Dario Argento has been labeled as the father that gave birth to the genre Italian giallo. His first film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage not only defined the term giallo, but really landed the genre directly into the heart of Italy rather than have been set abroad. Argento’s screenplay and his colorful directive techniques sets the mood that not only struck gold with Italian and American markets, but opened his door for more murder mystery entries.
An American writer witnesses an attempted murder of a young woman in a Rome art gallery. As he tries to intervene to save the young woman’s life, he involves himself and his glamourous girlfriend in a murderous world. Trapped in the sights of a killer and with each murder hitting closer and closer to him, the mystery starts to unravel to whom the killer might be while he digs deeper into the motives and slayings.
The Arrow Films Blu-ray release doesn’t quite compare to the Blue Underground Blu-ray version. Basically, both image qualities of each release are the same with the Arrow Films release having a bit more saturation in its 1080p image, making it not as brightly hued. Also, the image is somewhat cropped from the 2:1 ratio.
Continue reading ‘The Bird With the Crystal Plumage Blu-ray Review’
Putting trust in the seasoned hands of experienced film directors and screenplay writers to successfully, and sometimes miraculously, produce a film that will shock, awe and make a shit ton of money is as easy as throwing a coin into a fountain, but putting trust into unknown directors and even unknown writers on one, solitary project is risky business and usually by the end’s ordeal, you’ll willing want to struggle to throw those amateur auteurs into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Glendale Production Company did what I just had laid out as they brought in long time camera operator and cinematographer (Teenage Tramp and Hell House Girls) Peter Newbrook to direct and the Beers – no, not the kind you get shitfaced to – but screenwriters Christina and Laurence Beers to tackle an intriguing, yet outdated, science fiction horror film of the early 70′s – The Asphyx! What could have been a tremendous successful film with a tale of originality turned to a more darker path of being second-rate substance with a cheesiness that no snubbed nose rat could refuse. Not all is lost as The Asphyx holds tight to that originality and can suck you right in with patented storyline.
Published by Greg September 22nd, 2008
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
Following the success of Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left, film makers jumped on the bandwagon and tried their hand at filming the sadistic and violent sexual abuse of women. Americans released the mean-spirited I Spit on Your Grave and those sleazy Italians got involved with classics like Night Train Murders and Thriller: A Cruel Picture (aka They Call Her One-Eye). While some enjoyed varying degrees of success, others were forgotten shortly after their release only to be resurrected 30 years later on Region 1 DVD by Severin Films.
Published by Greg September 1st, 2008
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
Criminal psychologist, Dr. Herbert Lyutak is a violent sexual deviant who has been killing young women and is now under suspicion by the authorities. His gorgeous wife begins to also suspect something when she finds a bloody dress in his hiding spot in their home. Herbert is tortured by his “illness” so much so that it has rendered him impotent. But his wife loves him so much that she wants only for him to “love her” and do with her whatever he wants (including playing rough). But he will not let himself harm the woman he loves. In fact, he wants to divorce her to keep her safe but she will not allow it. She begs him to stay and act out his aggressions on her.
A truck load of military criminals during WWII are being hauled off to their Court Marshall when the convoy is attacked by the Nazis. Most of the lot are killed but five escape and quickly make a tenuous pact to help get each other safely to the Swiss border. Along the way they have to fight their way through German roadblocks, dodge air attacks and basically blow shit up. During one of the shootouts with the Germans, the “Filthy Five”, as I have dubbed them, team up (again tenuously) with a Nazi soldier who has deserted his troops.
During his wedding to the village leader’s daughter, Kohar’s wife-to-be starts to hallucinate that he is a corpse and that snakes are all around her. Kohar decides that this is the work of black magic and his ex, Murni, must be the culprit. He gathers a mob to hunt her down and kill her for practicing the dark art and for bringing demons to the village. They find her and throw her off of a cliff but unknown to them she is caught (in mid-air) by a witch doctor who is actually the one cursing the town.
A defrocked priest (a completely creepy Jess Franco) is kicked out of the church for being too “harsh” and sent to a mental institution. Shortly after his release, he starts work for a sex magazine writing articles about sadistic sex which he claims to be true stories from his real life. He learns that his co-worker Anna (Lina Romay) stages sexy fake torture and black mass shows with her sexy friend Martine and others for the depraved rich upper-crust.
Oh, boy… if you are a fan of the smutty movies I review you are in for a treat with Schoolgirl Report. I haven’t seen the others in the series (I will remedy that soon) but if they are anything like this one, every exploitation fan should own them. The “teenage” sex, nudity, kink, depravity and perversion shown in this psuedo-documentary is astounding. No, it’s not “hardcore” porn. There is no penetration.
While not really a horror film Greg Baty’s review of Joe D’Amato’s Nunsploitation flick “Images In a Convent” was just too good for me to pass up!
Soon a after a young woman named Isabella is forced to stay in a convent, weird and evil things begin to happen there. She rebels against the sisters by acting out sexually and starts planning her escape. Then, a man is found injured in the courtyard and is taken in by the sisterhood. He turns out to have plans of his own to defile each and every virgin in the church. An evil spirit tormenting and tempting all of the nuns with sexual desire shows up around the time the man was found. Could he be the human incarnation of the demon? Isabella plans on using the man to help her with her escape, but can she trust him?
Published by Greg February 27th, 2008
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
One day after dropping her new husband Francesco off at the airport, Virginia is overcome by visions of a murder while driving. The vision is of an old woman being buried in a wall of a home after she is killed. She doesn’t think much of it until the arrives at her husband’s villa which she plans to redecorate as a surprise while he is gone. When she arrives and looks around she begins to see objects in one of the rooms that was in her vision.
Published by Greg February 8th, 2008
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
Three girls break down out in the middle of the desert on their way to Las Vegas for a gig at a casino. They are rescued by Andre who takes them back to his house to call for help. When they arrive the girls get curious after they see a cougar locked up in a cage next to a huge barn. So they go into the barn and see other girls chained to posts and desperate for help themselves. Andre finds the girls snooping and chains them up in the barn as well.
Published by Greg January 27th, 2008
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
Harry Reems plays a no-named Vietnam Vet/rapist/serial killer with PTSD and suffers from flashbacks. Along with that comes his need to make up enemies and kill them as a way to deal with the pain. So, he uses his job at the local gas station to get girls’ addresses. Once he gets their info it’s on to the stalking, raping and finally the slashing. He uses the old “We don’t take cash here, I need a credit card along with your address for verification” bit… amateur.
Published by Greg December 4th, 2007
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
Poor Frigga (Lindberg). A little girl raped in the park by an old, dirty homeless man. Now mute due to the awful attack, she’s a teenager being raised on a farm by her over-protective but very loving parents. One day while trying to catch the bus on her way to the psychologist, she is picked up by Tony (Hopf) who gives her a ride. But instead of taking her to the doctor, he has other more disgusting things in mind for naive little Frigga.
Published by Greg November 20th, 2007
in MOVIE REVIEWS (ALL) and Movie Reviews 70's.
Deep in the heart of Africa, Bishop Williams (Blacula’s William Marshall) unearths an ancient artifact that contains the African god of sexuality, trickery, and chaos called Eshu. He unknowingly opens it and releases the demon inside and it kills his men and runs away
Many films of the seventies attempted to blend different movie categories together in an effort to buck the Hollywood standard of what genre films had become. Brilliant cinematic achievements such as “Harold and Maude” and “The Wicker Man” redefined what audiences could expect from comedies and horror flicks. But some films seem to exist simply to defy the mere idea of categorization. How else could one describe the awesome spectacle that is “The Manitou”?
