DC Showcase: The Spectre

 

Hidey-ho, Readers of the Rotten! Sorry but I had to change up that intro, otherwise it gets rather dull. Today, I wanted to look at some of DC Comics animated showcase. What I thought was going to be a fairly longer and more played out story line turned out to be a short. That will not detract my want to write this but it won't be all that detailed aside from my knowledge of the existing character. This is The Spectre.

The Dreaded Emo!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not to be confused with the alternative title to the 1963 Riccardo Freda's The Ghost ( A common misconception, I know.), the short film in question can be found on the 2010 release for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. An early morning in the hills of Los Angeles, a movie mogul name of Foster Brenner (Jeff Bennet of Johnny Bravo, Star Wars: Jedi Knight- Jedi Academy, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Striperella, The Powerpuff Girls, Dave the Barbarian, Duck Dodgers, The Batman, Saul of the Mole Men, and Justice League: The New Frontier) lands a blockbuster and decides to take an 9 a.m.dip in the pool, only to have an explosion and shock-wave send him into the hereafter. Well at least his last flick wasn't something like Ishtar or Gigli.

Told you that Michael Bay kid had moxy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Police are notified by the butler (also voiced by Jeff Bennet) and homicide and probably the bomb squad's expertise is on the scene, along with veteran detective, Jim Corrigan (Gary Cole of Office Space, Crusade, Vamp U, The Penguins of Madagascar, An Officer and a Murderer, 30 Rock, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Archer, The Good Wife, Justice League Action, and F Is for Family) who is friends with the family, decided to survey the blast site and offer condolences to Aimee, (Alyssia Milano of Who's The Boss, Commando, Fear, Embrace of the Vampire, Deadly Sins, Charmed, My Name Is Earl, Hall Pass, Romantically Challenged, Tempting Fate and Insatiable)vowing to right this tragic wrong.

Things and people aren't always what they seem to be in this crazy town and...okay I have to tone this down or it's going to sound like a knock off of Mickey Spillane or Raymond Chandler. Sorry about that. Our detective is no slouch in the powers of observation, primarily around the wages of sin.   You see, Corrigan has a little secret he has kept quiet for some time.  He's been dead for quite a few years.   I know the whole inert investigator, the ghost gumshoe sounds awkward at best but he has been chosen by a higher power to redeem his soul.  This is the portion of the review of a bit of exposition dump.  I normally don't do such a thing buuuut, our short is 13 minutes long so we need a little background.

Oh yeah? What about the rights of that little girl?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Corrigan was LAPD detective 2^nd class before mobsters dropped him in an oil drum filled with cement and into the bay to sink. Given he was a hard nosed cop, he may have beaten a confession out of a few suspects in the day or threaten their rights so he is a soul that should head to redemption. His soul is linked to an ancient power. The Wrath of God known as The Spectre. (Not KHAAAAAAAN!!) He can be a physical person when he wants to and he can go ghost if needs be. Manifests over objects, warps reality and can do serious damage to the living and the physical plane. Hell, in the comics he ate the souls of the damned and sent them to judgement. Technically he has been with the department since 1932 when he got gacked but hey, who's really in charge of record keeping, right?

The police captain (Voiced by the late great character actor Jon Polito of C.H.U.D., Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Highlander, Crime Story, The Equalizer, Barton Fink, The Rocketeer, Homicide: Life on the Street, Lands of Lore III, and The Tailor of Panama) is looking to bust Corrigan's chops for stepping into an investigation that isn't his, nor can it really be due to his personal involvement. The captain wants Corrigan to look into the sudden death of one of the suspects into the Brenner murder. Yup so go investigate the murder of one of the potential murderers of your family friend. Um, isn't that still a no-no due to personal involvement of the victim's potential victim?

Jim starts nosing around in these suspects' lives to come up with the clues needed to close his case and God's will. Unlike anyone else kicking this dirt clod of a planet, Jim is focused, capable and not easily distracted by Life's pursuits or fancies. That helps keep a sharp mind and well you can't very well bribe, cajole or distract with jiggly girls to a guy that pushed off the mortal coil.

Overall, while brief this short is got that gritty L.A. Noir vibe of the dogged detective, maybe a femme fatale and more than a few homicides. The music score sounds like something out of Dirty Harry or The French Connection.  While I wish it was a longer story, it had a great vo cast, gorgeous music score and the animation was top notch. Yes I would love a Spectre series Live Action or animated but so far, that is not in the works. C'mon DC! The fans would love it.

Additional; holy crap Gary Cole did awesome voice work! Keep tossing him in front of the mic!

 

Stop crowding and just go around me!!

 

The Butchers

 Greetings Readers of the Rotten. Well I'm back with a much requested horror movie. Yeah I'm thrilled to be diving back into this genre (he said with the greatest amount of sarcasm), so we will see if this is remotely entertaining. A gathering of strangers on a bus having their bus break down, brings them to a house and yes THEY READ FROM THE BOOK! This is The Butchers a.k.a. Death Factory a.k.a. The Factory 

 

Silent but deadly...

 

 

 

 

 

Now the film I found had the title "Death Factory" but it was not the Brad Sykes 2002 movie. So it is a film of alternative titles!!! YAY! Always a good sign! Yes we have the trope goodness of young teens to 20 somethings recipe of disturbing the dead, the monster, the ancient curse. Those pesky kids with their boozing, fornication and loving life. Our opening credits look like a combo platter of Super 8 movies, old stills, TV static and an acid trip. Combining eerie chamber music with these visions makes this flick already bizarre. Oh and I forgot the biggest spoilers of them all, the fricking serial killer trial publications. Way to let that one slip out of the bag.

Brothers Simon (Damien Puckler of 666: The Beast, Death Racers, Camel Spiders, Grimm,Chase and Redwood Massacre: Annihilation) and Brian (Cameron Bowen of Blue's Clues, Touched by an Angel, Fraiser, Disney Golf, American Dreams, Seabiscuit, Mystic River, Wristcutters: A Love Story, Young Justice, and Young Justice: Legacy) are stuck on a bus, Simon relives a nightmare of him killing his father after his father slain his mother. Always a classic, right?

 

That chick in the earlier picture float an air biscuit?

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile a eerie looking lawyer JB (Semi Anthony of Circle of Influence, Against the Grain, The Chosen Ones, Death Factory, Modern Family, Triumph, Abby Grace and Headgame) is "hell bent" to purchase this a museum honoring serial killers or edifying them. The landowner on the other hand, he doesn't feel like selling in spite of the generous offer by JB.   JB decides to fall back on his second offer and stabs said landowner to death and get on about his business.   His business is reading from THE BOOK OF THE DEAD??!!! He get that from Ashley J Williams??!  Ash drop that on eBay?!   Actually, that does sound like a bonehead move Ash would do.  Don't forget to say every, tiny syllable.

The museum happens to hold the blood samples of all said serial killers. Hold up. Suspending disbelief here. Since when did this particular ghoulish effect occur in forensics?  Why would law enforcement as far back as Albert Fish a.k.a. The Cannibal Vampire would have blood samples and how on God's green Earth and convoluted plot line would this dinky museum have the money, power and connections to acquire their blood???

 

Daggum CGI fires!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, the bus breaks down in the same dinky, ghost town and our passengers are forced off the bus for repairs.  PLOT POINT!!!  Let's get a Mouseketeer line-up of our soon-to-be deadies. There's plucky Nicole (Ire Wardlaw of Leverage, Hopelessy in June, Blackstar Warrior, Gone Girl, Intruder and State of Desolation), premiscous Candi (Charito Mertz of Passions, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Greek, Days of Our Lives, Trapped: Haitian Nights, Next Stop fo Charlie, CityBird and FCU: Fact Checkers Unit), steadfast Star (actress/stunt person Tonya Kay of The Muppets, Fully Loaded, Silverwood: Final Recordings, Raze, The Lone Ranger, Dark Space, The Kill Corporation, Nightmare Code, Bastard, The Other Wife, The Amityville Terror, The Fosters and A Better Place), doofus horndog Kip (Jacob Hobbs of Almost a Woman, Hercules, Death Factory, Headgame and Army of One), bellicose Ren (Jeremy Thorsen of America's Court with Judge Ross, Decisions, Tosh.0, Girls of Sunset Place, B4, Deadly Wives and Hotels Secrets & Legends), Daisy (Mily Sanders of Profiler, Boyz Nite Out/Grrlz Nite in, The Removals, Humbug, Sunday Driver and Here Piggy Piggy) and...Bill (Braxton Davis of Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance, The Ghetto, WEAPONiZED, A Weekend with the Family, Let It Bleed, Causal Encounters, Better Criminal, The Aliens and American Exorcism).

Off the bus and screwing around, Ren and Star find the Book of the Dead and OF COURSE they read from it, thus resurrecting six nutter butters to a night of holy terror.  SMOOOOTH!!! Your encore is what?  Bad touching someone's mother while simultaneously pouring sugar in my gas tank??!!

 

Tee hee. Plot development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, yes yes fellas, there's titty. Every friggin' time I review a slasher film, it is almost always asked so yes bewbs are a happenin'. They can't further the plot, but they can momentarily distract you.

Let's not make this out like all I am doing is bashing the film. This was a professional crew, lighting, sound and film all commercial grade, the cast did their best with the given dialogue and money was made.   Thing is I simply was not captured by it.   So at the end of the day I was not emotionally invested in the film and this is just my opinion.   Would I advise people to watch it?  No.  That doesn't mean someone else won't watch and take away from the movie what I could not.

 

Overall, there is some clever ideas like what was done with Jack the Ripper, the SFX gore and a bit of CGI is feasible but it boils down to gore gags, less than stellar dialogue and two-dimensional characters.  That's not to say this was a bad film, it just lacked cohesion.  A lot of ideas and a limited ability to house them all.  I have seen better movies but again this wasn't crap.   A lot of thought went into it but clearly this was a real difficult one to pull off well.

Your weapons, your clothes, give them to me.

Stan Against Evil Season 1

We be back! So today thought it be wise to point out today's TV series that NO ONE told me about. Yes I am slightly bitter of this. Our series is created by comedian/writer Dana Gould (The Simpsons, Sout Mates, Dana Gould: Let Me Put My Thoughts in You, Dana Gould: I Know It's Wrong, Laugh Factory and Stan Against Evil) along with Independent Film Channel making this; a TV series and it is batshit crazy but in a good way. With plenty of drama, dark humor and horrific gore to the likes of The Evil Dead. This is Stan Against Evil.

There's a happy camper.

It has been a trying time for Sheriff Stanley Miller (John C. McGinley of Point Break, Highlander 2: The Quickening, Se7en, The Rock, Scrubs,42, Ground Floor, Benched and Stan Against Evil). With his wife dying in the middle of the night, a creepy old lady making moon eyes at him and a violent fight at the funeral making him give up his career of 28 years. 

Retired and living at home with his spacey daughter Denise (Deborah Baker Jr. Of The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, Somebody Marry Me, Suburgatory, The UCB Show, The Great Indoors and Everyone is Doing Great), strange happenings seem to crop up in buckets. It appears the town is cursed and no Crazy Ralph of Friday the 13^th to warn how doomed they are.

Ew Spidey went premature...again.

Oh wait a moment, we do have a filthy hobo by the name of Ray Taft (Don Stallings of Delgo, Savage, Game of Silence, Dinner and Superstition and Bobbi & Gill) hapless soothesayer and believer in the occult as he screams about the Constable Thaddus Eckles that brought down this curse oh so long ago. Newly appointed Sheriffy Evie Barret (Janet Varney of Catwoman, Drillbit Taylor, Neil's Puppet Dreams, The Legend of Korra, Fortune Rookie, Take My Wife and Stan Against Evil) has been informed that every Constable for 400 years dies suddenly...except Stan. Even her skeevy perv of a deputy Leon (Nate Mooney of Elizabethtown, Charlotte's Web, Push, One for the Money, American Odyssey, Wilson and Girlfriend's Day) can't explain why Stan is alive.

More supernatural shenanigans are at afoot and the sheriff finds herself needing Stan's help and let's be clear, Stan is a dick. Has to be right, doesn't allow for weakness and cannot show any semblance of feelings. Because...crotchety.

That's some pig!

Being blissfully unaware that of the evil that roams this town, Stan's wife has been fighting it for decades without Stan or Denise's knowledge. With her gone, does this mean the end of the tranquility?

Can Evie fight this madness of a curse? Will Stan aid her without being a dick?

With the darkness of Supernatural, combined with the same warped humor of The Evil Dead series, this show has amazing effects, Stan is barely phased by monsters and witches trying to assault him, deeming it a bunch of phooey. The arrogance of this character has endeared him to my heart.

The dynamic of the cast is a great blend and this writing is so solid, I haven't been able to skip an episode. That's a good thing capturing my attention. These half hour shows were only 8 episodes so yes you can binge watch them rather easily. That being said, I found them to be entertaining, amusing, clever and deviant in the most hilarious of ways.

I plan on watching Season 2 and seeing if it can live up to the ground work that has been laid out. I have a feeling I won't be disappointed. So yes I do recommend this to those folks that need a bit of gore, humor and a twisted look on life.

Old timey vengeance is upon you!

976-EVIL II

A Jim Wynorski film with jiggly girls and alternative titles??? Okay I'm in. Yeah I said it. This could be very well be entertaining. This sequel is the continuation of an evil phone service...FROM HELL!!!! Or at least we presume it is from hell and would like to not think an Archangel that was bored.   With this enduring from its predecessor, this call service of evil perpetuates further, disrupting more lives and leaving in the hand of our protagonist.

This is 976-EVIL II a.k.a. 976-EVIL II: The Return a.k.a. 976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor and Astral Factor.

We open with a young blonde getting some laps in and eerie music building suspense to a wall mounted telephone? Ahh what is that, Millennials??!! Is that some primitive form of communications device?!

Pert Plus keeps the demons at bay, Laurie.

A minute thirty annnnd first shower scene. Well to be fair, no one wants that chlorine smell on their flesh or hair. Scrubbing away her troubles until the lights start flickering and electronic synthesizer kicks in, hinting to danger. Practically see through in her white shirt and towel, our brave swimmer gathers a look about. With supernatural shenanigans going on, the whole place locked down and near hobo janitor (Buck Flowers, character actor) passed out, an ominously dressed fellow in a suit stalks the young lady Laurie (Karen Mayo-Chandler of Beverly Hills Cop, Explorers, Hard to Die and Prince Valiant). His flamboyancy just screams, "High School Drama director" as he does away with our plunky teen with...a prop stalagmite? Loved the set though. Looked like something out of Dante's Inferno.

We cut to credits opening and we catch back up with Spike (Patrick O' Bryan of You Are The Jury, China Beach, No Holds Barred, Relentless, 976-EVIL and Blood and Concrete) and yes I don't mean Buffy and Angel Spike. Sorry. This gent was busy sending his possessed cousin to Hell and is now hitting the road on a Harley, pushing and defining the bad boy look.   Not really sure what he does for money.  Maybe he had life insurance on his cousin Hoax and cashed in after his...disappearance.   Also not really certain if he and his bible thumping aunt are talking ever again.

Can't see a damn thing with these fog machines going.

Spike seems to be a fish out of water or a man without a quest. His theme music is reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's Fistful of Dollars theme. Similar but alas no it is not. Do like the steel guitar strumming in the background. Plot point action news alerts Spike to a strange body count of co-eds in a small Californian community of Slate River. This disrupts the beer swilling, chicken wings scarfing and potential nudey girl dancing. Sorry bro. It almost seems like Spike is a Hunter of the Supernatural.. huh huh, ya get it? Hey, if this cat can thwart Satan, I think it would be good to have him in your corner and hopefully he won't go all Tommy Jarvis screaming.

With an ominous phone call to his favorite hotline, Spike knows he has been called back into the supernatural again so he rides towards it like Johnny Blaze and nothing like Nick Cage. Seriously, those Ghost Rider flicks were painful.

Sheriff Stone (Paul Coufos of Chopping Mall, Gnaw: Food of the Gods II, City of Shadows, Days of Our Lives and Mortal Danger) brings in the dean of the college, (Rene'Assa of Quantum Leap, Postcards from the Edge, The Flash, Baywatch and The Destiny of Marty Fine),  Deputy Taylor (Philip McKeon of ChiPs, Alice, Favorite Son, Red Surf, 976-EVIL II and Sandman) seems...mildly concerned.

Ah Brigitte is keeping Spike abreast to the situation.

Student senses tingling as young Robin (Debbie James of Mistress, Quantum Leap, Round Trip to Heaven, Herman's Head, The Underground, L.A. Heat and Close Up) seems to possess latent psionic powers, mostly seems like psychometry (the ability to read events, people and places from objects) and is now aware that the evil that has been in her town for four months may have an even darker purpose.

As luck, fortune or happenstance takes place, Spike and Robin run into each other as if their lives were orchestrated to do such. It be the will of the fates!!!

Our demonic dean is not disturbed by his cell for stone wall does not a prison makes, nor iron bars a cage as he is able to astral project and reek havoc.

Can Robin and Spike stop this evil from happening??? Will they be able to prevent more deaths???

To be honest, I felt the pacing of the original film was a bit slow and Wynorski kept a good steady momentum going. I damn near had an aneurysm trying to remember the full storyline from the first movie, but the continuation still has puppets enslaved to dark forces and seeing the lovely Monique Gaberielle of Chained Heat, Not of This Earth, The Return of the Swamp Thing, Uncaged and Angel Eyes is always a plus. Debbie James gives a pretty good performance and genuinely seems determined to see this to the end.

Almost like Satan doesn't want to tip his hand this time around and goes through catspaws easily swayed due to lust for power, greed or wanton behavior. Also let us not forget Brigitte Neilsen (Beverly Hills Cop II, Red Sonja, Mission of Justice, Chained Heat II, Body Count and Doomsdayer) adding the much needed spooky yet seductive witch type. That being said, I couldn't get over her giant shoulder pads on her Gothic outfit.

Much love to be had by this sequel developing Spike further and enjoyed the kids sitting down the Night of the Living Dead. So yes, once again I had fun. My only complaint, no more follow-up sequels.

Union nap.

Chainsaw Cheerleaders

We are back in action, my friends. To those of you that requested this next movie, I have one question. "Why?" Look we all know I have sat through my fair share of horror films but come on! This is a Donald Farmer flick.  The guy that brought you such titles like: Vampire Cop, Demolition Highway, Space Kid and An Erotic Vampire in Paris.  Yeah not too pleased but let's get through this magnum opus and hope for the best.  This is Chainsaw Cheerleaders.

Attack of the Cheerleader clones!!!

Gonna say right off the bat, I do not recognize the cast aside from the vivacious Tiffany Shepis (Death Factory, Emmanuelle 2000: Emmanuelle Pie, Bloody Murder 2: Closing Camp, Devils Moon and Victor Crowley) Troma Scream Queen Debbie Rochon (Hellblock 13, Dead Clowns, In the Woods, Bikini Bloodbath, Splatter Disco, A Feast of Flesh and Nun of That) and Jim O'Rear (The Vampyre Wars, Hayride Slaughter, Charlie and Sadie, The Legacy, The Dead Matter, Resurrection and Stephen King's The Boogeyman), so this could be trouble.

The opening title shots looks like the beginning to a porno (Not that I would ever lower myself to watching such) with chainsaws, some mild public domain techno rock mix, hard bodied teens glistening with sweat, close up pans on lips getting licked so subtlety is right out the window.

Firstly, Dawn (Michele Grey of The Green Room, Plague of the Damned, Love Fever, Lucidity, The Alantan and Unravelled) a chainsaw brandishing cheerleader gives us some narrative.

Tiffany may have accidentally killed this girl. Not sure.

500 years prior, enter Lucinda (Tiffany Shepis) rocking a peasant gown out in a park er um ancient pathway to the king's court. As she torments her chosen victim with...a CGI creature and a large ceremonial knife. With a bit of heart or rather a lot of it, two robed monks interrupt Lucinda's ceremony and thwart her wicked ways with cleansing fire...for now.

Modern day, it looks like we entered a flea market uh that is, occult store. Yeah that's it. Getting items for the upcoming Macbeth high school play with creeper shopkeeper Angelique as we fade into Dawn and her boyfriend Dax (Christopher Shaw of Chainsaw Cheerleaders)apparently making a VHS nudie tape of them getting fleshy. VHS for that? Damn hipsters!

A gaggle of girls.

Mom (Susan Delmonico of The Green Room, Chainsaw Cheerleaders, Shrimp Crawl and Hamlet & Hutch) and Dad (Writer/director Donald Farmer of Vampire Cop, Red Lips, Red Lips II, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, Body Shop and Dorm of the Dead)are none to pleased with young Dawn and are laying down the law. Dawn storms out of the house, bumps into her friend Sarah who informs her that Dax has moved on according to rumor. Yup, the hits keep on coming.

Bumping into our less than thinking lad and his new conquest, Dawn handles this problem as only a young, delicate flower of a girl can. By kneeing his marbles and smashing his nose with her combat boots.

Guidance Counseling: After Dark.

With the threat looming of assault charges, Mom and Dad want Dawn to see the school  headshrinker/guidance counselor Dr. Lacey (Debbie Rochon) who FYI, kinda smoking hot in glasses. Her suggestion is something peppy for our little angry Goth girl like cheerleader camp. 

Hmm Bloody Pom Poms joke or Cheerleader Camp: To The Death joke?

The saw is the law, bub.

Anywho, Dawn is whisked away for that very mind numbing activity. Apparently the cheerleader group is the Village of the Damned with all the blondes of Chassy (Jackey Hall of Chainsaw Cheerleaders, Chrome Angels, Biohazard: Patient Zero and The Invited), Ciara (Ciara Richards of Demon Sight, Dorm of the Dead, Chainsaw Cheerleaders, and La Premiere) and Jessica (Rabecca Lee of Chainsaw Cheerleaders). Ugh. Main protagonist narrative throughout film... Oh God, did I slip in an Uwe Boll movie by accident??

The trio of the damned (yup still making the Village reference) send Dawn to sell a magazine subscription as she just so happens to find the creeper demon worshiping crowd.

Shop owner Angelique (Ana Xaden of Chainsaw Cheerleaders) is bringing Lucinda back through a portal from Hell, maybe a Sliders portal, rift in the space time continuum. Hell, I don't know. All I know is Tiffany is still rocking the peasant gown.

Plot holes around Dr. Lacey sends a horny guy away that ruined the tawdry naughtiness to be had so she had to resort to her B.O.B. (battery operated boyfriend) that is going places only your lover and gynecologist ventures, ladies.  Yeah. Yeah.  We are not privy to those in depth shots.  Apparently good taste prevails.   Pretty sure the breast augments cost more than the flick's budget.

Can team spirit prevail??? Will the girls fend off the evil witch???

Practical effects are fairly solid for a smaller budget. There is decent blood spatter, gore effects, monster appliances are well done. The sound quality tends to pop a bit transitioning from scene to scene and we have some out of focus shots where not all of the actors were deemed worthy of being captured.

Michelle Grey and Tiffany Shepis put in a solid performance. Absolutely loved Debbie Rochon's no nonsense character so overall it is a serious note but yeah I can't say I was blown away by the film. Not bad but not good. Sort of a middle of the road... a road inhabited by supernatural entities and cheerleaders.

I did laugh when Klove (Rudy Ownbey of Chainsaw Cheerleaders) was a mindless slave. Wasn't Klove the name of Patrick Troughton in Scars of Dracula? 

Well she's no Juliet Starling, but acceptable.

Kill, Baby...Kill!

Hey folks. Sorry for the delay from the Z Nation Season 3 review. I was working on the next Rotten Reelz Reviews Video Review script and my dad has undergone a bypass surgery. He is off his ventilation tubes and breathing normally. So yeah we can unclench for a few now.

Today's movie revolves around a coroner, his assistant, some supernatural shenanigans, a village gripped in fear and a local witch doing good deeds? Brought to you by the Godfather of Giallo: Mario Bava. This is Kill, Baby...Kill!

Meh, look at this ignorant rabble.

Yup, we should have known this would have alternative English titles to the likes of: Don't Walk in the Park, Operation Fear, Curse of the Dead and Curse of the Living Dead.   

In the year of our lord 1907, Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi Stuart of Zorro and the Three Musketeers, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Last Man on Earth, War Between the Planets,The Crimes of the Black Cat, The Lonely Woman and Zorro) has been called to the Carpathian village of Karmingam to do an autopsy on a young woman.  The girl, Irena Hollander died under mysterious circumstances... in a horror movie.  How bizarre.  Yeah she fell from a high window and impaled on a iron fence post is a tad odd.

His assistant Monica (Erika Blanc of Espionage in Lisbon, Kill,Baby...Kill!, A Man for Emmanuelle, Eye of the Cat, The Mistress Is Served,Sacred Heart and A Second Childhood) must vouch for his work as a witness as Eswai finds a silver coin in Irena's heart. Well how did that get there? Maybe she swallowed it. With the local villagers being devout believers of magical happenings and superstitions, they tell Eswai that the town is haunted by ghost of a young girl who curses those who visits. 

 Naturally, a man of science can't take this seriously. Poppycock! Balderdash I say! Hrrumph! Meanwhile, I am thinking you need an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on your back, a young priest and an old priest at the ready.

I took acid and now I can flyyyyy!!!

Esawi is set to meet Inspector Kruger (Revolt of the Praetorians, Django Kill...If You Live,Shoot!, Fury of Achilles, Hell Commandos, When Heroes Die and My Dear Killer), the man that requested this autopsy in the first place. He is to arrange said meeting at the villa of Baroness Graps (Giovanna Galletti of I fratelli Karamazov, I miserabli, Eneide, Last Tango in Paris, The Girl in Room 2A and Woman of Wonders) when the Baroness tells the good doctor there is no Inspector Kruger... DUN DUN DUN DUN!!!!

The innkeeper's daughter Nadienne (Micaela Esdra of Highest Pressure, Made in Italy, Il muro, Nero Wolfe, I Nicotera, Philo Vance and La villa) claims to be visited by the ghost girl next to be cursed so the local witch Ruth (yes Ruth) performs a ritual to lift the curse. Leaving his cellphone in another century (don't you hate it when you do that?) Eswai confabs with the burgomeister Karl (Piero Lulli of Love Story, Knights of the Desert, Rapture, The Huns, The Two Gladiators, Django Kill and My Name is Nobody) about this Santa Claus fellow. No wait. Kris Kringle. No, wait...right, the ghost girl. Got baffled for a moment.

Selling...girl scout...cookiessss... buy 10 of them....

Karl is claiming the child is actually the ghost Melissa Graps, the dead daughter of the Baroness who is responsible for both Irene and the Inspector Kruger's disappearance.  Eswai heads to the cemetery where two gravediggers are hastily burying a coffin with Kruger in it.  Guess the Baroness don't pay no OT.

Will Esawi figure out how to combat the spooky child? Can anything be done to put her spirit to rest?

Shot in 12 days in the region of Cargata, this small commune has been an artist retreat since the 1930s giving it an amazing look for Americans to find out that ancient towns and villages do exist in the world and not just in cinema.

Domestically it grossed 201 million lire which tallies to about...oh.   117 thousand 5 hundred 20.

Moving on, it would then be three years before Mario Bava would do another horror film which was Hatchet for the Honeymoon or The Red Sign of Madness, the 1970 giallo film.

An spectral crawly film that gets under your skin and innverves you. I enjoyed it. That being said, English dub actor/writer Renato Izzo makes Eswai sound pompous to John Agar levels.   Arrogant and condescending.  That means he speaks down to you as if you were an errant, lost child. 

Calm yourself, woman. Be cold and detached, like me.

 

Fun with Bava: Shock

Welcome back for more Fun with Bava. Today I thought we would focus on the last feature Bava worked on in 1977. The ending of disco, cocaine and freaky deaky sex acts to later be replaced with the 80s. Chilling thought.  Now I bring up this film because we once again run into an also know as scenario.   Because we the subculture, crass Americans couldn't possibly distinguish different directors this film today was released in the US under the title Beyond the Door II.  IT HAS NOTHING to do with the original Ovidio G Assonitis' Beyond the Door.  If anything Beyond the Door is Italian Rosemary's Baby.  This is Shock a.k.a. Beyond the Door II, Suspense and The Demon is Nuts.

Ugh. He just kneed me in the boob.

Personally I love the last title because I am curious to wonder what would drive a demon crackers. Too much Barney? Sat through Dora the Explorer one too many times?

Dora Baldini (Daria Nicolodi of Deep Red, Tenebre, Phenomena, Delirium, Opera, Sinbad of the Seven Seas, Paganini Horror, School of Fear, The Devil's Daughter and Notes of Love) has returned. Returned to the house of her first marriage to live after an extended stay in an asylum for seven years. She moves back into this home that brought her horrors along with her son Marco (David Colin Jr of Beyond the Door and Beyond the Door II). OoOoO Pseudo Sequel!!!  The kid from the first one is in it...in spite of playing a completely different character.   With her new husband Bruno (John Steiner of Beyond the Door II, A Man Called Blade, Question of Love, Caligula, The Last Hunter, Tenebre, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, The Ark of the Sun God and Cut and Run) or is that Biondo from Salon Kitty? Oh crap it is. Lady don't trust an ageless Nazi with you and your son!

gorgogliare is Italian for gurgle.

Any rate Dora was released from the wacko basket given her incarceration was based around the mysterious death of her first husband. Bruno is an airline pilot and is gone most days of the week leaving Dora with Marco (POLO!) all alone. Thanks to extensive electroshock treatments (They still did that in the seventies?) she believes her son is channeling her dead husband to torture and torment even beyond the grave.

Dora starts to recall the events that lead up to late husband's death and what the memories of this house brings. She needs to flee and would take Marco but she now fears him. The walls of sanity are crashing down Dora as she looks about her in a feeble attempt to hold on to her mind and her son.

Will Dora succumb to madness?? Will Bruno inherit the house?? Can Marco lose both parents??

First off loving the handheld camera work. Some of these angles looks like tracking shoots panning for full 360 degrees, dolly track, other looks like the poor cameraman would have been hanging over a railing to capture certain shots. All in all a gorgeous shoot.   As far as the storyline, you can see the influence this film had on things like Stir of Echoes or What Lies Beneath. A notion of past horrors manifested in spirit and guilt.

You see dear, normally my British accent is allowed but not this film.

Looking at the earliest reviews of this movie, most of the critics give it a pass or call it mildly notable that Bava did this film. From trick cinematography, talented actors, moody lighting and an excellent musical score, this macabre film has creepy down pat. I was amused to hear Edward Mannix yet again for dubbing but sadly he was only voicing one of the movers at the very beginning of the film. Such a waste! 

Should have used lanolin on those dry monster hands.

TV Titanics: Supernatural Season 6

And we are back. Sorry for the very insanely short week of Cult Classics. Aside from random WiFi I have no real connection until funds get to me and I get Cox Cable up and running. Bright side is I am out at a coffee shop scrolling down the events of this season. TV Titanics is the name of the week. Hey more than welcome to come up with better titles as I check on those wacky hunters, the Brothers of Winchester. This is Supernatural Season 6.

Beer is best enjoyed in a flashback.. That's just science.

A quick highlight as Sam and Dean managed to get Lucifier into his cage it meant Sam had to go with him as he was possessed by Michael. Oh and their half brother was possessed by the Morningstar as well. Yup lot of CGI, practical effects, wire work and me wondering how Dean can even walk let alone hunt as both fellas are dragged to the Pit. Dean is all alone with a lovely lady Lisa (Cindy Sampson of Supernatural, Being Human, Charlie Zone, Camion, Long Gone Day, Rookie Blue, Rogue and Private Eyes) and her son Ben trying to lead the "Apple Pie" life he and Sam laughed about ever having. He's a grease monkey, a surrogate dad and a decent man to Lisa buUuuUuut....this is Supernatural so creatures, ghoulies and ghasts are bound to be afoot.

Oh no, Father Kibbler is under the possession of the evil lamp!

Being unable to sleep after having Lisa for the night (Still confused on the having energy afterwards) Dean thinks he noticed something and is in fact attacked by of all things, a Djinn (Genie) and no it is nowhere near as friendly as the late Robin Williams genie. Less pop culture references too. Dean is saved by of all people, Sam?! Sayeth Whaaaat???!!! Sam proceeds to tell Dean he got out of the Pit a little over a year ago and thought it best to just continue hunting but not drag big brother back into it.

So he hooks up with the Campbells (Their mother's side of the family) with a couple of cousins Gwen (Jessica Heafey of Ciao Bella, Four Extraordinary Women, M.V.P., Supernatural, Baby Sellers, FSM, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and iZombie), Mark (David Paetkau of Final Destination 2, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Man of Steel, Flashpoint and The Space Between) and Christian (Corin Nemec of Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Drop Zone, Stargate SG-1, Mansquito, Dragon Wasps, Rise of the Dinosaurs, Robocroc, Sand Sharks, Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, Star Trek: Renegades and Renegades). Oh yeah and the man in charge of this hunting hootenany is Sam's namesake, Samuel Campbell (Mitch Pileggi of Three O' Clock High, Return of the Living Dead II, Alien Nation, Falcon Crest, Dallas, The X-Files, Supernatural, Stargate Atlantis, The Batman, Sons of Anarchy and Kings of Con) who died before either of the boys where born...is on his feet directing battle and barking orders. Huh?

That was no raccoon.

Nobody is questioning Sam being alive or Samuel back from the grave or what in tarnation is a goin' on??!! So Castiel checks in on the brothers and asks for their help as it would appear that some of the more dangerous artifacts of Heaven have gone missing. Maybe sold off, maybe tossed about for the talking monkeys to find, who can say for certain? With vampires rampant, mysterious deaths, a few demons here and there, the boys are quite busy and yeah Cas has long since earned their trust.

Crowley (Mark Sheppard of Soldier of Fortune, Inc, Sliders, Firefly, 24, Burn Notice, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Leverage, White Collar, Warehouse 13 and MacGyver) still teasing and tormenting Bobby Singer but he will work away around losing his soul plus pimp slap Crowley as well. Bobby is a sharp cookie. This season brings something the others did not and the closeness of the brothers,the elder monsters (or the first of their kind) are coming to a head, the disturbing thought of being a husk (soulless body) and some fairy tale creatures as well. Well done Season 6, well done indeed.

That does not seem like proper child health care.