Review: Nightmare Symphony

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Nightmare Symphony (aka Nightmare Symphony: The Peacock’s Tale)
Directed by Domiziano Cristopharo and Daniele Trani
Enchanted Architect; 8-Films; DiabolikDVD; Reelgore Releasing; MVD Visual
78 minutes, 2020 / 2022
www.mvdvisual.com

The main director of this film, Domiziano Chrisopharo, is a name that is familiar to me, as I have reviewed three of his many previous films: House of Flesh Mannequins (2009), Museum of Wonders (2010), and Red Krokodil (2012) 

His work is seriously underappreciated, and from what I have seen, his name should be as familiar as Argento or Fulci. They are odd, dark, and eminently enjoyable, on the side of weird and highly influenced by giallo. Hopefully, this one will live up to my expectations.

This was filmed mostly in Pristina, East-Central Kosovo by and Italian crew, but recorded in English (DTS_HD Maser Audio 2.) with some Italian and Albanian, and a German overdub is also available on this Blu-ray. The subtitle choices are English SDH and Swedish. That this us steeped in a giallo, right down to the theme music by Fabio Frizzi (Fulci’s A Cat in the Brain and The Beyond in 1981 among others; Kill Bill Vol. 1 in 2003), should be no surprise as this was written by Antonio Tentori (who penned Fulci's 1990 A Cat in the Brain); this release has a similar theme.

Frank LaLoggia and Antonella Salvucci

After an opening prologue in Rome with a gratuitous and ferocious shower scene (Antonella Salvucci) that is steeped in giallo lighting and mood – and violence – perpetrated by someone in a peacock mask (Federico di Pasqual) – who has no crystal plumage – we are introduced to our central character, struggling film director Frank LaLoggia playing a version of himself (who looks a bit like my dad at a point in his life), an American living in Italy (with a red passport rather than blue) as he travels to Kosovo, giving him a chance to let us know about his charity of spirit (how the film got the rights to a Disney film clip, I do not know; is Mickey now public domain?).

Poison Rouge and Hasan Lushi (foreground)

In a meta-film storyline (the film shoot within a film is getting to be quite common these days), Frank is a director who is trying to finish up a project, The Peacock’s Tale, and make his investor, Fernando (Hasan Lushi), who arrives with his girlfriend Lola (Poison Rouge, who also directed the cult classic body horror, American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice, in 2017) and the screenwriter, Antonio (screenwriter Antonio Tentori), happy. The problem is they both want different things, and Frank is in the middle. He has come to Kosovo to do the post-production work, including with editor Isabella (also Salvucci). LaLoggia actually was a director of a trio of cult classic films in the 1980s and 1990s. We get to see some footage (including backstage) of his Fear No Evil (1981, though he claims it as 1970 in this film). That was a cool addition,

Merita Budakova

Frank is constantly being set upon by a drunk neighbor (Iimi Hajzeri), a hyper-aggressive actor looking for work, David (Halil Budakova), or being stalked by a mysterious woman (Merita Budakova; she could definitely play Monica Lewinsky). As we meet all the characters around Frank, someone else in a peacock mask (Blin Budakova…yes, there is a number of cast members with that surname) is starting to kill people who surround Frank, some close associates, some not as much. But each one is appropriately gruesome, and in various ways, as is befitting a giallo. As for the killer, there are numerous nice red herrings throughout.

Of course, this is a giallo, so the question is bound to come up: what is real, what is not, what is psychosis? Pressure can sometimes make that distinction a gray area left open for the viewer to decide. Lucio Fulci (d. 1996) was famous for opaque endings that did not harm the story proper. Note that this film is dedicated – and rightfully so – to Fulci. After all, the title of this film is a nod to the French name of Fulci’s A Cat in the Brain, which was called Nightmare Concerto.

But more after this commercial break: There are a few extras on the Blu-ray, but nothing too overwhelming. First is the Making Of, which is actually a Blooper Reel (9 min) which was okay, albeit mostly in Italiano. This is followed by a couple of interview tracks. The first is with director Chrisopharo (14 min), which is in accented English. He discusses, among other things like narrow budgets and the growth of the film’s idea to fruition, the influence of Fulci. The other is with screen writer Tentori (6 min), which is in Italian with subtitles. He talks about the actors, and naturally, Fulci. I found the second one more engaging, without taking anything away from Chrisopharo. Along with the soundtrack I mentioned earlier, the last two extras are the Teaser and the Trailer.

Okay, getting back to the meat of the matter, having Americans as leads in Italian giallo films is certainly not new. For example, there was John Saxon (d. 2020) in The Scorpion with Two Tails (1982), and Jennifer Connolly and Donald Pleasance (d. 1995) in Argento’s Phenomena (both these films to be reviewed here, soon).

The cinematography by co-director Trani, is exquisite and arty without being overdone. The scenes of the city, and the like are just lovely, even the slummy areas. Long tracking shots abound, rather than MTV-ish quick-cuts that have become the norm, sadly. Giallo has proven that Sergi Eisenstein (d. 1948) is only sometimes right, that editing equals action, but not always, or here.

There were two distractions for me. The first was that so many of the scenes were filmed either at night or in an unlit room, using a dark blue filter, which made the action (and some killings) hard to see. The second, and I do not really blame anyone because it helps with the budget, there were obvious product placements, such as a particular soda-pop, whose logo is seen prominently in a number of times in more than one place.

This release gives me every reason to stay a Domiziano Chrisopharo fan.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (aka No profaner el sueño de los muertos; Let Sleeping Corpses Lie; Don’t Open the Window)
Directed by Jorge Grau
Synapse Films; Star Films SA; Flaminia Produzioni-Cinematogrpahiche;
MVD Entertainment
95 minutes, 1974 / 2022
www.MVDentertainment.com

Despite using “Manchester” in the title, it sounds like this is a British film, but au contraire, it is actually of Italian Spanish origin. Which means it can be either really good or really bad, or so bad it’s good. I am a fan of Italian giallo films from the period, and also of the absolutely crazy Spanish-origin releases of the period, such as The Blood-Splattered Bride (1972).

To be fair, parts of the outdoor scenes of this was filmed in England, such as Lucio Fulci’s The New York Ripper (1982) was filmed in, well, you know, but most was in Madrid and Rome. However, both the English and the European actors are all dubbed into English, as was the style at the time.

Cristina Galbo, Ray Lovelock

On a road trip to deliver a small statue, obnoxious antique shoppe owner and future protagonist George (Ray Lovelock; d. 2017) has a fender-bender with redheaded and obvious future love interest Edna (Cristina Galbó), and so ends up sharing Edna’s car. For a liberal, he’s a real macho moron, full of toxic masculinity (“I’m driving!" he declares without asking, though it is her auto). He better chill out, or I’ll be on the side of the living dead. The gender roles are codified into “Me Man You Woman” kind of thinking, which I’m so glad that, as a culture, we are starting to break out of, if you’re not a modern Republican.

After a brief set-up of how the dead come to life via farm experimentations with radiation, I kid you not, and Edna being attacked by an obvious dead person reminiscent of Bill Heinzman in Night of the Living Dead (1968), they manage to find the farm of Edna’s sister Katie (Jeannine Mestre) and her photographer brother-in-law Martin (José Lifante) farm. Just in time for the dead guy to make another appearance (George and Edna drove…how did the dead guy beat them to it?; this happens a few times with various zombies).

Jeannine Mestre

Anyway, the point is that it brings the police, including a Sam Spade-meets-Dirty-Harry type of hard-bitten cliché Sergeant Inspector (American actor Arthur Kennedy on the other side of his Oscar-nominated career; d. 1990), who uses a gay slur word and bemoans the loss of being able to act violently against suspects who he deems guilty until proven innocent. You can tell by the tan trench coat.

While there are a nice number of flesh-eating zombies scattered throughout, though usually 3-4 at a clip, they indeed feed on the living, but also have quite a bit of strength (e.g., two of them pick up a grounded tombstone) as they stumble around. They also have an ulterior motive to what they are doing that is actually kind of uncommon for the genre; for that, I will happily give the filmmakers credit. One of the zombies even rises vertically stiff as a board, reminiscent of Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922).

Arthur Kennedy (right)

There is a lot extrapositions used, such as obviously the living vs. the dead, but there is also the modern youth vs. the fascist elders (relatively speaking), and the strongest point may be the natural environment vs. agricultural technology that is polluting and killing the land.

The name of the film is actually a bit of a misnomer, as it doesn’t take place in Manchester (other than the opening montage), though there is a truck seen more than once with the name on it. It actually takes place (but not necessarily filmed in) the beautiful countryside near Southgate and Windermere in the U of K. This new 4K restoration of the original 35mm negative really shows off this visage. In general, this is a very good looking film, being stylish without being overly “arty,” making it more accessible, thanks to the amazing care of cinematographer Francisco Sempere (d. 1979).

The gore is plentiful when it is employed and looks great (possibly real offal and organs), and there is little nudity other than a seemingly gratuitous scene right off the bat (explanations about streaking as a political movement is given in the Blu-ray’s Extras Section). No complaints, but had me scratching me noggin.

There are tons of Extras on this Blu-ray, some may argue more than is necessary for a secondary-level release, but let’s dive in: It starts with a featurette about the director, who passed away in 2018: “Catalonia’s Cult Film King: A Documentary About Jorge Grau and His Manchester Masterpiece” (89 min.). This comprehensive coverage of the career of Grau includes a number of interviews, including Grau himself (in Spanish with subtitles) and numerous British film historians. They discuss his career, his entrance into horror, with The Female Butcher/The Legend of Blood Castle (1973) about Lady Bathory, and especially focuses on The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. One of the writers notes that this film came out before the “zombie rules” were codified, so there are some notable differences from other general Living Dead inspired films to come. But what interested me the most is the discussion of the fact that Grau was coming out of the transition of Fascist Spain, and he represented some characters to reflect that, namely the modern and liberal (and douchey is you ask me) George, which was Grau’s leaning, and the Fascistic police inspector. Also, I was happy to hear the lone woman on this documentary, a critic, comment on the subservient and hysterical woman/strong and in-charge man stereotype. It kept me watching the entire length.

Another featurette is “The Scene of the Crime: Giannetto De Rossi in Discussion from Manchester” (16 min), which is new for this Blu-ray. De Rossi (d. 2021) is the make-up and special effects artist, who is interviewed by writer Eugenio Ercolani. This is in English, though De Rossi is subtitled due to his heavy accent. He also famously worked on a bunch of Fulci films, such as Zombie (1979) and The Beyond (1981). He discusses how he got to work on this film as well as Fulci’s, and what he feels about his accomplishments. Another Extra that also focuses on him is “Giannetto De Rossi: Q&A at the Festival of Fantastic Films, UK” (43 min.) recorded in the same year and at the same festival as the previous interview, in 2019. This is also moderated by Ercolani, and goes into more detail thanks to the larger time given. It also goes over much of the same territory as the first one, but without the video clip examples. I did a little skimming on this one.

However, the highlights are two full-length audio commentaries with film historians. The first is with Troy Howarth, an American who writes books about European Cult Cinema. Honestly, this sounds like every other historian’s commentary in every other Blu-ray for every other film. That being said, I found it interesting because I love film history and this guy is obviously more knowledgeable than I am on the topic, so give it a listen, but know what you are getting into (as the Herman’s Hermits sang in paraphrasing, “It’s into something good”). The second commentary is with film critics Nathaniel Thompson and Bruce Holecheck, who cover similar ground as the one with Howarth, but manage to cover even more material despite some overlap, and they also add some humor to their descriptions. As for other bits and pieces, there are the likes of the Original Theatrical Trailer, Original TV Spots, and “Radio Spots.”

While considered B-level in the Italian zombie giallo genre, this really should not be missed, because it has become a classic, and there are so many connections to the likes of Fulci and Argento that it certainly is now part of the storied canon. Besides, it is a hoot. Strong SFX, decent story, stirring music all combined into something eminently watchable. Enjoy. Mangiare!

IMBD Listing HERE 

 

Reviews: Four Gore Films of Davide Pesca

Reviews: Four Gore Films of Davide Pesca

 Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Note that these four films are listed chronologically, rather than in the order in which I watched them. Also, the screener versions that I saw were low rez and grainy, but I am sure if you rent the film, it will be in a much higher resolution. The trailers for all four films are after the reviews.

 

Suffering Bible
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions
65 minutes, 2018
www.digitmovies.com/

Although this is not a long film, it was the first full feature Pesca directed, and ironically, the last of the four films I watched. The Bible is a very apropos topic for a film centered on gore and body horror, as the book is filled with genocide, incest, child rape, slavery, infanticide, and multiple killings of animals (along with talking serpents and donkeys).

Pesca has a certain style that he employs on all these films, which are short stories stitched together to form a theme. The camera is often handheld (jerky, but not seasick worthy like, say, 2008’s Cloverfield. There is also minimal talking, usually dubbed but occasionally with subtitles, and use of multiple monochrome filters (black and white, blue, etc.), though sometimes he uses an ultra-chromatic filter for colorful effects. But the main focus of all his films is the gore factor, which is ripe and rife, often involving body organs. Pesca does all the SFX himself, and generally it looks really amazing, considering the budget, which is low-Lira…oops, I mean Euros. As for the stories, they are there for the gore, rather than the other way around, and may make you say, che cosa?

There are five stories – or Acts – here, with the bookends (and between each story) being a naked man and a nude woman, individually, with bandages on their heads crawl through a forest on their stomachs. By the end, it’s obvious which Biblical story to which this refers.

As for the stories themselves, the it starts with “Act 1: My Only God.” In this tale, two ex-friends are, well, reunited, for lack of a better term. Truthfully, I am not sure what story this references in the Bible. “Act II: San Toma,” as in St. Judas Thomas. A self-flagellating man (monk?) – an event that was common during the Middle Ages (see Monty Pythonand the Holy Grail (1975) – hallucinates Jeebus appearing on a cross, and he does what a Doubting Thomas would do, but more so. We learn eating the “body of Christ” (not on a cracker) is not always a positive thing.

“Act III: In the Name of the Father” is next. A woman who is sensually attracted to an old book (it looks like a dictionary, but it could possibly be a stand-in for a Bible) and a cross with the image of Jeebus on it, does some damage to herself in self-erotic ecstasy. My question here is, I realize Jeebus supposedly wants us unbelievers to burn for eternity, but does “he” really want his followers to suffer at their own hands this much, as well? Seems more Darwinian. But, I digress…

Next up is “Act IV: The Pact.” As might be expected, a depressed woman makes a deal with a mysterious and devilish woman for riches and beauty, which cannot end well and, considering the context of the film this is in, one might add bloody. The piper must be paid. This is my favorite segment in the film. For the final piece, “Act V: Redemption of the Lost Souls,” we meet three people, an OD’d junkie, a tuberculosis victim, and an old man who was homeless, as they meet their judgments. Were they good or were they bad, and what was their fate? Again, context. There was a brief coda to this one with a gift that I did not quite understand.

There are no real stories here, just vignettes into bloody religiosity, which is a comment on the state of spirituality throughout the last 2000 years, where suffering is equated with religion, to supposedly understand the suffering “the Lord” went through the days before Good Friday for “your sins.” Pesca plays on that rather than narration, and is effective in that mode.

Ironically, most of the people in this film (and the others) about the Bible are tattooed, which the Leviticus poo-poos on as much as homosexuality. Again, I digress…

 

Dead Butterfly: The Prophecy of Suffering Bible (aka Suffering Bible 2)
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions
56 minutes, 2019
www.digitmovies.com/

This film is a collection of individual scenes related only by their connection to extreme and distorted versions of Catholicism and religiosity. There is very little dialogue, but what there is, is in Italian with very clear captions (i.e., easy to discern; not white on white).

The start is a woman (the beautiful Barbara Sirotti) who receives a gift (a theme which would be revisited in another form in “Dust to Dust” from Grand Guignol Madness: Show Your Fear; see review below) of a liquid in a vial and virtual reality glasses presenting a Christ-like figure that proves to show the opposite of what is happening in the physical world (“Heaven’s Doors”). Then a religious woman puts a chained (and I believed drugged) man through the tortures and then some of Jesus’ last days before befalling her own fate (“The Saint’s Friday”). Another man burying something in the woods befalls a bloody end by a possible ghost with a screwdriver (“The Secret”). After a jewel robbery (including a butterfly necklace) the older woman victim does a bit of voodoo on the younger woman who stole her possessions (“Do Not Steal”). In the last tale, a woman is tortured and beaten by cool looking techno-demons in hell (I believe) for her Earthly crimes, such as adultery and taking the Lord’s name in vain after a desperate act (“The Judgment”; see, this is why I am an atheist),

The gore is explicit and plentiful, as is the top body parts of much of the female cast. While not as sophisticated as Pesca’s later works, as far as the graphics (both SFX and digital FX), it is easy to see the talent in the way the film is constructed. He is also setting up his auteur workings through the type of gore he employs, and the use of vignettes, or original short stories combined with a wraparound that is inserted as bookends, and between each tale that is in black and white, as a man puts sharp objects (hooks, pins, etc.) through his skin on different parts of his body in self-harming religious fervor (“The Angel”); I could not watch these parts, in all honesty.

 

Grand Guignol Madness: Show Your Fear
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions; Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment; Home Movies
67 minutes, 2020
www.digitmovies.com/

Right from the start, the film lets us know where it is thematically heading with the title card that reads (in Italian): “The sound of the lament caused by suffering is almost identical to the groan caused by pleasure.” Shades of Hellraiser (1987)!

The film is an anthology; a collection of Pesca’s shorts made especially for this release. The framework is that a woman is kidnapped, and forced, through electrodes, to experience the terrible things that happen to the people we see in the shorts, while bound to a chair in a laboratory (“Broken Mind”).

Each story is mostly silent with musical backgrounds, though what little Italian dialogue is spoken does not deter from the stories. They involve the likes of a gift to an online nude model gone wrong (“Dust to Dust”), a nature-loving photographer deciding to go all Dexter on some litterers and polluters (“Save the Planet”), a strip-off contest going horribly wrong (“The Competition”), an obsessive body builder misusing steroids (“Muscles”), a lonely woman who is out to capture a man’s heart (“The Heartbreaker”), and a model in underwear who is posing for a photographer has a negative reaction to the many exposures to the flash of the camera (“Shot my Soul”).

Each vignette has its own style and look, usually through a mostly monochrome or hyper- chromatic filter. The major themes seem to be revenge, stripping, tattoos and fingers in wounds, with an occasional side order of someone holding someone else’s organs.

The effects range from a bit cheesy to very effective, and there is a lot of it as it is the point in the whole exercise, hence the title, which is based on a theater in Paris that ran from 1897 to 1962 that specialized in realistic shows of graphic horror. The title is effective, and it is an interesting watch for a gorehound.

 

Night of Doom
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions
61 minutes, 2021
www.digitmovies.com/

For this story, Doom is the name of a powdered drug that seems to be similar to Bath Salts in that it causes violent psychosis. According to a newscast, the crime rate is up 40 percent and the drug is rampant in Italy, where this is filmed (it is dubbed into English; note that the trailer below is in its original Italian). While the topic of addiction to Doom is not mentioned, it is (for me) assumed by the desire for it.

That being said, this is as much as about the drug as it is focused on sado-masochism, and snuff entertainment. While not an anthology film, there are a series of vignettes that overlap, and some return, making this somewhat narrative, but also being a bit esoteric in how it is presented.

There are lots of primary colors used for lighting, specifically blue and red, and the camera work is quite imaginative, sometimes with nearly psychedelic green screen backgrounds.

The largest part of the story focuses on a televangelist who, in the name of the Lord, is into B&D, S&M, erotic asphyxiation, and yes, of course, Doom. A bit of it is for himself, but most is for his loved one that he leaves bound and gagged while he is away from home.

The drug is the spine of the film, but the meat and bones is a commentary about religion (heavily leaning towards Catholic; though would Mother Mary have had painted nails?) and S&M, and how sometimes they philosophically satisfy the same needs; though not blatantly stated, it is presented as such in a more subtle means. And that is the only subtly in this film’s actions.

One thing I will mention as far as men and women, they are similarly treated badly, and equally being the perpetrators of the violence (except there is a much better chance that the women will be dressed sexually, if at all).

Amid all the violence, there is a touch of humor here and there, such as the presentation of Miss Bathory Body Lotion that is presented as nearly an inserted commercial. That’s a bloody good joke (pun intended).

I especially like that the person ending up being the main character is not who you might expect, but certainly this actor is the best of the batch. This is definitely low budget (you even get to see the boom mic in one shot), and Pesca managed to do a lot with a little.

This film could fall into the artistic Transgressive subgenre, and I have seen a lot of body horror, but I have to say, thematically, I was more interested in the drug end than the S&M, which is something I have never found appealing. The film is well-made and creative in camera work, visual effects, and SFX – especially on this budget – but even though I enjoy gore effects, which are done well here, the torture stuff was a bit much for me at times. Ahh, I’m getting old.

 

Review: Killer Nun

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Killer Nun (aka After Midnight)
Directed by Roberto Albanesi; Luca Bertossi; Davide Cancila; Francesco Longo; Daniele Misichia; Nicola Pegg; Davide Pesca; Eugenio Vallani
Demented Gore Productions; Moonlight Legacy Productions; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Visual
85 minutes, 2018 / 2021
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.MVDVisual.com

The original name for this Italian (with English subtitles) anthology is After Midnight, but it is certainly no surprise they changed the name to Killer Nun, considering the success of The Nun (2018), from The Conjuring franchise. I am totally fine with that. However, the one problem is it is too easy to mix up the title with the also-Italian giallo film, Killer Nun (1979; reviewed HERE). There is also a series of videogames with the same name. 

The opening piece is by Daniele Misichia, who gives us “Vlog: L’ultimo video di Sara (“Vlog: The Latest Video of Sara”; 2016). We meet a fast-talking vlogger Sara who is responding to her needing to block some of her viewers due to some sexist remarks. The rest of the film follows what happens after that. It’s a bit bloody, but there are some nice jump scares thrown in. Simply presented with a single camera in almost real time, it’s compelling, though read the captions quickly because she speaks fast. I really like when the topic of technology is current, unless it’s a “throwback” film.

For “The Taste of Survival” (2018), Davide Pesca presents us with a post-apocalyptic world after “the bomb,” where there are few survivors. One of them, a woman, is being chased by a trio of radiation scarred men interested in, well, you know. Is there a saviour for her, and if there is, what is the motive? One can easily guess, but the gore is graphic and well done in a Spaghetti Western motif (one character even has a bit of a Lee Van Cleef vibe). The look of the film is a bit washed out with a muted red lens, making everything nearly monochrome. This is both a mood piece and a gore-fest, so many should be pleased. I was.

There is a very good reason why the main character has “Nyctophobia” (“Fear of the Dark”; 2017). Francesco Longo offers a non-verbal (other than laughing) tale of strange hauntings around him, and eventually explains why. It is a mystery that is fun to try and figure out, and the make-up is quite spectacular for an indie short release. With sharp editing and a blue night filter, we see his fear and come to understand it over time. A couple of nice jump cuts and scares, and some really nice false endings are also prominently featured. It’s nicely atmospheric.

“Nel Buio” (“Into the Dark”; 2018), by Davide Cancila, boons us with a woman who has PTSD after… well, I won’t say, but her diligent brother has been taking care of her for a year. But as they must in genre films, the past has a way of catching up, whether it is memories or the shadow of things that were, and this jump-scare laden tale does a decent, if somewhat convoluted, way of doing just that. This story also tends to use the blue filter night lens that is almost monochrome.

The demonic nun finally comes in with Luca Bertossi’s “Io non le credo” (“I Don’t Believe Her”; 2017). Evil nuns, demons or priests do not surprise me in an Italian film, where the Vatican understandably still has hold, and tales of possession, devils and demons are part of the core of the Catholic culture. Have you ever seen an Episcopalian Exorcist or a Lutheran Devil film? I have found only the Baptists and especially the Evangelicals are as obsessed with evil creatures as the Catholics. This piece is short, but it is beautifully shot with almost still-picture-quality posing. And, yes, a blue night lens. A man feels his house is haunted by demons, and he calls in a priest to cleanse it. But will the priest be able to find and face the evil? Watch and see.

This time with a sepia-tone or blue monochrome – and sometimes none! – a woman is kidnapped by someone in a mask and an apron in “Escape from Madness” (2018) by Nicola Pegg. In a scene reminiscent of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, she wakes strapped to a chair at a table while someone cooks some questionable meat. In fact, there is a lot that is, well, let’s just say a homage to the Saw. But adrenaline is high for the entire story, and the ending is satisfying. While I would not make the choice in real life that was made by the central character, and would have stuck with the rock-paper-saw original plan (not going to give it away), the way it’s done is a lot bloodier, so I also aesthetically approve.

To be honest, when I first started watching Roberto Albanesi’s “Che serata di merda” (“What a Shit Night”, 2018), I thought it was the weakest of the batch, but at the halfway mark, when the film becomes meta-existential, I understood what I missed in the first half, and it became one of my favorites on the reel. Go figure. An annoying couple is being visited by a vengeful ghost, who has a hysterical conversation with one of the couple’s friends, the director playing himself. I actually went back and watched this whole short over and appreciated it a lot more. No color filter, too.

The final tale is “Haselwurm” (“Hazel Worm”, 2011), presented by Eugenio Vallani. For clarification, a hazel worm, or slow worm, is a legless lizard, that is not a snake, and not poisonous. For this story, it is so much larger, like a Komodo dragon, and has attacked a couple, biting the man. While not poisonous, that’s not to say that the bite doesn’t have an effect, which I will not reveal, but it does produce some nice SFX work. The story is a bit slow-and-steady paced and kind of predictable somewhat – though the ending was better and slightly different than I expected – the cinematography of what I assume is the Alps and in general is beautifully done. And yes, there is use of blue and sepia filters.

Many stories have to do with the nighttime and use monochrome filters, as I have said before repeatedly. If you watch the trailer below, it almost seems like the film is in black and white… or blue and white.

Even though it is inaccurate to the contents within, there is a great piece of horror art on the DVD cover. The extras are three company trailers (not for this film, though), and chapter choices.

Some of these shorts have existed independent of this collection, while others seem to be created specifically for the anthology. It’s all good, of course. What is part of the fun is that while some of these stories have been done before in some form or another, the Italian touch and influence makes them different just enough to make it almost like a fresh coat of paint on an old car: you’re driving in a similar direction, but everything feels shiny, with muted colors.

Review: Resurrection Corporation

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Resurrection Corporation.
Directed by Alberto Genovese
1844 Entertainment; Loboarts Productions
77 minutes, 2021
www.facebook.com/resurrectioncorporation/
www.1844entertainment.com/resurrectioncorporation/

While this is a simply-animated cartoon, the look and feel of it may seem familiar: the graphics were based on the 1920 Wiene film, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, on the 100th anniversary of the original film’s release. While the story may differ, the feel of the German abstraction masterpiece is present. I recommend watching the trailer for Dr. Caligari (HERE) to catch you up beforehand, though it is not necessary for this release.

Note that there are two versions of this film, one in dubbed English, and the other in its original Italiano with Inglese subtitles. I watched (by choice) the latter, though I non capicse the language..

The artwork is very crude, which is appropriate for the German Expressionistic motif of the visuals (and story). The bending buildings, uneven windows, and twisted streets really do look like they came right out of the original Caligari. The movement of the characters is minimal, almost like shadow puppets, but the flat look is striking and extremely effective. This film also seems to take place in Germany around 1920, indicated by the horse-and-carriages and clothing. One would almost expect Sigmund Freud to show up at some point.

Bruta and Caligari

In an opening that could have been straight out of Universal’s Frankenstein (1931), our titular anti-hero, Caligari (voice of Antonio Amoruso), who is a mortician rather than a psychiatrist, has dug up a corpse with the help of his assistant, Bruta (Paola Masciadri), for an experiment to revive him back to life. Caligari looks like a younger version of his 1920 namesake, and Bruta, with her facial scars, is a bit reminiscent of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Like the original, this film is broken up into chapters (as opposed to Acts) with title cards. The translation is a bit rough at times, as it does not capture all the spoken dialogue, such as missing a “please” here, a “yes” and “understand?” there. Nothing too over-the-top that I could catch with my extremely limited knowledge of Italian, and I was easily able to follow the story.

The problem facing the good Mortician is that the titular Resurrection Corporation, run by Potriantow (Alessandro Blanchi), has figured out a way to resurrect the dead and charge them for it, so the town is full of undead zombies (not the flesh-eating kind). This takes the business away from Caligari, who at one time was a powerful business person, but now a forgotten relic.

Naturally, he is angry about the corporation and the undead who are no longer needing his services. He is trying to find his own formula to bring the dead to life, and cash in on that, and naturally take business away from the corporation. It is a premise we see in real life, as Blockbuster wiped out the small video stores, or Amazon is killing, well, nearly everything. While the story is fantasy, its theme is alive and well in the real world.

Caligari and Bruta set out to find out how Potriantow obtained his knowledge through set pieces put into chapters, including a visit to a sex-obsessed mad scientist, Viktor Lazenbhy, who’s castle interior looks very much like the Count’s in the original Dracula (1929), or perhaps more accurately, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922).

If it isn’t clear, despite the style and some of the characters, there really is not much that links the original story of Caligari and this Caligari. However, what that does do is give the opportunity for the plot to veer in weird and various directions, and that it does. Events keep occurring that makes the viewer (i.e., me) think, “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.” Of course, that is all the more betterer because there is a surprise around every chapter.

One of the enjoyable elements is the humor that is both subtle and prevalent throughout the film at the oddest moments, such as a turtle being faster than the bloodthirsty demon snail creatures out for revenge that are called upon by… well, I’m not going to give it away.

It is good to pay attention to the backgrounds. You may see a lot of momentary a-has, such as a poster on the wall of the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, or Cesare, from the original Dr. Caligari. There is even a showman character named Bob Wine (Erik Martini), whose real name is Robert Wiene, the actual name of the director of the original Caligari. The film has lots of delicious wink-wink moments like these.

The film is also filled with a surprising amount of full nudity (female), sex and gore. The latter is especially prevalent, as is expected from modern German shock cinema, which focuses strongly on body horror.

The film gives an impression that it may be open for a sequel, which I would endorse, but to be honest, this is the director’s third film, the last being Sick Sock Monsters from Outer Space (aka Dolcezza Extrema, released by Troma), from 2015, and his first was L’invasione degli astronzai, from 2009. That would mean that possibly his next one might not be until 2027. I am not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, this film is available on Amazon Prime Video in the United States and the U.K.

 

Review: Killer Nun

Text (c) Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Killer Nun (aka La monja homicida)

Directed by Giulio Berruti

Cinesud / Arrow Films / MVD Entertainment

88 minutes, 1979 (etc.) / 2019

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdb2b.com

Was it inevitable? It seems like there was a period of time where the A-list actors of the Golden and Silver Age of Cinema were getting old, and their careers were in freefall. The result was them taking desperation jobs, i.e., horror films.

Think about it: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) had Joan Crawford and Bette Davis; The Nanny (1965) had Davis and Trog (1970) had Crawford; Hush… Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) starred Davis and Olivia De Havilland.

Anita Ekberg

This was also true in the “foreign market,” as shown with Swedish actress Anita Ekberg in La monja homicida, or as it was known in the Western Hemisphere, Killer Nun. Ekberg had a long career in Italian cinema, including being in such first rate fare as Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960).

There is a discussion among critics and academics on whether or not this film fits into the nunsploitation subgenre because it does not necessarily meet the sheer audacity (B and D, torture, sexual exploitation) that many in the category flaunt, but in my opinion, it’s close enough to meet the standards.

Ekberg plays Sister Gertrude, a seasoned nun who has recently gone through a surgical procedure to remove a brain tumor. It has left her convinced that she is still sick, and also addicted to morphine. These make her take unusual chances, such as stealing and random sex with strangers. Oh, you just know the Catholic Church loved this release, especially from the home country of the Vatican.

Paola Morra

Sister G works in a sanatorium that is reminiscent of Vittorio De Sica’s A Brief Vacation (1973), where people go to get cured. It is full of nuns and nurses in similar roles. But unlike what De Sica’s presented, this is closer to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) with a bunch of men and women who are just a bit out of it (e.g., sexist womanizers, elitists, deranged), and Ekberg is a bit of a stern Nurse Ratched, even as her world spirals out of control. The nun Sister G shares her room with, Sister Mathieu (lovely and toothsome Paola Morra, a model in real life who apparently had to be nude in some of her scenes), is also in love with the bad Sister.

Things seem to blow up a bit when a handsome new doctor arrives, played by Warhol associate Joe Dellesandro. In both the Italian and English versions his thick New York accent is dubbed over, keeping down the spectacle of his “brogue” that he brought to the likes of Eurotrash releases  Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974). He is also kind of wasted here as his character is never given a chance to develop and he goes by looks alone. He barely gets to – err – take a walk on the wild side (he’s mentioned in the Lou Reed song, if you don’t get the reference).

Lou Castel and Alice Gherardi

The centerpiece, of course, is Ekberg (d. 2015), who was a big star at the time, even though her career was on the decline. She performs demented quite well, with closeups of her eyes fluttering and her lips quivering. The Theremin playing at her moments of crisis also help to let us know she’s having an “episode.”

Along with borderline nunsploitation, there is also a dip into the giallo genre, as there as murders galore at the home, with lots of solid red herrings to throw the viewer off the trail (I had two suspects, but it became pretty obvious early on which of those was correct). Meanwhile there are lots of killings, and some are them are quite gruesome, including one with pins that delves into near-Lucio Fulci territory.

There are quite a few extras, including both the English dubbed version of the film and the original Italiano release with English subtitles. I’m going to recommend watching the Italian, if only just for the film’s ending, which is different with each other (a textual “what happened next” coda, as this actually is based on a true story in Belgium just a few years before filming).

Paola Morra and Joe Dellesandro

Most of the other extras are in Italian with English subtitles, unless indicated. Largely these are also new for this release. The first up is “Our Mother of Hell,” a 52-minute interview with director Giulio Berruti. He explains the process of getting to work on the film and how thanks to pressure on the film industry from the Church, he could no longer get funding and had to work as an editor afterwards (he directed only two films, this one being the second). He holds nothing back, and it is quite interesting.

“Cut and Sound” is a 20-minute interview with editor and sound department head Mario Giacco, which is okay. Similarly, is the 24-minute interview called “Starry Eyes” with actress Ileana Fraja, who doesn’t really have that big a role, though one scene is pivotal; she discusses her whole career, beyond the film.

There are two English (both British) extras, including the 30-minute “Beyond Convent Walls: The Killer Nun and Nunsploitation.” This is a deep introspection on this film and the history of nunsploitation. Fascinating stuff. The other is a full commentary by film critics Adrian J. Smith and David Flint. It’s not as deep as it could have been and they certainly seem to enjoy their contributions, but it’s still worth the watch.

The last two are the Italian and International trailers, and an Image Gallery of stills, posters, lobby cards and video boxes.

While not as over the top as many nunsploitation releases or even Italian giallo of the time, there is still enough of off-kilter behavior and gory gooiness to keep the attention of fans of those genres. Know that you may feel a need to genuflect and say a few “Hail Marys” afterwards to cleanse your palate.