The Toxic Avenger

The Toxic Avenger

Directed by: Lloyd Kaufman

USA, 1984

Horror/Comedy/Cult

Distributed by: Troma Entertainment.

One ring to rule them all… nope, this isn’t a nod to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Ring’s trilogy, but merely a statement. Years before Jackson became the landmark of fantasy epics that he is today, he was the undergrounds’ leading name of splatter comedy. But today’s story goes deeper than any Hobbit hole, beyond Sumatran Rat-monkey's and rushes past vomit fuelled space aliens, because in my book the epitaph "lord of the splatter comedy" lies safe in the hands of one single man, Uncle Lloydie!

Melvin Ferd [Mark Torgl] the painfully uncool nerd who also goes under the name “Mop Boy” finally get’s pushed to far when a sinister and vile practical joke goes terribly wrong. Well at least you would think it went wrong, but as Melvin laid snap, crackling and popping in a vat of toxic waste the foul members of Tromaville Health Club still stood by laughing. Melvin was transformed into a hideously disfigured monster and chased out of town like all classic monsters are… In his lair of hiding – and with his new found love, the blind Sara [Andree Maranda], Melvin takes the name The Toxic Avenger [Mitch Cohen] and set’s about his personal revenge on his antagonists, and the corruption that has turned Tromaville into a nightmare for it’s citizens… It’s time to clean up!

I can still vividly remember the first time I ever set eyes on The Toxic Avenger. It was in the golden eighties. I’d just moved from home, I was in a new town, I was making new friends, I had a new girlfriend, I was sharing a room with my best mate, I was on top of the world, I knew everything and I had a new video store just across the road from my tiny student dorm. But knew fuck all about a four-year-old movie housed in a spunky puffy 3D cover called The Toxic Avenger that summoned me towards it like flies to shit.

Buddies since they where roomies at college, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz nourished a dream of one day becoming filmmakers. Hustling tricks and churning out low budget sex-comedies at the end of the sixties early seventies under the name 15th Street Films, Kaufman literally worked his ass off. When not making his own low budget features, he was working on larger studio pics – such as Rocky 1976 and Saturday Night Fever 1977. Whilst location scouting for Rocky, Kaufman decided that the mainstream moviemaking wasn’t for him and whilst wandering around gyms he started toying with an idea for a horror flick situated in such a location; "Health Club Horror”. After a string of unsuccessful investments, his company 15th Street Films was bust and the odyssey of Lloyd Kaufman may have ended here – yeah right... It’s 1975, enter Joel M. Reed and his unfinished exploitation flick “Master Sardu and the Horror Trio”. Under their new name Troma Studios, Hertz and Kaufman shot new footage, re-edited it and finished the movie for a 1976 release as the now infamous Bloodsucking Freaks! Not an international phenomenon, but it did good enough to keep the studio afloat, and slowly, slowly they started making sexy themed comedies once again. Half a decade later the struggling studio took a chance shot at combining horror with sexy comedy and what better than the “Health Club Horror" story Kaufman had been thinking of a few years earlier. All that was needed was a better name, The Toxic Avenger. The rest is history and Troma have been the longest living most struggling independent studio on the face of the earth since then.

It would be easy to look at Troma’s output and merely laugh it off. But that would be wrong. Sure the movies may bee dorky and futile, but at least Troma dare distribute independence. They don’t negotiate with a filmmaker’s vision; they get it out there and to an audience. Which obviously is there, as they have managed to hang in there for somewhere near forty years.

I’ve said this before in my piece on Poultrygeist – Night of the Chicken Dead 2006, don’t knock the Troma team, because behind all the laughs, gasps, chuckles and big-titted women are some serious issues and damned fine storytelling traits awaiting for anyone observant enough to see them.

A few examples from the ever-great The Toxic Avenger;

Establishing the “ordinary world”. This is essential to genre film. If you establish the world the characters and beings live in, the world we are about to explore, the audience will have an easier time believing it. That’s why Ridley Scott's Alien 1979 has that long “space truckers at work” segment at the start of the movie, to establish an ordinary world. That’s why a lot of horror movies start with a bang, to establish the threat through an initial attack, and to establish the ordinary world. A place where this monster/killer/entity/etc. can be found, and pose a real threat to the characters. The Toxic Avenger does exactly this. It establishes the sick, foul world of Tromaville where hit and run car accidents are all sick games, where corrupted cops ignore crime and the major reaps all the benefits that he can lay his hands on. Even if it’s looking the other way whilst transgender mobsters beat up policemen and shoot blind women’s guide dogs.

Keep the monster in the dark. Again Alien is a brilliant example of this trait, and the longer you keep a being in the dark, the more we will mystify it. Toxie is kept off screen, or at least his disfigured face for a very long time after the accident, which creates him. The majority of his shots see his back and how interacting characters shrug in horror from him. Not until far past the mid-point and Melvin’s revenge get’s personal, does Kaufman reveal the disfigured face of vengeance!

Weak protagonist who finally rises to the occasion, well Melvin is possibly the single largest geek to ever have picked up a mop and gone to town on the evildoers who live there. Not to forget the splendid orgasmic orgy of gore and death that floods the movies climax. It’s a classic movie moment and a damn fine one too. The people of Tromaville embrace their hero and the real villain of the piece – the corrupted mayor - get’s his comeuppance in all it's gory glory.

You can say what you want but Troma movies, especially the Kaufman productions, play by all the rules and obviously know exactly how to use them.

Then there’s the gravy. Just take a look at those special effects, not only the infamous head crush scene – yes lads, this flick has a real infamous head crush scene It’s an impressive piece of shocking gore and effect wizardry. Not to forget the transformation of Melvin to Toxie which to this day manages to look awesome, the diner massacre still works and there’s many other great moments of onscreen carnage that elevate The Toxic Avenger way above your average low budget schlock.

This is the stuff that the house of Troma was built on, sexist gags, slapstick comedy gags, impressive effect work, and there’s a very clear reason why we all love the monster hero. Melvin is a likeable character, perhaps even more after his transformation, where he goes from geeky gimp to hefty super hero. And yes this is the kind of story we like, a rise to the occasion, an answer to the call, a hero that we all can identify with. Perhaps not as the buff mutated monster, but we can identify with the emotion of wanting to be that character who takes revenge for all the wrong done to us and the world we live in. Yes, you do, there’s no need denying it. If opportunity were giving, you’d take it in the blink of an eye.

Finally there are the themes. Kaufman written scripts and Kaufman directed movies usually have a critique towards several areas. The fast food industry (and ancient Indian burialgrounds) was the main area of focus in Poultrygeist– The Night of the Chicken Dead, The Toxic Avenger has, like Class of Nuke ‘em High 1986, a quite sublime anti nuclear power theme. Not surprising as nukes and toxic waste where a strong fear in the eighties. There’s also a comment on the fitness craze of the eighties. A health boom where anyone who meant anything was seen in leotards and sweatbands down the nearest gym. Last but not least, there’s the corruption. Every politician – and almost every cop - in Troma movies –well all forms of authority, corporations, officials, etc. all have a streak of corruption to them. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see this as a metaphor for mayor corporations – read Hollywood – a place that we perhaps should be grateful that Lloyd Kaufman decided to walk away from as there’s no way in hell they would have let him make the fantastic movies that hoe’s been making for the last forty years.

So go get The Toxic Avenger, make yourself a big bowl of pop-corn, listen to Mark Hoffman & Race’s power ballad, Is this Love, watch a beloved New York skyline that no longer exists and simply have one hell of a great time. The Toxic Avenger is still as fucking great as it was the first time it popped my Troma cherry twenty-five years ago! Now I need to get me a I love the Monster Hero T-shirt from the Troma store, as I await the debut of this definitive modern classic of genre cinema on BluRay! Troma has entered the BluRay game with Poultrygeist – Night of the Chicken Dead, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, and the epic Shakesperian Tromeo & Juliet 1996 all three very fine examples of Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma teams unique brand of entertainment.

Image:

4:3 1.33:1, Colour.

Audio:

Dolby Digital 5.1. English dialogue.

Extras:

Troma discs are always filled to the brim with fun and interesting stuff. This very early release of The Toxic Avenger is no exception. A fascinating commentary, with insight into the movie, it’s making by Lloyd Kaufman, deleted scenes, interview with Toxie, Theatrical trailer for The Toxic Avenger and other Troma flicks, Movie stills – including pictures of Marisa Tomei in her first role, Secrets of a Mop-boy, and much more.

Not an extra, but a novelty, the DVD I have is one of the initial 2000 limited signed edition which all came with a certificate of authenticity signed by Lloyd Kaufman himself. This was years before I got to meet Lloyd (both in New York, and in Stockholm some years later and had him sign shit-load of stuff everytime.) and the way he treated me on both occasions speaks the philosophy of Troma. Meet people with respect, and for that reason alone I’ll always love Troma and the Monster Hero.

Eyes of Crystal

Eyes of Crystal
Original Title: Occhi di Cristallo
Directed by: Eros Puglielli
Italy/Spain/UK/Bulgaria, 2004,
Giallo/Thriller, 107min
Distributed by: Revolver

I try to stay away from contemporary neo-Gialli themed flicks. I find that they lack the grander of the real deal and quite often, like many other late eighties Gialli, focus more on naked chicks, sordid sexuality and predictable plots, and that I can find done better in other genres beyond the Giallo. Not that this need be a bad thing, but in my Gialli I prefer at least something that reassembles an intelligent, or enigmatic or even deceptive narrative so that I can become engaged by something that keeps me from falling asleep, or becoming offended by a predictable plot. Yes, I did seek out movies like Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s AMER 2009, Guillem Morales’ Los ojos de Julia (Julia's Eyes) 2010 or even Anthony Hickox Knife Edge 2009 (which should have been sold as a Giallo to reach a more appropriate audience, as it makes more sense being read as a Giallo.) - all reviewed or mentioned in my monthly magazine column* - so of course it does happen now and again. I also did pay attention to Kristian Petri's Gialloesque Ond Tro (Bad Faith) 2010 too, but for the most of the time, I'd rather watch something old that I've enjoyed before than go down that treacherous path of poor quality once again.

One afternoon at my resident movie mecca and cult temple of cool, Monkey Beach, the ever-present entity you may know as Ninja Dixon pulled Eyes of Crystal out from the shelves, stuck it in my hands and said - This is a movie YOU need to see. Said and done, and as I trust Ninja's recommendation it was a solid buy.

Opening with a very strong character presentation of Ispettore Amaldi [Luigi Lo Cascio] who bolts down alleyways, jumps fences and does near damned anything to catch his man; it's fair to say that this good guy cop is whom we are going to be rooting for. And who wouldn't as moments later, after a very stylish and genre typical opening montage, the villain of the piece is presented… The embalmer [Eusebio Poncela - if you figure it out from that you've seen a lot of spanish genre flicks.]. Needless to say in the polarization of the villain from the hero, nothing is spared. A young couple are having a shag as they are being watched by a pervert who starts to pleasure himself too. The embalmer is setting a trap with the intention of capturing more of the somewhat tacky specimens the titles sequence ends with, but instead the young couple, and the old geezer watching them, distract him. Producing a high calibre semi automatic weapon, the embalmer shoots not only, the wanking old bloke, but also the fornicating couple in violent and cold fashion. The corpses are left in the places they fell at the crime scene and when the police - Amaldi and Frese [José Ángel Egido] - arrive on location they pretty realize that the killer has an odd trait. He "fixes the wounds". The young woman shot so violently in the breast, left with a gaping wound, has apparently had her chest fixed and repaired as if she where an animal on display. This at first all seems like just a random oddity, but pretty soon they start to realize it's the killer’s modus operandi.

Secondary characters are introduced; Guiditta [Lucía Jiménez] and Detective Ajaccio [Símon Andreu], the plot deepens and the movie gets on the way. Bit by bit, the pieces fall into place and just as you want it the clues lead one way before flipping over and going somewhere else. Not to mention the several red herrings that Puglielli tosses at his audience. But what I found fascinating is that it's never trying to fool us, it's just keeping information in the dark that makes it such a damned fine ride. Everything chugs along fine, and the final act delivers some serious surprises and a welcome exploration of Amaldi's character that gives an insight into why he plays so hard, and is so thankfull for it. Remember that early scene where he calls up his colleague in the middle of the night just to thank him for having his back. That kind of stuff.

Throughout the piece Gialli traits are frequent and dominate the narrative style. You will be thinking of your favourite pre-eighties Giallo and then realizing that this goes beyond, it's not just a mediocre homage or pastiche, it's a full-feathered Gialli well worth checking out. There’s several moments that stand out and I'll say that my favourite passage of the movie is the entire "Dollmaker's death" segment. It's completely oozes of what this genre is all about, an unseen threat, a distraught victim, and cinematography that plays with the audience's imagination, and damn do they use all the mirrors in that location to perfection. It's THE key scene that I will base future recommendations of this film upon.

After watching Eyes of Crystal it's mesmerizingly obvious that Puglielli knows his Giallo, and Eyes of Crystal is a splendid homage to that greet genre. If not the, definitely one of the best neo-Gialli. Among the new names in the opening credits, I'm hardly surprised to find veteran, Franco Ferrini, amongst the writing team because this is a movie that breaths the same air and aura of his Dario Argento flicks Phenomena 1985, Opera 1987 and Stendhal Syndrome 1996. A powerful, potent and intriguing Giallo with all the trimmings. A killer kept outside the frame, hiding in the safety the off-screen space… and we all know what happens the moment he enters the screen space to reveal his identity now don’t we… There's a red herring in the shape of Guiditta's stalker, but perhaps most importantly and terrifically resourcefully used in Eyes of Crystal is the childhood trauma in the backstory to motivate the killer and his vile actions’. And the neat gimmick here is that they choose to tell it through a completely different character. Brilliant.

Three arcs are set in motion, the murderer mystery arc, Guiditta's stalker arc and Ajaccio's childhood flashbacks arc. They all come together neatly in the investigation plot as defined by film theorists. And it's the investigation plot that lies the closest to the Gialli as their leading character frequently are either professional or amateur detectives. In Eyes of Crystal we have a professional policeman who tries to solve the puzzle and this is well in line with many a grand old classics.


Our old friend guilt is here too, and in a big-time badass effective way too. In Amaldi's backstory lies a dark sinister tale, a tale that drives him further than the average cop. A dark tale of murder and loss that Amaldi blames himself for. So when the taxidermist murders start, the memories of that harrowing backstory resurfaces and he pushes himself harder than before - that not saying that Amaldi isn’t a hard-ass cop before, but the guilt of not being able to stop that initial killing in his backstory drives him harder as the taxidermist starts killing off his victims.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s also a childhood trauma that drives the killing spree, a trauma which all surfaces when the killer/taxidermist is offered to purchase a rare life-size mannequin, which due to the seller's relationship with the killers mother is offered at a fair price. As you may have guessed already the rather grizzly and violent murders involve the taxidermist stealing body parts from his victims and replacing them with parts of the mannequin. Sure one could perhaps have asked for more visual gore, but then at the same time it isn’t really needed and the aftermath itself is there in all it’s glory for the audience to awe over. In the last act the Guiditta stalker arc climaxes into the main narrative and we see what her purpose in the larger picture is. It sneaks in there and gives a pleasing little pay-off at the end.

Puglielli, Ferrini and the rest of the screenwriters have come up with a solid, watertight script, the cinematography of Luca Coassin – who went on to win several awards for his camera work after this movie - is awesome, and relies heavily on darkness, shadows and creative lighting. All traits we know too well from our beloved Giallo. This is a movie that contains some pretty damned impressive scenes, where many breathe old school Giallo, but at the same time live their own contemporary life. Especially when looking at things like how they ingeniously used the backstory arc, the way guilt has shaped Amaldi as a character, the triangular arcs that all come together in the final act and the last frames of the movie which present an explanation to the movies title. As you know half the fun of the really good Gialli, is figuring out what the name holds for referent in the movie.

Alan Jones’ cover quote “Watch out Dario Argento, director Eros Puglielli is after your chiller crown” still rings true. Nothing either Argento or Ferrini have come up with since Puglielli’s flick is anywhere near the brilliance of Eyes of Crystal

Nevertheless, Puglielli still has to follow Eyes of Crystal up with another feature movie, and I for one will be looking forward to it to make sure he's no one trick puppy. Now I only have to figure out how to get hold of those half dozen TV movies he’s directed since this one.

*(In forth coming issues of Cinema I gave Julia’s Eye’s 4 of 5, claiming it to be the best of the new wave of Spanish horror themed movies. AMER 5 of 5 as it’s a perfect homage. But you already read my piece here didn’t you so you know how much I like that flick.)

Image:
Widescreen

Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Italian Dialogue, optional English Subtitles

Extras:
There’s a “Making of Eyes of Crystal Documentary and “Sul set di” a short featurette.

deep in the woods...

I'm off to the woods again... will post stuff later...

Wife Collector

Wife Collector

Original Title Hitozuma Korekutâ

Directed by: Hisayasu Satō

Japan, 1985

Pinku, 62min

Available from: Japan Eiga

Three character’s stories are all woven together in a complex web of depravation and sexual obsession as their lives randomly cross paths and give an insight into a back-story that drives it all forth. Wife Collector, a somewhat misleading title, but a common issue with Hisayasu Satō‘s movies as they rarely keep the original titles Satō gave them when the resurfaced on video after the theatrical rights went out. Wife Collector was originally called Rotting Town, and with a title like that the movie takes on more of a satirical, social comment on Japan. Never the less, Satō is one of the ”Four Heavenly Kings of Pink”, and if any possible social commentary is lost on us westerns we can at least enjoy one heck of a fascinating piece of Shishi/Toei Central pinku eiga.

A lonely cabdriver [Isao Nonaka] – who certainly delivers a perverted Travis Bickle vibe - unleashes his frustration upon the innocent victims who ride his cab. A frustrated woman, Misaki [Naomi Hagio, who followed this with Kazu “Gaira” Komizu’s Shojo no harawata (Entrails of a Virgin) 1986] yearns to relive the agony and anguish of a past assault. Akkio [Minako Ogawa], a preadolescent girl, and sister of Misaki, longs to engage in the same depraved sexual acts as Misaki, who unbeknownst has become an object of voyeurism for the Akkio who documents all of Misaki’s carnal activities. These three characters are all connected by a previous chance encounter.

The opening scenes of Wife Collector set a definitive tone for the rest of the movie. A bothered customer asks cabbie Isao to turn down the volume of the punk soundtrack he’s listening too (Ginza Sound - Takashgi Akutagawa). With a frown he turns it down for a few seconds before cranking it on again even higher! She screams – shrieking audio that is used to bridge over the cut from inside the cab to her running down the street as Isao chases her. He captures her and cut to a video camera monitor shot of her sprawled on his bed, obviously drugged. He tears off her clothes and sexually molests her, as she awakens, starts kicking and screaming only to pass out again. After watching the tape recording of his latest session and returns to his car, drives a new customer, and stops by a dumpster where he ditches the young woman’s body.

A woman, Misaki walking home in the rain is attacked and raped by a gang of thugs. Hidden away just off the road branch, someone sneaks around taking photographs of the assault. A familiar taxicab approaches, Isao stops his car, flings open a door and offers her a lift… but Misaki turns him down and wanders off into the darkness of the rain.

Victims and perpetrators are presented in very polarised manner, but don’t come to any conclusions because screenplay writer Shûji Kataoka [also a director that fan’s of this genre will want to check out] and Hisayasu Satō are about to start messing with your mind, and give the characters some warped shape of dimension that make this a splendid little flick.

Satō frequently get’s tagged with the label “guerrilla style filmmaker” also referred to as the “Sledgehammer technique”. This is all about shooting without permits and using existing setting as locations, which also mean innocent passer-by’s reacting to the action being filmed. There are several such moments in Wife Collector and the culmination of the movie, as Iaso attacks Misaki, in the midst of stressed out commuters trying to get to and from work has many bypasses staring in shock at the action taking place in front of them.

Possibly the kink is taken to it’s height when the sledgehammer style mise en scène shows us a kidnapping and rape scene involving intoxicating gas, a gasmask, a naked amateur tennis player and the back seat of Isao’s cab. In the scene Iaso’s McGyverish homemade gas chamber is used to it’s full potential and it’s hard not to laugh at the terrifying perversity taking place on screen. But it’s also a scene that is amongst my most favourite pinku moments, weird, kinky and fascinating.

Three themes make up the framework of the cinema of Hisayasu Satō’s cinema - voyeurism, sexual fetishes and warped relationships.

Isao has a video camera in his lair; he later mounts one in his cab. He tapes his rapes, and he also takes pleasure in watching them over and over again. Voyeurism a strong theme in Satō's work, and it is recurrent in the majority of his works. If it’s not a character watching something on screen, it’s the screen images of the blurry, distorted video footage. Hence turning us into the voyeur. Even in his futuristic J-Video pinku/splatter flick Nekkeddo burâddo: Megyakyu (Naked Blood) 1996, voyeurism is present in the P.O.V. of cyberspace.

A dominant theme, which Satō uses a lot, is fetishes. In Wife Collector they work on many different levels for several characters. Isao has his rape/voyeurism fetish which drive him to his acts, Misaki has her rape/degradation fetish seen so clearly in the way she seeks perilous sexual encounters with strangers in her quest for emotions equal of those Isao provoked with his previous assault. Akkio has her fetishes too – Misaki and a rape obsession! Akkio is stalking her sister and photographing her sexual exploits. The lust that these images stir in her hence the lovemaking session with her doll – indicate that she too wants’ to be assaulted like her sister and be accepted as a woman. She’s prepared to move on from being a child hence the hanging of her doll, and her provocation against Isao.

Finally there’s the one of the main themes of Satō’s work - the distorted love affair. You will find this in most of his films in one way or another, as there’s always a hate/love, forced/willing, pleasure/pain in his movies, but still at the bottom of it all a profound desire for love.

Yes, Iaso is a depraved rapist, but he still becomes fascinated by Hagio even going as far as saving her from men she’s chosen to engage sexually with and judging her for her actions. He still wants’ to be with her and perhaps it’s the scar of Misaki’s bite on his shoulder that has served as a permanent reminder of that encounter. Misaki is searching for her rapist (Isao) with the intent of closure, but at the same time she longs to be reunited with her rapist as she longs for the emotions associated with that meeting. Akkio looked upon as a child by both Misaki and their brother, but longs to be treated as an adult. She longs for someone to take her virginity and allow her to move from being a child to being a woman. Isao was good enough for her older sister Misaki, so Isao will be good enough for her. She wants to become like Misaki and follows in her footsteps, and once the act is complete, Akkio holds the upper hand in her relationship to Misaki

Similar to Pasolini’s Teorema 1968 or even Takashi Miike’s Bijitâ Q (Visitor Q) 2001, there’s a strange reunification, or strengthening of the family if you like, at the end of the flick as the two sisters become closer than they have been in many years.

The use of audio is interesting in Wife Collector. Or rather the lack of a score and the harsh use of diegetic sound. Instead of enhancing certain key moments with non-diegetic soundtrack – such as Misaki's post rape shower scene, or Isao’s gasmask cab rape (or most of the sexually laden moments for that part) Satō skips music and uses the real sound instead. The shower sound is all we hear, the pulse of the traffic outside the taxicab, hence keeping us in the real world. Hisayasu Satō judges not, by not manipulating us to feel any emotion more that that which we choose ourselves as an audience (or voyeur if you will) he leaves judgment up to us.

Cinematographer Kôichi Saitô whose work on this movie is not to be underestimated, worked with Hisayasu Satō again on several more movies following Wife Collector. Amongst them Kurutta Butokai (Kitami/Muscle) 1989 and more recently Shinsei (Shinsei: The Tattooer) 2006 - currently available on JapanFlix.com

Image:

16x9 Colour.

Audio:

Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, Japanese dialogue with optional English subtitles.

99 Women

99 Women
Directed by Jess Franco
Spain/England/Italy/
West Germany, 1968
Women In Prison, 89min
Distributed by: Njuta Films

Harry Allen Towers, may he rest in peace whilst he rest of us enjoy his legacy. Towers is an important character for me and my introduction to the world of Jess Franco. I’ll get back to that in a moment, but first some stuff about the story of Harry Allen Towers.

He started out as a child actor, I know nothing of what movies he was in nor does anyone else when trying to find stuff our. But this probably came in handy when he started scriptwriting for radio and DJ’ing in the 30-40’s. He landed a gig at the BBC where he came up with the programme March of the Movies, a good fashioned movie show. During the 50’s he distributed radio shows to abroad and through his company Towers of London, he helped pirate radio like Radio Luxembourg. When commercial TV hit Britain, Towers was the goo to man and pretty soon he was supplying ITV with cheap programmes shot on film. After a string of generic TV theatre productions he more or less invented the English version of the TV movie. Finally – or rather the start of the career we will remember him for - came during the sixties, when he started producing movies.

Towers produced some one hundred plus movies, nine of them with Jess Franco between 1968-1970. But for me the introduction came through the satellite station Super Chanel. Super Chanel was an odd little bastard as it was a rabid mix of old TV serial re-runs, music magazines, music videos, live concerts and old movies. This is where I first saw Franco’s La Conde Dracula (Count Dracula) 1970 at the end of the eighties and damn did it leave an impression. Tracking down more Franco movies – from the UK – the titles I could get hold of where more of the Harry Allen Towers produced Franco movies. Amongst these I found several movies that laid something of a Franco foundation for me.

The quickfix for 99 Women is that a bunch of women are boated out to Castillio de Muerte – the Castle of death – where they spend time for crimes they supposedly have committed - guilty or not. The best ingredient for seedy women in prison flicks, is to fill the movie with sexual harassment, vile prison staffers and scantily clad inmates. 99 Women has it all. Superintendant Thelma Diaz [Mercedes McCambridge] runs her camp with an iron fist. Prisoners who are ill during the night do not deserve treatment and inmates who try to help end up getting punished. On the other side of the island lies an all male work camp run by Governor Santos [Herbert Lom] sinister, sleazy friend of Diaz who runs the all male camp on the other side of the island, lets him have his way with the female inmates. A second executive, Leonie Caroll [Maria Schell] comes to inspect rumours of poor prisoner conditions and strikes up an odd friendship with new inmate #99 [Maria Rohm]. No W.I.P. film is complete without a daring escape plan and 99 Women blasts into its last act with just such a moment.

Co-written by Franco and Towers – under his nom de plume Peter Welbeck – 99 Women sports a good solid script with several details that make it a splendid movie. Pay attention to the first fifteen minutes of this movie. These are amongst the finest establishing minutes you may ever see, and just one example of what I mean with a detailed script where threads run fluently through the narrative. The boat is on its way to the island, the three women are introduced and their archetypes are established.

They are all very determined archetypes that are all established within the first fifteen minutes. Marie [Rohm - Towers wife, hence her starring in many of his movies.] soon to be renamed #99 is concerned and almost naively asks where they are being taken already on the boat and not half as cocky as Helga [Elisa Montés]. This makes the audience understand that Helga is aware off her crime, and Marie most likely isn’t… it plant’s the thought that she may be innocent. After all this is a women in prison flick, and they ain’t never fair. Nathalie [Luciania Paluzzi] cowers in a corner of the boat and when later locked up all the signals of a claustrophobia attack are there.

Following the presentation of our leading lady #99, it’s time to establish the antagonists, head warden Thelma Diaz [McCambridge] walks in to Governor Santos who eats his roast chicken sloppily and praises Diaz for the women she has selected for him today. Although he raises a finger or warning as he tells her that the woman who died that morning had visible bruises. An issue that may get them in trouble, if officials start to ask questions about the several dead women and how Diaz goes about taking care of discipline. The scene ends with McCambridge out of focus in the background and the only thing in focus is a book in the foreground. A copy of Arnold J. Toynbee’s La Europe De Hitler is at the front, Diaz apparently holds Nazi sympathies. We are not going to like warden Diaz and pretty soon she confirms our suspicions.

Back to the ladies… During the first night Zoie #76 [Rosalba Neri] wakes #99 from a bad dream only to be disturbed by Natalie, #98 writhing and moaning in pain. #99 tries to get help by calling for the guards. Instead she get’s Warden Diaz who screams that she’s up for punishment as she’s interfering and creating a disturbance. The next morning #99 gets involved in a fight where she’s caged in isolation for her further provocations. The night before her isolation she’s raped by #76 as the Governor drooling watches on.

Through showing her sympathetic sides – caring for others, wanting to do right, putting her in situations she has no control over - the audience feels empathy for 99 - or should we call her Marie, and as soon as we feel empathy we start to bond with the character. We wan Marie go have hell in the next hour and a half, but we want her to break out and live a better life too.

Two “alarming”, or rather “helper” characters are also introduced early on. Characters that help the audience invest in the plot. Also characters that will drive it forth and generate a disturbance in the ordinary world of Thelma Diaz hell camp for women.

One is presented after the death of #98 in the shape of the Doctor [José María Blanco]. As he leaves the island he complains that the women are always dead by the time he arrives… and that’s about to change. This external force obviously contacts officials hence the arrival of the second challenger to Thelma Diaz corrections facility.

The second is Superintendant Leonie Caroll [Maria Schell] who poses a threat to Warden Diaz when she arrives on the island and demands to inspect the prison. This threat stretches past Diaz and towards Governor Santos too. The two try to set her up by reporting to the officials that she pays attention to the young female inmates in the wrong fashion… anything to avoid a rupture of the good thing they have going.

Two things come out of this introduction of Superintendant Caroll. The positive tension between #99 as Caroll somewhat acts as a “parent/Helper” to her as she suggests to help her clear her case and possibly clear her name. Then there’s the harsh tension between Caroll and Diaz. The provocation of being scrutinised by external parts drives Diaz round the bend and frequently lands in her screaming out brilliant dialogue along the lines of “Purpose of a prison is punishment for crime, it is not meant a happy place! To which Caroll calmly replies, “In that case you efforts here can be extremely successful!”

Storylines are somewhat linear with the odd flashback now and again as the girls explain why they are incarcerated, some fair - some not. But by delivering their raison d’être in this way Towers and Franco keep the movie interesting, as I want to know what situation had the women end up in the prison to start with. The flashbacks see cinematographer Manuel Merino’s best moments in the movie, and are highlights for the movie where the typical Franco nightclub act and minimalistic sets, suggestive lighting are used. This is the sort of imagery and compositions I associate with Franco. Merino worked with Franco and Towers on almost all the films produced under the Towers of London period, and on approximately twenty something Franco movies in all.

Propelling the movie into it’s final act, #76 rallies a disappointed 99 – who by now has been lead on by Superintended Caroll with a promise to look into her case. But after a rejection, #99 looses all faith and is left disillusioned. She needs something new to latch onto, which makes #76’s timing perfect. #76 and Rosalie #81 suggest that #99 come in on their cunning plan to escape from the otherwise inescapable prison.

They make it into the surrounding jungles where they meet “Buster” one of the male interns from Governor Santos all male prison on the other side of the island A previous subplot concerning # 81 and her lover who used to sneak back to forth between the male and female prison comes to an end. Instead of finding him, it’s buster who tells her of her partners’ untimely death during their own escape. But after taking a few minutes to grieving she snuggles up and gets it off with Buster… who had a sinister plan to steal his cellmates girlfriend all the time.

The jungle scenes are claustrophobic – even more than the prison – as the women are chased deeper and deeper into the green web of bush and leaves. Dogs chase them and escape seems almost impossible. Although the peril of the jungle is nowhere near as hazardous as the next obstacle in their way. The men of the all male prison are out on a chain gang, Buster and the women daringly approach them begging for food, but instead the men become so overwhelmed by the sight of the scantily clad beauties that their primal instincts take the upper hand and they chase the women into the jungle like a pack of hungry wolves. Rosalie falls and now she pays the ultimate price for her insatiable lust – the chain gang tear off her clothes and use her for their own means. It’s a harsh moment and not to unlike the climactic death scenes found in the cannibal and zombie movies to follow a decade later. Pawing, clawing tearing hands ripping their victims to shreds.

There’s some brilliant detail in the escape, as they refer to places and locations that already have been pointed out as traps and perilous territory by Warden Diaz in earlier scenes between prison staff. We the audience know that there is going to be trouble if they take this path of that path. Moments of insight like this work wonders for the movie, and bring a deep cynicism to the final moments of this masterpiece of Women in Prison classic.

Overall the tone is seedy, but never really goes to far, there’s always a safe, almost artistic approach to the physical moments. 99 Women is undoubtedly an exploitation masterpiece, with moments of degradation and sensuality. If you want to see the movie as it was intended make sure to watch the shorter 89min version as this is the better movie. This is also the way Franco & Towers wanted you to see the film and you don’t really need the graphic inserts. At the same time the harder version obliterates several great moments such as the entire flashback that explains why Rohm is in prison. This is a classic Franco moment – much like Neri’s burlesque show flashback earlier – where a lot of the style and minimalism work in his advantage. I would go as far as saying it’s one of his most poetic conceptions of a rape and revenge, because it looks fantastic, plays with your imagination and rings back to early experimental black and white movies. It’s a scene, which elevates the movie a thousand miles higher than the pale smutty beach rape that replaces it in the adult version

But if you are looking for dirt then I guess you will want to watch the longer harder french version assembled by Bruno Mattei some years later. The golden age of the adult movie was just around the corner and more than one low budget sexploitation movie was re-edited with new footage to cash in on the new fascination and new French laws concerning film and pornographic material.

If you where to watch the old Redemption release, you would find that to be cut too, as there are pieces of the quite unsettling stabbing of an anaconda snake in the jungle snipped away. Why they didn’t use that penknife earlier I will never know. Escape had been so much easier.

99 Women, is really nowhere near the sleaziness of the Franco W.I.P. movies that where to follow, but this is a great place to start if you want to see just how easy one Franco template could be re-edited into something completely different with a few minutes of extra footage here and there – and believe me, Mattei took every opportunity available to get some triple X action into the movie. It’s also a template in the way that it’s a theme that Franco returned to on several occasions too. The unjustly condemned woman either sentenced to prison or by society, as she knows it. The main drive, to prove one’s innocence and settle the score isn’t too far away from punishing those who have done her wrong and settling the score. And as mentioned, this is really at the other end of the spectrum compared to the W.I.P. flicks to come, but at the same time proof that Franco could put together a really artistic flick.

Soundtrack by frequent Franco collaborator Bruno Nicolai is a gem. I challenge you to listen to the lead track “The Day I Was Born” and not hum it to yourself. It’s addictive just like Jess Franco’s movies.

There used to be an odd rumour that Towers of London where to make a 3-D remake of 99 Women after an announcement in 1983. Although that never happened, it boggles the mind to imagine a Jess Franco movie in three dimensions.

Jess Franco and Harry Allen Towers worked on nine movies together. If you still haven’t seen them I suggest that you go find them now. If you are a fan of Franco already they you perhaps should revisit them, if you are a newcomer, then they definitely want to go to the top of your list. These movies see Franco at what may be his most mainstream, but at the same time they are some damn fine movies that stand the test of time.

Image:

Colour, Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1

Audio:

Dolby Digital Stereo, English dialogue (French Dub on longer version) Swedish, Finnish, Danish or Norwegian subtitles are optional.

Extras:

For some odd reason the original softer version is enclosed as an extra and the french version as the main feature. Again, this is the one you want to watch. The main version is the French dialogue, hardcore-insert version clocking in at almost 98min. There’s biographies, Franco trailers and trailers for other Njutafilm releases.

Island of the Living Dead

Island of the Living Dead
Originl Title: L’isola dei morti viventi
Directed by: Bruno Mattei (Vincent Dawn)
Italy, 2006
Horror/Zombies,
Distributed by: Ritka Video

Despite being commonly referred to as one of the biggest hacks of Italian cinema, The king of recycling footage and a completely talentless copycat, Bruno Mattei continued making low budget genre pieces until the day he passed away. He’s one of the few who never strayed from the path and continued to churn out cheap, enjoyable trash when many of the others either lost their touch or simply retired. For this reason alone one should stop hounding Mattei and instead start to appreciate his dedication to genre cinema. Bruno Mattei demands your respect, and if you are not prepared to give him it, then you should stop reading now, burn all your low budget trash flicks and go back to watching rom-coms with Hugh Grant, as you obviously don’t appreciate what Mattei is all about.

In the last years of his life, Bruno Mattei returned to on of the genre he’s most commonly associated with, the zombie flick. None of the other old school genre directors where getting much work, but Mattei packed up his bags and shot a series of zombie themed movies in the Philippines. Movies that capture the passion, enthusiasm and energy of the movies Bruno Mattei - and others - made back in the eighties.

Time for a quickfix to fill you in on The Island of the Living Dead. A boat full of treasure hunters and scientists get caught in storm whilst on a mission and end up on an abandoned island. This is obviously an island where the undead – in various shapes and forms – roam the dark labyrinth of the desolate buildings. They encounter the flesh eating monsters and in a varied manner of ways they start to decrease in numbers. The most unlikely of characters survives and in the best fashion, there’s a last minute shock in store after a highly spectacular rescue sequence…

…especially considering where Mattei went on the movie that followed this one.

As you can see, it’s a good old zombie nightmare story with all the frills and chills that you would come to expect from a Bruno Mattei movie. He even directed it under his old classic pseudonym, and believe me, this movie is all Vincent Dawn. In all fairness this isn’t one of Mattei’s best movies. But it’s not one of his worst either, because if there’s one thing that shines though the somewhat poor acting – mostly due to the cheesy dubbing – it’s an overall atmosphere that simulates the eighties movies. There’s a somewhat lack of predictability that was one of the ingredients that drew me to Italian genre to start with. Here Mattei presents us with a somewhat evolved zombie flick as we meet vampire and ghost incarnations of the old classic gut-munching ghouls. Kind of like a smorgasbord of horror paraphernalia, as long as they get the job done.

Again the unpredictability works for this movie as where you may think you know where it’s about to go, it takes a quick twist and tosses something new at you. I feel that Mattei and his scriptwriters have taken Island of the Living Dead seriously – yes one can write a movie seriously even if it becomes a cheap low budget flick in the end - and I see this in several areas. Nah, it’s not in the dialogue where everyone is angry and swears at least once in ever line. But it’s in the framework. This isn’t’ something that’s just been tossed together as a series of incidents bound together by slow paced slush. Instead there’s an obvious amount of work gone into this project.

Any self-respecting movie wants’ to either set the force of antagonism from start of open so we know what we have pending a threat to our world in the original world. Island of the Linving Dead does both, after a lengthy initial attack taking place hundreds years ago Conquistadors fight off hordes of living dead. It has to be said that musket shots to the head of the bagged undead may remind of the opening to Lucio Fulci’s Zombi, although the pack these shots punch are fucking hard. The soldiers can’t hold back the horde and finally the church is overthrown leaving the governor and his men to their bloody fate. The initial attack has been presented, if by chance I’d never seen a zombie movie before, I at least know what the hell is threatening the characters.

Much like the old classic Italian Zombie flicks, there’s a wraparound story, something that establishes the ordinary world – the treasure hunters on the boat. This plants that these are active characters, and it also shows that they are capable of the most challenging tasks – salvaging the treasure – even if they do fail at times. It gives dimension to them, and there would really not be anything at stake if they had succeeded getting the treasure, navigating through the fog and then just chugged on to the next challenge.

There’s a neat back-story about the vessel “Natavidad” which sank off the coast of the island. This boat plays an important part in the genesis of the undead, and a boat from which all the evil unravels. It's not to hard to connect the dots between the looted treasure in the segment that introduced us to the characters, and the boat that they stole it from… to the spirits of the dead come back to claim revenge for having been disturbed.

Island of the Living Dead also uses the classic device of mixing in a few gags before a horror moment. Perhaps not in the formatted way of the American popcorn horror flicks, where the gag and the horror share the same moment, but more like a gag and then over to the horror. A line of dialogue like “oh I think I shat my pants…” is delivered before cutting to the other half of the cast and an attack made on them by a zombie passing by. In it’s own peculiar way it works and once you get into reading the movie in that way and taking it for what it is – it get’s the job done even if it means watching a flamenco dancing scene.

Island of the Living Dead has plenty of amusing nods to classic moments in earlier genre movies. If you know your stuff you will be laughing at referents to classic scenes from Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, Fulci’s Zombi and Bianchi’s Burial Ground – well at least the monks that live by the prophesy of the black spider.

I have a problem with the video look of the movie, but hey, if that’s what it took for Mattei to get out there and shoot, then I guess I can lay my grain fetish to one side. Shot on HighDef video, there’s crispiness to the film that makes it feel very much like a TV soap, which kind of takes away from what Mattei’s after. Although this isn’t made for TV, and there’s enough moments to prove it.

As said, Island of the Living Dead may not represent Bruno Mattei’s best work, nor his worst. But it is a entertaining flick that definitely captures the atmosphere and feeling of the old school classics that appeal to me so profoundly. I enjoyed Island of the Living Dead and pretty soon I stopped moaning about the image, and just got into the story and found myself swept away by the flick and the magic of Bruno Mattei once again.