GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES (1970)-IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. DIRECTOR: ROLF THIELE, STARS MARIE LILEJADAHL, GABY FUCHS. SEE BELOW:
Whew! Subtitling is finished and as usual there were some compromises that had to be made. I bought a German language DVD because it promised Spanish subtitles which I planned to translate into English. However, the Spanish subtitles were only on about 20 minutes of the print and of no use as they didn’t cover the German parts I needed. So, I had to resort to the American Jerry Gross version. It ran 70 minutes and the German version runs 86 minutes so there are still about 8 minutes in German only. If you are wanting to see this film because of the dialogue, then you might want to recheck your priorities as the dialogue is silly no matter the language. Also the Jerry Gross version looks like it was run through a blender first. Scenes were completely moved around and it made the film close to incoherent. The plus side is the print is beautiful so now you can see all the naughty bits the shitty english version made almost impossible to see. The scene in the cannibal lair makes Lucio Fulci and the like, look like pussies. When Cinderella’s mom, has her daughters cut off their toe and heel to fit the shoe, it’s truly gag worthy. You also get the original score and Marie Liljedahl NEVER LOOKED BETTER!.
HOT GIRL JULIE (1982)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Ignaco F. Iquiono, starring: Eva Liberteb · Andrea Albani · Vicky Palma · Antonio Marono · Joaquin Gomez. Sylvia visits her former lesbian lover, Juliet, now stuck in a boring marriage. They begin a new affair together. When the girls discover that Juliet's husband is also having an affair, they decide to seduce his lover. This film is generally considered one of the best [if not THE best] of Spanish Clasificada S genre. It is made by Ignacio F. Iquino, perhaps the most prolific, quality directors of that period. He's also known for RAPISTS AT DAWN, NUDE SEXUAL CRAVING and the sleazy horror film BLOODY SECT.
HOT POTATO (1979)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. DIRECTOR: STENO. Stars: Renato Pozzetto, Edwige Fenech, Massimo Ranieri. A factory worker known for his tough attitude and for fighting for workers' rights starts losing credibility when friends and co-workers see him helping a young gay man. Renato Pozzetto plays Bernardo Mambelli, also known as Gandhi, an ex-boxer now working in some kind of paint factory. Edwige Fenech is his lunch lady love Maria, which is a bit of a surprise since she usually plays higher educated characters. Gandhi is also a devoted communist and often sticks up for his fellow worker, opening up the possibility of him becoming a union leader. One night he saves young Claudio (Massimo Ranieri) from a beating by a group of fascist bikers and takes him home to nurse his wounds. Claudio promptly phones his boyfriend to break up with him. Of course this leads to about 70 minutes of gay mistakes by the nosy landlady, the girlfriend and the co- workers. Fenech reprises her strip tease act, last seen in TAXI DRIVER.
MY NIECE THE VIRGIN (1969)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Eberhard Schroeder, starring: Edwige Fenech · Fred Williams · Ruth Maria Kubitschek · Rainer Penkert · Valere Antelmann. Based on the classic erotic novel "Yvette" by Guy De Maupassant, here is the story of Michelle De Winter who lives the good life, wining and dining with only the richest men who are fortunate to cross her path. Her daughter Yvette [always introduced as her 'niece' by Michelle] is a fashion model. She is also a virgin. She's saving herself for marriage, despite endorsing the free love generation lifestyle and living with promiscuous hippie types. Yvette is dating Peter Von Hallstein but remains chaste, thus risking her relationship. When mom gets involved with rich psychologist Dr Fink, she asks for help in a scheme to get Peter to propose to Yvette.
THE NOVICE (1975): IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Giuliano Biagetti, Cast: Gloria Guida (Maria), Gino Milli (Vittorio), Femi Benussi (Nunziata), Don Nini (Lionel Stander). Score: Berto Pisano. Vittorio has returned to Sicily from Rome to see his sick Uncle Nini, who is on death’s door. His two best friends, Roldolfo and Saretto are there to greet him and can’t wait to hear about all of his female conquests in Rome. After they spend the evening out on the town, Vittorio returns to find his Uncle has a Novice nurse at night to take care of him. Uncle Nini was a real cocksman in his day ( in a nice visual joke, when he does finally kick the bucket, almost every middle age crone in town are dressed in black and weeping for their loss) he regales Vittorio with randy stories as Novice Maria sits outside his door, quite uncomfortably. The next night the trio pick up a couple of prostitutes and return to the Uncle’s villa where they awaken him with their rowdiness. The two prostitutes dance and get Don Nini so worked up, the result seems to bring on a quick decline in his health. Meanwhile, an old flame of Vittorio’s, Nunziata , can’t wait to rekindle the affair, even though she has married a rich but simple minded man. It becomes clear that Don Nini’s constant talks of horniness and the nearness of a stud like Vittorio is really having an affect on Maria. As he nears death, Nini begs Maria to take off her nun’s habit and put on a very sexy outfit so he can go out with a smile on his face. As she does this, Vittorio sees it and becomes enraged, thinking she does this all the time. Don Nini finally passes away and Maria leaves the convent and returns home to the eternal shame of her mother. Vittorio becomes so miserable he tracks her down and the two consummate their lust for each other. But wait, there is a surprise ending that really comes out of left field!
NUDE SEXUAL CRAVING (1982)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Ignacio F. Iquino. starring: Concha Valero · Carla Dey · Tessi Arno · Cora Martin · Alejo De Peral. This controversial Spanish comedy features the beachtown summer sexcapades of a lesbian couple who work in a video store and are also actors in much of the porn they sell. Plus, the stories deal with their transsexual director trying to seduce a man [who isn't too thrilled when he discovers his lover's dick hidden under the dress].
QUARTIER DES FEMMES (1974)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, UNCUT JESS FRANCO WIP FILM IS THE PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN 99 MINUTE VERSION, 22 MINUTES LONGER THAN THE US DVD RELEASE!! In a small South American dictatorship, Raimondo and his fiancée Beatriz are framed for a crime they didn’t commit, then sentenced and deported to Devil's Island, a notorious penitentiary where all are kept brutally in line by Lieutenant Hecklerm. Beatriz, meanwhile, is quartered in the equally repressive ''Women's Ward''. Under a sadistic lesbian, the captives suffer and are driven to revolt. Beatriz wins the friendship of Rosa, who is also a snitch for the cruel chieftain, and then manages to escape, along with her lover. However the guards swarm the island and quickly catch up with the fugitives. Their lawyer tries to get them acquitted but in vain. He cannot even obtain a pardon as the military leadership remains absolute. Finally, subjected to ever worse tortures, Raimondo and Beatriz will be shot. The original theatrical running times for this film are stated by Stephen Thrower as 93 minutes for France, and 97 minutes for Spain (although I think he meant 77 minutes), This new version runs to 1:39:44.
THE SHADOW OF A MEMORY (1978)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Jose Antonio Barrero, Cast: Manuel Tejada (Jose), Emilio Gutierrez (Commissioner Cabellero), Sara Lezano (Lola), Mirta Miller (Susana), Sylvia Aguilar (Teresa), Paloma Cela (Luisa), Score: No credit is given. Jose is an antique collector who spends his time picking up women, romancing them, strangling them to death, and THEN raping them. Yes, he’s a lovable necrophile. The film opens with him driving a victim to a lake where he rhapsodically details that it was once an ancient city that has since been submerged. He drives down to the shore, traps his victim in the car and pushes it into the lake where she drowns. Much later we discover it was his sister, whom he killed because he saw her making passionate love to a rather athletic black woman. Of course after killing her, he drags her body to shore so he can have his way with her. His live in girlfriend Lola often wonders why he spends so many nights away from her, having no idea what those supposed business trips really entail. Jose’s latest victim, Teresa, a girl he met cute when he almost ran over her, is the beginning of his downfall. Her friend at work gives Inspector Cabellero a vital clue as to where they spent their date together. Cabellero interviews the nightclub workers for a description, and an American in the airforce stationed there, who co-owned the apartment with Teresa, turns up a tie clasp that was worn by Jose. Meanwhile Jose meets an old flame Susana and though it takes a few dates, he’s finally able to strangle her to death and yes, rape her. As the police close in, having Jose’s girlfriend Lola ID the tie clasp, Jose tries to strangle and rape one more victim, but the police arrive and thwart his efforts. On the run, he ironically drives into the same lake where all his troubles began.
SPLENDOR AND MISERY OF MADAME ROYALE (1970)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Vittorio Caprioli. CAST: UGO TOGNAZZI, JENNY TAMBURI, MAURICE RONET. For those of you who were under the impression that Italian star Ugo Tognazzi first played a gay character in the extremely popular LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (1978), here comes this obscure and ultra-rare little film to prove the contrary!! Unlike the later outing (which spawned two lesser sequels), this is a comedy-drama rather than a farce: interestingly, the narrative even has elements of the thriller genre (though these are mostly downplayed throughout in favor of characterization) as the gay community here seems to have been targeted for murder – with the investigation being handled by debonair Maurice Ronet (amusingly, he first meets Tognazzi by posing as a prospective client!). The title character is none other than the name Tognazzi gives himself when doing his flamboyant drag act during private soirees regularly organized for pals of similar bent; incidentally, his identification with this would-be historical figure is so complete that he conducts his conversation at such times exclusively in French! His closest companion is played by Vittorio Caprioli, an amiable character actor excelling at cantankerous but worldly types – and who also happens to be the film’s co-writer/director (none of his work in this department is very well-known, however). Que fais-tu... Grande folle ! ! : Alessio is homosexual. Every evening, he goes to a public garden in Rome to find acquaintances there when he is not looking for good fortune. That evening, while out for a walk with a friend, Alessio notices an attractive forty-something who seems to be watching him. Some time later, Colonel Bianconi, a notorious transvestite, was assassinated. Alessio, who lives with young Mimmina, the daughter of his late ex-companion, is not reassured by the encounters of his protege ...
DESERT OF FIRE (1971)-NICE PRINT NO LONGER WITH GREEK SUBS! Director: Renzo Merusi. Cast: Edwige Fenech, George Wang, Giuseppe Addobbati. A desert bandit leader robs a jeep and hauls off a lot of American money. He doesn't get much of a chance to enjoy it, however, because he and his men are soon attacked by a "phantom", who kills all his men, and his own weapons mysteriously disappear. When a beautiful young woman shows up to see if he still has the money, the phantom rapes her. Another man shows up and the three decide to head into the desert to find the "treasure" and wind up finding something the weren't expecting.
DEVILISH NYMPHS (1978)-IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director: John Doo, Cast: Aldine Muller (Ursula), Patricia Scalvi ( Circe), Sergio Hingst (Rodrigo), Score: Rogerio Duprat. Rodrigo is a middle aged family man with a wife and two young children. As he takes his two kids to school, he declines to pick up a young female hitchhiiker, warning his kids, that it’s dangerous to pick up strangers. Heading to Sao Paulo to meet with a client, he is supernaturally drawn to two young female hitchhikers. Throwing caution to the wind, he decides to pick them up. Blonde Circe sits in the back and brunette Ursula sits very close to Rodrigo and instantly begins to flirt with him, allowing him to put a hand up her skirt. So much for being a family man. Before long, she is sitting in his lap and steering the car. When an injured man flags them down for help, she forces Rodrigo to take off. Rodrigo is appalled but is quickly calmed down by Ursula nibbling on his neck. She next steers the car right into an offroad fruit stand, damn near killing the owner, and this time, not a peep from Rodrigo. Ursula persuades Rodrigo to go to an abandoned beach house where they can get better acquainted. Circe continues to be rather aloof, ignoring Ursula and Rodrigo’s antics ( which include nude swimming and making love on the beach). However no matter where Circe is, her ability to hear their conversations is supernatural. Circe completely disappears and the next day Rodrigo and Ursula decide to leave. When they get to the car, it is stuck in the sand so they return to the house where they make the nasty all over again. The next morning Rodrigo sees Circe and follows her to a stream where she swims in the nude. She calls to him to join her and though reluctant at first, strips down and joins her. Rodrigo becomes totally entranced and together they make the decision to kill Ursula so they can be together. They chase Ursula down to the beach and as Rodrigo holds her down, Circe crushes her skull with a rock. They soon depart in the car (as almost by magic, it is no longer stuck in the sand.) and once on the highway, Ursula reappears in the back seat, all bloodied and with the rock that killed her, bashes in Rodrigo’s skull. This causes the car to go off a cliff where it first appears they all die in a fiery crash. However, all is not what appears as the two young girls emerge climbing back up the cliff. They exchange roles with Circe becoming the slutty one and Ursula now wearing glasses and appearing demure. As another car stops to pick them up, history is set to repeat itself ad infinitum.
DON'T OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE MAN IN BLACK (1990)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director: Giulio Questi. Cast: Aurore Clement (Lory), Giuliano Gemma (Andrea), Matteo Mobilia (Luca), Claudia Muzii (Francesca), Stefania Garello (Marina), Score: Pino Donaggio. Lory has nightmares about Francesca, a suicidal patient she is treating. She is the daughter of the recently deceased actress, Anna Meyer. Francesca is having an affair with an older man, who was also having affair with her mother, Anna. Lory is divorced but sees Andrea, a lawyer whose career is on the rise. Francesca becomes pregnant and has an abortion to avoid another suicide attempt. Her recovery seems to be going well, as she has ended her affair with the older man and is concentrating on her musical career. When out of the blue, she commits suicide by jumping off the terrace of her apartment. Lory can’t convince the police there was something suspicious about her death and so she too slides into a deep depression. With Andrea’s help she bounces back and meets Marina, one of Francesca’s friends. Together they decide to investigate Francesca’s anonymous lover. They are convinced it is Albert Moreno, the long time agent of Anna Meyer. He is on the run because his business partner died mysteriously. Marina gets a job baby sitting Meyer’s handicapped son and this leads to her having a meeting with him. She is murdered and Lory is next on the killer’s hit list. She survives the attack but is kidnapped by Meyer from the hospital. She escapes and returns home, since she wasn’t very safe at the hospital. The killer attacks again and as the film ends, the murderer goes free and Lory is hopelessly insane.
LIKE A BITCH IN HEAT (1976)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director:Armando Bo. Cast:Isabel Sarli (Yvonne), Armando Bo (Jorge), Victor Bo (Lorenzo). Score: Armando Bo for the Spanish version and a bunch of CAM tracks for the Italian version. Yvonne is a prostitute who walks the streets of Paris. She meets Jorge, who becomes totally infatuated with her. She gets a job as a stripper(Thank you God!), and he attends every show. He finally talks her into returning to Pampas Argentina to be his woman (course the fact that she kills her pimp might have had something to do it). Once back on his large ranch he continues with his two passions: breaking in wild colts and screwing Ms Yvonne every where possible. He has a stud handyman named Lorenzo working for him and he’s involved in a hilarious scene. As Jorge and Yvonne are making love in the swimming pool, just as they are about to climax, Lorenzo spills a huge bucket of milk! Very subtle. At a local rodeo event, Jorge is going to attempt to impress Yvonne by taming the wildest colt on the ranch. Unfortunately he is thrown off and severely mangles his leg. His condition only worsens when he sees Yvonne starting to pay more attention to Lorenzo. Jorge finally just gives up, lays down in a field and dies. The ranch hands blame Yvonne for his death and make plans to ambush and gang rape her. As they carry out the dirty deed, her screams for help are heard by Lorenzo. He arrives just in time to pull the first rapist off her and he literally beats the guy to death with his bare hands(this scene goes on and on...). Do they go on the run to live a passionate life together? Hell no, he never even gets to touch her. She goes to back to Europe and he goes to prison.
THE ACCIDENT (1963)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Edmond T. Gréville, Stars: Georges Rivière, Magali Noël, Danik Patisson. A young beautiful teacher is transfered to a remote island's school, where her colleague (also the principal of the school) falls in love with her. This banned love provokes the jealousy of the principal's wife and makes her seek revenge. Edmond T Greville's swansong. It displays some qualities. This director knows how to create an atmosphere. It was the main interest of his former works ("Menaces" and "Le Port Du Désir"). Here his depiction of a gloomy island is not bad. A half wit (Roland Lesaffre) goes on repeating "the Chinese are coming" - he actually plays no part in the plot); a seedy school where even the blackboards seem to be one hundred years old; a ship cemetery where ships come home to die ("they should be wrecked before" says the schoolteacher's wife); a headmaster who treats his pupils like a military man; the brats aping his alcoholic wife...
BEWARE THE YETI (1962)-IN POLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Yeti escaped from a packet it was transported in an now is lost somewhere in Warsaw. a professor together with his pal - a prisoner, are looking for the poor creature, but difficulties a la monty python are mushrooming in front of them. Worth seeing
THE BIG BITE (1964)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directed by Jean Valere , Emmanuelle Riva - Clemence Grandval, Hardy Kruger, Francisco Rabal. Frank Willes, a young soccer player gets into an accident.He has shocked the car of a rich businessman who died in the accident.Then Frank discovers that the the widow of the businessman, Clémece Grandval will become rich because of the life insurance and that maybe this accident was fraudulent. "le Gros coup" is an absolute jewel in French film noir, I never heard of it before. Hardy Krüger's destiny after a serious car accident is fascinating, he really deserves the best after having lost everything. He meets Emmanuelle Riva who won a fortune in that crash. How this venomous meeting will finish? A tense suspense till the end. With great cinematography and settings. In this hunt for money, Krüger and Riva are extraordinary.
THE BIG PARDON (1982)-IN FRENCH, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Starring: Roger Hanin, Clio Goldsmith, Jean-Louis Trintignant, A Jewish Mafia-like family is running a prostitution ring, selling "protection," and operating gambling casinos -- more or less with impunity, and at peace with their Arab counterparts -- until a young gangster (Bernard Giraudeau) decides to pit the two ethnic factions against each other. Jewish cultural and religious events are celebrated by the Jewish gangsters, who promote family traditions -- in contrast to the police inspector who has no family and is out to do them all in. Focusing on the Jewish mob boss, the story has him undergoing some personal rehabilitation in the end. Actually, comparing the merits of ethnically and religiously different mobs of gangsters might be a little like comparing the respective beauty of a pair of week-old corpses.
BLOW JOB (1980)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director:Alberto Cavallone, Stefano Vicinelli and his girlfriend Diana fall two weeks behind on their hotel rent and face having their luggage and car impounded until they can pay the bill. Conveniently for them, a distraught woman in the room right above theirs leaps to her death from the window. Using that as a distraction, the lovebirds sneak out and take off. Running low on money, they pool what little cash they do have and go to the racetrack. Stefano encounters a crazed woman wearing sunglasses who demands he give her a key so she can unlock a door. After she calms down, she proposes a deal with him: She'll help him win money in the horse race if he'll help her "get past the gate." Having no clue what she's even talking about, Stefano reluctantly agrees and bets on her suggestion. After the horse wins and he collects, he feels obliged to accompany the strange woman - who introduces herself as Countess Angela - back to her home.
LE BRUNE ET MOI (1980)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Released in 1981, La Brune et moi advances like the modern version of The Girl Can't Help It (known in France like La Blonde et moi). In the film directed by Frank Tashlin in 1956, a peroxidized pin-up girl (Jayne Mansfield) aspires to become a rock star. Around it gravitate the biggest names in rock'n'roll: The Platters, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran ... Twenty years later, Philippe Puicouyoul takes up this same idea for La Brune and me. To become "a punk star", the young group Anouschka accepts the advances of banker Xavier de Royan. From then on, the punkette drove its producer-manager into a marathon of decibels and feedback. 55mn medium length film, La Brune et moi is built as a 33-round compilation of post-punk hits. 11 groups share the musical track, eight appear on the screen: Ici Paris, Marquis de Sade, Edith Nylon, Les Privés, Go-go Pigalles, The Questions, Astroflash, les Dogs. The comparison with The Girl Can't Help It, a big Hollywood production produced by Fox, stops there: filmed in 16 mm, La Brune et moi has everything of an amateur film. In 1979 Philipe Puicouyoul 'borrowed' the the camera gear from the production he was working on during the day to film a punk rock love story at night. La brune et moi - a play on the French title for the American 50s rock 'n' roll film The Girl Can't Help (La blonde et moi) - was shot in one week and a Saturday. Like it's American counterpart, the story is a thin prop for the rockin' performances. The film stars scenester Anoushka and actor Pierre Clementi.
THE DEVIL'S DAFFODIL (1964)-IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS.Director: Akos Rathony, Stars Joachim Fuchsberger, Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski. THE DEVIL'S DAFFODIL is a packed-to-the-brim Edgar Wallace krimi, made in Germany but filmed in the UK. It's the kind of film that you have to watch closely because the plot is very dense and just working out who's who and the relationships between the characters is tricky indeed. Still, there's plenty to recommend about this one, not least the moody black and white photography and the antics of a knife-wielding masked killer who adds plenty of thrills to the picture. Cast-wise, chiefly of interest is none other than Christopher Lee, once again playing a Chinese guy. I'm not sure why Lee always ended up cast as an Oriental but he certainly makes for an imposing presence here and it's nice to see him playing a good guy for a change. He's a Charlie Chan-style investigator, prone to reciting proverbs at the most inconvenient times. He's a real hoot.
DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (1986)-IN RUSSIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director: Aleksandr Orlov This is a sci-fi movie which does not need special effects to "hook" a viewer. The main lead - Mr Innokenti Smoktunovsky - is making a very captivating movie out of something that may look like a boring theatrical play. Cannot forget his devilish character with a cane. Together with "Hamlet" (where Mr Innokenti Smoktunovsky also performed excellently), this film belongs to cinematic treasury.
DOUBLE MURDER (1977)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Directed by Steno, Cast: Marcello Mastroianna, Ursula Andress, Peter Ustinov, Agostina Belli. EXTREMELY RARE GIALLO IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME!Police Inspector Baldassare just happens to be near by when two residents of an apartment building are seemingly struck by lightning simultaneously. Sensing foul play the Inspector starts his own investigation. This takes him on a tour of all the unusual tenants in the building, each of which have a possible motive.
DRACULA IN THE PROVINCES (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. FINALLY A BEAUTIFUL PRINT AND UNCUT, WITH 8 EXTRA MINUTES OF FOOTAGE! Directed by Lucio Fulci, Cast: Lando Buzzanca, Sylva Koscina, Moira Orfei, Ciccio Ingrassia, Christa Linder. Costante Nicosia (Lando Buzzanca, who was in two James Tont movies) is a businessman who married for wealth, inheriting a toothpaste factory and a local basketball team. He's also a horrible person, abusing his employees and taking particular delight in attacking Peppino, a hunchback whose hump is rubbed daily for luck. And he's so superstitious that a black cat in his path means finding a virgin to urinate on broken glass, which I've never heard of before, but sure, I guess. He also hates his wife Mariu (Sylva Koscina, Deadlier Than the Male), her family and her brother, whose lazy work ethic leads to a firing which ends up having an aunt curse Nicosia. This will come to haunt him, as a plane ride to Romania introduces him to Count Dragalescu (John Steiner), whose castle will end up where Nicosia will cavort with three of the count's naked girlfriends and wake up in bed next to the naked noble. Now, Nicosia is not only a vampire, he's also become a homosexual. For an Italian man in 1975, this had to have been quite a curse. Not even a magician (Ciccio Ingrassia of the comedy duo Franco and Ciccio) can cure him. The only way that he can escape is to rehire the brother-in-law. But what happens if he accepts his thirst for blood?
FOR THE BLOOD OF OTHERS (1974)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director:Marc Simenon, Stars: Yves Beneyton, Francis Blanche, Bernard Blier, Mylene Demongeot. A man takes hostages two women in a house near a village.Then the mayor, the police, the prefect and the gendarmerie are very preoccupied for their careers, their political future and the fame of the village.They offer to the kidnapper (a psychopath we don't know where he comes from, what his his history) a lot of money,but the man insists.So they will send a prostitute,but the woman is quite smart and refuses to do what they want.Moment of nervousness and there is a shooting and the prostitute receives a deadly shot. Then another intend with an Italian immigrant,who also refuses to be sacrificed.The only person who tries to undertand the psychopath and to negotiate which will be the daughter of mayor.What will she manage ? Of course very good actors such as Bernard Blier, Francis Blanche, Claude Piéplu and Mylène Demongeot participated in this film.The film is above all the description of the egoism,the political ambition and the cowardice of the authorities.
GANGSTER 70 (1968)-IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. UNCUT VERSION WITH 7 EXTRA MINUTES OF FOOTAGE! A distinctly classy, continuously exciting crime caper film with a bleak outlook, many intriguing players led by mastermind Joseph Cotton and quite the unusual progression of preparation and execution of a high-stakes robbery. Right from the get-go it seems like the odds are more than against Cotton's character who has been out of the game for several years serving time but, as these things go, he's come up with the ultimate plan for one last heist to score big and he assembles an illustrious mix of old and new faces to get it done. What I particularly liked is how the film is not just interested in the heist and its step-by-step progression, as it actually keeps us in the dark about a lot of details, but instead we get to spend pre-heist time with the people involved in it and I enjoyed how the film captured their daily struggle, ranging from an ex-poker player who seems to have lost his touch to a suicidal actress lured in to play a part and a former Olympian who is struggling with drugs. This really keeps the suspense high throughout and never lets on what kind of ending these characters will find and it's quite haunting once it comes.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS (1980)-IIN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Mariano Laurenti, Stars: Anna Maria Rizzoli, Gianfranco D'Angelo, Enzo Cannavale. A group of employees, on a winter vacation, rather than skiing, spend their time in an attempt to impress the beautiful Angela and a sexy servant girl.
HOW TO STEAL A BILLION AND GET AWAY WITH IT (1967)- Director: Gianni Puccini, Cast: Ray Danton, Gianna Serra, Jacques Herlin, Paul Mueller, Kitty Swan.Score: Marcello Giombini. Mafia chief Big Joe is mad because his son has never been arrested. When he was a kid and played cops and robbers, he always wanted to be the cop. Unless his son can pull off a big crime, he won’t let him take over the organization. He sends him to Italy where he meets up with 4 of his dad’s old associates who are planning to rob a casino of a billion lire. They have taken under their wing the daughter of a former mob associate, Monica. They want Joe’s son to help them plan the job as their plans are flawed to say the least ( they want to base it on an operation tried by Dillinger back in the thirties). He decides to totally revamp the plan after days of research. Turns out there is a huge cavern beneath the vault of the casino that they plan to use to steal the entire container of winnings (approximately a billion lire).The four old guys hire some local muscle to help them with their plan but this will, like everything else, go incredibly wrong. Turns out there is another man in the cavern with the same plan who has done a ton of work already, he just needs some help which , with the aid of a gun, he enlists the mob muscle men. Meanwhile, little Joe (both father and son are played by Ray Danton) is at the casino where he ends up winning a Billion lire, he has broken the bank, legitimately! Will this fact mess up his claim to running the mob? A very tongue in cheek crime/comedy with Ray Danton stealing the show in a dual role. He had a flair for comedic roles in most of his European productions. Jacques Herlin as the wacky spelunkers who also plans to rob the casino (with the help of his voluptuous assistant, Kitty Swan) enters the film around halfway and almost steals the entire show. Gianna Serra as the hot to trot Monica plays the part well and even gets in on the ass kicking fights as well. I pretty much doubt this one shows up on Bernardo Bertolucci’s screenplay credits!
INGRID THE STREETWALER (1973)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director : Brunello Rondi, Stars : Janet Agren, Francesca Romana Coluzzi, Franco Citti. Ingrid's a stunning blonde girl from the north who arrives in Rome after trying her hand (literally) at hooking on the train. Once ensconced in the fabled metropolis, she's taken under the wing of an experienced streetwalker Claudia (played by Francesca Romana Coluzzi, who easily steals the movie), and seems to make the big time when hired as a twosome by decadent aristocrat Urbano (played by talented actor-director Enrico Maria Salerno). Matters reach a tragic inclusion due to the evil machinations of the leader of a motorcycle gang, Renato (Franco Citti, on loan from Pier Paolo Pasolini's acting stable). Plenty of sex and gore is delivered,. Agren is such an ice-maiden beauty that she doesn't fit this casting choice -no matter how she's pawed, her clothes torn, or her makeup ruffled, she remains ready to step out and film a L'Oreal commercial at any moment (sort of the Dayle Haddon syndrome). Filling in the blanks is Coluzzi, an earthy beauty who reminds me of Francoise Fabian and she gives one powerhouse performance here. I've seen her in many films over the years, but I don't think she ever got the big break or achieved starring roles. Citti as the dastardly, sadistic villain is very disappointing -I wasn't convinced by his character for a moment. Score by Carlo Savina is excellent.
KING OF THE REINDEER (1969)-IN RUSSIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director : Pavel Arsenov, Stars : Yuriy Yakovlev, Valentina Malyavina, Sergey Yurskiy. King of the Reindeer is an artistic, musical film-fairy tale based on the play of the same name by Carlo Gozzi. The composer Mikael Tariverdiev wrote wonderful music for the film. Too good-natured King Deramo falls in love with the beautiful Angela, but is unable to resist the wiles of the wicked wizard Tartaglia, who is also in love with Angela. Mysterious, elegant, theatrical, subtle film. The age-old struggle between good and evil.
LITTLE GIRLS AND HIGH FINANCE (1960)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Camillo Mastrocinque, Stars: Anita Ekberg, Renato Rascel, Sophie Desmarets. A low level official and a prostitute both try to commit suicide and fail, afterwards he becomes a pimp and the prostitutes take over the country.
MAIGRET (2022)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Patrice Leconte, Stars: Gerard Depardieu, Jade Labeste Mélanie Bernier, Aurore Clement. In Paris, a young girl is found dead in a Parisian square, wearing an evening dress. Commissioner Maigret will try to identify her and then understand what happened to the victim. It has the right deadpan quality that infuses the Simenon books. There are no car chases, shouting, running from or towards villains - But lots of atmosphere. Visually, the film is very dark, almost monochrome so the shot at the end of the young woman in the red dress is a visual shock. I liked the relationship between Maigret and Madam Maigret which revolves around food and love (now that their daughter has died). Gerard Depardieu is terrific, very underplayed but full of psychological nuance. Yes, it's slow and 'measured', but worth it by film's end.
THE OFF ROAD GIRL (1971)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Luigi Scattini., Stars: Luc Merenda, Lucretia Love, Martine Brochard, Zeudi Araya, Tony Kendall. Giorgio Martini advertising journalist during a business trip in the Nubia to advertise a brand of automobiles, meets a beautiful black girl, falls in love with Maryam. This brings to Ferrara, and despite the opposition of the bride family. How spontaneous, sincere, clean, Maryam, however much the new environment turns out to be hypocritical petty, trivial racist. Targeted by two friends of her husband who bet on who the first to be able to make him betray Maryam, rejects both very firmly, but is a victim of the cruel game of a former lover of George. Led to believe that Maryam's husband has been unfaithful to resume his old relationship. Unable to explain the changes that George is now with cold contempt Maryam - after getting rid of the first child who was waiting with sincere joy - decides to abandon the sickening world where it happened, to return to his people.
PRICKLY PEARS (1980)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Steno. Stars: Renato Pozzetto, Aldo Maccione, Gloria Guida. I am a big fan of Pozzetto and I enjoy his comedies, even when the plot is a bit weak like in "Fico d'India". The movie is about a province Latin Lover, Arrigo, who, among many others, chases Pozzetto's wife. For a series of unlikely events, Arrigo ends up completely paralyzed in Pozzetto's bed. Pozzetto has to take care of him and his tortured by the jealousy. Pozzetto must keep secret the presence of Arrigo in his house. The funny part is when in the village people start to realize that something strange is going on, and gossip about the strange "menage a trois"
SCANDALOUS LIASONS (1990)-Stars: Dalia Di Lazzaro, Florence Guerin, Eva Grimaldi. Sexual shenanigans swirl around a famous fashion house owned by the wealthy, ruthless Helen (Dalila Di Lazzaro) and when her top photographer, Julie Merriwether (Rossy de Palma), objects to the sleaze, she's promptly let go with a bribe. The voracious style maven is a nymphomaniac who's having simultaneous affairs with an employee, Mark, a powerful senator, and a musician, Paul (Donald Burton), who she picked up on the subway. Mark wants to turn his girlfriend, Corrine (Florence Guerin), into a supermodel and he introduces her to Helen. The two women begin an affair and Mark gets fired while Dick, Helen's free-lance photographer, pimps his favorite model, Tracey (Eva Grimaldi), to obtain incriminating photos of Helen's lover, the senator. Helen is also being blackmailed and, usually heartless concerning her carnal exploits, finds herself falling in love with Paul. The sexual merry-go-round soon spins out of control and one obsessed participant ends the wild ride for everyone with a double murder and suicide.
SHE IS AFRAID (1964)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. May Heatherly was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1942 and moved to Spain at age 11. In 1962 she appeared in her first Spanish film, TORREJON CITY, a western directed by Leon Klimovsky, an important director in her career in Spain. She is best known to fans of Eurotrash as the infected nurse in CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE and the hateful mother, Mrs Reston in PIECES. Now, why am I concentrating on her today? Well it involves the next subtitling project. She starred in 1964’s ELLA Y EL MIEDO, directed by the aforementioned Leon Klimovsky. Turns out it is a stark B&W thriller VERY similar to Mario Bava’s THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH! Here is the IMDB synopsis: “A girl who is engaged leaves the nightclub where she works. On her way home, she is the only witness of a horrible murder. Unfortunately for her, the killer has seen her. Since then, her life starts to turn into a real nightmare, because the killer is determined to eliminate her.” SOUND FAMILIAR?!
SIAL IV (1969)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. A 4 HOUR RARE SF MINI-SERIES APPEARING IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME. COMES ON 2 DVDS FOR $15 TOTAL! Sial IV is a French television miniseries by Greek filmmaker and writer Adonis Kyrou, adapted from the speculative fiction novel Deadly Image (AKA The Uncertain Midnight) by British author Edmund Cooper. It tells the story of Denis Lange (Henri Gilabert), a fallout shelter engineer who is accidentally trapped in suspended animation as war breaks out in 1970, only to awaken in the early 2100s in Sial IV, an underground city in which humankind lives a life of leisure, having discharged all responsibility to androids. Assigned the android Diana as his personal assistant, Denis ventures through this unsettling idyll, eventually finding a small but tenacious group of resistors who seek to uncover the truth about the compound and its ruler, the mysterious Machiavelli.
THE SQUEALER (1985)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directed by: Pasquale Squitieri, Cast: Tony Musante, Franco Nero, Max Von Sydow, Rita Rusic, Erik Estrada and Claudine Auger. A judge (based on real life judge Giovanni Falcone) on crusade to take down the Italian Mafia uses a gangster turned state's witness (a so-called "repenter") and a New York banker to do it. But things aren't quite what they seem.
VIRGIN OF THE 7 SEAS (1974)-IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directors: Ernst Hofbauer, Chih-Hung Kuei. Stars: Sonja Jeannine. Hot western (German) girls are kidnapped into slavery in order to please their eventual owners but wait!!! They secretly train in martial (not marital) arts to defeat the male pigs who would own them. Of course they do this in the most humiliating and degrading way while clad in their colorful and scanty underwear.
THE YELLOW PANTHER (1982)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT.Director: Giorgio Capitani, Stars: Lino Banfi, Agostina Belli, Nando Paone. Pasquale Bellachioma, the unfortunate Police Commissioner, can solve a big case that can finally make him worthy of a promotion before his superiors, but the result is a continuous failure.
