Ironmaster

Ironmaster
Original Title: La Guerra del ferro - Ironmaster
Directed by: Umberto Lenzi
Italy/France, 1983
Action/Adventure, 93min
Distributed by: NjutaFilms

After shocking his audiences with gut-munching cannibals, freaky zombies chomping down on disco dancers, hardened cynical criminals blasting their way through coppers and surreal violent Gialli, Umberto Lenzi shifts focus, if only slightly, to cavemen, ape men and the odd mutant, bringing all those traits of his – especially the head bludgeoning that leaves a gaping bleeding scalp visible - to the dawn of time.

A small tribe of cavemen stand on the brink of a change as its time for tribe head Iksay [Benito Stefanelli] to pass on the prestigious position of leader to one of the younger hunters. Vood [George Eastman] and Ela [Sam Pesco] are the two main contenders, but where Vood may be the logic choice, Iksay is thinking of letting Ela take command. The two young and buff warriors antagonise each other until Vood takes matter into his own hands. During an attack of a rival tribe he smashes in the head of tribe leader Iksay, which is witnessed by Ela.

Ela spills the beans and a fight takes place that results in Vood being expelled from the tribe. The tribe declare Ela their new leader, and that outcast Vood be hunted like an animal, but soon the hunted will become the hunter!

After a freakish volcano eruption and heavy thunderstorm, where some really neat special effects and awesome matte paintings are part of the mix, Vood discovers a slab of iron in the shape of a naively drawn sword and after defeating a lion that attacks him, he realises he holds a new weapon of power in his hands. Wearing the Lions carcass as a totemic headpiece and with the lush Lith [Pamela Prati] Vood attacks his former tribe and convinces them to expel Ela who is forced out into the wild. There he faces a trial of endurance that has him fighting vicious ape men, raging herds of Bison and meeting Isa [Elivire Audray – from Mario Gariazzo’s Sciave bianche: violenza Amazzonia (Amazonia – The Catherine Miles Story) 1985] who becomes his “matter of affection” and it’s quit obvious that Ela/Isa are opposing counterparts to Vood and Lith.

With the knowledge of crafting iron into swords Vood and his cohorts attack and slay a nearby village which stand defenceless against the hard, cold iron of Vood’s weapons. With his new power, Vood is determined to exterminate all other tribes, rule the land and hopefully kill off Ela along the way. Isa takes Ela to hide out in her village – the Mogo tribe - and start to make a new life. The only problem is that they are a peaceful tribe and consider weapons to be evil hence no weapons in their village, which is an obvious problem when Vood learns that Ela lives amongst the Mogo tribe. The stage has been set for the rapidly approaching climax and I know whom I’m rooting for.

Ironmaster is a goddamned wonderful flick, and even though Lenzi, under the hilarious pseudonym Humphrey Milestone, set’s his tale in prehistoric times there’s still a sequence in the middle of the movie that has Ela fighting off infected scarred beasts in what they hope can be their new home – a cave in the mountains – which is very much reminiscent of previous Lenzi moments, this time it’s almost like a cavemen fighting zombies sequence which is awesome. A slow build, establish the threat and then attack. It’s a great moment, which simply oozes classic Italian cinema.

All in all, The Ironmaster is a pretty straightforward caveman/barbarian action flick, but there’s also a tale of morale in there – especially in dialogue like the one where Mogo [William Berger] points out to Ela that weapons may give him freedom, but one day may take it back again. Mogo wanders out into the woods turning his back on the tribe who want to take to arms, and obviously he falls victim to Vood’s men only moments later.

Following the final battle, Mogo's statement comes back to haunt them as the cavemen experience their first encounter with remorse as the words of Mogo finally make sense to them. They are now slaves to weapons, and will never be free again... You could also look at the movie as a metaphor for how new technology and inventions often are used for warfare and destruction, or you could just look at the movie as ninety minutes of great prehistoric conflict and just go along for the ride!

I love the subplot with Isa who quite possibly is the most evil of all the characters as she manipulates her way through each encounter with Vood or Ela and treats the audience to more than one spontaneous nipslip as she runs around in the skimpiest of all loincloths, and unfortunately is killed off way to easy and fast. I’d have loved to see Lith and Isa wrestle it out as an appetiser to the final battle between Ela and Vood.

Eastman gives a fantastic performance as Vood, there’s no understatement that he was doing his finest work at this time period, and he owns this movie completely. If I had one of those tiger headpieces that he wears here, I’d wear it all the time. There’s an interesting approach to character here. Early on the medicine man states that Vood is the natural first in line to take over, which says something about his characters status – he’s most likely the son of Iksay, tribe leader. During the boar hunt, despite Vood having the boar in his sights and his spear raised for the kill, Iksay “steals” the kill from under his nose. Aggravated Vood rams his spear into the ground. When he learns of the pending threat that Ela may take over, he takes things into his own hands, he off’s his father and tries to force a shift in leadership. But the tribe cast him out and Ela takes charge, although after discovering power in arms the tribe chose to follow Vood instead, but his reign isn’t going to be long as his quest for Ela drives him into his untimely death. In more than one way there’s a Shakespearean quality to the story of the neglected, disgruntled Vood and how power turns against him bringing with it his own downfall. Vood - a fascinating character and undoubtedly one of Eastman’s finest hours.

Eugenio Alabiso sticks with Lenzi on yet another movie but this time the pacing is slower and the cut’s more meditative. There’s no fast transitions and rapid cuts, and in some ways’ it’s a fitting end to a collaboration that lasted on more than twenty movies movies, from Attentato ait re grandi (Desert Commandos) 1967 to I cinque del Condor (Thunder Squad) 1985, curiously both war movies dealing with mercenaries!

Dardano Sacchetti’s participation on the team of writers is noteworthy but never the less hard to spot any of his traits as there where at least six other writers on the team, Lenzi and Luciano Martino amongst them.

The movie really looks great, apart from the location shots in Custer State Park, Usa, where the buffalo roam and give sense of authenticity to the flick; there are the splendid Special effects by Paolo Ricci and visual effects by Emilio Ruiz del Rio. Ricci, nowhere near as known as counterparts like Gino De Rossi, Gianetto De Rossi or Carlo Rambaldi did work on a lot of gore laden and freaky movies, Deodato’s Ultimo mondo cannibale (Last Cannibal World) 1977 Lenzi’s Mangiati vivi! (Eaten Alive) 1980, Lucio Fulci’s Gatto Nero (Black Cat) 1980, and Lamberto Bava’s Blastfighter 1984, and in-between them he worked on Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia 1983. Spaniard, del Rio’s work can be seen in stuff spanning from the old Mario Bonnard, Steve Reeves Gli ultimo giorno di Pompei (The Last days of Pompei) 1959 to Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth 2006. Just a few years ago there was a documentary made on the work of Emilio Ruiz de Rio and of the ten Goya awards for special effects he’s been nominated for he’s won three. His models, miniatures and mattes work like perfection for Lenzi in The Ironmaster

Maurizio & Guido De Angelis score is fitting, there’s a chanty sit-down-by-the-firey quality to it that works for the movie, and on repeated viewings that tune may very well stick in your head.

Ironmaster is an enjoyable prehistory action flick, with an engaging story and a great movie to waste a hung-over Sunday on. Ironmaster is due for Scandinavian release in mid February, and it’s presented in a glorious widescreen print that will blow you away!

Image:

Widescreen

Audio:

Dolby Digital 2.0

Extras:

Trailers for other NjutaFilm movies, and it’s an odd selection, because I’d definitely had put more Italian related flicks on there instead of the series of US soft-core sexploitation junk.

Alien 2 - On Earth

ALIEN 2 – On Earth
Original Title: Alien 2 – Sulla terra
Directed by: Ciro Ippolito
Italy, 1980
Horror/Sci-fi, 85min
Distributed by: Midnight Legacy

Finally, one of the most anticipated releases of 2010 hit’s the machine. If there ever was a movie that I wanted to be see again, it certainly was Ciro Ippolito’s Alien 2 Sulla Terra (Alien 2 – On Earth) a movie that I still remember the exact moment I first spotted the cover art for in an old VHS rental catalogue in the early eighties. Which for some odd reason used the scene with the police car at the end on it's original packaging... it was obviously changed for a more grizzly design with a severed head later.

Thelma Joyce [Belinda Mayne] is part of a team of spelunkers who go up to an unexplored cave system as part of a weekend expedition. At the same time a space shuttle is on it’s way back to earth after failing its mission. Unknown to mankind at the time, the shuttle has brought with it a strange parasite, which has taken on the form of blue crystal like rock. After breaking down on live television, due to something of a mental disorder making Thelma see monsters, her boyfriend Roy [Mark Bodin] comforts her and takes her to the bowling alley where the rest of the gang are waiting for them. Burt [Michele Soavi], part of the team, sees one of the odd looking rocks and sticks it in his pack. But when they get into the caves, the rock starts pulsating, and pretty soon it turns out that the rock is in fact an alien egg. Trapped deep beneath the earth, the speleologists have to find a way out of the dark damp underworld and this time the monsters are not in Thelma’s mind!

Alien 2 – On Earth is often called a shameless Alien rip off, boring, and [insert your own damned amateur film critic slur for how bad the movie is here]. But let it be known that when you get into watching European low budget cinema, the first thing you learn is that these movies play by an entire different set of rules. There’s no place for customary beats and logic narrative, as these movies have to move fast and punch hard to keep the audiences from getting ahead of the films. Plot holes, illogical moments and spiteful deception are all part of the game. That’s why you only will find true moments of outlandish atmosphere, profound horror and mind-expanding surrealism in these pieces. Where else will you see a goddamned zombie fighting a shark underwater, where else will you see man-size rats in uniforms torch humans, where else will you see a oedipal dead kid biting off his mother’s tit… You get the point; it’s the stuff that draws the rest of us to these movies, and safely away from predicable movies that simply waste our time.

Directed by Ciro Ippolito, under the pseudonym Sam Cromwell, Alien 2 – On Earth is possibly as rare and unheard of as it’s creator. Ippolito and Alien 2 – On Earth are not the usual starting ground when watching Italian genre pieces, but rather something that you may be lucky to discover after some time when you have worked your way through the common starting points of Argento, Bava and Fulci. So who is he? Who is the man behind it all, Ciro Ippolito, and what is his place in the wonderful world of Italian Genre Cinema?

Born just after the Second World War - in 1947 -, the Nepalese Ippolito was part of cinema since childhood when he first appeared in a minor supporting role in Turi Vasile’s Classe di ferro (Class of Iron) 1957. Class of Iron was a comedic musical, later spawning quite a few sequels, but perhaps most note worthy for it’s script, partially written by a young Antonio Margheriti. Already mesmerized by the magic of cinema so early on, it’s no surprise that whilst acting on his second movie, Roberto Rossellini’s Augustin d’Ippona 1972, Ippolito jumped at the chance to prove himself whilst assisting the assisting directors. Staying in the realm, taking small parts in diverse movies, amongst them Gianfranco Migozzi’s classic Flavia, la monaca musulmana (Flavia the Heretic) 1974, the next natural step was to get involved with writing too.

1978 saw Ippolito billed as one of the writers, and also gaining a producers credit on Alfonso Brescia’s Polizietti Napoli serenata calibro 9, together with Brescia and Piero Regnoli – remember, the guy who wrote Andrea Bianchi’s Le notti del terrore (The Nighs of Terror) and Lenzi’s Incubo sulla città contaminata (Nightmare City) 1980… Ippolito would co-write several other hardboiled Neapolitan Polizietti’s in the years to come, and finally he got the chance to helm a movie of his own; Alien 2 – Sulla Terra (Alien 2- On Earth). Ippolito continued making movies, either behind the camera or behind a desk as producer, and to this day has some thirty plus titles to his name, but Alien 2 – On Earth is the one we will remember him by when the man comes around.

Putting it into context, in 1979 Ridley Scott’s truckers in space slaughtered by unseen xenomorph success story Alien rocked the movie world. Obviously it inspired a whole heap of low budget followers that wanted to get a piece of the sci-fi horror scene. And everyone put their spin on it too, just like Luigi Cozzi’s Contamination, Alfonso Brescia’s La bestia nello spazio (The Beast in Space) and Ippolito’s Alien 2 – Sulla Terra (Alien 2 – On Earth) not to mention the zombie and post apocalypse movies that make up a huge part of the passion held for Italian genre cinema. As these too often refer to and use science fiction traits in their dark tales of a world gone to hell.

Now, Alien 2 – On Earth may not be the best movie inspired by a larger studio original, and it's in no way the worst either. But Alien 2 – On Earth works, it’s entertaining, and it is a magnificent movie that still has some really good moments of terror, suspense and shock. It’s also note worthy that the movie has moments reminiscent to John Carpenter’s seminal sci-fi horror The Thing 1982, and Neil Marshal’s The Descent 2005, even though it was made years before both of those flicks.

Like a lot of low budget Italian quickies, Alien 2 – On Earth gets a lot of shit tossed at it from impatient viewers looking for a quick fix of blood and guts. One constant remark being that it’s “painfully slow”. Now I can’t really agree, because even though there’s no initial attack to set a protagonist and twenty minutes pass before there is a first gore sequence, and at that a brief one, Alien 2 – On Earth doesn’t really move that slow at all. There are several reasons for claiming that. The first being that the first twenty minutes are spent setting up the ordinary world and the characters who live there. Sure it may be shallow, but establishing stuff is exactly what this early part of the movie does. It’s also where quite a lot of valuable information is planted. Thelma’s “inner visions” of monsters that are causing her great trouble – the same one’s that make her freeze on the TV interview at the start, the parallel story with the returning astronauts – see it’s a genesis story, they brought the alien with them, and smaller details like when the team walk into the bar and talk about the size of the unexplored cave system they have discovered. Small details, that come into play later in the movie. So please, stop with the bitching about nothing happening, start reading movies in a different way and be patient.

There’s a fair amount of little details in the script by Ippolito that amuse me, because I always appreciate a well written story – that doesn’t mean dialogue, I want my Italian genre movies to have corny dialogue, it’s also part of the form – but in the script there’s good stuff, such as the logic procession of things. Being speleologists, an area that combines several fields, geology amongst them, it’s really no surprise that Burt [Soavi] sticks the rock in his pack! He obviously wanted to check that rock out later, and where better to store it than his backpack. There’s also logic to why they simply just don’t leave the cave the way they came in. Because there’s the treat of the monster at the top of the decent they went into to rescue Jill. Instead they are forced deeper into the underworld as they search for an alternative way out, and the deeper they get, the tighter the suspense creeps in.

Then there’s that slow build that constantly get’s a hammering. But by skipping a classic initial attack and merely hinting at the dangers – such as the kid with her face smashed to a pulp – it allows the punch to be harder when the blood starts flowing. There’s nothing like unleashing a terrifying, unknown being into a dark cave where we all naturally would experience a certain level of claustrophobia. And even if it was budgetary restraints that inhibited Ippolito to fully expose and reveal the monster – despite that great tentacle attack on Cliff, and the really freaky p.o.v. from inside the beats mouth during the climax – it works in favour of the movie, because there’s no way in hell that they could have come up with anything that would have been as disturbing as H.R. Giger’s alien designs. So keeping it off screen and posing a threat in the off screen space works wonders for this little gem.

There’s also the inventive use of a subplot concerning the returning space shuttle and the astronauts. This is more or less the same kind of thing that George A. Romero did with Night of the Living Dead 1968, through the TV and radio he told of a genesis of the disease that made the dead get up and walk. It’s the same function that the space shuttle subplot has in Alien 2 – On Earth, but with some brilliant stock footage use to actually show us the events instead of just talking about it. In some cases stock footage is a gift to creative filmmakers, Ippolito uses stock footage to get the images that his budget wouldn’t allow him, and this is a great example of how you intercut that footage with your own to create a believable world. It adds dimension and gives a bigger-better-faster look when we actually see the space shuttle, the huge US Navy ships preparing to intercept the shuttle on it’s re-entry and all that stuff.

The ending is dark and haunting, and not too unlike the world in peril scenarios that the zombie and post apocalypse flicks used to climax with. The scenes of an abandoned San Diego are really effective and evocative. Cinematographer Silvio Fraschetti’s use of an early morning on location before the city comes to life to create an eerie atmosphere. But the location that really stands out and definitely makes the movie look a hell of a lot more expensive than it was is the caves. Shot on location at the Castellana Grotte in southern Italy, these almost a hundred million year old caves really make the movie. Just imagine what it would have looked like built on a set, without depth or perspective… instead Ippolito took his cast and crew 70 meters below sea level captured the whole the thing for real.

The cast is an odd mix, none of them are really big genre names, and most of them only have a single screen credit with Alien 2 – On Earth. But Belinda Mayne did work on several other movies and TV serials, Mark Bodin who plays her boyfriend Roy held a part in Joe D’Amato’s infamous Anthropophagus the same year and then there’s everyone’s favourite bit part actor turned director Michele Soavi. Someone really should put together a video of all his death scenes, because I can’t remember many movies where Soavi was still standing at the end of the show. And all good genre geeks know they are in good hands when Nick Alexander worked as the dubbing editor on the movie.

Finally, there’s the score. Amongst my favourite soundtracks, Guido and Maurizio De Angelis works are quite common. Their score to Alien 2 – On Earth, performed under the pseudonym The Oliver Onions, really is a good one. It has a wide range spanning from soft guitar ballads to the great electro funk and brooding horror sounds which suit the movie like a glove. It’s a treat that Alien 2 – On Earth was made just before the Italians started sticking pop and rock songs on the soundtrack, because those movies age as fast as the music in them did, whereas the splendid instrumental compositions still hold an eerie atmosphere and power to them.

To sum it all up then; Alien 2 – On Earth is a splendid little grim flick most likely inspired by Scott’s Alien, but definitely not a rip-off or an “Italian Sequel”. This is a very potent movie that stands sternly on it’s own two legs. Has a decent cast, uses some good themes, and packs a great soundtrack. Not to forget that this release looks amazing.

Midnight Legacy has undoubtedly carved themselves a great groove on the scene with the release of Alien 2 – On Earth. Everything about this release, from the contents to the final artwork and Chris Mantovi's original design is top notch. Skeptics be gone, hail the new king, and with a few more rare titles like this one under their belt it’s fair to say that Midnight Legacy will be giving the competition a run for their money, because even with just one title on the market, they are the most interesting company in the game right now. I know that I’ll be saving the cash that I was thinking of putting on BluRay’s of the holy trinity Fulci, Bava and Argento towards the future Midnight Legacy releases instead, because I’d rather watch stuff that I haven’t seen in ages than watching an upgrade.

The movie has never, and when I say never, I’m even talking about the few screenings the movie had when it played theatrically in 1980, looked better than it does on this BluRay limited edition. Taken from a 35mm negative, the colours are vibrant, the image is stunning, and being a complete novice at BluRay all I really can say is that the detail of image is outrageous. If this is the future then I’m glad that I finally found a movie that motivated me to upgrade all my home entertainment equipment. If you have a BluRay player, and if you are into Italian genre cinema, then this is a must have release. A splendid piece of genre cinema to put amongst the collection - because the spine is numbered, and this time around there's still time to come along from the start. I’ll leave you with that, as now I’m going to sit through Ciro Ippolito’s fascinating Alien 2 – On Earth on BluRay one more time as I await future titles to be announced from Midnight Legacy.

Image:

Widescreen 1.85:1 (1080p HD resolution)

Audio:

Dts-MA 2.0, English Dialogue

Extras:

There’s a Trailer and an eleven minute long special effect outtakes reel showing some alteration in some of the scenes. This material is in HD too so there’s no love lost with this disc at all.

Here's an awesome Australian trailer, which obviously doesn't reflect the quality of the Midnight Legacy release.

Screengrabs taken from Matt Paprocki on doblu.com Check out his detailed review which is more technically savy than this one is, and there's even a three part interview with part of the Midnight Legacy team about the disc, the passion and attention put into bringing Alien 2 - On Earth to BluRay for the first time.

The Raiders of Atlantis

The Raiders of Atlantis
Aka: Atlantis Interceptors
Original Title: I predatori di Atlantide
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Italy/Philippines, 1983
Action/Adventure, 93min

Weren’t the seventies and eighties just bloody great? Weren’t the B-movies of this time period so much better than they are now? These days cheap DV, crap dialogue and shitty acting all feel so damned rough, raw and most often lack the passion for making an imprint. Back in the eighties (and before then too of course) B-movies and even worse were at least shot on film. There was a larger machinery behind the process, which demanded more than just calling up your mates and shooting. B-movies where still all about telling the best story for the least bucks, and they did make some really great movies. But the best part of it all was that these cheap low budget flicks pretty quick ended up on video (some on the big screen if we where lucky) for the thirsty home entertainment crowds outside of the native countries, which constantly fuelled our cravings for cheap kicks; Hong Kong kung-fu movies, European and American horror, Giallo and exploitation movies, Italian Spaghetti Westerns and Bud Spencer - Terence Hill action comedies that we could watch with our mates in front of the gargantuan video tape recorder. And watch them we did, over and over again.

Following the Australian low budget surprise hit movie Mad Max 1979, directed by George Miller, Italian movie producers, screenwriters and directors went post apocalypse mad. Movies like Sergio Martino’s 2019: After the Fall of New York 1983, Joe D’Amato’s Texas Gladiators 2020 1982, and Endgame 1983, Enzo G. Castellari’s trillogy The Bronx Warriors 1982, The New Barbarians 1982, Escape from The Bronx 1983, Lamberto Bava’s Blastfighter 1984 and Lucio Fulci’s The New Gladiators 1984, to name a few, hit hard and milked the path of the impending doom, biker gangs in barren wasteland to the max, and in it creating the splendid Italian Post Apocalypse genre.

Ruggero Deodato also directed his take on this amusing little subgenre, and even through screenwriters Tito Carpi [one of the writers on Deodato’s Last Cannibal World (together with Deodato regular Gianfranco Clerici), Enzo G. Castellari’s The New Barbarians 1982 and Escape From the Bronx 1983] and Vincenzo Mannino [who wrote Deodato’s The House on the Edge of the Park 1980, Phantom of Death 1988), Castellari’s The Last Shark 1981, Lucio Fulci’s The New York Ripper 1982 and Murder Rock – Dancing Death 1984 together with Gianfranco Clerici too] took the task of setting yet another adventure in the bleak future, they did try something that differs it from the other urban city end of the world movies, they brought in one of mankind’s most cherished and fascinating myths, the legend of Atlantis.

Time for a quick fix if you haven’t seen this delight since the age of video: Shot in 1983, the movies is set in a near future - 1991, Miami, Florida - or rather a distant past watching it these days Mike [Christopher Connelly] is a old school action guy who comes across as a mix between Don Johnson in Miami Vice and Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones films, as he jump starts the movie with his compadre Washington [Tony King], as they rush through a rapid kidnap scenario. The dudes are paid and take off for a weekend of cruising the seas outside Miami. A helicopter blasts by them and tauntingly circles them before taking off for the horizon. We cut to an oilrig like location where Professor Peter Saunders [George Hilton] greets Doctor Cathy Rollins [Gloia Scola], and pretty quickly delivers the exposition needed. ON the bottom of the sea, a Russian atomic submarine lies abandoned, and the plan is to raise the sub, but during the preparation, they have found some strange ancient tablets that can only be encrypted by Dr. Rollins. Well a movie without conflicts is a boring movie, so as soon as they start their successful levitation of the Sub, the shit hit’s the fan and an electrical storm blacks out the entire coast. Up from the bottom of the ocean a glass encased island forces it’s way to the skies, creating such tidal waves that the oilrig topples over and crashes into the ocean. Luckily Mike and Washington are in the area and manage to save but a few survivors – James [Michele Soavi], Professor Saunders, Bill Cook [Ivan Rassimov] Frank [Giancarlo Pratoi] and Dr. Rollins and together they set of for shore, not the island which would have been the obvious choice, but for the safety of land.

At the same time that this strange aquatic phenomenon has been taking place out at sea, mysterious gangs have been roaming the streets, creating chaos and raising havoc amongst the population. Murder is their game, and the Atlantis Interceptors are their name. These gang members, led by Crystal Skull [Bruce Baron] and ancestors of Atlantis, are killing off the people of our world in their quest for the knowledge that will make the Atlantians the truthful rulers of the world once again… and after a few violent battles, the finally find the one they are looking for. Yeah, you may have guessed it, Dr. Rollins is the woman with the knowledge, and the Atlantians snatch her right from under Mike’s nose. Needless to say this is at approximately midpoint, dramatically speaking, movie wise we’re two thirds through. Mike persuades the rest of the gang that they have to go to Atlantis – the island that rose earlier – and take back Cathy. Hence starts the jungle adventure part of the movie, and also gives Deodato yet another opportunity to shoot in the Philippine jungle, which see’s most of the cast meeting their deaths in various battles against the Atlantis Interceptors. As all good things come to an end, so does even The Raiders of Atlantis, and after the the final bout between Crystal Skull and Mike, which you probably already can guess the outcome of, there's a spectacular and enigmatic meeting with Cathy, now hailed and worshiped as a god by the Atlantians as she’s cracked the code to their power. In the somewhat confusing climax, the survivors’ race towards freedom as Atlantis once again closes its glass casing and returns to the bottom of the ocean. Phew - what a rush. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

There are a few wonderful tricks in this movie, tricks that make it an enjoyable flick. The first being the way the sell Christopher Connelly’s character Mike. Just like those hard formulated James Bond movies, and the Indiana Jones flicks, The Raiders of Atlantis starts up with the culmination of the previous mission which shows Mike and his sidekick Washington breaking into a house, kidnapping some dude, punching and shooting their way back out. They deliver the kidnapped victim to the mobster who gave them the task, get paid and take off for new adventures. Just before they get to the rendezvous place, the mobsters’ henchmen deliver the following dialogue: “They made it!” – “They always do!”

This little action opening shows us that Mike and Wash’ are men of action, they don’t talk bollocks they get the job done. No task is too hard for the duo, and we also understand that they have been around the block a few times before. This is further indicated as they get closer to the rig later, and meet up with their fellow adventurers. They already know who Cross [Rassimov] is, and as they alter share a beer, and fly the helicopter they reference previous adventures. The reoccurring gag where Mike calls Washington “Wash”, instead of his new name as a reborn Muslim, Mohammed, also adds to the layers as their friendship obviously goes so far back that Washington has always, and will always be Wash.

And that’s pretty much what you take with you into the movie, as it sets up Mike and Walsh as the shit kicking action heroes that they are, and they do kick some shit in this wonderful, sometimes cheesy, but excellent action flick which manages to do the job and keep me entertained for the ninety-two minute duration of the film.

The stunt team – Rock Stuntman Team – frequently used in Italian movies, pull off some great bits here. Apart from the usual falling off bikes and high cliffs in the jungle of Atlantis (much like they fell off horses and rooftops in the Spaghetti Westerns), they also perform some amazing aerial stunts as they throw themselves out of a moving helicopter onto a moving buss containing our group of protagonists. Impressive stuff to say the least, and definitely one of the highpoints of the movie.

Needless to say the re-naming of the movie: The Raiders of Atlantis, is once again a cunning trick of the marketing department and the producers, and is only there in an attempt to cash in on the success of Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981, and the original title – I predatori di Atlantide translates as The Predators of Atlantis, is a more understandable title, as no one really raids Atlantis, but rather the Atlantians are the predators. And in some bizarre way the screenwriters have even managed to pack in a warning to mankind in the movie. After Atlantis has risen again, the Atlantians start killing mankind as they feel we have misused it. Gang leader Crystal Skull makes it quite clear when he declares his mission with the line of dialogue - ”You have violated our world, and therefore you must be punished. All of you will be executed!”

Directing under his pseudonym Roger Franklin, Deodato’s splendid The Raiders of Atlantis was edited by Vincent Thomas, or rather Vincenzo Tomassi – Fulci’s main man in the edit suite, there’s some pretty grand special effects by Gino De Rossi (decapitations, classic Deodato booby trap in the jungle, deadly darts and an arrow through the head), the mighty Nick Alexander supervised he English dialogue version (and provided the Dub for Rassimov’s Bill Cook) and there’s a real chunky score by Maurizio and Guido De Angelis under the cryptic name Oliver Onions. Great combinations that make it a highly enjoyable movie, and keep an eye out for Deodato in a cameo appearance on the oil rig during the first half.

Image:

Fullfram 4:3

Audio:

Stereo. English Dialogue, Swedish Subtitles

Extras:

Well it’s taken from an old Swedish rental tape, but theirs is actually a trailer for Fabrizio De Angelis’ Thunder 1983 after the movie.

Here's the great trailer, and if you pay attention, you'll even catch Deodato in there.

Keoma

Keoma
Directed by: Enzo G. Casterllari
Italy, 1976
Spaghetti Western, 97min
Distributed by NjutaFilms

Story:
When the civil war has ended Indian half-blood Keoma returns to his hometown only to find it under the suffering grip of the tyrannous Mr. Caldwell. To make things worse there’s a plague harrowing the inhabitants and no one is allowed to leave the isolated village unless they are dead or being taken to the mines where the sick are disposed of. Among Mr. Caldwell’s band of hoodlums are Keoma’s three stepbrothers, Butch, Sam and Lenny, who never accepted that their father William Shannon saved Keoma from death and raised him as his own son. Subsequent to rescuing Lisa who is pregnant but still being sent to the mines as her husband had the plague, Keoma makes it his mission to let Lisa give birth to her child and free the town. But freedom rarely comes without a price.

Me:
Like so many other Italian directors of the seventies/eighties, Enzo G. Castellari followed, started and perfected the trends and made the movies in demand. Keoma was his eight western and perhaps one of his finest, as it explores themes frequently used in the Italian Spaghetti Western; oppression, injustice, and the fight for freedom, but also uses a heavy dose of symbolism to make a statement about life and death. Shot in 1976 when the gritty Spaghetti Westerns where a fading kind, being replaced by more a comedic approach perfected by Enzo Barboni in the “Trinity” movies, often featuring Terence Hill [aka Mario Girotti] and Bud Spencer [aka Carlo Pedersoli] and post apocalyptic Sci-Fi adventures, Keoma is a great latter day entry into that magnificent genre that still stands strong against the tests of time.


Staying true to the traits of the Italian Spaghetti Westerns, it’s established from the start that Keoma is an unwanted guest in his home town, an outcast, a minority, in other words a traditional underdog, and we always root for the underdog. Not an underdog in the sense that he’s a weakling, because he is in fact the second fastest shot in the west out done only by his father, but more from a racial standing point. He’s an Indian, just below the recently freed slaves on the scale. After he is reunited with his father William [William Berger] they philosophize about the civil war that has just ended. In a somber comment Keoma's father points out that before the war the white man had a guilty conscious for slaughtering the native Indians, so they went to war to free the Negro slaves. Now that the Negro's have their freedom they have gone back to butchering the Indians. A sublime commentary on mankind and in many ways still true today where world leaders take to war in foreign countries to shift the focus of their poor jobs in office. Also there's an important indicator that even won battles can be failures. AS Keoma spends his first night in the town, he stumbles upon his old friend George [Woody Strode] who was the family caretaker when they where young, as seen in several flashbacks. George, once a slave, has now been given his freedom after the civil war, but has become an drunk instead. "I found out what freedom was worth. That's why I drink.". he replies when Keoma points out that the war is over he had gained his freedom, that which he dreamed of.



As usual Franco Nero does a great job of his portraying his character, Keoma, an Indian who returns to his hometown after the Civil war just to find that sinister ex-confederate Mr. Caldwell holds the small town in a tight grip. During the start of the film he encounters the gang as they slaughter townsfolk being shipped off to the mines where the inhabitants that have been infected with the plague are dumped to die. This is where he picks up a very pregnant Lisa [Olga Karlatos], and in a kind of statement against all the death and horror he’s witnessed in his lifetime he makes it his task to keep Lisa safe so that she can have her child. And he really goes through hell and high water to allow her to give birth to that kid. Lisa dies giving birth, symbolically cross cut against the final showdown between Keoma and his brothers; Death vs. Life, and as Keoma mounts his horse the old Witch [Gabriella Giacobbe] stood holding the child claims that she can’t look after the child because it will die, Keoma replies; “He Can’t Die! You know why? Because he’s free, and a free man never dies!” then rides off into the sunset. Also this final line is symbolic antithesis of the violent solutions taken to most problems met so far in the film, which could be interpreted as Keoma beating death, hence the old witch being Death, and when presenting her with a new life (the child,) he brings death to an end forcing her to embrace life instead. This theory is supported by the few times that the Witch reappears in the movie. Just after Keoma saves Lisa from death in the mines, as Keoma hangs beaten in the town, also when he completes killing off the gang members. Death is there to watch over his actions, possibly guiding him on. But Keoma makes his mark, he proves his point, the time of death is past, the leaders are dead, the gang disbanded. The townsfolk have their freedom once again and with it new hope as new life is brought into the world.


It’s uncertain how much of Luigi Montefiori’s [Aka George Eastman, another great Italian character actor and still to this day an active screenwriter.] original script was used during the shoot. Rumors has it that Castellari, unsatisfied by the script discarded them and had new scenes written as they where shooting. Although I think that it’s just an entertaining anecdote and pretty unrealistic as the movie is a very tight production and holds a high level story wise. I find it hard to see how they could have scripted the plot and all it’s subplots [the story of hatred and jealousy between Keoma and his step brothers as children, the three brothers own sinister plans to take over the town after Caldwell is killed by Keoma, the long thread death and life that battle throughout the movie, etc], while in the midst of production. It doesn’t add up, and Keoma would have been a much lesser movie if this was the case.


Keoma is a delight to watch and there are some amazing camera tricks that still hold up today. In the pre-title sequence there’s the origin of Keoma told through a flashback that still surprises me each time I see it. Just a simple trick as panning to the left and we are suddenly in the midst of an Indian slaughter, set up so that we learn the origin of Keoma and his tragic background. Also there are several occasions where his memories of his childhood fighting his three stepbrothers, hanging out with his stepfather, being taught to shoot bow and arrows by George [Woody Strode] are elegantly woven into the scene initiating the flashback, and on some occasions even have Keoma as an adult in the midst of the events. This is done as the picture editing of Gianfranco Amicucci, and the cinematography of Aiace Parolin all come together very neatly .And you can't really talk of Keoma with out discussing the soundtrack by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis which features really strange folk/opera singing by the enigmatic Sybil & Guy. But as terrible as it may be at times, they are singing the movie plot and pushing it forward, asking questions and making statements, which is really entertaining, and kind of works as an inner monologue of Keoma. So if your after a great piece of late seventies Spaghetti Western with out the laughs and comedic gags, then Keoma is definately something you might want to check out.


Thanks to Jenny for sugesting that the old Witch was Keoma’s subconscious when she first appeared in the pre-title sequence, for this got me thinking about the Sub Conscious - Defeating Death – Seventh Seal – Theme.

Image:
Cinemacope 2.35:1 - Anamorphic

Audio:
English Language, Dolby Digital Surround 2.0


Extras:
20 Minute interview with Castellari on the westerns and Keoma, the original trailer, poster and still gallery, biographies for both Castellari and Nero, and trailers for Sergio Martino's Torso, Jamue Balugero's The Nameless, and Lucio Fulci's New York Ripper also available from AWE.