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Giallo - from best to worst
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Reviews
Nazi Murder Mysteries (2018)
It doesn't always do what it says on the tin but its a fascinating series nevertheless.
True crime meets Nazi Germany - sounds like a recipe for success as a documentary series? Well, in fairness, it is good TV and well worth watching if you are interested in either of those two topics but it also has to at least be acknowledged that the material isn't always the best fit. The first three episodes certainly fir the remit but the final three are more questionable, with the Witch Elm murder very easily having nothing to do with the Nazis at all, while the Hermann Goering and Rudolph Hess entries most likely not murder mysteries at all! That being said, all the episodes make for interesting viewing. Hitler's bizarre and dark relationship with his niece, highly irregular and corrupt police work in the Bahamas, a psychopath prowling the streets of Berlin at the height of Nazi terror, an unknown woman found in a tree and portraits of high-ranking Nazi officials Goering and Hess. There's a lot to sink your teeth into, even if the title doesn't always fully match the content.
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
Entertaining Nazi sci-fi thriller
Writer Ira Levin's novels have been notable as a reliable source for some great films, such as Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives. The Boys from Brazil is another pretty good example, even if it doesn't quite match up to those other two earlier examples. Like the then recent movie Marathon Man, this is another thriller which features a central villain who is based around the notorious Dr Josef Mengele, the so-called Angel of Death who conducted filthy experiments on inmates in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Unlike Marathon Man, the central character IS Mengele himself, which in a neat role reversal of that film has Laurence Olivier switch from the evil Nazi to the Nazi hunter here, replete with (extremely) over-wrought Jewish accent. By contrast, and perhaps unexpectedly, we have Gregory Peck portraying Mengele in this one.
It all amounts to an entertaining thriller with a sci-fi premise. That premise is of course the idea of neo-Nazis attempting to kick-start the Fourth Reich by creating many clones of Adolf Hitler around the world, in the form of a series of very strange teenage boys. Those mini-Hitlers are played by Jeremy Black in a very memorably obnoxious series of performances. While the sci-fi silliness ensures its not very realistic, its also this angle which gives the movie its main angle, meaning its not just another run-of-the-mill 70's Nazi thriller. Aside from that, there's a memorable tense sequence featuring Dobermans and several cameos involving recognisable actors from TV and film, including Steve Guttenberg once again entirely failing to not be a bit cheesy in a serious role as an undercover activist.
Catch-22 (1970)
All things considered, this is a great adaption
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is one of those pivotal novels where you feel like every sentence has been considered in minute detail. It was such an influential piece of work that everyone knows what a Catch-22 situation is, even if they aren't even aware that the term originated from this book. The catch itself is a particularly cold-blooded rule that underpins the events from this story, trapping the airforce men into a life of unremitting hell. Overall, the book is quite an intense reading experience and a deservedly revered bit of work, even if its unusual tone is most definitely not going to be to all tastes. Its one of those books that you could easily imagine being filed under the 'unfilmable' category, as how could you replicate the comic absurdities mixed with the deathly serious subject matter found on the page into a workable movie? Well, I think director Mike Nichols, screenwriter Buck Henry and the ensemble cast do a very impressive job of translation.
The story in a nutshell is about the sheer insanity of war. To this end there is a jarring mix of absurd black humour, mixed in with the horror and terror of war. Of the latter, and also similar to the book, the haunting gradually understood Snowden death scene punctuates the film, as we progress through all manner of other events which highlight the bureaucratic absurdity and psychopathic madness of warfare. Unlike the 2017 TV adaption, I feel like this 1970 film both gets the humour right and casts the characters far better. There are many familiar faces here, pretty much all doing fine work in their respective roles, while the choices made by Buck Henry and Mike Nichols work really well in adapting this dense novel down to movie length. This is one of the must-see World War II movies for me.
Libìdo (1965)
Minimalistic but enjoyable enough early giallo
Four people arrive at a seaside mansion, which is the ancestral home of one of the party - a young man who witnessed his father murdering a woman there when he was a child. Various antagonisms exist between the characters and to make matters worse, there is a hefty inheritance at stake - isn't there always?! And will history repeat itself in the form of murder?!! Do you know what, it might just...
This very early giallo owes more to the likes of the French classic Les Diaboliques and Hammer psychological thrillers such as Taste of Fear, than it does Mario Bava's early giallo proto-types, The Girl Who Knew Too Much or Blood and Black Lace. To this end, it doesn't have a maniac on the loose scenario and instead focuses on a small cast, where the central character is so emotionally vulnerable that we are not sure if they are being driven mad or insane to begin with. It's a fairly basic and minimalistic movie in a lot of ways but it does have some visual black and white elegance and nice touches such as the mirrored room. The small cast isn't bad either with future Hannibal and Bond actor Giancarlo Giannini suitably intense as the psychologically damaged son, giallo regular Dominique Boschero a welcome presence once more as his wife, character actor of dozens of side roles Luciano Pigozzi is successfully shifty once again as the lawyer and Mara Maryl (who came up with the idea for the film!) romps about in bikinis as the resident fox. But what may define Libido most of all in giallo terms, is that the most prominent screenwriter of the genre, Ernesto Gastaldi, was given a rare opportunity to direct here. He doesn't do a bad job and the film, while a bit unexciting for the most part, does have a fairly diverting final third where events do ramp up a bit. Its no classic but it's a nice example of a very early Italian thriller.
Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält (1970)
Grim and effective witch trials horror offering
I seem to think this West German film was one of the early forerunners of violent exploitation cinema. After all, its poster claimed it was 'the first film rated V for violence' and audiences were handed a vomit bag on entry. And to be honest, for 1970, this would quite clearly have inhabited the extreme fringes of cinematic violence. It took obvious influence from the earlier Witchfinder General but moved the material into much more definitive exploitation territory at times. Like that earlier film, the story takes place in unenlightened pre 19th century Europe, at the time of the witch trials. The story focuses on the hypocrisy of the witchfinders, who claim to be carrying out their work in the name of God but whose motivations really stem from sexually inadequacy, greed and sadism. It does consequently have a withering view of the actions of the Church during these times and does have some serious points to make despite its salacious content.
I guess director Michael Armstrong is having his cake and eating it though, as on the one hand, the torture scenes depicted here are grim and ugly and reflect what actually went on in an in-your-face educational kind of way, while on the other hand, this stuff does work wonders as pure exploitation cinema as well. Like a lot of continental period-set horror offerings, the authentic locations and costuming adds massive amounts to the feel and atmosphere of the thing. While the casting is also very good, with Herbert Lom adding weight to his role as the deluded chief witchfinder Lord Cumberland, Reggie Nalder is terrifying as his sexually deviant and scary looking predecessor Albino, Udo Kier elicits great screen presence as the apprentice who slowly begins to understand the evil he is involved in and Olivera Katarina is a sensual and empathetic presence as the woman Vanessa, who is the catalyst for much of the drama. Overall, this is a very strong and effective bit of folk horror, which is admittedly pretty unpleasant and disturbing at times but which stands up well as a more excessive sister film to Witchfinder General.
Angustia (1987)
There's a few fun and games with this one
Bigas Luna was a Spanish director who made a name for himself with entertaining erotically charged melodramas which played the 90's arthouse circuit, such as Jamón Jamón and Golden Balls. In the earlier phase of his career he seems to have worked in genre films but brought an arthouse approach to proceedings. With Anguish, he made a film which could be described as a slasher with a foot in postmodernist territory. Its kind of difficult submitting a meaningful review of this one without revealing spoilers, as the central conceit is what totally defines it. It begins with a story of an ophthalmologist who is controlled by his mother, who hypnotizes him into a killing spree which culminates in a bloody massacre in a cinema. So far, so generic but once we are in full flow of this gory narrative, the camera pans back and we discover we are watching all of this on a cinema with an audience. And before long, there is a murderer unleashed in that auditorium too.
Going by the above synopsis it should be obvious that this one would work especially well in a cinema, given we would then have three layers of separation. On that basis, its kind of a shame that this one is obscure enough for cinema screenings to be somewhat rare. The whole movie within a movie concept is distinctive and does give this one a more playful and original edge, even if you sometimes think they could certainly have done even more with it. While this is a Spanish film, it does have a couple of decidedly offbeat American actors in the 'first' film, namely Michael Lerner and Zelda Rubinstein (this approach does differentiate the two narratives and does make it feel like we are with a Spanish audience who are watching an American movie). From the horror side of the fence there's a decent balance of tension, gore and general weirdness. The result is a decidedly original horror effort, which definitely works best if you can embrace its oddball central concept.
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
Bonfire of the Banalities
Following on from the first film in the Decline of Western Civilisation trilogy, which looked at the L. A. punk scene, this second instalment takes a look at metal, specifically the L. A. glam metal scene. Needless to say, there are some pretty obvious differences between the films. The most obvious being that the metal crowd are actively wanting fame and success, which in fairness you can hardly argue with. But there is a general vacuousness about most of the guys interviewed in this doc (I specifically say men because, quite similar to Part 1, the women here for the most part all seem FAR more level-headed and intelligent!). Future Wayne's World director Penelope Spheeris is on hand to actively encourage the stupidity of the participants with her questions, although in order to achieve this she hardly needs the interview skills of Alan Wicker, given that most of these metal-heads offer up banalities free of charge. A lot of the interviewees are guys from 'up-and-coming' bands and their confidence in future success certainly could be described as delusional, albeit they do not have the benefit of hindsight where we all know that two or three years later grunge was on the way leading to instant annihilation in what could be known as the Hair Metal Holocaust. So, in many respects this doc can now be viewed as hanging out with a bunch of people who are about to be catastrophically derailed but who are at present happily unaware of the onrushing disaster.
In amongst the interviews there are a series of live performances, all of which seemed to be terrible bands playing the same song - except for Megadeth whose thrash metal sound did somewhat stick out here like a sore thumb. Several successful artists are interviewed to varying effect, such as the aforementioned Megadeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Poison, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Lemmy and the not-yet-known Vixen. There are occasional moments of comedy such as the band London epically failing to burn a Soviet flag or the surreal bizarreness of W. A. S. P. guitarist Chris Holmes out of his head on booze in a pool on a floating chair while his mum looks on ambivalently. There's also a super-sleazy old guy in a hat who organises a bikini contest in which several of the hair metal wannabees are the judges. Its overall certainly a mish-mash of stupidities which make up this documentary but then, the hair metal scene of L. A., with its focus on partying, must certainly be in the running to claim the title of the dumbest music genre of all time. While there are moments of manipulation in the editing in this one for sure, it nevertheless is a reasonably revealing look at this rock music scene, however, most people who watch it will understand why it really needed to be wiped out by alternative rock!
La última señora Anderson (1971)
Old school Spanish jet-setting giallo
Suspicion falls on a man whose third wife dies mysteriously in his swimming pool - after all, his other two previous spouses died in odd circumstances too and he always seems to benefit financially! He escapes prison in a dubious manner and shortly after a mysterious woman pitches up in his swimming pool late one night; he winds up marrying her too. But is she who she says she is? Will she become the fourth victim? And who is that odd woman kicking about in the dead of night?
This Spanish giallo was directed by Eugenio Martin who later helmed the excellent Horror Express. He doesn't deliver a film nearly as entertaining with this one. Not that its bad or anything but the pace is slow and there doesn't seem to be a massive amount happening a lot of the time. Also, given the genre, it has to be said that there's a distinct lack of salacious content to be found here either, which always tends to enliven even the least essential giallo. The star in this one is Carroll Baker who appeared in a raft of similar old school gialli, which were less about maniacs prowling around violently picking off members of the cast and more about jet-setters plotting against one-and-other for large inheritances. This movie is most definitely of the latter category, and consequently does benefit from a certain lushness of presentation, with a pleasingly loungey score from Piero Umiliani and a visually nice look throughout. The character played by Marina Malfatti was probably the most promising overall, as she is an unhinged crazy person with a tenuous grip on reality, i.e. A pleasingly eccentric and ridiculous giallo character! On the whole, this is a solid example of the early style of this type of movie but just be aware that the thrills on offer are less excessive and more of the breezy and laid-back variety.
La sorella di Ursula (1978)
More sexploitation than giallo
When it comes to most popular Italian genres - from spaghetti westerns to poliziotteschi - you can tell that they are on the downward slide when they start becoming comedies and parodying their genres. With the giallo by direct comparison, this never seemed to happen and instead the decline of the genre - which started in the late 70's - was heralded when they started making entries which were sexploitation films with giallo elements, as opposed to gialli with erotic flavour. The Sister of Ursula, similar to other examples from the period like Giallo a Venezia, was a clear example of this. Consequently, what defines it more than anything is its very explicit softcore sex scenes, which punctuate the runtime on a regular basis, with the more traditional giallo suspense aspect, a clear secondary consideration. The murder set-pieces don't dwell on the act of murder itself (given the method of murder, I can honestly say that this is a blessing) and instead rely almost exclusively on build-up (which always incorporates extended sex scenes). The story, such as it is, is needless to say a bit half-hearted. It revolves around two sisters who check into a hotel by the seaside in a pretty town after their father's death. At the same time young women in the vicinity start being murdered by a maniac with dildo weaponry.
The aesthetics of this one are dangerously close to being in Jess Franco bargain budget territory. Its far more lo-fi and lower budget than these films tend to be. The griminess of the narrative is somewhat offset by all this depravity playing out in such an attractive location (I guess you could categorise this as almost a given for the giallo genre right enough). There's a selection of odd characters populating the story, such as a drug addict, a cabaret star and a sleazy hotel owner. The mystery is very much by-the-by, albeit it does get the job done. I've seen this one a couple of times now and I can safely say that the second viewing was preferrable to the first. Once you know what this film isn't (i.e. Stylish and well crafted) it becomes a more enjoyable watch. Its not going to ascend the heights of anyone's favourites movies in the genre but as an example of a sexploitation-heavy gialli, its pretty serviceable.
I vampiri (1957)
Visually eloquent starting point of the Italian horror boom
This low budget quickie will always retain a footnote in cinematic history. It was the first Italian horror film of the sound era and given that nation's large significance when it comes to the cinematic horror genre, this means that this little movie sort of set that particular ball rolling. It has to be said that it could be considered historically important more than being especially good. Its hardly unique in this way though, history has shown in various art forms, that its usually not the first people who are most influential but the second or third. All that being said, this still remains a good film, especially on account of its typically beautiful cinematography by Mario Bavo. The story revolves around a series of murders, in which young women are found dead with all their blood drained; the newspapers refer to the mysterious killer as 'the vampire' and it transpires that the source of the crimes appear to involve the inhabitants of a large castle.
This one begun with Riccardo Freda as director, but he walked off the production towards the end, leading cinematographer Bavo to finish the film. So, on that basis also, this is an important film, given that Bava is now considered one of the most influential directors of the genre and its here that he started that journey. I often hear mention that this one suffers from having a very by-the-numbers storyline, and while this is definitely true, it also has to be said that this is a very common deficit of even the best gothic horror movies. The Paris set story incorporates the Elizabeth Bathory inspired countess leeching blood from young women to extend her youthful appearance, alongside the less likely - but at the time popular - mad scientist plot idea. The latter sci-fi element in actual fact ensures that there are no actual vampires in this one at all, despite the title and I would definitely say that this is a bit unfortunate, as a slinky vampire woman would certainly have been preferable to a youth-giving serum and junky killer. But despite these deficits, the real joy of this one is the gothic atmosphere and attractive sets, which are photographed beautifully by Bava with impressive use of shadows and light. The great man also shows his special effects ingenuity with a couple of extremely effective transformation scenes where a woman appears to age before our eyes - an effect created solely using lighting! So, on the whole, I Vampiri has a few limitations for sure, yet is certainly worth seeking out for its visual eloquence and for being the first in the, soon to be epic, Italian horror genre.
I Am Weekender (2023)
A loving look at a celebrated document of UK club culture
I remember Flowered Up from back in my Melody Maker buying days and recall they were regarded as the baggy band from London, this being an angle of sorts seeing as all the rest of the groups from this genre seemed to be from the north of England. Like many they went from cover stars to a footnote extremely rapidly but I do recall the song Weekender getting some good notices and was aware of an associated promo video. This film looks at the band generally but is more specifically about the song and video. Like loads of documentaries about music history there seems to be at least some exaggeration at play in this one, as while it seems fair to say that Weekender was one of the highlights of the early 90's indie-dance culture and its video was well done, its impact was pretty underground and there's most probably an element of revisionism at play by putting it so high up on a pedestal. All that being said, it is still great that this film exists at all and that the original video is getting recognition as an impressive bit of work. There's some bits and pieces of historical context here which was interesting, such as a snippet from the Daily Star describing the band as evil or something and ecstasy as the 'killer drug'. This sort of over-the-top patter was pretty much par for the course back at the time but it is dispiriting to be reminded of it never-the-less. The doc otherwise is mainly made up of recollections of a variety of talking heads made up of band members, people from the label and famous fans. Some of this is pretty good value, albeit you will have to endure Bobby Gillespie once again appearing to be unable to string two sentences together without referring to the 'working class'. It's a resolutely lo-fi film but the film-makers have certainly managed to gather a decent mount of footage from back in the day, in order to keep things visually interesting. I would have probably have liked a little more detail on Flowered Up's overall career as well but I guess that's a minor complaint.
Overall, this one is definitely best experienced by watching the Weekender video straight afterwards. Its very nice that this doc will introduce this song and film to people unaware of it. It is a very specific and brief moment in British music culture but it's kind of an interesting one.
The Who: At Kilburn 1977 (2009)
Slightly odd as a concert film
During the making of the documentary The Kids Are Alright, the director Jeff Stein reasoned that there was not enough good concert footage showcasing several of The Who's key songs. To that end a gig was arranged at Kilburn Theatre with an invited audience and the band duly battered through a set of Who classics, with the idea they would be featured in the upcoming doc. In the event, the footage was not actually even used and another, later concert, became the source of the live songs. This film didn't wind up being even released until thirty years later. In truth, there is something odd about watching this as a live concert film. Because of its nature, it comes across more like the band practising in front of a few thousand fans, as opposed to a gig proper. Because they weren't actually on tour, they were a bit rusty and there is no communication with the audience - the chat seems to be mainly Pete Townsend letting the director know he thinks this is all a waste of time! So, this film is basically an anomaly, where a set of unusual circumstances lead to a live performance which has an air of something off about it. Having said all that, its hardly poor stuff, with the band showcasing their high-level musical and performance skills throughout. Given the impetus for the show, the set is also loaded with big hitters too, so this isn't for those seeking deep cuts and b-sides. Sadly too, it also turned out to be Keith Moon's second last performance with the band before his untimely death. Irrespective of its unusual nature, this nevertheless is a good showcase of this dynamic rock band.
Girls Aloud: What Will the Neighbours Say? Live in Concert (2005)
Lets go Eskimo...!
Girls Aloud...the greatest girl group ever? Let me think about it. I've thought about it...yes!
Everyone knows the story. A boy band and girl group were formed for the X-Factor precursor show Pop Stars: the Rivals, where the girls were to battle the boys to see who was the best. To say the least, it wasn't the most promising ground for great music to spring from. The result - the boys knocked out a typically wimpy effort and the girls absolutely smashed them with a tune entitled 'Sound of the Underground'. And it was absolutely brilliant. I remember at the time thinking it was awesome that such a top tune should originate from such an unpromising place as a TV talent show - it was just so unexpected that it deserved love on that basis alone. But I am also pretty sure I assumed that one hit would be it. So you can imagine my glorious surprise when they returned a couple of months later with 'No Good Advice'? With that equally awesome release I think it began to truly dawn on people that this group really could possibly be something special. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history, with Girls Aloud releasing an unprecedented series of absolute bangers throughout the rest of the 2000's. Okay, the ballads may not have been up to much but when they increased the tempo, with the innovative production team Xenomania behind them, the resultant tunes were simply top tier. If anyone was to tell you they didn't like anything in Girls Aloud arsenal of dance-pop anthems then they had to be either (a) a music snob or (b) hopelessly cloth-eared.
This concert film is especially interesting for Girls Aloud fans, as it showcases them on their first tour. They were hitting the large theatres at this stage, as opposed to the later multiple arena dates they were to soon move onto. The thing that struck me was just how assured they were on this first full live show - there's great vocals, stage presence and charisma throughout this. The songs are taken from the first couple of albums, so we are treated to quite a number of deep cuts which wouldn't be played live again, while there's a couple of very fun covers of Duran Duran and Wheatus. There's also no getting away from the fact its all very sexy too, with these five beautiful girls all sporting a series of banging outfits, while busting their moves - its ultra-toned midriffs and expensive haircuts all the way here! I reckon in this crowd, there must have been several dads who bravely and selflessly 'volunteered' to take their daughters to this show! I, for one, enjoyed literally everything about this and would consider it essential viewing if you are a fan of Girls Aloud. Cheryl, Nadine, Sarah, Nicola and Kimberley...I salute you.
Mannaja (1977)
Sergio Martino strikes gold again
Sergio Martino is easily one of my favourite Italian directors. He's most well known nowadays, of course, for his quite excellent 70's gialli but like most directors in Italy, he had to follow the trends and direct films in several of the popular sub-genres of Italian popular cinema. This was his contribution to the spaghetti western genre and what a great addition it is! Released in 1977, this one was at the very back end of the Italo-western cycle. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, it riffs on several of the important spaghetti efforts of the past and features many tropes of the genre in general. But as far as I am concerned, this is among the best the genre has to offer in the second-tier efforts.
Its story is routine enough and essentially boils down to a bounty hunter drawn into a kidnapping plot. The main character Mannaja is a pretty typical spaghetti western anti-hero, i.e. A loner with supreme weapon skills and a tragic backstory which ties him to an unscrupulous mining boss. So, the components are all quite familiar but Martino's direction is stylish and well-paced, meaning it never gets boring. There's a smattering of typical spaghetti violence throughout, such as hands being lopped off and heads being chomped by the hero's flying axe. Yes, indeed, many anti-heroes in such films have gimmick weaponry and I am not sure if a tomahawk counts as a gimmick precisely but it is certainly unusual enough to be pretty distinctive! On that subject, Maurizio Merli, who is much more associated with roles in brutal poliziotteschi crime flicks, is very good in the lead role, while John Steiner is excellent as the cold killer Voller. In total, this all adds up to make Mannaja one of the most enjoyable Italian westerns I have seen.
Revolution of Sound: Tangerine Dream (2017)
Good doc about one of the truly influential groups
Tangerine Dream are definitely a band which warrants a documentary. These guys were part of the incredibly impressive West German music scene back in the 70's, a scene which was utterly forward looking and reimagined what music could be. This incorporated all sorts of styles, such as ambient, experimental rock, electronic and psychedelic folk, to name a few. Tangerine Dream were primarily pioneers in the progressive electronic style and they released many hugely important records, particularly in the 70's. This doc looks at the evolution of the band from its psychedelic rock early days, via its classic albums of the 70's and ground-breaking soundtrack work and on up to the present day. Seeing as these people seemed to be level-headed individuals, there's not a lot of melodrama, which you often get with music bios, so the focus is more squarely on their output. The doc is a good overview and certainly gives those less fully acquainted with the band a pretty good idea of where their strengths and influence lies. For folks interesting in the roots of electronic music, this makes for very useful viewing.
On a side note, I have seen these guys live three times in the last few years and even though the line-up has evolved to the point that there are no original members, I have to say they were quite excellent every time.
La moglie vergine (1975)
Despite the presence of Fenech and Baker, this is another poor Italian sex comedy
The more Italian sex comedies I watch, the more I realise that this isn't a genre to investigate in detail. This one, like most of the others I have seen is an unfunny romp, with a smattering of nude scenes which don't make up for the general inanity of the comedy. In this one, a young guy experiences erectile problems and so cannot consummate his marriage - his lecherous uncle tries to help out and much sexual shenanigans follow. Like many of these films, the chief selling point is its lead actress, in this case Edwige Fenech, who for me will always be defined by her excellent turns in a series of awesome gialli but it seems like, at the time back in the 70's, she was probably most famous for these sex comedy romps designed to serve the domestic Italian movie market. Once again, Fenech is a welcome presence but she can't save this, as the abundance of banal comedy takes a bit of an effort sitting through. Another legend of the giallo genre, Carol Baker, also appears in this and is improbably cast as Fenech's mother! But essentially, it's the comedy that lets the side down, seeing as it's so prevalent. One example of the humour was a portrait picture which kept changing expressions - this exact same daftness appeared in the last Italian sex comedy I watched, the Winsome Widow - I mean, is this a trope of the genre?!! Anyway, I can't really recommend this - or this genre as a whole - to anyone except the most intrepid fan of Italian popular cinema.
Coma (1978)
Effective conspiracy thriller with a leftfield premise
This medical conspiracy plays on the fear of hospitals. Directed by Michael Crichton, who had earlier made the influential sci-fi thriller Westworld, this one taps into his experience in the medical profession. The story revolves around a hospital where there have been a disproportionately high number of anaesthesia-induced comas in healthy young patients; a doctor becomes suspicious and ultimately uncovers a sinister conspiracy.
This is a nicely handled thriller, which plays upon the notion of something not being right in a trusted institution. As the story progresses more layers re uncovered until we find ourselves at the pleasingly sinister Jefferson Institute, a mysterious experimental facility, a brutalist architectural lover's dream. Making matters even more intriguing, there is a very ominous medical administrator working there, really well played by Elizabeth Ashley. Inside this threatening building, we discover that there are dozens of coma patients suspended from the ceiling in a large, cavernous room. The whole Jefferson Institute section of the movie is the part which made what could otherwise have been a very run-of-the-mill conspiracy thriller its striking imagery and most unambiguously cinematic moments. It turns out, of course, that this sinister place is the hub of an illegal market in human organs and the coma victims soon end up dead meat. It's a very effective set of ideas which has one foot at least in sci-fi-horror territory. Its kind of like a David Cronenberg movie with a bit more mainstream accessibility.
Mondo Topless (1966)
It loses steam as it goes on but it does have its moments
Russ Meyer directed this mondo film immediately after the commercial disappointment of his now classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Despite being considerably less interesting than that earlier movie, Mondo Topless did far greater business at the box office. It seems pretty obvious to me that this was on account of its no messing high-concept - i.e. The promise of large breasts - and beautiful provocative promo posters. In the event, it is kind of a boring film to watch from start-to-finish unfortunately, but, as you can probably imagine, it still definitely has its individual moments.
Like all Meyer movies, this one has a pretty solid dependency on its female cast and it boasts quite a number of pneumatic girls. The standout for this viewer has to be Babette Bardot (she of the iconic posters), who we see driving her car in glorious twin-peaked profile on several occasions. And it's definitely always a bonus to see Lorna Maitland, who appears in some behind-the-scenes stuff from Lorna. If the film in general was to be broken down into its basic parts it would be dancing, narration and fast edits. The narration combines knowingly over-the-top nonsense from a male narrator and voice-overs from the various strippers about their personal lives, as we watch them bust some moves. Its all underscored too by a particularly relentless soundtrack of garage rock guitar instrumentals. Despite the presence of all these lovely women in states of undress, it does get a bit tedious after a while though, given the overall sameyness of so many of the routines, the high-speed edits taking us from one girl to the next and the relentless soundtrack. Still, it wouldn't be a Meyer film if it didn't look good and this one is no different on that score, with loads of well composed static shots and a constant accent on making the women look great. There's a particularly fabulous shot of one of the girls booging on down, as an incoming train fires towards the camera at speed - its ideas like this that really show Meyer's unique eye in full splendour. So, overall, not the most engaging watch in truth but if you like buxom women and you like to see them photographed really nicely, well, this one is certainly worth a look at least.
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Sadly, I found this to be kind of mediocre
An American Football star is mistakenly taken to heaven by his guardian angel, leading him to be offered the option of inhabiting a wealthy industrialist body destined to die. He immediately finds himself thrust into the life of a man with a few moral issues.
This one is most certainly can be described as a Warren Beatty vehicle. He starred, directed and produced it. The main thrust of the story is okay but I don't think it really worked very well. Beatty is too smooth, meaning that once he inhabits his new body, with immediate effect he switches on the charm and turns the industrialist 180 degrees into a good guy. It sort of dissipates any drama or tensions that the set-up could have done with. As it is, it was a fairly middling romantic-fantasy.
Copa 71 (2023)
The greatest football story never told
You would have to be mad not to have come to the conclusion that FIFA is populated with grey, humourless, rule-book wielding bureaucrats. And thats not to even mention the corruption, what with the bribes, the thousands of migrant workers dead building large stadiums when a rich desert country with no interest in football was awarded a World Cup or what about when Legia Warsaw unveiled a huge banner to commemorate the murdered 160,000 Poles by the Nazis in the Warsaw Uprising - FIFA's response to this act of education and remembrance? A £42,000 fine for Legia Warsaw of course! But don't worry because this film clearly indicates that FIFA were also 24 carat bell-ends way back in 1971 as well! Well, consistency is a positive attribute of sorts I guess.
This film tells a pretty amazing story in a lot of ways. Amazing because hardly anyone seems to have known a thing about it for 50 years. It's the story of the first women's World Cup which happened way back in 1971. But it doesn't count as the first women's World Cup...because FIFA didn't 'approve' it. Furthermore, they insisted that the Mexican clubs pencilled in to host the thing must under no circumstances do so or face heavy fines. Ironically, their petty intransigence led to the tournament being forced to be played out in the two largest stadiums in the country which were not under FIFA jurisdiction, including the iconic Azteca stadium in Mexico City. Whats actually fairly incredible was that the promoters succeeded epically in selling the tournament and games played out to crowds of 110,000 in an uproarious atmosphere. The competition itself looked amazing and, like the legendary men's World Cup of 1970, clearly benefitted from being played out in such a passionate environment. There are silky skills, 1970's assaults...I mean legitimate tackles, an unfeasibly bad tempered semi-final between Italy vs Mexico where in one photograph we have the brilliantly incongruous sight of an Italian player who looks like Claudia Cardinale being held back from physically assaulting a Mexican opponent, there's a pay strike on the eve of the final, there's amazing goals chalked off for questionable technicalities and its all narrated by gloriously over-the-top Latin football commentary - in other words, its entertainment all the way! The tournament even had a super-cool looking mascot!
So, you may think, this is great - football at its most life-affirming! This will take the game forward! Meanwhile, back in Switzerland...FIFA continued to take the huff. The women received bans, some were barely acknowledged in their own countries for their efforts and many became quickly disillusioned with the game due to some very poor treatment. The tournament was to all intents and purposes buried. The doc is made up of the remembrances of many of the participants from the various competing teams. I found all these women to be full of humour and vitality. They have been treated pretty poorly though. It wasn't until 20 years after this event that the first official FIFA sponsored women's World Cup took place. To me, it seems like a no-brainer for this to now be officially regarded in the history books as the first female World Cup - after all, the first men's one in 1930 was invitation only and that's official. You would think after all the things they have got so epically wrong over the last few years that FIFA could do something positive, do the right thing and make this tournament official...but will they?
Starcrash (1978)
Ridiculous and pretty entertaining
See Caroline Munro in a series of Barbarella inspired sexy outfits! Watch Marjoe Gortner navigate a whole movie sporting a bubble perm! Witness David Hasselhoff in a light-sabre battle against a couple of stop-motion robots! Be amazed as Joe Spinel chews up the entire galaxy with extreme over-acting! Be impressed as Christopher Plummer picks up a large paycheck for an afternoon's work!
This is one of the many sci-fi films which appeared in the wake of Star Wars. This one is one of that more specific demographic - the Italian Star Wars rip-off. I've seen a few of these, all of which seem to have been directed by Alfonso Brescia, all of which share the commonalities of featuring android villains who look like Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones circa 1968 and being absolute garbage. Starcrash, appears like 2001: A Space Odyssey in direct comparison to these. It seems to have more budget for one thing but it also has a better cast (see above) and sports a John Barry soundtrack. Its trump card, however, is probably the character Stella Star - i.e. Caroline Munro in Barbarella mode. She is a memorably sultry character and certainly makes this space opera a lot more watchable than it otherwise would be. Luigi Cozzi directs and he certainly has an affinity with the sci-fi/fantasy genre at least and was the man who helmed the later ridiculous but fun Hercules movie with Lou Ferrigno in the lead. Starcrash is pretty ropey but its quite a bit of fun as well and sort of like what would happen if you were to combine Star Wars, Barbarella and Jason and the Argonauts and then cast it with a disproportionately high number of cast members sporting perms. There's also encounters with Amazons and Cavemen, space police and a Death Star equivalent which looks like a giant fist. Quite a lot of fun in other words, so long as you keep your expectations realistic.
La vedova inconsolabile ringrazia quanti la consolarono (1973)
Strictly for Edwige diehards only
I've not seen many Italian sex comedies but from my limited exposure to them, I don't think I'll be seeking out too many more! The general consensus on this one appears to be that it's an above average example of this kind of thing, which is a bit alarming, given that in all honesty it wasn't very good. What I will say though is the Italian sex comedy definitely seems to be better than the British variety, albeit that's akin to saying you'd prefer a kick in the testicles to a punch in the throat.
The story has a man die in a car crash, leading to the scenario where his inheritance is destined to go to his no-good brothers. That is unless his wife produces his heir - cue the frantic search for a surrogate father for his sexy wife, with the brothers attempting to ward away her suitors using various means. It's a functional story for this kind of thing I guess. But most of the comedy is amazingly unfunny though - when repeat sequences of a photograph of the dead husband whose face keeps on changing are some of the most amusing moments, you know you're in trouble. The only real reason to watch this that I can see, is to see Edwige Fenech. She's always good value and here is no different, adding some class to what is otherwise a tiresome bit of nonsense.
On a side note - would some enterprising publisher PLEASE consider putting out an art book packed full of reprints of commedia sexy all'italiana film posters. The glorious film posters are legitimately the best thing about this subgenre and should be celebrated as and of themselves.
Absolution (1978)
Its not often you see Richard Burton and Billy Connolly in the same room
Absolution - a theological term which pertains to forgiveness given out by ordained priests. And the bones of this thriller rests on this very thing, as the main dramatic thrusts of this one's narrative plays upon the restrictions that confessions put on the priest and how he cannot report criminal activity communicated in this manner to the authorities. This one was written by Anthony Shaffer, who had previously been responsible for classic films, The Wicker Man and Sleuth, as well as Hitchcock's impressive latter day effort Frenzy. This one, maybe doesn't have the narrative thrust of those, with a more indirect storyline but its certainly another Shaffer written film with many good things about it. It centres on a priest at a Catholic boy's school and his relationship with two boys in particular. One, who has a crippled leg, he openly despises, whereas the other is his undisguised favourite. The problems start when this boy befriends a free-living traveller who encourages him to rebel, leading to him playing a practical joke on his mentor by confessing to imagined sins from the confessional, which inadvertently lead to murder.
Richard Burton employs his trademark intensity in the role of the priest. The dramatic weight he brings to the table definitely benefits the movie as a whole, with the two young actors playing the boys also doing fine work. We also have an improbable acting appearance from Billy Connolly as the free spirit traveller, who is the catalyst for all the dark drama which follows. The free-living hippy vs the restrictions of Catholicism is one of the dynamics the movie plays off. As a thriller, there isn't a lot of suspense really, although there is a thoroughly unexpected - but very welcome - bit of savage violence late on in the piece where one character receives a (somewhat well deserved) shovel to the head several times! The ending is quite clever as well, with a finale in which Burton's priest finds himself somewhat check-mated from several angles. It has to be said that the characters of the priest and two boys are all somewhat unlikeable, with only Connolly's character being sympathetic at all and even he is hardly without issues - he even receives a good old fashion leathering by a couple of cops 1970's style! All-in-all, this one's well worth seeking out, although its definitely a bit oddball.
Big Wednesday (1978)
Limited dramatically but the surfing gives it a different angle
This coming-of-age buddy film was considered to be a guaranteed sure-fire commercial success on release. It was probably because it combined elements of two of the decade's biggest films, American Graffiti and Jaws. It even led George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and, the director of this film, John Milius to each share a percentage point of their latest movies, namely Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Big Wednesday. Needless to say, those first two raked in the cash and Big Wednesday went on to be something of a major flop. Seemingly, George Lucas is still annoyed about this!
It's a film which has garnered a cult rep over the years and is now regarded as a great movie by many people, particularly the surfer sect. But to be honest, while I am pleased for the renaissance of this film, I don't find it too hard to understand why it received a lukewarm and limited audience. Its story centres on a trio of Californian surfers played by Jan-Michael Vincent (the most talented but most troubled), William Katt (the most responsible), and Gary Busey (the loose cannon). The story is about their lives over the course of 15 years or so, from the innocence of the early 60's to the more cynical mid 70's. The lives of the characters mirrors the rapid social changes of the 60's in particular, with the Vietnam War a major player in the background. I thought the characters weren't especially interesting on the whole, even if there are good actors involved such as William Katt. Fortunately, there wasn't TOO much babble about the call of the ocean and the mystical nature of surfing, although the bearded character called Bear was getting dangerously close to trying my patience with nonsensical surf talk but luckily the authorities condemned the pier his house was located on and he was kicked out! On a far more positive note were the surfing scenes, which were very well shot and pleasingly cinematic, with some very impressive looking surf action. So, all-in-all, this one seemed a bit limited on the drama front but it gets over the line with its surf action and era detail.
A Wedding (1978)
Altman playing to his strengths
I remember when I watched this the first time, I didn't like it at all. So, here we are several years later and I decided to have a mini run-through of several films from 1978 and decided to give this one another go. Well, I have to say I was pleased that I did, as it proved to be a much better experience the second tie around. It's a film which is pure Robert Altman - I reckon it would be pretty easy to clock this as one of his efforts even if you missed the credits. As such, it's a comedy-drama with multiple mini plot-strands, a huge ensemble cast and overlapping dialogue all the way. So, its an example of a director simply playing to his strengths and delivering more of the same (in a good way).
Like a lot of Altman, the story is not really the point and could be summed up pretty briefly - set over a single day at a high society wedding when a rich Southern clan merge with an Italian American family with links to the Mafia; we watch the various guests indulge in a myriad of sub-plots, which reveal much about them. The groom's grandmother dies, family secrets emerge, there's sexual liaisons, hints at organised crime and a fatal accident. Like other Altman movies, the ensemble cast and improv-sounding dialogue give it a loose feel, while the vignette nature of the thing ensures that it never gets bogged down in any plot strand in particular and keeps moving all the time. The cast work well together and its overall a more entertaining experience than actually attending a wedding.