A BOURGEOIS DRAMA (1979)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Florestano Vancini . Stars: Franco Nero, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Lara Wendel. 15-year-old Maria "Mimmina" leaves the boarding school in Genève to stay in the Bechten Hotel nursing her widower father, international journalist Guido, who is paralyzed by rheumatism. They haven't seen each other for several years. For some reason she is doing everything in her power to get him to have sex with her. She even brings herself to orgasm while next to him in bed. He nearly goes apoplectic trying to avoid her advances. Eventually, her school chum Therese who is 8 years her senior comes to visit, and at last Guido has a semi-suitable object for his seriously-overheated passions. Therese and Guido have a love affair with tragic consequences.
THE COLD PATHS OF CRIME (1972)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Carlos Aured, Cast: Daniel Martin (Fred), Agata Lys (Helen), Frank Brana (Guy Malone), Georges Rigaud (Williams), Maria Perschy (Jane). Score: Jose Espeita. The film opens with a killer approaching a young woman’s apartment. She is reading a novel with one hand while she undresses for a shower with the other. After her shower, the killer, having made entry in the meantime, strangles her with a cord. She is the fifth victim to be killed in this way. Fred, is out riding his horse when he meets Helen, who has fallen off her horse. The attraction is there but Fred is married to a miserable rich alcoholic bitch of wife named Jane. She owns Farrell Publishing where she has installed Fred as the boss ( and there are plenty of people who resent it, like the older, more experienced Williams). The only person who doesn’t seem to resent his presence is editor Guy Malone. Jane is fooling around with her latest discovery, Gigi, an author of no talent that Jane is forcing the company to publish. The killer contacts Fred and offers to kill Jane for $100,000 which Fred instantly dismisses. To prove his authenticity, the killer tells him about his next victim, a dope smoking socialite who is embarrassing her rich father. With the murder carried out, the killer renews his offer to Fred. In the middle of an editorial meeting, he gets yet another call telling him in an hour, his wife ( who by now knows all about Helen), will be dead. Fred rushes home to what appears to be Jane's corpse. She however, has a laugh as she tells him she knows the killer and together they set this up so the killer could go after Helen instead. Fortunately Fred thwarts that plan, only to return home with Helen to find Jane really dead this time. The police are suspicious of Fred but have no real proof of his involvement. The killer calls to not only collect the money owed, but hatches a new plan to rid Fred of the burden of marrying Helen, so he can really live the life of a rich playboy. He seemingly agrees and that night throws a lavish party to announce his marriage to Helen. He drugs her drink and waits for the killer to show up and finish the deal. However, not everything is as it seems.
IL GATTO MAMMONE (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Nando Cicero, Stars:Lando Buzzanca, Rossana Podestà, Gloria Guida. Lando Buzzanca plays a man desperate to father a male heir. However, his wife (Roseanne Podesta) is apparently barren. They decide to use a surrogate mother, which, since this was in the days before artificial insemination, means Buzzanca will have to impregnate the surrogate the "old-fashioned" way. After a mishap involving a VERY unattractive but fertile widow, Buzzanca sets his sights on young girl (Gloria Guida) at an orphanage for unwed mothers (who has already given an illegitimate child up for adoption). They hire her as a maid, but she is under the impression they're going to adopt her, leading to some quasi-incestual misunderstandings. But after the fertile Guida eventually fails to conceive too, the plot takes a pretty predictable but pretty funny ironic turn.
THE IMMORTAL BACHELOR (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Marcello Fondato, Stars: Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman, Monica Vitti, Giancarlo Giannini. Tina is on trial for the murder of her lover, Gino. The violent nature of their relationship, revealed in the trial, seems to make obvious that she accidentally killed him during a fight. The lone female jury member compares her life to Tina's and, believing her to be innocent, sets out on her own to find a missing witness that can prove Tina's innocence.
INDECENT PHOTOS OF A DECENT WOMAN (1971)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director:Piero Sciumè, Stars:Marisa Mell, Philippe Leroy, Lea Massari. The unearthly beautiful Michèle (Marisa Mell) is married to grouchy and mean-looking banker Gilbert (Philippe Leroy). He has an affair, because Michèle totally neglects him, but his mistress and an accomplice then kidnap the couple's young son. While Gilbert stubbornly refuses to steal money from his employer to use for ransom, the accomplice - a photographer - becomes obsessed with Michèle and forces her to pose as a nude model for him.
LOVES BEDS AND BETRAYALS (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Alfonso Brescia, Stars: Marisa Mell, Don Backy, U go Bologna, Malissa Longo. Rome. The land-speculator Guido is looking for all ways to put his paws on the land of a young shepherd, Baldo. But stubborn Baldo refuses to sell it and Guido has to come to a compromise with the help of his sexy wife, Greta: he is given a permission to live freely Guido's residence in exchange for the sale of his property. After entering the house unmannerly Baldo has privileges in sexual encounters with his wife and daughter Paola. Baldo and Guido gambles and Baldo wins Guido's all assets. The conclusion is that Baldo is currently the owner of the villa and the lover of his wife and daughter, but, above all his a new business partner.
THE MATTEOTTI CRIME (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Florestano Vancini. Stars: Franco Nero, Mario Ador, fRiccardo Cucciolla. In 1924, socialist member of Parliament Giacomo Matteotti was kidnapped and later murdered by the Black Shirts after a no-nonsense, straightforward speech at the Chamber in which he called the new government's bluff and the systematic use of terror, violence and treachery during the electoral process. At this point though, fascism had not completed the transformation of the Italian State into a totalitarian Leviathan. Justice, for one, was still operating outside of fascist control and despite many difficulties and attempted intimidation, the investigation of the murder, led by judge Mauro Del Giudice, came circle by circle dangerously close to Benito Mussolini's immediate entourage. Mussolini's own press attaché, Cesare Rossi, was eventually heard by the judge who managed to get a full confession of Rossi's participation in the kidnapping and murder of Matteotti. But King Vittorio-Emanuele III, disregarding the insistence of liberal-to-conservative politicians such as Giovanni Amendola (later murdered), count Carlo Sforza and the Association of War Veterans, refused even to READ the famous Rossi memorandum, even if it was published in the press (which, like justice, was not yet fascistized, or at least not completely). And then, on January 3, 1925, in a sadly famous speech, Mussolini let the mask(s) fall and claimed for full responsibility - thus establishing an open dictatorship.
ROMA BENE (1971)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Carlo Lizzani, Cast: Senta Berger (Princess Dede), Vittorio Caprioli (Baron), Franco Fabrizi (Nino), Mario Feliciani (Teo), Phillipe Leroy (Giorgio), Virna Lisi (Silvia), Nino Manfredi (Commissioner Tartamella), Michele Mercier (Wilma), Gastone Moschin (Monsignor), Umberto Orsini (Prince Rubio), Irene Pappas (Elena), Enzo Cannavale (Tognon), Ely Galleni (Vivi), Score: Luis Bacalov. The film opens at a party given by Silvia at a very posh hotel. It’s the film’s opportunity to introduce a plethora of characters who come and go throughout the film. Silvia is married to a very rich businessman, Giorgio, who is currently in China closing a big deal. Princess Dede and Prince Rubio own most of the land in the area and are looking to expand their horizons. They do this by pimping out Dede to whatever government official is in charge of the permits they need. The Baron is an inveterate kleptomaniac that everyone puts up with because he comes from a very powerful lineage. Wilma, a closet lesbian is married to Nino who is trying to ingratiate himself to everyone so he can finally pull off some type of business deal. Lando and Vivi are the spoiled children of Silvia and Giorgio who have no sense of the value of money as Lando ends up deep in debt to some gamblers. Elena is married to an old rich Greek named Teo. She has tried three other times to kill him, each time failing to finish him off. When Silvia’s emerald earring is stolen Commissioner Tartamella is introduced to find the culprit. He takes the obvious suspect, the Baron, back to headquarters where he feeds him castor oil so as to make him shit it out (he swallowed it after using his mouth to remove it from Silvia’s ear). Next up everyone goes on a hunting trip. They kill a lot of birds, just for the Hell of it, never bothering to do anything but let them rot on the ground. Vitozzi’s young son shoots a dog and a fellow hunter. Instead of there being any repercussions, the corrupt bastard promises the ten year old a red Ferrari to overcome his trauma (nevermind the dog or hunter). Because Giorgio wouldn’t help his son payoff his gambling debt, he and his sister are kidnapped and held for ransom. When Commissioner Tartamella is called onto the case, he soon figures out it was a scheme concocted by Silvia to get the money to pay off Lando’s debt. Next up Elena, along with her 5 times widowed mother, finally succeed in killing off her husband Teo. Tartamella figures out how she did it and is just about to arrest her, when he is suddenly promoted and taken off the case. Thus Elena gets off scot free and a scandal is avoided. To wrap things up, everyone, except for Tartamella, Giorgio and the Monsignor go out on Silvia’s yacht to celebrate Elena’s widowhood. Drugs, alcohol, indiscriminate screwing, you name a vice and it is occurring. However there’s a final twist at the end that is very appropriate for this tale of murder and corruption.
RIMINI RIMINI (1987)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Sergio CorbuccI, Stars:Paolo Villaggio, Serena Grandi, Laura Antonelli, Elvire Audray, Sylva Koscina. THANK YOU SERGIO CORBUCCI FOR ALL THE NUDITY!!Serena has never been nudier!! The film is divided into episodes set on the beaches of Rimini. Gildo (Paolo Villaggio) is a moralistic magistrate who shuts down red light districts but his enemies conspire to photograph him in a compromising position with sex goddess Lola (Serena Grandi). Laura Antonelli plays a wealthy woman who believes her husband has drowned. A priest is forced to put his mouth on a topless nun as the battle of morality verses misbehavior unfolds. A shy girl is forced to fall in love with a hefty; a priest falls in love with a nun; and a poor employee is forced to do menial jobs to his master for not being fired.
THE UNLEASHED (1967)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director: Franco Indovina, Cast: Vittorio Gassman (Bob), Martha Hyer (Luisa), Gila Golan (Emma), Massimo Serrato (Agent), Carlo Bene (Priest), Jacques Herlin(Professor of Entymology), Claudio Gora (Prime Minister), Score: Luis Bacalov. Bob Chiaramonte is an actor well known for his face in commercial work.While filming a commercial for HAG coffee, his concentration is ruined when a dog chooses an inopportune time to piss on his leg. Upset, he heads to his trailer to eat an egg, when in walks a chicken who goes postal on him. Next a BULOVA watch commercial is filmed ( a hilarious parody of Spaghetti Westerns) when the ending can’t be filmed because Bob was thrown off a horse 8 times. He confesses to his long suffering girlfriend, Luisa, that he thinks the animal kingdom is out to get him. He shows up to film an outdoor segment for MONTANA MEATS when he noticed cows are being used. He refuses to continue unless they are removed, and after some negotiation, the director complies. However, a rogue bull shows up and it forces Bob and a shapely actress to hide inside the giant prop can. The bull attacks and down the hill goes the can, with Bob and the actress inside. As the can rolls, the action causes the two inside to lose their clothing, stripping them down to their undies. As they roll into a river, they decide they might as well make out while waiting to be rescued. Now considered box office poison, Bob visits an eccentric zoologist to try and find out what is going on. The professor is no help (he gives Bob a copy of MEIN KAMPF to read) and so while wandering through a park, a pretty young blonde wants to know if he wants to watch a striptease. Of course he does so with a telescope aimed at the apartment of young ladies who do this for a living, Bob is all set. Just as it’s getting good, a fly shows up on the lens, obscuring the naughty bits. Freaking out he chases the fly across town causing him to slap a priest and accost a traffic cop. He finally traps the fly in a phone booth and empties a can of bug spray inside, inadvertently causing him to poison himself. Flies continue to bug him ( sorry about that), causing such chaos as trashing his apartment and even bringing about the overthrow of the local government! At wit’s end, he heads to the local zoo where he challenges a chimp to match wits with him. As he smugly convinces himself that he has the upper hand,
the tables are turned and he ends up in the cage and the ape goes free. He’s reduced to catching peanuts from a little kid who continually pelts him with nuts.
VIOLANTA (1977)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director:Daniel Schmid, Cast:Lucia Bose (Dona Violanta), Maria Schneider (Laura), Lou Castel (Silver), Ingrid Caven (Alma), Gerard Depardieu (Fortunat). Score:Peer Raben. Silver is returning to his ancestral home to attend his stepsister’s (whom he’s never met) wedding. He learns from nearby neighbors that his stepmother, Dona Violanta, is known as The Judge as she has ruled the valley with an iron hand to keep bloodshed to a minimum. Alma, Dona Violanta’s sister, admits to her she is slowly going insane and reveals that she poisoned her husband on her wedding night and was pregnant by another man who disappeared soon after the man’s death. Dona Violanta dismisses her confession claiming that it happened so long ago, no one cares anymore. Silver arrives and lets Dona Violanta know that he holds her responsible for causing his mother to go insane. Once Silver meets his stepsister, there is an instant attraction between the two. They leave together on horseback for a trip to a supposed haunted lake. While gone, Dona Violanta flashes back to a horrific event from her past. Her drunken lout of a brother loses a bet and allows a local scumbag to rape and marry her. Meanwhile, the brother kills her lover with a shotgun. A thunderstorm interrupts a passionate situation involving Silver and Laura. He heads for a cave where he meets the ghosts of the haunted pasts. First his mother tells her tale of her descent into insanity, Adrian, Dona Violanta’s young lover appears telling him about his murder, a younger version of Dona Violanta hands him a shotgun and tells him if he can shoot her, he can have Laura, Laura appears as a seducer, begging for his attention, crazy Alma admitting the murder of her husband and finally Simon, the dissolute Klaus Kinski clone who raped Dona Violanta and was ultimately the one who fathered Laura. They return home and Laura overhears her mother admit to Simon’s ghost that she poisoned him on their wedding night and even though she too drank the poison, she had also taken an antidote that allowed her to survive. The wedding takes place the next day between Laura and David, the local Dona Violanta handpicked to marry her daughter. However, there’s still one more poisoning that must take place.
VAMPIRISMUS (1982)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS
Director: Giulio Questi, Cast: Antonio Salines (Count Ippolito), Roberto Tesconi (Cipriano), Maria Grazia Marescalchi (Baroness Valobra), Francesca Archibugi (Aurelia).
Count Ippolito, a. confirmed bachelor, has just returned from one of his numerous trips to England. While gone, he has had his estate remodeled with hopes of adding a pagoda to the grounds. He is soon visited by the Baroness Volobra and her daughter Aurelia. The Baroness was previously involved in a criminal scandal, for which she was acquitted, but the stench has remained. Her visit was two fold. She claims she was a great admirer of the Count’s father, but her real reasons are much more devious. When a storm suddenly appears, the Count insists they stay, which plays right into the Baroness’ scheme. Count Ippolito has taken a liking for the virginal Aurelia, allowing the Baroness to live in comfort. Turns out the Baroness suffers from seizures and once this is witnessed by the Count, it appears they will be allowed to stay for an infinite amount of time. The Baroness reveals what a real pervert she was as she allowed her lovers to rape Aurelia at a young age and tells her daughter, even after she is dead, she will return from the grave to haunt her. No sooner than she makes this proclamation, then sure enough, she dies while walking the grounds. Aurelia freaks out and the Count instantly asks her to be his bride. The day of the wedding, as Aurelia is visiting her Mother’s grave, her veil is caught on a bush, but she faints, insisting it was her Mother’s hand. Aurelia slowly begins to waste away, refusing to eat any meat, becoming pale and listless. A visit from the doctor determines she is pregnant, causing the Count to now discount his worries about her health. However, when the butler reveals that Aurelia has been seen in the local graveyard with a bunch of women from the village, he soon relaizes she has been drugging his tea at night. The next evening he pours out the drugged liquid so as he can follow her nocturnal journey. What he discovers shocks him to the core resulting in her death and him a raving madman.
This TV movie was part of a series, IL FASCINO DELL’INSOLITO, that lasted three years and had 14 episodes. It included works by Ray Bradbury, H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James. This story was based on a story by E.T.A Hoffmann. Director Questi supressed his wild chaotic directorial hand here to allow for a slow buildup to a shocking conclusion, which works all the better for that approach. In fact, the only nod to his past occurs at the wedding ceremony where he has composer Fiorenzo Rizzone ape the violin track that was used in ARCANA. The acting here is flawless, purposely on the low end of the histronic scale, until as we near the end, things get ramped up. Antonio Salines and Francesca Archibugi are near perfect in their roles. Interestingly, Archibugi went onto to a very prolific career as a writer/director. Maria Grazia Marescalchi as the twisted Baroness, looks very much like Alida Valli in Bava’s LISA AND THE DEVIL, as does this production as well. For some this will be too slow and not worth the 71 minutes to finish, however, for those who have the patience and love of classic horror literature, this should be right up your alley.
THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR (1984)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director:Paolo Quaregna, Stars: Stefania Sandrelli, Marzio Honorato, Dina D'Isa. Fabio and Manuela know each other about the picturesque carnival of Ivrea, famous with its battle of orange and start an intense erotic relationship. The meeting leads to three days of senseless and unbridled love, of discoveries and confessions: the two perfectly know that they will leave and this leads them to the search for the most complete transgression. But even the battle with oranges has a limit: Fabio and Manuela will leave the city to return to their lives, aware of a new wealth of experience gained. OH YEAH, SANDRELLI IS NUDE…A LOT!
EMANUELLE AND JOANNA (1979)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director: Franco Rossetti (as Fred Gardner), Stars: Sherry Buchanan, Paola Montenero, Marina Hedman . An unhappy housewife desperately seeks to free herself from the brutal sexual excesses forced upon her by her husband. She attempts to find solice in an affair with a younger man, but is abused by him as well. In desperation she turns to her sister Giovanna (Joanna), who runs a brothel, specializing in sado-masochistic games. With Giovanna's help, our heroine plots her revenge upon the men who have mistreated her with a display of sexual excess.
EMILY THE PERVERT (1974)-IN GREEK WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Directed by: Pavlos Parashakis, Stars: Gisela Dali, Dimitri Aronis, Lyn Fotopoulou. Emily, a young and relatively well-to-do woman, leads a rather schizophrenic existence. Every day, she gives piano lessons to the children at an orphanage, while at night she brings home a series of lovers whom she picks up at random and whom she kills while in a sexual frenzy. The film explains her behavior as the result of a traumatic childhood event when she witnessed her mother being murdered by Paris, the man whom her mother abused and humiliated. Nikos, a criminal hunted by the police, who goes into her house one night to hide a package of money, discovers her secret. The money is destined for “Mother”, the mother of his girlfriend Kaiti, who assigns the hit-man Iosif to kill Nikos. The police suspect Emily, but she tries to make Nikos appear the real murderer of her victims. The latter visits her to get his money and, miraculously, Emily is cured of her murderous mania in his arms.
GANGSTER FILM (1974)-IN SWEDISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Lars G. Thelestam, Cast: Clu Gulagher! Lou Castel, Per Oscarsson. Swedish cult classic where an American gangster (Clu Gulager) arrives in a small town in the south of Sweden. He establishes himself as a kind of politician/preacher, promising great changes in the community. Only a few people suspect that his intentions are evil.
ATTACK AND RETREAT (1964)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, HD UNCUT 149 MINUTE VERSION! For an Italian war movie of 1964 the production value is immense and the sheer volume of actors is staggering. I don't agree with the general sense of "Italiani brava gente", roughly translated to "Italians are good people". It was and still is a sentence used as a reference to cover the atrocities of ww2 committed by my connationals. It is true that we had a hand in the military dictatorship, the race laws and most definitely the injustices done to Russians, Africans etc. and the Italian soldier being the bearer of goodwill and sympathy is a myth, a well constructed one
BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (1960)-JUST RELEASED ON BLURAY IN A BUTCHERED US VERSION. THIS IS A LETTERBOXED UNCUT 93 MINUTE CUT.-Has 9 minutes of extra footage! Directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Claude Rains and Umberto Orsini. A stray planet on a collision course with Earth instead takes orbit around our blue marble. What seems like a dead planet suddenly launches a fleet of flying saucers which attack our space fleets. It is not a typical space battle type picture so this should not be expected. As a matter of fact this movie shows a much more realistic viewing of what space travel will be like when it finally becomes common place. For example the rockets are propelled by some type of gas, and permission has to be given from mission control before engines are started, and rocket courses and accelerations have to take into account things like planet gravity and possible g forces on the crew.
BLACK SUN (1960)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Denys de La Patellière Cast: Michèle Mercier, Daniel Gélin, David O'Brien, Valentina Cortese. A young Gallic heiress Christine is looking for her long-lost brother in Algeria. She’s not looking for danger, but that’s what comes in her way from every nook and cranny.
A COLD FISH (1984)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. DIRECTOR: Paul Vecchiali, This tale takes place in the 50's Paris, the underworld of the prostitutes and their "protectors", gangs who fight each other. A real war, violent, brutal, from where absolutely no one will survive. A heart gripping story, dark, sad, but never nasty. The picture allows a sort of poetry in the way of filming. The final two minutes are unforgettable. Harrowing.
CORBARI (1970)-LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director:Valentino Orsini. Stars:Giuliano Gemma, Tina Aumont, Frank Wolff, Antonio Piovanelli. The real story of the partisan Silvio Corbari. He starts his career killing publicly one of his friends that was a fascist. Than, he set up a band of partisans in north Italy, completely independent from the Italian organized resistance (CLN). Ines, leave his husband to join the band and became Silvio's lover. Silvio Corbari succeeded also to set up a free-zone, his personal republic, independent from the Nazi occupied Italy, in a little village called Tregnano. But the opponent Nazi-Fascist army is too much for any kind of resistance, especially if not included in the organized CNL. All his partisan friends are captured and sentenced to death, Ines, close to be captured, suicides. Corbari, even if survives to a first hanging, can't escape to a second one. After WWII he deserved a gold medal to the memory from the Italian Republic.
COURT MARTIAL (1973)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. DIRECTOR: Roberto Mauri, Cast: Vassili Kharis, Craig Hill. When an army lieutenant is sent on a secret mission and his contact is shot and killed, he is charged with the crime and court-martialed. He learns he was set up and escapes to prove his innocence. Patched together from previous Mauri productions (...e lo chiamarono Spirito Santo and Bada alla tua pelle Spirito Santo!, with the addition of about ten new sequences) and given a limited Italian release. Mauri used the same unethical practice of Demofilo Fidani and Gianni Crea of patching together unused footage from other productions and not paying the actors.
HOT ORGASM (1981)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Beautiful female journalist Mary Simpson (Raquel Evans) travels to North Africa for a story. But, while visiting a nightclub disco, she is suddenly captured by a sex-mad sheik who wants to add Mary to his harem. A disillusioned bar owner named Rick tries to save her. Director Enrique Guevara (sometimes working under the pseudonym Paul Benson) was an actor who took over the director's chair in 1978 with the advent of Category S films in Spain, retiring after 10 movies in 1982. His leading actress here is his younger sister, Raquel Evans. She was a rather prolific genre actress, starring in 30 films between 1978-1997.
HOT PANTIES (1980)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT.Most people will look at the following film as nothing more than a typical S classification film from Spain in the early eighties. What they don’t realize is that it features characters who question their own existence in the universe, a science fiction premise of a fully automated robot controlled villa, violence in THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT vein, a dream within a dream within a dream plot, the main character vanishing in the blink of an eye, and oh yeah, A LOT NUDITY AND SEXUAL SITUATIONS!
THE LOVEMAKERS (1961)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Mauro Bolognini. Cast: Claudia Cardinale and Jean-Paul Belmondo. The original Italian is La Viaccia (the name of the family farm which motivates the plot). The death of a wealthy patriarch in 1885 sets off an interfamily power struggle. Son Ferdinando buys out his other relatives in order to gain full control over the dead man's property. But Ferdinando's country-bumpkin nephew Amerigo holds out. Amerigo's stance is weakened when he heads for the city and meets prostitute Bianca. To support her in the manner in which she is accustomed, Amerigo steals from his uncle. Disgraced in the eyes of his family, Amerigo decides to stay near his beloved Bianca by becoming a bouncer in her brothel.
MAIGRET SETS A TRAP (1994)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Director: Juraz Herz. Four serial murders in the Marais district of Paris. Maigret sets a trap. Pretending to have arrested the assassin, he sends trained plainclothes policewomen out at night as bait. Maigret hopes that the killer's pride will force him to act. Very glad to see both Maigret series directed by Juraj Herz in 1996. The director is famous for his surreal, psychedelic, necro movies. He is awesome in every work he presents. Horrors, comedies, war films, sci fi, mystery, fairytale- everything is outstanding in our opinion. These very moody and music like detective-stories with great actors and very close to the book visionary.
NIGHT OF THE BEASTS (1990)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna, Starring: Olivia Collins, Hugo Stiglitz, Agustín Bernal, Jacaranda Alfaro. A wealthy girl Olivia Collins wants to divorce her husband Hugo Stiglitz and both go to the haunted mansion of her father to seek for the father's testament. When Olivia arrives strange things start to happen there... Eerie atmosphere, interesting plot twists, bad acting, sexy women, boobs, blood, funny costumes of monsters, excellent electronic and guitar soundtrack and a lot of weirdness. Superb cocktail for true aficionados of 'bad' cinema!!!
THE PARALLEL CORPSE (1982)-IN DUTCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Hans Thomsen is a man from the lowest end of society. A looser. He works for little money at the local crematory, running the furnace. Spends his time drinking with like-minded people at local bars. He never lets down an opportunity to score some extra bucks from shady business, like pillaging the corpses he processes every day, or reselling coffins on the black market. Allan Berg is from the opposite world. He is a winner. High class, powerful, a successful businessman, a man of stature. He's a predator, might even be a psychopath. Women are in line for his sexual charm. Has married the widow of another businessman. She took over the business from her late husband, and now Allan Berg has wormed his way into a marrige, a high position at the wife's company, and he has also won the sexy stepdaughter. I like to think he probably killed the first husband to get to where he is now, who knows. Berg and Thomsen lives in worlds apart. What they have in common is that they'll take what they desire, no matter the cost. Usually a man like Berg would never meet a man like Thomsen, at least not alive. But their paths involuntarily crosses, when Berg has a 'by-product' of one of his misdeeds that he needs to get rid off discretetly. Thomsen sees an opportunity to make money on Berg by blackmailing him. The film then follows the game of the two men outsmarting each other. At the same time the police is investigating a missing person case, and the wife is not without resources, when she starts to suspect something is wrong.
STARS IN THE DITCH (1978)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Pupi Avati, Stars: Lino Capolicchio, Gianni Cavina, Carlo Delle Piane. A father and his four sons during the 18th century have their lives thrown into turmoil with the arrival of a woman at their villa. She quickly takes on multiple roles of sister, mother, confidant and lover to all, plunging the men into confusion and leading to an almost mythic ending.
IL TORCINASO (1975)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. Starring George Ardisson as a Police Chief, Dagmar Lassander in the role of the gang boss and Alice Arno as a member of the criminal organization. This action/crime with traces of comedy was directed by Giancarlo Romitelli, under the pseudonym John Hencken. The story revolves around a criminal gang operating in Athens. The theft of Greek antiquities, blackmail and double-crosses are at the center of the plot. Using a fashion models agency as a cover, the smugglers aim at getting possession of valuable material kept in the National Museum. The title refers to a nose twitch for horses, used in the movie as a torture device.
WEB OF VIOLENCE (1966)-RARE ENGLISH DUB LETTERBOXED PRINT. Walter, a journalist who recently lost his job, is feeling a bit down, and gets even more depressed when his fiancée, Lisa, vanishes. She had recently taken up with a friend of theirs, a rich older doctor. As Walter (Brett Halsey) peels away each layer of the disappearance, he digs deeper and deeper into a world of crime and corruption and he gets into more and more trouble. Halsey, American star of Return of the Fly, Girl in Lovers Lane, and Return to Peyton Place, went to Europe in 1963 where he made quite a success and worked steadily, appearing in some classic westerns, spy films, costume dramas, and giallos. Films such as MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURER (where he plays Benvenuto Cellini), ESPIONAGE IN LISBON, TODAY IT'S ME TOMORROW YOU, and PERVERSION STORY are classics to me. Director Nick Nostro (familiar to me for his "gladiator" films starring Dan Vadis) keeps the action moving fast, yet manages to focus on Walter's state of mind also. Although the film is not wall-to-wall fights, some of them are quite over the top and show Nostro's roots in the peplum genre. In one scene where Halsey is in a car chase a suspicious character, another car cuts in front of him to stop him. Halsey gets out of the car to get into a fight with the crooks following him, and one of them belts him so hard he flies across the hood of the car! Margaret Lee is also present as a friend, Christina, who has always had feelings for Halsey but never put the move on him because of his engagement to Lisa. What is her motivation? Watch the film and see. As Italian crime-mysteries circa 1966 go, this one is quite good. With a strong leading man such as Halsey, a mystery angle that keeps the viewer guessing, and lots of action, WEB OF VIOLENCE is definitely worth watching.
WHEN THE PEASANTS PASS (1965)-IN FRENCH WITH ENLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Quand passent les faisans is a scintillating French comedy that deserves to be ranked alongside similar crime parodies Le Monocle noir (1961), Les Tontons flingueurs (1963) and Les Barbouzes (1964), particularly as it features two of the stars of these classics, Paul Meurisse and Bernard Blier. The film is directed with flair by a young Edouard Molinaro, the future director of such spirited comedies as L'Emmerdeur (1973) and La Cage aux folles (1978), and scripted by screenwriting legend Michel Audiard, whose penchant for wit enlivened many a French comedy in the 1960s and 70s. As ever, the incomparable Meurisse and Blier give great value as their familiar comedy personae, the former cool and elegant, the latter a wide-eyed paranoiac who looks as though he is about to explode at any moment. Jean Lefebvre and Michel Serrault complete the comedy quartet to perfection, whilst Yvonne Clech, Claire Maurier and the ubiquitous Robert Dalban provide some sterling support as back-up artistes. Although somewhat less well-known than Les Tontons flingueurs, Quand passent les faisans is just as enjoyably madcap and offers as many laughs, thanks to a gag-encrusted script, Molinaro's breezy directorial style and the unique talents of some great comedy performers. Crime may not pay, but it can be excruciatingly funny when it is played for laughs.
OPERATION LOTUS FLOWER (1967)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Not monitored by the Red Guards, Professor Chou Yen was flying to the United States to warn the UN that China is in possession of nuclear weapons and intends to use it to play a leading role in international arena now dominated by Russians and Americans . Survived the attack scored against the plane on which he traveled, the scientist is likely to fall into the hands of his captors, but manages to confuse his trail with the help of the secret agent OSS 77 that puts him safely on board a submarine off the Italian coast. The mission of Fu Chou Yen now seems destined to a happy conclusion, but China has decided to accelerate and, in the bewilderment of world public opinion, detonates its first nuclear bomb. Stars Robert Kent (Sandro Moretti) , Dominique Boschero, Yoko Tani, Gaia Germani.
