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.

One on Top of the Other

One on Top of the Other

(Aka Perversion Story)
Original Title: Una sull’altra
Directed by: Lucio Fulci
Italy/France/Spain, 1969
Crime/Giallo 97min
Distributed by: Severin

Story:
Dr. Dumurrier’s wife dies from asthma and then he spends the night with his lover. At a kinky nightclub they watch an act by starlet Monica, who looks just like his recently deceased wife. The cops start to investigate the death as they have received an anonymous tip that things aren’t quite right. Trying to convince the police of his innocence, Dr. Dumurrier tries his damnedest to find the true identity of Monica, but time is running away, and pretty soon he’s facing the gas chamber as he IS the prime suspect for his wife’s death.

Me:
Perhaps mainly know for his apocalyptic zombie horrors drenched in the realistic special effects of Gianetto De Rossi, (Zombi2 1979, City of the Living Dead 1980, The Beyond and House by the Cemetery 1981) Lucio Fulci was indeed a very talented movie maker definitely worthy of the title maestro, which I personally prefer over the gimmicky “Gorefather/Godfather of Gore” title he’s more commonly labled with. More or less doomed to the blood and guts genre after the success of Zombi2, the almost sixty films he helmed as director venture far and astray from one specific genre, and deserve to be highlighted to fully understand the frustration he experienced later in life. He directed some amazing westerns, a bunch of comedic dramas, and even one movie with Jazz bad boy Chet Baker, and apart from a shitload of violent horror movies he more or less ventured into every genre that was in demand as he built up that impressive track record. And then the suites of stunning early Gialli that frequently are kept in the shadow of Dario Argento’s influence on the genre by lesser knowing film critics. The interest in Italian genre cinema seems to be more in demand than ever, and thanks to this many of his earlier titles are starting to turn up on excellent editions that put those old VHS tapes from Greece to shame.

The main plot of One on Top of the Other, Lucio Fulci’s initial exploration of the Gialli (an amazing suite containing: Woman in a Lizards Skin 1971, Don’t Torture a Duckling 1972, Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes 1977, and later the disturbing The New York Ripper 1982 and Murder Rock – Dancing Death 1984.) certainly is very reminiscent of Henri-George Clouzot's Les Diaboliques from 1955. But don't worry, Fulci surely puts his characteristic Italian spin on it and ends up with a great movie once again proving his phenomenal skills as screenwriter and director. Using heavy Jazz beats scored by Riz Ortolani and a series of very effective splitscreen collages much reminicant of Richard Fleisher's The Boston Strangler from the previous year, this is pop-culture Giallo at it's finest.

A sleazy San Francisco doctor, Dr. George Dumurrier [Jean Sorel] runs the family clinic (but only spends like two minutes there in the entire film) and lies to the press about the success the researchers at the clinic have been making, as to up the value and status of the institute, much to his brother Henry's [Alberto De Mendoza] great disgust. At the same time he is having an affair with photographer Jane [Elsa Martinelli] behind the back of his terribly asthmatic wife Susan [Marisa Mell] Mell who totally owns this movie. Her performance here is definately on par with her performance a year earlier in Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik. Well to get things going fast, Susan dies from an asthma attack as George is out messing around. He and Jane see a great future open up for them as Dr. Dumurrier seems to be the sole inheritor of Susan Dumurrier's tremendous wealth. So in a state of euphoria they set off down to the local strip joint and just as they are about to sip on their celebratory champagne Monica Weston walks on stage to perform her popular act. But Monica Weston looks just like the recently deceased Mrs. Dumurrier, apart from the blond hair and green eyes. So paranoia runs rampant as George and Jane try to figure out who Monica Weston is and while the cops, with a little help from the crime tech guys, seeing Fulci make his trademark cameo, start to accuse George of killing off his wife for the insurance money. So it goes, twisting and turning as they seduce each other in and out of bed, in and out of clothes, trying to figure out who is who and who's trying to fool who. Until it all is revealed in the final act as George sits on death row getting a surprise visit from that brother who we saw in the first reel... Hmmm. It turns out that he and Monica Weston, (who in fact IS Mrs. Dumurrier as we just saw in a great New York montage where she takes off her Monica wig and drops out the green contacts that have had George confused all this time, flips her jacket inside out and takes a flight to Paris) have been lovers for quite some time and this was all an elaborate plan to frame George for her "murder". And look it's going to work because when Henry leaves the guest pen, he says to George that he'll be dead in 24 hours and there's nothing he can do about it. Henry leaves George on death row the happiest he's ever been, because now he's the only one left to cash in the large inheritance and spend the rest of his life with Susan.

And you honestly think that they are going to get away with it...

...don't you...

...then the Italian twist, as per tradition, the one you can't predict, the one that all the "finer cinema experts" choke on, the chance meeting, the unforeseen twist of events...

In Paris a reunited Mrs. Dumurrier and Henry go to a restaurant where they are spotted by a bloke who we saw briefly earlier in the movie, a bloke who we understood then as the cops ransacked Monica's flat was deeply in love with her too, and now heartbroken he kills her and her lover on the spot. WHO THE HELL SAW THAT COMING?

Amazing isn't it! You never know what is going to happen, and that's the point of theses movies you never know where they are going to end up. The Italian thrillers, the horror flicks, the Crimi's and the Gialli, of the sixties to late seventies, they are so unpredictable, full of false leads and bottomless plot holes that you never really can figure them out. Even when you think "Oh shit it's going to end up like that.” it more than often does a 180 and goes the complete different way. It's almost like the great soundtracks that accompany these movies. They shift their tone, force and approach as they play out over the images. One on Top of Another is no exception as Riz Ortolani's brilliant score beats the crap out of many contemporary scores (and that doesn't mean that they are bad either) driving the tempo of the movie with it's jazzy beat and suddenly going from sombre to full force. It's definately one of my all time favourite soundtracks and if I have to make a list of ten great score composers Ortolani, is definately in the top four.

Having studied films, narrative, structure and story for way many more years than I care to remember (because I don't have enough fingers to do the math) I can easily see where many fellow scholars and "learned" people fail to see and acknowledge the magic of these "cheesy" Italian movies. It’s because they go against all the rules and don't give a damn about conventions, and because they don't follow suite they still hold up for viewing today. I can still without a problem get drawn into a Giallo or Polizia after just a few minutes, just lure me past that initial set up it's all just sit down entertainment as I fall for the false leads, grin at the corny dialogue, sneer with the sinister villains, lust for the leading ladies, bop along to the jazzy soundtrack and finally shake my head in disbelief as the surprise ending comes out of nowhere and just wraps the film up. It's all entertainment deluxe, as the false leads, plot holes, surprise twists etc make up part of the challenge. How many times haven't you been sat watching a movie and realized. "I know exactly where this piece of crap is going..." or "I knew he/she did it!" or it just ends up being a rehash of old ideas and you still feel ripped off in the end. Well it happens much less with a piece of European exploitation cinema from the 60-80's in my opinion, and Lucio Fulci's One on Top of the Other is a great example of it.

Image:
Widescreen Letterbox :16x9

Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Optional English or Italian Dialogue with English subtitles available.

Extras:
Original Theatrical Trailer
But the most exciting extra with this beautiful edition is that you get the entire soundtrack by Riz Ortolani on a separate CD.

GOKE, The Bodysnatcher from Hell

GOKE, The Bodysnatcher from Hell

Original title: Kyuketsuki Gokimidoro
Directed by: Hajime Sato
Japan, 1968
Sci-Fi / Horror, 84min
Distributed by: Shochiku Home Video

Story:
A Japanese airplane smashes into the ground after being startled by an unidentified flying object that destroys their flight equipment. The plane crashes into an abandoned area and the surviving passengers start to show their true colours. At the same time the strange object that they saw in the sky has landed and progresses its plan for the annihilation of earth. When a passenger escapes the wreckage and enters the spaceship he is attacked and after the alien being enters his body though a slit in his forehead, he is turned into a bloodthirsty vampire who goes back to feed of the rest of the plane crash survivors…


Me:
Goke IS an amazing piece of Japanese cinema that definitely needs so much more exposure and exploration. It is indeed an entertaining movie with so much more going for it than a lot of contemporary sci-fi horrors of the time had. Remember this is the late 60’s and the main theme of Japanese Sci-Fi was focused on Godzilla, Gamera, The Giant Majin, Mothra and other giant monsters crushing those wonderful miniatures versions of major cities. There are obviously a some exceptions The X from Outer Space (1967) to name one, but then again, those movies focus more on the “good men” of earth defeating the alien invaders. But GOKE goes further; there’s political commentary, there’s alien invasion, there’s vampirism and then there’s the social commentary. Almost everyone in this movie is a bad ass, with nothing more in mind but themselves. From the wealthy corporate arms dealers to the assassin [Hideo Ko] who uses their products, through the bomb wielding terrorist to the widower in grief on her way to collect her husbands dead body, from the uncanny psychologist to the space biologist, they all are disturbing selfish son of a bitches. That is all apart from two, the co-pilot Sugisaka [Teruo Yoshida] and stewardess Kuzumi [Tomomi Sato]. They try their damnedest to get themselves and everyone else through their ordeal and back to civilisation, which is why the shocking downbeat ending blows you away.

There is so much going on in this film that it’s almost impossible to take it all in on one viewing. First there’s the initial setup where the airplane flies through those beautiful red clouds, encountering suicidal birds, not quite understanding what is wrong with the “blood red sky”, this is a premonition of the coming alien invasion, but also works as a kind of warning light for what is about to happen. The plot starts to thicken and gets more complex when we learn that a British minister in Japan recently was assassinated, this is discussed by an arms dealer and his prospect weapons factory owner. The flight centre reports that they have received a note declaring that there is a bomb on the plane, and as they search the passenger’s luggage they stumble upon a small arsenal belonging to the assassin. In the middle of the search as goodhearted Sugisaka and Kuzumi make up excuses for the search as not to alarm the passengers, the psychiatrist stands up and declares that they might be searching for a bomb! He does this for his own scientific (or perhaps sadistic) intentions as it gives him an extraordinary situation to study the human psyche when opposed to a deadly threat. Suddenly the flying saucer attacks the plane making all the technical equipment and motors burst into flames. This gives director Sato an excellent opportunity to use all that great Japanese miniature photography so frequently used in the Kaiju movies, to show a very realistic shot of the burning plane crashing though trees and slamming into the ground. Pretty soon after they crash the true “terrorist” is revealed as he flees the burning wreckage to hide his bomb he still has to use. Now we know that the passengers are all pretty dubious characters, those who have been introduced pre-crash are the ones still alive after impact. Only Sugisaka and Kuzumi take time to put blankets over the deceased, as the others start bickering over the little water supplies left. The US widow on her way to reclaim her husband’s body uses up all the water left to wash herself after the crash, leaving the rest of the passengers without valuable fluid.

At the same time the narrative progresses there is a political commentary running through out the movie, from the “in flight” discussion about the assassinated British minister to the final “you are doomed” comments from the alien which ends with a collage of atomic holocaust imagery. The statements made by the two businessmen are quite obviously references to how the rest of the world is rapidly degenerating, and at the time of the movie the cold war was at it’s peak, Vietnam was coming to it’s pinnacle just as the Korean war was ending, Japan obviously felt very vulnerable as they where in the middle of a world itching to scratch, and even though Japan tried it’s hardest to show up the brave face of a neutral country with no further ambitions to make war, but focus on putting their past behind them, the movie shows that under the surface Japan is just like everywhere else with it’s fair share of egocentrism, escalated violence, and political terrorism.

Anyhow, the plane has crashed, the anarchy and paranoia runs astray. The Hijacking assassin kidnaps Kuzumi and rushes out into the desert only to stumble upon the glowing alien spacecraft. Not being able to control the urge to investigate it he gets too close and the alien mind force draws him into the craft. There in a room full of dark brooding lights the alien creature, looking almost like molten mercury creates a split in the hijackers’ forehead. That split in his head is an area of discussion, because it mostly looks like a vagina, and is frequently referred to as that in other reviews, and I could divulge into an analytical rant about Vagnia Dentate. Symbolism and all that comes with that, but I won’t and I’ll just refer to it as a slit in his head where the alien being enters his body. The alien life form turns him into a vampire and pretty soon he’s back at the wreck feeding off the blood of the decreasing number of survivors. One by one they fall victim to the space vampire and we learn more and more about the unlikeable cast and their terrifying egocentrism. The weapon factory owner turns his head as his wife is groped and molested by the arms dealer, as the profits of the pending deal ahead is much more lucrative for him than his family values. Mrs Neal, the widower takes a gun to the survivors to get her way through, and as previously mentioned they all show their darkest traits when confronted with the stalking terror outside the plane wreckage. But still, Sugisaka and Kuzumi try to keep the survivors’ spirits high but one by one they fall victim to the space vampire. Finally Sugisaka and Kuzumi go up against the alien life form, and seem to defeat it, but in reality the alien has only moved to a new host, and they are faced no further options but to run, run as fast and as far as they can until they reach civilisation.

I love that all the major studios named their aspect ratios after themselves, i.e.: Tohoscpoe, Shintoscope, Nikkatsuscope and here GOKE produced by the Shochiku Company, shot in full glorious Shochiku Grandscope. On a pop cultural level, GOKE is yet another one of those movies that Quentin Tarantino nods his head to in his 2003 movie Kill Bill: Volume 1, just like the swordfight with is an obvious nod to Toshiyo Fujita’s Lady Snowblood from 1973. When the Bride [Uma Thurman] flies to Japan in Kill Bill: Volume 1, just check out those dramatically coloured skies to see what I’m talking about.

But if we’re going to talk about influences and references, it has to be pointed out that director Sato has stated that Mario Bava was a major influence on his career as a director, and it’s quite obvious when you see what art director Tadataka Yoshino and cinematographer Shizuo Hirase did with the amazing style and imagery of this movie. On more than one occasion does Planet of the Vampires come to mind. There’s also a lot of the pop-culture look and feeling of Seijuin Suzuki’s Nippon Noir movies in here too, with Hideo Ko's suave assassin turned hijacker in his white suit and black shades. Then there’s the wonderfully nihilistic reference similar to that found in The Planet of the Apes, as Sugisaka and Kuzumi finally manage to find their way get back to civilisation only to find out that the rest of the world has already gone to hell while they where missing. The camera pulls back showing a dying earth as the army of flying saucers proceeds to hover towards their latest conquest.

Unfortunately this was the last movie that Hajime Sato directed, although he did continue writing a few scripts. It’s a shame that he didn’t direct more movies because the few movies he did directed only get better and better with time, and when you start noticing all the influences and references there is a sublime indication that this director could have broken out and developed into a acknowledged master of the arts on par to Ishirô Honda, Jun Fukuda and Nobuo Nakagawa. But then again GOKE is an amazing movie to end your career on and in more than one way the swan song of a great director.

Image:
Shochiku Grandscope 2.35 : 1

Audio:
Japanese Language 2.0 Dolby Digital. English Subtitles optional

Extras:
No extras.

Nothing Underneath

Nothing Underneath

[Modell morden]
Original Title: Sotto il vestito niente
Directed by: Carlo Vanzina
Italy 1985
Giallo, 90min
Distributed by: Njutafilms.

Story:
Fashion, models, drugs and murder in Milan is what brings Wyoming Ranger Bob Crane to Italy as he searches for his missing twin sister Jessica. Through telepathic visions Bob saw Jessica being murdered and with the help of aging Commissioner Dannesi he starts his own investigation into his sisters’ whereabouts. Quickly making friends with Barbara, another model living at the same hotel as he is, he finds himself in the middle of a series of murders where the friends of his sister are being killed off one by one. Everything points in the direction of the sleazy jeweler Giorgio Pelloni whose main interests are snorting cocaine, looking at photographs of himself and shagging fashion models, sometimes more than one at a time. After presenting a water tight alibi, a dark secret is revealed, and the investigation has to search for new suspects. That’s when Bob receives a strange telegram from his missing sister…

Me:
Like many of the great sub genres there comes a time when they painfully prove top have past their best before date. The Italian Giallo is no exception, and Carlo Vanzina’s Nothing Underneath, shot in 1985, is mostly a showcase of a dying genre’s last gasps. The story, un-originally enough, is set in Milan, where young photo models are being murdered one by one. As mentioned, it’s a quite used theme and definitely previously explored within the Giallo sphere, from Maria Bava’s Blood and Black Lace [Sei donne per l'assassino], 1964, to Andrea Bianchi’s Strip Nude for your Killer [Nude per l’assasino] 1975. (Although the Giallo as a genre lived on well into the early nineties presenting a few decent pieces along the way.) The gloved killer stalking fashion models getting in and out of their clothing feels quite tedious when it’s still being used some twenty years later. On top of this there’s a few quite misplaced shots’ that do more to disturb the movie than help it along. For an instance there’s a completely uncalled for crotch shot which looks more like an insert than anything else right in the start of the build towards the second killing. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against sporadic nudity as it definitely is part of the Giallo atmosphere, but this shot is just so out of place, and actually had me making a mental note that the later Gialli certainly don’t have the “kinky charm” that the early ones had. But, naked women, suave men, gloved assassins and onscreen violence are all part of the tricks of the trade so it shouldn’t distract me; rather the opposite but the unmotivated beaver shot just annoyed me. Even the sleaziest entries into the genre didn’t go that far without a very motivated reason. There’s a much classier shot a few minutes later where Carrie [Catherine Noyes] walks out on Giorgio [Cyrus Elias] after refusing to have sex with him. She runs from the suite and on her way she walks over a subway grid, and shot from beneath the grid the wind lifts her skirt in a The Seven Year Itch/Marilyn Monroe homage that is far more refined. And that’s the level it should be kept at. More of a teasing of the senses instead of a gagging close up.

Anyhow enough ranting about that because this film does have a few very interesting things going for it after all. The main plot focuses on Bob Crane [Tom Schanley] a ranger from Wyoming who travels to Milan to investigate what has happened to his twin sister Jessica [Nicola Perring] after experiencing a vision where he sees her being murdered. This twin paranormal connection is used in several occasions and works great as a bridge between moving us to the next set up and presenting new twists in the plot. Like the climax where Bob “feels” the presence of his sister and makes his way towards her location. It would have been impossible to have him find that flat with out this great device, and it works like a charm. Again it's nothing new to the Giallo sphere as premonitions of death have been used in the genre before like in Lucio Fulci's Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes to name one. The legendary Donald Pleasance (speaking with the most ridiculous fake Italian dialect) is Commissioner Daniesi who at first neglects Bob’s inquiry, but later reveals that he is going to retire in two weeks time and want s to close this case before he quits the force. Pleasance is always a joy to watch and even though he looks really old and tired he impresses like hell as they chase a suspect through the Milan Central station. But after starring in Seven movies during 1985 it’s easy to understand if he was getting tired. There are a few surprises that work really well as they are built up to through genre conventions. Towards the end of the film when most of the “red herrings” are killed off and there are only two options left to who the killer can be, the missing Jessica is reintroduced, and things take an unexpected twist just before the climactic finale where the true killer chases Bob around the apartment with a power drill. Also one of the minor details that I love about the Gialli is that the title is frequently reflected in the narrative of the movie. It almost becomes a second puzzle to solve as you watch the movie, where it the title reference hidden this time. In this case the original title Sotto il vestito niente translates more or less to “nothing underneath the clothes” which is a reference to why Giorgio likes fashion models so much.

I feel that I have to mention something about Renée Toft Simonesen here seen as she is the leading lady of this movie. She plays Barbara, Bob’s “love interest” in the movie, who not until the very end of the movie proves to have known Jessica much more intimately than she has been claiming throughout the movie. Danish “girl next door” Simonsen was one of the most successful models during the 80’s. She was the cover girl on German Vogue in March, April and September and was also featured on the cover of Roxy Music’s compilation album Atlantic Years in 1983. She only acted in two movies, one being this one and then in a second movie with Carlo Vanzina, the comedy Via Montenapoleone in 1987. Then she started to pull herself away from the fashion industry, and after turning down a role as Bond girl in 1988 she retired from the business to start studying psychology. Today she has authored two books and works as a psychologist. Now doesn’t that make you want to sit down with her and listen to her analysis of the Barbara character from a professional stance? I know I would!

In the late eighties there was a significant change in the soundtracks of most Italian genre movies, where the great collaborations with the likes of Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, Stelvio Cipriani, Bruno Nicolai and Goblin where set aside for a more modern approach. For some undeclared reason, modern pop and rock oozed it’s way into the soundtracks of several great Italian genre pieces, which just like this one, damages them now some twenty years later as what was once considered contemporary music hasn’t aged as gracefully as the jazzy scores by Ennio Morricone has, or the ferocious progressive rock of bands like Goblin have. Remember Lamberto Bava’s Demoni movies? Remember Argento’s Terror at the Opera. Remember Michele Soavi’s The Sect [La Setta]? When they first where released the new wave and hard rock music was spot on, but today those movies are almost unwatchable as the soundtracks are so outdated by their musical choices. Even with its score by Pino Donnagio, Nothing Underneath suffers from the late eighties pop music used in the fashion shows, the shoots, the parties and just annoys the crap out of me. If only they had stuck with the Donnagio score it might have had a chance to stay timeless.

But still, Nothing Underneath is after all a decent Giallo, even though it shows the flaws of being in the later period of the genre and mostly just rehashing old ideas. But there are a few interesting twists that make up for the familiarity and in my opinion rather mild approach to the onscreen violence. Compared to earlier Gialli and contemporary Italian horror of the late eighties there could have been a lot more visual carnage on screen, but here the most visual it gets, is a pair of scissors pushed into a back. And even though the spin on the almost obligatory “bath tub murder” is kept off screen only to be used by the killer to wash the blood of the scissors, there are several scenes where they could have gone so much further making a bigger imprint. The power drill fight at the end is very lame, it could have gotten much more violent and gorier with a few effects, and the girl who committed suicide could have been much more visual. One exploding head effect could have worked wonders for the movie and really have made a mark. Screenwriter Franco Ferrini shows the beginning of a great career taking off with this movie. Where he previously had been part of a larger writing staff on the likes of Michele Massimo Tarantini’s Crimebusters, and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, he moved up to being co-writer with Lamberto Bava on Demons, Dario Argento on Phenomena, Two Evil Eyes, Trauma, Stendhal Syndrome, Sleepless, The Card Player and Do You Like Hitchcock?, and not to forget Eros Pugielli’s Eyes of Crystal from 2004 the closest thing to a Giallo to hit the screens in a long time.

All in all, Sotto il vestito niente is entertaining, it has a few surprises you won’t see coming and most of all an interesting study of mid eighties music, style and fashion, not to say one of the better movies of a dying genre.

Image:
Cinemascope 2:35:1 / Anamorphic

Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 or English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or Finnish.

Extras:
Theatrical Trailer, other Gialli Trailers from Njuta Films/Another World Entertainment, trailer show for other Njuta Films/Another World Entertainment titles, a slideshow of publicity stills and director filmography.

The Invasion

The Invasion

Directed by: Oliver Hiershbiegel (& James McTiegue uncredited)
USA/Australia, 2007
Sci-Fi / Horror, 99min
Distributed by: Warner Video

Story:
Psychiatrist Carol Bennell [Nicole Kidman] has for the last year been divorced from her husband Tucker [Jeremy Northam], who decided to pursue his political career over his family, finds her self and son, Oliver, in the middle of an alien invasion with a political twist. After a terrible space shuttle accident a strange organism has been found that has the citizens all railed up. But pretty soon the government is proclaiming that there is no threat, and that they are prepared for this “alien invasion” But the alien spores are taking over the population, and even one of Bennell’s patients, is complaining that her husband isn’t her husband. After several strange incidents she starts to investigate the alien invasion with her boyfriend Ben [Daniel Craig], just to learn that the invasion is much closer to home than she ever could have guessed. Now her main objective is to stay awake and keep one step ahead of the “new” inhabitants of earth who want to take over mankind. Don’t fall asleep!


Me:
Honestly, was this necessary? Did we really need a new take on a movie that was first made during the Hollywood coldwar/communism blacklisting scare in 1956 by Don Siegel, updated and remade to splendor by Phillip Kaufman in 1978 and then again updated decently by Abel Ferrara in 1993. But, still, You can’t out do Kaufman’s fantastic version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you just can’t! So why even try? Ok yeah, so I’ll give credit to David Kajaganich for his modernized political twist on the original Jack Finney novel, but still it’s just a dead movie. We know where it is going from frame one, and there are NO surprises at all. If you have a great story set up where the aliens have come to earth to create global peace, which they more or less succeed with by the movie climax, then why do you pull a 180 and totally fuck up a story that was going somewhere? If you wanted to surprise me whey the hell didn’t you just have the government crash the “Secret Lab” stomp them out and then have Nicole Kidman be completely zonked (as she is in that last part) so that she agrees to join Daniel Craig and the other “pseudo humans” in their new state. Then they all kill her child as there is no room in the “New” world for immune non-receptacle people. Then end it all with world peace and a race that is totally in agreement with everything. That would have fucked the minds of your audience big time. They sacrificed everything to become a united race. Kidman sacrificed her kid for global peace. That would have made an impact. And that would have been more acceptable. Because if the government wanted us to get with the programme, they would make us. They would turn us all to “pod persons” if they thought that was for the best. Not the incredibly insulting ending where the scientists save her at the very last second and cure the world… …only to have wars, murders, global conflicts back on the daily agenda. And then that ridiculous “happy family” ending where Daniel Craig is back to normal and Kidman gives him a “still not sure if I trust you anymore” looks (which isn’t much different from any of her other “looks” in the movie) just rips a hole in any credibility that this stinker ever had to start with. Now this isn’t all because of the director Oliver Hirshbiegel and Kajaganich, so let’s not point any fingers here. But if we where to point fingers, stick it in the direction of producer Joel Silver. As he found the supposedly two hour original cut boring and intellectual, he brought in the Wachowski Brothers [Yeah as in Matrix, se where I’m going! Part one rocks, then it all just goes down hill] to re-write the script and later still James McTiegue [remember that guy who fucked up Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta] to re-shoot shit. Like that Molotov throwing during the car chase bit. If anything ever felt out of place then that is the school book example. So according to internet rumours all that remains of the original vision is bits and pieces here and there…

The acting, lets talk about the acting. It’s possibly the worst I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ve sat through some really bad movies in my life time. Kidman can’t act. Period. She can’t act. Just name ONE movie where she is believable (apart from Gus Van Sant’s To Die For and you can’t say Kubrik’s Eyes Wide Shut, because you just think that she acted in that because she got her clothes off.) There’s something about her that just doesn’t work for me. She always looks the same, what ever she is supposed to be playing. Her “Oh, this psycho just tried to kill my husband and I on our honeymoon in the middle of nowhere” “Oh I’m Batman’s Girlfriend!”, “Oh, My sister and I are witches!”, “Oh I’m a ghost!”, “Oh, I’m Virginia Woolf and I’ve got a really bug nose!” faces are all the same she might as well be saying “Oh, I’m Nicole Kidman and you have to give me a shit load of cash so that I can look like this!” because there’s nothing there. She is a Stepford Wife. Daniel Craig! What is he doing in this movie? He was fucking brilliant in Layer Cake, but here it almost as if he says “you know what I’m Bond and I don’t have to bring anything to this movie any more!” (Because he did in fact get the Bond Gig during the shooting of this flick) Jeffrey Wright, that guy owned me since bringing Jean Michel Basquiat to life in Julian Schnabel’s amazing Basquiat biopic, and I just love him to death in Jarmush’s Broken Flowers, but here… A scientist who sneers, doesn’t believe in what he’s saying and might as well just be reading lines right out of a paper (which he in a way is doing), and not to mention Jeremy Northam, who other wise is amazing in authority figure roles. They just come off as completely uninterested in the story, which clashes hard with the behind the scenes footage where they all praise the plot and story… Strange stuff indeed. Perhaps they where exchanged for pod people?

Could it be that the director out of his league? It certainly feels like it, but at the same time you have to remember that Hirshbeigel directed the magnificent Bruno Ganz in the fantastic Der Untergang [The Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich], Ganz one of the biggest stars in Germany and that movie all takes place in a bunker, but still has you wanting more after the three hour extended cut is over. And not to forget that really interesting Das Experiment that all takes place inside a temporary prison where the experiment explores how far people will go in the roles of Jailer and inmate. Really impressive stuff, but Invasion… It never really reclaims the posture that it tries so desperately too build in the setting up of characters and plot, it just falls flat like a pancake from the sky. A movie plays along the line of “don’t fall asleep, or they will get you!” is just ironic, because this movie really puts the audience to sleep!

Finally the positive things about this stinker, and once again I have to go back to that script by Kajaganich. Using the pharmaceutical metaphors where we load our selves up on so much shit that even the “aliens” can’t see who’s who is brilliant and makes for good commentary on the quick fixes that mankind take today. Also the political statement that we wouldn’t let world peace happen is also very well scripted. Director Oliver Hirshbiegel needs a pat on the back because the camera work is what makes this film watch able, along side that original idea. Suggestions to DVD companies, if you ever re-release this turkey, make sure that there’s a Score only audio option. Those suggestive angles and rapid edits of Hirshbiegel’s together with John Ottman’s post-modern other world score are all you need to make this thing fly. Or even better put the director and screenwriter’s vision back together and let the audience decide.

Image:
1.78:1 [16:9 anamorphic widescreen]

Audio:
English Language, Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese subtitles.

Extras:
We’ve Been Snatched Before: Invasion In media History Documentary, 3 Featurettes; The Invasion: A New Story, The Invasion: On The Set and The Invasion: Snatched, Trailers for other Warner titles

Puzzle

Puzzle
Original Title: L’uomo Senza Memoria
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Italy, 1974
Giallo, 92 min.
Distributed by NjutaFilms.

Story:
In London a tricky problem is presented to Edward [Luc Merenda], who has just recovered from a serious car accident. He can’t remember who he is. This is especially troublesome for him as people from his past start turning up and demanding that he “gives back the money” he owes them. He learns that his passport claiming he is Peter Smith is a fake and his real name is in fact Edward. The trail leads him to Italy where his wife Sara [Senta Berger] still unaware that he’s still alive has started putting together the shatters of her life since he went missing in London some years ago. After an awkward reuniting Sara decides to give the “dirty rotten bastard” a second chance. Edward is remorseful to learn that he was a “dirty rotten bastard”, but he has really lost his memory and needs her to give him a chance so that he can get back on track. Then George [Bruno Corazzari] shows up outside their door. George claims to be a mate of Edwards, and if Edward doesn’t return the drugs and money he was holding onto when he went missing George will kill him and then their common boss will kill George. Edward has to start putting together the pieces of his puzzle in rapid progression now, because there are lives at stake.


Me:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until time stands still, there’s nothing as entertaining as a good Old Italian Giallo. I’ll fight to the death to declare that there are NO bad Gialli, the scale goes from great ones and lesser good ones, bad is not part of the genre. Duccio Tessari’s L’uomo senza memoria is one of those Giallo that could have been so much more, but if you can stay with it through out the fist half the second half really takes off and it manages to redeem any tediousness that it may have caused in the set up. Luc Merenda walks around in confusion, always the hard ass, dishing out sarcastic comments and uses his fists over his mind as he tries to puzzle his life back together. But unfortunately he never quite manages to persuade me that he’s really confused, more just his regular old Detective mimicry as he tries to figure stuff out. Austrian Import Senta Berger pulls this off like a charm. She fits the midlife wife who is desperately trying to put her life together again with the help of neighbour kid Luca [Duilio Cruciani] and Doctor Reinhardt [Umberto Orsini] as she flirts her way through her crisis. The dramatic tightening of the noose half way through as the pieces start to fall together and the original plan to smuggle drugs out of Italy is exposed really good and presents a great example of Giallo at it’s better state. It’s also a tightly woven movie as all the plot plants get paid off towards the conclusion, Little Luca’s constant photographing of Sara, the chainsaw the gardener keeps forgetting to put away, that disgusting little dog, all subtly planted just to comeback and deliver new pieces of information, who the mysterious woman is, where the drugs are etc., as the movie moves towards a truly grizzly climax.


Duccio, with several successful Peplum & Spaghetti Westerns to his credit only ventured into Giallo territory a few rare times, Puzzle being one of them. Not quite as known as his previous attempt The Bloodstained Butterfly, but on the other hand the story here has been scripted by Giallo Script Maestro Ernesto Gastaldi which almost always guarantees placing the movie in the upper half of that above mentioned scale. Staying true to most Gialli, the who dunnit toying with the audience is there, but also by stepping away from the common Gialli traits of sex, murder and assassins in black gloves Gastaldi and Tessari flip this one over and instead focus on the characters, the amnesia and the actual mystery of what goes where, who know what and who is who. As mentioned previously if you just stay put during those first forty minutes the second half is a great piece of Giallo frenzy with double crossing mates, backstabbing foes, and also when the gorgeous Swede Anita Strindberg makes her entrance into the film, although she’s definitely underused this time around. Its brilliant how they really use the amnesia to create empathy for Edward, and also how as his vicious background as a henchman comes crawling back to him in flashes every time there is a violent encounter. And once again the genre proves that you can’t trust anyone in a Giallo, because when you least expect it the tables can and will be turned and friends prove to be foes. Is George going to stick up for his old mate and turn sides, is Sara’s best friend and suitor Reinhardt going to turn against her, is Sara even who she says she is, how much does Edward really remember or will it even be the little Luca who is going to be the mastermind behind the fiendish dope plan? Those are the questions that you face when watching this excellent movie.

Image:
Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1

Audio:
Italian or English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, Optional Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian Subtitles

Extras:
Original Trailer for Puzzle, Trailers for other NjutaFilms/AWE titles [Cannibal Ferox, Mountain of the Cannibal God, Cannibal Holocaust, Eaten Alive, City of the Living Dead and Beyond] Slideshow, Duccio Tessari filmography.

A Capital dos Mortos

A Capital dos Mortos
Directed by: Tiago Belotti,
Brazil, 2008
Horror / Zombies, 87min
Distruibuted by Vortex Films


Story:
After a quick set up that takes place in 1883, a Turin priest explains the rules of the zombie pestilence to haunt the world in the coming centuries we cut to modern day Brazil. Two chicks check out the sights, get snoggy and suck some face, just in time for the first zombie attack washes over them. From here the story follows four friends Lucas, André, Pamela, and Christopher as they try their damnedest to stay ahead of the zombies eating their way through the country.



Me:
I probably wouldn't have ever heard about this flick if it wasn't for a mate at work who asked "Have you seen that Brazillian Zombie movie yet?" A few days later he'd gotten the disc himself and told me to check it out. It's a rather decent home made zombie flick from Brazil that could easily loose a few sequences to keep the pace and coherence more at bay. The movie has some problems when it comes to which foot it wants to stand on Shaun of the Dead funny or Dawn of the Dead nihilism. So the movie mixes and blends genre traits with in jokes, references and homage’s to loads of other zombie movies, and at one point there's even a great cameo by the legendary Coffin Joe [José Mojicas Marins] The effects are of varied quality, some zombies just look plain stupid but some actually work, the gore part is also Ok, but suffers from what director Belitto has seen previously instead of creating something new. But the CG gunshot to head FX and the shaky DV camera work great for the movie really creating that “fake documentary” atmosphere to the film. The acting isn’t the best, but the Lucas [Gustavo Serrante] and Christoper [Yan klier] characters are decent enough and work in such an entertaining way that you want to know how the shit is going to hit the fan. Several other characters are also highlighted and introduced only to be discarded a few minutes later, which is a shame because they only damage the film by making it fragmented and tedious. I’m sure that the entire brief Tatiana line is only there because she was the only one who agreed to get her kit off for the cameras. The Jôsefer character who first murders his mother and then when he first escapes the zombies, damages his leg, so with his bloodied body and limp the zombies believe that he’s one of them. It is an amusing little line, especially as his line ends abruptly in humorous encounter with a very dark twist.

Once again it’s fun to watch an apocalyptic vision of zombie infested hell, and this one even shuts the book leaving no questions at the end, even though that answer is a dark and fatal one, it’s served up with one last punch line.

In the whole A Capital dos Mortos is an inspiring and impressive piece of independent filmmaking, and even though Belotti fails somewhat in certain areas there are enough impressive parts to make the a cineaste curious to what he’ll get up to next. At least he made in imprint with this debut feature.


Image:
Shot on DV framed as 16X9 Widescreen

Audio:
2.0 Stereo (RCA Sound System), Portuguese language with optional Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Extras:
The movie comes packed in a two disc edition where the second disc is packed with extras:
Interviews with cast and crew, a ton of shorts on Effect special, Making of and Written errors. Deleted Scenes, Alternative Cast, a short on the Music - Boys and Girls of the Rock and Roll



The DVD can be obtained for next to nothing from the official site http://www.acapitaldosmortos.com.br/index.php

Lips of Blood

Lips of Blood
Original Title: Lèvres de sang
Directed by: Jean Rollin, France, 1975
Horror / EuroGoth / Eroticism, 71min.
Distributed by: NjutaFilms
[Redemption / Another World Entertainment]

Story:
Suave upper-class mover Frédéric [Jean-Loup Phillipe] sees a poster on the wall at a party and finds himself remembering one special night from his childhood when he spent a night in the ruins of an abandoned castle with a strange girl [Annie Briand]. Suddenly he realizes that she’s the only women he has ever loved and sets about tracking down the castle ruins so that he might be reunited with this long lost love…


Me:
What first promises to be just another movie in the vain that I remember Rollin’s movies to be; slow-paced crap acting with a few French chicks running around wearing nothing but see through curtains (cause that’s what their ever so see-through dresses look like, the curtains at my summer house) strange weird imagery and a equally surreal soundtrack to accompany the far fetched plot actually gets under my skin and proves to be something of a quite tender love story… …if you want to twist it that far. And I do, I do want to enjoy this movie and I do want to go away from it saying that there’s more to it than meets the eye. The love story is the one that I chose to take with me after the end credits finish rolling. Because it's that love story that pushes Frédéric on, his modus operandi, to find that girl he fell in love with all those years ago. And it's also within that theme that some of the most beautiful imagery of the film is found. So setting the movie up with all the trademarks, a quick vampire burial, or more hiding the coffins away and strategically placing crucifixes to keep them there than a burial, the camera focuses on Frédéric who obviously is still pampered by his mom [Nathalie Perrey] because he still lives as home we will eventually learn and he acts as her little errand boy during the party. That’s the same party where he starts his investigation into that strange castle ruin that haunts his childhood memories.

He tracks down the photographer who shot the photo, but she wont’ tell him anything about it as “someone” has paid her good money to keep it a secret. Anyhow she falls for his boyish charm and promises to let him know if he meets her at the aquarium at midnight. On his way to the rendezvous, he goes to see a movie, Rollin's 1970 La Vampire Nue, only to be distracted by the spirit of the girl he longs for. He sets after her and soon finds himself in a strange cemetery where he inside a tomb finds a secret passage leading down to the crypt we saw at the beginning of the movie. Due to his innocent curiosity he obviously opens one of the caskets releasing the vampires upon the world. (Again Rollin uses his stock actors, Phillipe, Perrey, the two twins Catherine and Marie-Pierre Castel among others). In a panic he flees only to bump into a woman on a bridge who claims to be the girl he's looking for... and even though he doesn't believe her, he follows her back to her flat. After confronting her with the fact that he understands that she's not the girl he's looking for and that someone obviously has paid her to claim she is, the woman runs out into the dark night... Only to be cornered by the vampires.


Frédéric continues his search and heads off to the aquarium, but as he enters, a strange dude leaves… at midnight… so it comes as no shock when Frederic finds the photographer killed does it? He races after the bloke and there's a wonderful chase in the Parisian Metro before he starts seeing visions of the girl again, who mouths the words Je’ taime, which only furthers his drive. It’s at this point that he figures out that his mother isn’t telling him everything because he doesn’t recall the great childhood memories she always told him about. Neither does he believe her when she claims that he never went missing. Enraged with his mother he storms out of their house only to be restrained by guards outside who take him to the Parisian looney bin. But fret not, because pretty soon the twin vampires are there and disguised as nurses they free him and chomp down on the psychiatric wanting to “cure” Frédéric. He continues his quest while at the same time the female vampires bite their way through his antagonists, and every now and then he sees the girl of his dreams lead him on. Eventually he finds the location of the castle and returns there, only to learn that the girl in fact was/is Jennifer, a vampire that stalked the area setting forth an army of terrifying she-bats that terrorized the small rural town. His mother was part of the posse that finally put an end to the rein of terror and now demands that Frédéric does what is right and end the vampire once again while the villagers, or at least that’s how I interpreted the three blokes driving stakes though the bare chests of the other four fanged chicks in curtains, killed off the others. Obviously he doesn’t and fools them all by tossing the decapitated head of a religious statue that watches over Jennifer’s coffin into the big fiery bonfire in the castle courtyard. Satisfied with the results the vampire killers and Frédéric’s mom all leave, as Frédéric takes one last walk around the ruins… …only to meet up with the still very alive Jennifer. They spend a few days together while they celebrate their love and finally he gives her the greatest gift of all as he lets her set her fangs in his neck. Together they step into her casket and sail away from the beach to start a new life of their own together for all eternity. Great climax indeed, and at times the movie almost plays like a Giallo with sexy vampires thrown in for good measure.


Jean-Loup Phillipe who holds the lead in the film also wrote the screenplay together with Rollin, and that’s possibly why his character is so likable. If you’re going to play him you might as well make him likable. And he is likable, probably because the quest for love is one of the noblest quests you can set out on, and everybody wants our heroic underdog to find his love or at least set the record right while trying.

It’s been years since I actually sat through a Rollin movie, not to many of them have made an eternal impression apart from a few, so finally picking up some of his films on DVD and revisiting them is possibly going to turn out to be a pleasant re-acquaintance with the good old Jean Rollin, because Lips of Blood impressed me in many more ways than it might have all those years ago when I started exploring the exploitation genres. Great stuff from a great golden age of European genre cinema.

Image:
Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1

Audio:
French Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, Optional Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian Subtitles

Extras:
Trailers for Requiem for a Vampire, Shiver of the Vampires, The Living Dead Girl, Night of the Hunted, Demoniacs and a decent three minute slide show of images from the film.

recap...

Oh bloody hell... Has it been THAT long since I wrote an entry?

I've been working like a mad doctor to animate the CONSTRUCTING HORROR site, and we have finally after two years of crypt raiding, limb stitching, and thunder striking brought that amazing project into the world.

"IT'S ALIVE!"

It's now filled with interviews, articles and in depth reviews of loads of movies. So check it out if you want to get your creative juices flowing. But don't worry, this site will still be dedicated to the trashier, sleazier, mindless violence, sex and gore movies that won't be figuring on the Constructor site.

While that other project has really taken a load of my time, and this poor old blog has fallen into some kind of slow death...

...but the best thing with the dead is that they sometimes come back!

Just like this blog.

FEMALE PRISONER # 701 : SCORPION

FEMALE PRISONER # 701 : SCORPION
Original Title: Joshuu 701-gô : Sasori
Directed by: Shunya Ito, Japan, 1972
Drama / Thriller / Crime, 87 min
Distributed by: Tokyo Shock

Story:
After being set up and deceived by her “boyfriend / Bad cop” Sugimi [Isao Natsuyagi], Nami Matsushima, aka The Scorpion [Meiko Kaji] finds herself in one of the most violent prisons in Japan. When she isn’t fighting off the other female prisoners, she’s planning a taunting game of cat and mouse with the evil head of the facility Inspector Goda [Fumio Wantanabe, who also returned for the sequel] but no prison is safe enough to keep Sasori behind bars as she is renown for her daring escapes from custody time and time again. No prison can stand in the way of her vengeance!

Me:
You can’t sit though a Sasori movie with out realising that this is Kick-ass cinema when it’s at it’s best, although I don’t feel that this the first instalment of original seventies Sasori is the best of the four movies, I’d like to reserve that spot for Shunya Ito’s third entry; Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable 1973. (Shunya Ito only directed the first three, and then left Yasuharu Hasabe to helm the final instalment in 1973. In 1976 a new series was initiated but this time without the stunning Meiko Kaji , and then spawning several more sequels, even a Sasori in America as late as 1997) Anyhow, you should start off with the original to get into the mood and back-story to who Sasori is and why she doesn’t take any shit from nobody.
From the opening sequence where Sasori and a friend escape from the prison and are chased by armed guards shooting at them like there was no tomorrow, only to take a time out and explain to her friend that the blood between her legs is only her period that has returned after being locked up for so long, to the climactic final scenes where vengeance is taken and justice is served this movie just keeps the punches coming. But having seen my fair share of Women in prison movies (anyone interested in subgenre cinema has without a doubt sat through several hours of cheap Euro sleazy W.I.P. movies) it is very obvious that this movie (like the entire Sasori series) has a very strong feminist theme running through it. Even though the females are victims for most of the film, Sasori still stands strong, and even though each torment is more hideous than the previous, Sasori never sways from her main objective. To break out of prison and take her revenge on Sugami, her one time boyfriend who used her in one of his scams to bust a yakuza gang. Used in the way of letting the gang take turns in raping her and then he nonchalantly throws a bunch of yen notes at her and walks away. From this instance in life, Sasori starts planning her revenge, and it won’t come as a surprise when I tell you that she takes it in full with force too, now will it...

Not having much luck in her career and smaller parts in Nikkatsu’s Stray Cat Rock series in the very early 1970’s actress Meiko Kaji in an attempt to avoid becoming a Pinku film starlet, moved to Toei where she found herself working with director Shunya Ito on a series of adaptations of Toru Shinohara’s Women in Prison Manga. This could have been one of the wisest decisions that Kaji ever took as the films became huge successes in Japan and propelled her to stardom, and probably contributed to her landing the lead in Toshiya Fujita’s two classic Lady Snowblood movies. Meiko Kaji later acted in several of Kenji Fukasaku’s Yakuza movies, Yakuza Graveyard 1976, being the one to stand out the most. But as being one of Japan’s most famous actresses wasn’t enough Kaji also had modest success as a singer, often singing several songs on the soundtracks to her movies. If you saw Tarantion’s Kill Bill movies [2003-2004] you have heard Kaji singing the laid back jazzy "Urami-Bushi" and "Flower of Carnage (Shura No Hana)" from both the Sasori series and the Lady Snowblood movies.

If you want to see where part of the inspiration for Uma Thurman's The Bride character in Kill Bill came from, then check out Shunya Ito's magnificent Female Prisoner #701 : Scorpion. It's a true gem of Japanese seventies cinema, although not a Pinku, it's still violent and sleazy enough to make an impression and become a late night classic. Go get it now!

Image:
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:
Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Optional English Subtitles

Extras:
Photo Gallery, trailers for the other “Sasori” movies released by Tokyo Shock.