as even his English dubbed voice cannot pull him out of his impending date with death. Our murderous misanthrope is decked out with a motorcycle helmet and leathers and SPOILER, clearly a female build. Meanwhile at the Albatross Modelling Agency...yeah they chose Albatross as their name for an agency. No irony there at all.

Momma Mia!  More penetration that Mario wants!!

 Two photographers Carlo (Nino Castelnuovo of Rocco and His Brothers, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The English Patient, Una donna per amico, Vittoria di vinti and Nando dell' Andromeda) and Magda (Edwige Fenech of Blade of the Ripper, Desert of Fire, All the Colors of the Dark, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Naughty Nun, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, Sex with a Smile, Taxi Girl and The Schoolteacher Goes to Boys' High) are in a heated affair whilst photographing all these delectable bit of totty male and female alike. Could have done without Carlo's bun hugging swimming shorts that is just enough fabric to NOT be a Speedo so I guess there are worse things.

Oh we can't have a threesome on a ladder. It's bad luck.

With this agency having couch casting, men that clearly should have sex pervert laser coded on their foreheads and that sweaty Maurizio looking like a genetic crossover of Buddy Hackett and Peter Lorre, you would think there would be countless lawsuits going their way. A simple re-print with ease means our killer has a group photo of all those that worked with model Evelyn. Omni-sexual Mario (the photographer not Mario Mario) gets a visit from killer to give said group photo and then is knived in the kidneys. Gisella (Lia Amanda of 2 samurai per 100 geishe, Il compromess... erotico, Prouesses porno, Sarabande porno, Supersexymarket and Il viziaccio) owner of the agency is grilled for hours by the cops because of Mario and the rest of the staff are nervous about what could happened to him and what motif could there be.

Maurizio attempts to plow Doris (Erna Schurer of Le salamandre, The Battle of the Last Panzer, La bambola di Satana, Blood Castle and Erotic Exploits of a Sexy Seducer) because Gisella won't sleep with him and he's...premature, cries and makes an ass of himself. Yup I did not need to see a portly fuzzy guy fail miserably in seduction. Worry ye not, gentle readers. Our killer dispatches fuzzy wuzzy with another round of kidney stabbings. With Gisella being badgered by the cops, Carlo and Magda start to wonder who this maniac is.

The pace between sex and death scenes span minutes from each other. It is almost as if the director was trying to establish risque link-ups lead to brutal murder. Clocking at 98 minutes, our sleaze fest tries to make you feel some semblance of sorrow or empathy for those slain. This movie does operate on controlled lighting, at least 9 sex scenes tastefully done but overall aside from the copious T & A and gore effects, it doesn't offer anything of originality. Not a bad film but I have seen it better done by Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento so "A" for effort but a B- for completion.

I'm not too forward, am I?