Review: La Petite Mort 2: Nasty Tapes

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

La Petite Mort 2: Nasty Tapes (aka La Petite Mort II)
Directed by Marcel Walz;
Matador Film; Bogatzki-movie.com Movie Production;
Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
90 minutes, 2014 / 2023
www.facebook.com/la.petite.mort.2/
www.unearthedvideo.com
https://mvdb2b.com/s/LaPetiteMort2NastyTapes/UN-1149

This is the second chapter of this German transgressive cinema directed by goremaster Marcel Walz (who as since moved and started filming in Los Angeles). In the first installment, the yucky stuff was handled by Olaf Ittenbach, who is absent this time. Still, I have no doubt that will not slow down the ultraviolence. Again, the film is in German with English subtitles. But honestly, I get the feeling, the libretto is not going to matter as much as the visual. The gore effects this time are handled by The Gruesome Twosome, and Megan and Ryan (d. 2019) Nicholson. A cult SFX wizard, Ryan also directed the likes of the Gutterball franchise, Hanger (2009), and Star Vehicle (2010). 

In the first piece, LaPetite Mort, released in 2009 (though taking place in 1998), we are introduced to the Masion La Petite Mort in Frankfurt, where travelers are tortured for the deep web viewing pleasure, as well as an opportunity for rich people to fill their violent fantasies (a la the Hostel franchise), but online. Honestly, I would not be surprised if this actually happens, but as I have never been on the dark web and have no intentions of doing so, I will never know, nor do I want to see that.

Yvonne Wolke, Annika Strauss

The new owner of La Petite Mort is sexually amorphous Monsieur Matheo Maxime (Mika Metz; d. 2017), with his two hench – er – women, brunette Dominque (Annika Strauss), who returns from the first film, and blonde Monique (Yvonne Wölke). Both could have been in the video for the Divinyls’ song “Pleasure and Pain.” They are aided by others, such as the Sexy Nurses (Gabriela Wirbel and Nicole Neukirch), the well-named Eva Brown (Bea La Bea), and Matheo’s wife, Jade (Micaela Schäfer).

In the first film, we are introduced to some tourists who end up at the Jail Bar, and how they end up in Masion La Petite Morte, as well as the follow-up. Here, there is no context, just torture broken up into segments that have title cards such as “Sushi Time” with info on the victim, and how much someone is paying to have them eviscerated. As Ralph Kramden may say, “Pins and needles, needles and pins…” Victims are of both sexes, so there is that. There are also “between” segments with testimonials from happy customers who either paid for the chance to kill, or do the body work themselves. And all of it on camera.

Micalea Schafer, Mika Metz

Much of it is from the perspective of the Web cameras, so it is nearly found footage style, but there is also some “backstage” drama with Matheo and the women who work for him. Even this internal tension is caught on video, as the characters occasionally look directly at the camera and comment.

A sort of by-product of this style is that the person watching this is not just a viewer, but is a participant of the feed.

Gabriela Wirbel, Nicole Neukirch

Stylistically, it is actually shot beautifully, focusing on the faces (or parts thereof) in close-ups of most of the characters, in a darkish, reddish tone. Also, for some reason, there is some clips of Carnival of Souls (1962) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) shown on a monitor (the former also of facial close-ups).

Each set piece has a slightly different feel, such as one called “Gasrechnung” (“Gas Bill”) which has a definite World War II feel, with Eva Brown giving herself a Hitler moustache in blood. Most of this segment is in black and white as in a Leni Riefenstahl-style propaganda film. Interestingly, there is an added censor image over certain parts of the uniforms, which show Nazi iconography. German film: detailed torture permitted, but no symbols of the “fatherland.”

Like Tod Browning in films like Freaks (1932), some odd humans are thrown into the mix, such as The Twins (Barbara and Patrizia Zuchowski). There are also some cool cameos throughout from cult genre filmmakers and/or actors, such as Dustin Mills, Haley Madison, Uwe Bowl, Mike Mendez, Adam Ahlbrandt, and Ryan Nicholson (d. 2019).

Despite splashes (drips?) of laughter in a couple of moments, everyone seems to be unhappy, be it through body dysmorphia, boredom while inflicting pain out of repetition, and of course, the subjects of the sharp objects. This is a pretty joyless film, with minimal humor, though there are some dark moments of it scattered throughout.

The first extra on the Blu-ray is the “Making of La Petite Mort 2” (13 min), which is essentially extended scenes showing more detail of some of the tortures. Then there is an “Alternate Scene” (4 min) that is the “Gas Bill” part, without the edited-out images of the Iron Cross, the “SS” Schutzstaffel logo, and of course the swastika armband (wonder if they ever play Lech Kowalski’s 1980 documentary D.O.A. over there).

The ”Behind the Scenes Gallery” (3 min) is lots of nice shots of the make-up and the cast, and I quite enjoyed it. As for the “Advert” (30 sec), I have no idea what I was looking at. Last, there are a few company trailers, as well as two from this film, and the first La Petite Mort.

As I stated in my review of the first film, “The problem with stories like this, and this is my opinion, is the plot revolves around the action, rather than the action being a result of the story…sometimes it goes beyond what even I can tolerate. If this is your idea of fun, well, please, have at it.”

I realize that this film is a few years old now, but I have to say, the whole premise of strangers being tortured for the pleasure of the rich and/or on the Net for clicks/cash, is becoming a bit cliché, and is merely an excuse for some graphic body horror. Sure, I like a bit of ultraviolence, but my tastes run more to the cartoonish violence, even when explicit, than just someone being tied up and put through the wringer. Also, I like more of a narrative than a string of events. How can one feel anything about any character if there is nothing to bolster the why, other than greed.

 MDB listing HERE

Review: The Lake

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

The Lake
Directed by Lee Thongkham; Aging Xu
Epic Pictures Group; Dread; Hollywood Thailand; Airspeed Pictures; Creative Motion; Thongkham Films; Right Beyond; MVD Visual
104 minutes, 2022 / 2023
www.facebook.com/TheLake2019
https://mvdb2b.com/s/TheLake/EP-202303

I like slasher films. I tolerate body horror. But if you want to really pique my interest, give me a good ghost story or especially a creature feature. This release from Thailand falls into the last category.

Bueng Kan is a town on Baan Nakom Lake near the Mekong River, just a stone’s throw from the Laos border. Living in this lake is the beastie, a scaley thing that has no problem chompin’ on human flesh and seems to be attracted by frogs. Perhaps this is something in the local culture? Also, a huge egg has been found on the shore.

The two-foot-tall egg is brought home, and protected by a young girl from the village, May (Wanmai Chatborirak). She lives with her missing father, sister Lin (Sushar Manaying) and drunkard brother-in-law, Keng (Thanachat Tunyachat)…or is it brother and sister-in-law? I am not sure, but it really is not important.

In a very short time – no waiting until the third act – the creature is on the loose and angry, looking for love…I mean, looking for the egg. It goes into the city and causes lots of damage, yet for a long time the authorities are only finding the aftereffects of its actions. Whaaaat?

Along the way of rampaging, Keng gets…bitten? …clawed? by our grumpy beast, creating a bond between them, so Keng feels the physical manifestations of what is happening to the monster. This is an interesting concept. But it is still early.

Further along, we meet a Police Inspector, James (Teerapat Satjakul), and his daughter, Pam (Supansa Wedkama). They are argumentative with each other, but if this follows along the trope line, the monster will get them together again. I will not say if I am right or wrong, but at 47 minutes in, that is my guess.

The creature looks good, and we get to see it in its full glory early on, with a large percentage use of full-sized SFX body, or occasional a full-body motion CGI. When it is the full-scale version, it uses animatronics quite effectively. In the personal encounters with human, we see quick edits, making it a bit hard to see the entire creature in context, but honestly, this is to be expected from a relatively low budget film, and I am not disappointed by it. I found myself smiling during the creatures’ attacks. Yes, plural.

Was this filmed during monsoon season? There is an awful lot of scenes in hard rain, and I am not sure if it is natural, if the director meant it to symbolize the oppression of the people by the monster and/or vice-versa, or making it harder to distinguish the carnage (again, budget).

While I have seen this in comparison with The Host (2006), which is totally understandable, but it is closer to a scaled-down Godzilla, and in tone and storyline to the British release, Gorgo (1961), with a monster mama searching for her youngns’. The creature is designed by Jordu Schell, who has worked on tons of movies the likes of Dawn of the Dead (2004), Avatar (2009), and The Cabin in the Woods (2011).

Certainly, there are going to be comparisons with Jurassic Park (1993), especially the scene with the T-Rex introduction. Also, the heads of two of the prehistoric looking beasts here look a bit like at a couple of the dinos in that film. Hey, if it works.

My one complaint, as I often opine, is that it is too long, and really needs some editing down at least 15 minutes. That being said, the first of the extras on the Blu-ray are two deleted scenes (1:23 min; 37 sec, respectively), which are honestly meaningless out of context. They also fit better into the a behind the scenes category. Speaking of which, there are a half dozen “Behind the Scenes” – er – scenes, most of which are under a minute, but give a good look at the monster. And to add more time, there is the “Extended Ending” (12 min), which was the source of the “Behind the Scenes” footage. And ironically enough, even though it was much longer than the final ending, this was actually better.

“The Scoop Featurette” (4 min) is a promo for the film, as well as for Thai cinema. It is fun to watch and enjoy the excitement of the announcer. The last are two The Lake trailers (worldwide and Thai) and a half-dozen others by the Dread brand.

One of the subtle aspects of this release is a religious element which is only touched on, regarding a monk. However, it is more prevalent in the extended ending, and fits better into the storyline motif.

I am not sure if they intend to make a sequel or perhaps even a franchise, but I am guessing it depends on how well it does on the VoD and digital market.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Woman of the Photographs

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

Woman of the Photographs (aka Shashin no onna; 写真の女)
Directed by Takeshi Kushida
Motion Picture Exchange; Pyramid Film; Epic Pictures; Dread; MVD Visual
89 minutes, 2020 / 2023
https://epic-pictures.com/film/woman-of-the-photographs
https://womanofthephoto.com/en/
www.MVDVisual.com

Body dysmorphia is a recent buzzword in the news thanks to the attacks on the Trans community. The term, however, is much older, and it has been often used to describe women and more recently men who are not pleased by their own bodies due to seeing, for example, the models in magazines, especially though it is idealistic as many of those images have been digitally enhanced. The desire to appear “picture perfect” is an unrealistic goal and can cause other maladies such as bulimia and anorexia.

In this Japanese release (both English and Spanish subtitles are available), Kai (Hideki Nagai) is a subdued, solitary, early-middle-aged photographer who tends to wear all white (I am guessing as a metaphor for a colorless life). When he is not out in nature snapping pics (he has a fixation with insects, and even has a preying mantis as a pet), he runs a photo shop where he uses his talent of digital manipulation to enhance either old or new photographs for his customers. There is almost no dialogue by Kai to emphasize his quiet life. A slow-burn film, indeed.

Hideki Nagai

Along the way, he meets Kyoko (Itsuki Otaki), an internet influencer/model/ballet dancer, who is aging out of the youthfulness that was her bread-n-buttah. She is lively and talkative, and he is aggressively silent and ignoring (yeah, kind of a dick). While their personalities are quite different, there is a common element of the need to control their own “image”: she to her fans and him by putting up walls of exclusion.

There are only two other characters in the film, the first being a funeral director, Saijo (Toshiaki Inomata), an older man who uses the retoucher’s skill for pictures of the deceased during the ceremonies, and has known Kai his whole life being a friend of his father and thereby being both a spokesperson for Kai to Kyoko, as well as a Greek Chorus for the viewer. The other is Hisako (Toki Koinuma), a woman customer obsessed with her looks, and keeps demanding Kai repeatedly retouch her photo into what she considers perfection.

Itsuki Otaki

At its core, this is a film about obsession: Kail obsesses about his insects, Kyoko keeps looking at old posts of her photographs (which occasionally includes well-done CGI animation), the female customer with changing her looks, and the old friend with his loneliness (despite claiming he is not).

Although an extremely small cast, I am guessing this was shot just before the COVID outbreak, since there is a scene in a public bath, and no one on the streets is wearing masks; also, the budget for this film is not enough to get the sidewalk shut down for filming.

I am not sure if this can be considered as “horror” or even a “thriller,” but it definitely falls into the “art” category. That being said, it certainly has its body horror moments involving an injury (I will not give it away), which is squeamish inducing (well, for me anyway).

I question the relationship between Kai and Kyoto as beyond temporary need and infatuation with what they can bring to the pairing; even though they become more themselves by giving to each other. Certainly, this is a snapshot (no pun intended) of their time as a couple, as it does not seem that it can sustain the pressure of day-to-day reality, and aging. But in an odd way, this is a very strange and off-beat romance, without Hallmark-ish cringe.

The extras start with interviews (16 min; Japanese with subtitles), including the director, Kushida, and the main actors, Nagai and Otaki, as well as make-up artist Yoshiro Nishimura. It is insightful as they discuss the motivations of the characters and the meaning of some obtuse moments. It is a good post-film watch.

This is followed by a short film, “Voice” (Koe; 10 min, trailer HERE), in which Kushida first worked with Nagai. It is without dialogue, of how a lonely factory worker (Nagai) responds and interacts with a shadow of a woman. It reminds me of the work of ground-breaking Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren. It is a beautiful piece, and Nagai again acts more with his face and body to convey all the emotions needed. There is also a nice level of animation that is not cartoonish. Last, there are two trailers for this film and a few from Dread.

This is director Kushida’s first feature film, that he also wrote, after years of working in television. It shows enormous talent in form and look. He should have a long and storied career.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: The Assassination Bureau

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

The Assassination Bureau
Directed by Basil Dearden
Heathfield; Paramount Pictures; Arrow Video; MVD Visual
110 minutes, 1969 / 2023
www.ArrowVideo.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Initiated by the James Bond (Sean Connery era) series of spy films, this lead to a number of knockoffs, such as the Matt Helm (Dean Martin), Derek Flint (James Colburn) and Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) releases, which could loosely include the 1967 version of Casino Royale (which had almost nothing to do with the original Ian Fleming novel). In most cases, the secondary ones were comedies, be it dark or broad (I would like to add that I really enjoyed the Helm, Flint, and Royale films, as well as “Get Smart”).

Added to this list is The Assassination Bureau, which is a throwback to the pre-World War I period, and is, naturally, a comedy. It has a foot in the action genre, and another in the British retro-history subgenre (such as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, 1965). For Bureau, as the press release states, on the writing side, this film is “(b)ased on a novel by Jack London (The Call of the Wild, 1903) from a story by Nobel Prize-winner Sinclair Lewis (Babbit, 1922) completed in 1963 by Robert L. Fish (Bullitt, 1968) and adapted into the screenplay by Wolf Mankowitz (Casino Royale, 1967).”

Diana Rigg, Oliver Reed

The film focuses on a group (of men) whose purpose is to assassinate powerful people who “deserve it.” They are well paid for their services. This Bureau, headquartered in London, is run by Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed; d. 1999). He is both a cold-hearted killer for hire, and the love interest. Yep, you read that right. Remember, it is a comedy. The Bureau’s board is filled with British actors of renown at the time, such as Beryl Reid, (The Killing of Sister George, 1968; d. 1996), Clive Revill (who I always think of being the lead investigator in The Legend of Hell House, 1973, though he did appear in a couple of later Mel Brooks releases), and Kurt Jürgens (the lead villain in The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977; d. 1982).

Hot on the trail of the Bureau is strong-willed First Wave feminist who is seeking to be a journalist, Sonya Winter (The Diana Rigg, hot off her role of Emma Peel in “The Avengers”; d. 2021). She wants to investigate them with the help of a newspaper run by Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas, d. 1994). She connects to the clandestine Bureau that she wants someone assassinated and is willing to hire them. Her choice target is Dragomiloff (perfect set-up for romantic encounters, as they avoid being killed in various ways). This gives Draggy and Winter the chance to circle the globe in cities such as Paris and Zurich, among many others.

Telly Savalas, Kurt Jürgens

The deal is, if Dragomiloff is not assassinated, he will kill the international ultra rich and power-/money-hungry board members first. It is obvious (purposefully) and disclosed early who is the key lead villain, and why, who is assisted by the humorously dour Yugoslavian Fagin-equse-looking lacky Baron Muntzof (Vernon Dobtcheff). Trump would be too dumb to be on this board, by the way, though he fits the greed criteria.

Winter, through the early stages of the film, looks remarkably like Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins (1964), in both manner (strict and to the point, yet kind) and dress. She even has the cloth bag. Of course, she also gets to dress up and dress down, in gowns, corsets and bath towels. While looking back this can be seen as a bit misogynistic, as I found the ending, it is important to note that Winter is a main character (though often seen as confused and duped by Dragomiloff), and there is also a major female villain in Eleanora Spado (Annabella Incontrera, who was in a few gialllo films, often directed by Paolo Cavara; d. 2004)

It is notable that for its time and in a mainstream release, there is a high level of sexual proclivity (e.g., a brothel) where there are near-naked women, and at least a few tips of nips. Wild for those days, but relatively tame for modern cinema viewers. However, I was more disturbed by the subtle antisemitism of the character of Weiss (Warren Mitchell, who was in The Crawling Eye, 1958, and Jabberwocky, 1977), a banker from Switzerland, who is exceedingly focused on money. As Baron Muntzof states, “Weiss understands the value of money.”

As a mild digression, I was amused that the President of France is played by an actor named John Adams.

For the basics of the extras, this High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray uses the original lossless English mono audio, with optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. There is a brand new audio commentary with thick British-accented authors Sean Hogan and Kim Newman. They are not the most exciting speakers, but their topics are wide ranging, from discussing the rise of Victorian period pieces at the time (e.g., Mary Poppins, 1968’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) to how the film was formulated and its place in both the story’s history and in the time of its release. Of course, there are also some nice anecdotes.

Rigg, Vernon Dobtcheff

“Right Film, Wrong Time,” (27-min) is an also new featurette by British cultural historian and critic Matthew Sweet. He discusses the socio-political world London and Lewis were living in when they came up with the story idea for the book that became this film. He also talks about how London’s unfinished book morphed into the completed story. He keeps it pretty interesting mixing talking head commentary and clips from the film, though I started to get distracted about two-thirds through it. Along with the original trailer, and an Image gallery, you get a reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork choices.

This is a high-budget, big cast of British stars, that is fun. One could say that it was a subgenre initiated by the likes of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1965) or The Russians are Coming, The Russians Are Coming! (1966).

Filmed during the uptick in the Vietnam War era/error and the year after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the film is a commentary on political violence and the desire for power by the rich and corrupt (aka Marg T. Greene heaven). Part of the way they show this is through parody, the absurdity of it all, and the enormous amount of collateral damage or, as Mel Brooks’ Governor Lepetomane put it, “Innocent people blown to bits!”

Considering all these murderous explosions that occur, in the words of Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok, “May the good lord take a likin’ to ya, and blow you up real soon!”

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Calamity of Snakes

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

Calamity of Snakes (aka Ren she da zhan; 人蛇大戰)
Directed by Chi Chan;
Chi He Film Company; Kee Woo Film (HK) Co; Unearthed Classics; MVD Visual
86 minutes, 1982 / 2022
www.unearthedvideo.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Definitely not one to watch if you have Ophidiophobia like Indiana Jones: a fear of snakes. The snakes used are real, so there is no – er – squirming out of this.

This Category 3 film from Hong Kong (though shot in Taiwan), has been never released on digital discs in the form of DVD or Blu-ray until now. Available here are the original Mandarin, as well as the English dub of its initial release. There is also a “Cruelty-free Version,” which I will discuss later in this review.

There is a level of infamy for this, for many reason, but mostly being bat-shit (snake-shit?) crazy. It is vicious, nasty, and deadly. And then there are the snakes. In a theme similar to the Italian giallos filmed in South America such as 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust, numerous real reptiles were viciously and vividly killed during the making of it, but that is where the “Cruelty-free Version” comes in if you do not want to see that aspect. Also, it is worth noting that a percentage of all profits, whatever the format, will be donated to Save the Snakes in continuation of their mission to protect snake populations around the world.

Needless to say, I watched the original in Chinese and uncut, not because I hate snakes (I am only afraid of ones I know are dangerous, or ones that I meet in the wild and am not sure), but to place it in the context of when the film was released, during the heyday of Hong Kong horror. There is a new, 2023 documentary on that topic included on the disc, From Shaw to Snakes: The Venom and Violence of Early Chinese Language Horror Cinema (116 minutes), directed by Naomi Holwill.

Like films such as Frogs (1972) or The Happening (2008), this is a supernatural revenge of nature to atone for violence against its creatures. Do I need to say what kind? Did not think so. The basic set up is that a conglomerate wants to build a new high rise apartment complex (I have been to China, and they are still doing it in droves to temporarily bolster the economy; again I digress…). However, they discover a multitude of snakes on the spot where the building is to be constructed, so Fu-Ren “time is money” Jiang, the CEO who is overseeing the project with his lacky and comedy relief Peter Ma (Ping-Ou Wei, d. 1989), gives the orders to kill all the snakes to make it habitable for the new tenants-to-be.

Jiang’s wife, Shumei, who witnesses the slaughter (which I found profoundly sad, especially the level of glee as they actually torture the poor creatures), prays to Avalokitasvara, who helps Bodhisattva (people on their way to enlightenment; thank you Wikipedia) for forgiveness in fear of retribution for her husband’s evil deed.

On the side of the snakes, is the architect from Harvard, Dr. Zhengfeng Xu (Yun-Peng Hsiang, aka Wan-Pang Heung, who passed away recently). He is slowly building a relationship with Jiang’s spoiled but cute daughter, Xiumei. Surely a comeuppance is coming after by the third act (I am at the beginning of the second as I write this).

The real fun starts when the building is opened, and the condos start selling to various types, including a “Karen” and the flirtatious young girlfriend of an elderly rich man. You just know who will be future fodder because the story focuses on them, and they act like they deserve a “spanking” from Avalokitasvara.

The snakes include poisonous cobras (I wonder if they “drained” them first), but the lead snakes are huge pythons that are not to the ridiculous size of 1997’s Anaconda, but still impressive. To try to get rid of the snakes, they call in a professional snake handler/entertainer, Master Lin (Yuen Kao, rather than Samuel L. Jackson). Their centerpiece man-vs.-snake kung fu scene is definitely a highlight, though there is more than one martial snake involved (as puppets, with that boing “springing” sound used popularly in kung fu films of the period as things go flying).

The scenes where snakes are killed be it by humans or by a bunch of mongooses (to upbeat and cheerful music!), lasts way longer than necessary, lingering on the snakeicide in almost fetishistic fashion. This is technically a comedy, but it seems like being cruel is a point. There are literally thousands of the creatures that are killed on screen, and only two of the reptiles on the screen are fake (those puppets I mentioned earlier)

I was amused that at one point, in the background soundtrack, you could hear Tchaikovsky’s “Overture 1812.” Also, when was the last time you saw an elevator with a 13th floor, other than the Texas psychedelic band? Then there is the “Benny Hill” sped-up with bouncy carousel music moment that also fat shames.

The other extras on the Blu-ray are “Reptilian Recollections: Lin Kuang-Yung in Conversation with Chui-Yi Chung” where one of the actors talks with the director and co-writer, and a full-length commentary with writer and editor Nathan Hamilton and film director Brad Slaton. Last are an “Alternate Credits” and an image gallery.

Generally, as films go, this was a hoot. The story was silly as shit, as one might expect (and hope for the period and topic), reminding me of the likes of Squirm (1976) and Slugs (1988), but honestly, I will never watch this again, due to its level of cruelty to living creatures who were killed for no reason (even if in the film they have snake soup, eat organs, and drink snake blood). If this was made today, and it was CGI or even practical SFX, I would see the same scenes and smile. But this is inexcusable.

Now I know that what I have just said is actually going to intrigue a certain group of people into seeing it, and I have no problem about it (at least the snakes would not have completely died in vain, nor vein), but I am at an age now where I prefer the SFX and CGI fakery to the actual destruction of animals for profit.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Giantess Attack vs Mecha-Fembot!

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

This is the third and final giantess film in this series of reviews. It is the second part of a franchise, but can also be viewed as a standalone thanks to many flashbacks.

Once again, I do not believe there is any doubt that these films are absurdist comedies, thankfully going for the lowest bar and the biggest busts.

Giantess Attack vs Mecha-Fembot! (aka Giantess Attack 2)

Directed by Jeff Leroy
Full Moon Entertainment; MVD Visual
67 minutes, 2019 / 2022
www.FullMoonDirect.com
www.MVDVisual.com
www.facebook.com/WarOfTheGargantugirls/

This film is directed by Jeff Leroy, as a sequel to his Giantess Attack (2017), as explained in the prologue by a Katy Sagal imitator. Okay. I did not see the previous one, which is recapped through periodic flashbacks here and there, although I reviewed another film by Leroy, Predator World (2017). https://indiehorrorfilms.blogspot.com/2018/11/review-predator-world.html He also did the special effects for Attack of the 50 Foot Cam-Girl (2022) and Giantess Battle Attack (2022).

 

Tasha Tacosa, Rachel Riley

After tearing a city apart and eating numerous people in the previous release, once giantesses and now normal sized Diedre (Tasha Tacosa) and Frieda (Rachel Riley; both from 2022’s AmberRoad) are the subject of protests and lawsuits. Diedre is hiding out high in the mountains in her Fortress of Immeasurable Guilt (which has the house number 3 on the door) with Frieda trying to get her to join the real world (and, of course, catfighting…that’s the theme of the pic, after all). Meanwhile, alien-in-tight-vinyl Metaluna (Christine Nguyen, is shrinking people, such as a scientist, Dr. Drew (John Karyus).

Also fighting are two normal sized actors, Fran (Chelsea Bellas) and Amber (Kali Cook), after being offered roles by sleazy agent Joe Blowfeld (Ben Stobber, who played various creatures in a bunch of Mahal Empire films).

Finally, about three-quarters into this short feature, we finally meet the titular Mecha Fembot (Vlada Fox), under the evil control of Metaluna. She attacks Hollywood, and who comes to the rescue? Our two battling babes, Frieda and Diedre, who at least for a while are able to team up. Can they defeat Mega Fembot? Can they save the city? Can they show more cleavage?

Riley, Vlada Fox

Yes, this film is definitely geared towards a very specific demographic, essentially horny teen boys and horny older fanboys, but those especially with the catfight and macrophilia bug. Yes, there is certainly lots of cleavage and a surprising number of (clothed) crotch shots, thanks to “looking upward” at both our heroes and villains (no relation to the Beach Boys). Sexist as all hell? Yeah. Fun? Kinda. It is played so over the top, that it is nearly cartoonish, like some films that show violence that is unrealistic. However, the scene with Fran and Amber are kind of gratuitous and add nothing to the story, really; it is, however, another chance to show some more skin, another catfight, and a semi-macrophilia in reverse, as they are normal size, and the male in the scene is shrunk, giving that upward perspective anyway. Perhaps they are being set up to be more forward in another sequel? Amazingly, there is actually no nudity.

Nearly all of the film is either green screened (it is pretty obvious when it is) or using models of buildings that are easily collapsible. The humor in it is definitely grade school level, with a nod to the MCU and DCU, such as a nice running joke about becoming unrecognizable through a disguise of just eyeglasses. There is also a character in the coda named Nicky Fury (Alexandra Marie), who, of course, wears an eyepatch. The ending is a possible set-up for a new film, Giantess Attack in Space (although there is no listing for it is indicated in IMDB).

The extras are the trailer, and other Full Moon coming attractions. It may also be worthwhile to check out the documentary about the making of this film, Giant Women,Micro-Budget (2018). 

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Attack of the 50 Foot Camgirl

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

Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958)

Film one of three giantess reviews in a series: This and Giantess Battle Attack are a franchise. Giant women, for some men, is a fetish (macrophilia), as is watching women physically fight each other (catfight), and are something I will never really understand, though both are combined in all of these below. But whatever. Of course, giant women films have been around for a while, with the grandmother of all being Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), but was revived with the likes of Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993) Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds (1995), and Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012).I do not believe there is any doubt that these films are absurdist comedies, thankfully going for the lowest bar and the biggest busts.

Attack of the 50 Foot Camgirl

Directed by Jim Wynorski
Full Moon Entertainment; MVD Visual
61 minutes, 2022
www.FullMoonDirect.com
www.MVDVisual.com

The titular protagonist in this film is egocentric and narcissistic (is that redundant?) super successful social media influencer, probably on sites like OnlyFan, Beverly Wood (newcomer Ivy Smith). She is nasty and will not listen to advice, thinking she knows best at all times: “I’m a self-made visionary,” she states early on. Obviously, the name is a mix of Beverly Hills and Hollywood. The other two main characters are her husband, Bradley (naturally tall Eli Cirino) and their jealous assistant, Fuschia [sic] (Christine Nguyen, aka adult star Jennifer Lee), who wants to replace Beverly.

Ivy Smith, Eli Cirino

We basically meet Beverly as she is filmed taking a shower (naked) while being filmed and endorsing some product. The power structure of the three comes into play pretty quickly, as this is not a long film, and obviously they want to get over the exposition quickly so they can jump to the giantess aspect.

Of course, as I have stated earlier, this is a – er – broad comedy, some of it pretty subtle, such as Beverly referring to sex as “getting unfiltered with you,” and hashtags appearing occasionally as subtitles, e.g., “#sad” appearing to express her emotion.

And how does she get to go from influencer to giantess? Thanks to untested experimental grown-in-the-lab “Unholy Meat-ramony,” supplied by a trio of scientists: Dr. Lana Rhodes (Lisa London, a regular in films from CineRidge Entertainment, such as Love Crime in 2022, and The Wrong Sarah in 2021), Dennis (Frankie Cullen), and Gary (scene stealer Jaret Sacrey). The Bevster eats the food – despite being warned – and achieves the film’s title.

Because of the ridiculousness of the story (not meant as a dis), there is a lot that needs to be just accepted, such as everyone not freaking out about Beverly’s new – er – stature; though I am happy to say that they explain her clothing, rather than doing a “Gilligan’s Island” wardrobe mystery.

I laughed out loud (#lol) when Beverly destroys a billboard with a Full Moon theme (blink and you will miss it). And then, what happens when, in a jealous fit, Fuschia eats some of the GMO food stuff and grows to meet Beverly’s height? Of course, girl fight. Why is it when giantesses fight, they do it in slo mo?

Christine Nguyen, Smith

I liked that there is a couple of references to the original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. That was a nice homage, but you would have to have seen the original to get it (I grew up watching it on “Chiller Theater” on WPIX in New York).

There is some nice use of both CGI (naturally), and some really fine model making (by Jeff Leroy, the director of 2022’s Giantess Attack vs. Mega-Fembot) for the buildings being destroyed, though obviously shells.

The extras are the Full Moon staple “Videozone” (7 min),where Wynorski, Ivy, and Full Moon’s Charles Band sit around the set’s pool and discuss the movie, filmed before the release because they were still unsure if it was going to be 50 feet or 60 feet. The “Behind the Scenes” (6 min) featurette is separate interviews with the three leads, a couple of backstage shots, and mostly clips from the film. Also included is the trailer for Wynorski/Full Moon’s film Bigfoot or Bust (2022), a cleavage extravaganza of big busted alien women in search of said Sasquatch. There are also a number of other Full Moon trailers.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Scorpion with Two Tails

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

Scorpion with Two Tails (aka The Scorpion with Two Tales;
Assassinio al cimitero etrusco; Lo Scorpione a Due Code)

Directed by Sergio Martino
Dania Film; Medusa Distribuzione; Publikampus;
Full Moon Entertainment; MVD Visual
98 minutes, 1982 / 2022
www.FullMoonDirect.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Not to be confused with director Sergio Martino’s The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (La coda dello scorpione, 1971)  there are some Italian giallo genre that gets a chef’s kiss, when talking about the A-line of the likes of Dario Argento, Lucho Fulci, Mario Bava, etc. However, as with every genre, there is also the B-films, of which this is one. That is certainly not meant as an insult, but rather a statement of fact.

John Saxon

Like many giallo films of the period, they had some fading stars from the break-up of the movie studio system, in this case John Saxon (d. 2020) and Van Johnson (d. 2008). Saxon’s role is more of a cameo, and Johnson’s was probably no more than a couple of day’s work, and are in the film more for name recognition to sell for the Western audience. That being said, I do not know if their roles were longer in the television version (see below).

This film was popular in Italy under the name Murder in the Etruscan Cemetery, but I am willing to bet dollars to donuts (Lira to ciambella?) that they changed the name to the Scorpion one, even though it might make one from this side of the Pond go “henh?”, but I bet some marketing team believed that Americans are not educated enough to look beyond their own borders, and figure out the meaning of “Etruscan.”

Etruria is an area of Italy when it was a group of Nation States, that is on the west coast about halfway down the “boot,” across from the island of Corsica. They had their own language and rituals.

Elvire Audray

Joan (Elvire Audray, who looks like Julia Duffy during her “Designing Women” years, d. 2000 at age 40) is a psychic who has a dream her archeologist husband, Arthur (Saxon), who studies Etruscan history, will fittingly be murdered in an ancient Etruscan death rite. Of course, unlike real life but prominent in Italian giallo, she has the shining, as it were. And being a giallo, some of those visions include maggots. De rigueur.

I was bemused when one of the opening shots was of Joan walking across Fifth Avenue in New York, with St. Patrick’s Cathedral behind her; I do get the idea: standard religion  (relatively modern) vs. fringe religion (then). It is pretty common for Italian giallos to be shot somewhat in New York, such as Fulci’s The New York Ripper (1982; quack-quack). It was nostalgic to see not only the World Trade Center, but also 5 WTC, the building where I worked for a number of years around the time this was shot. Many other scenes were filmed in Italy, deep in real catacombs, caves and cemeteries. While Joan is in my home town, Arthur is in the Etruscan ‘hood. Also, like many releases in this genre, the film is both spoken in English in parts, and dubbed into the language from Italian in others, depending on who is speaking. For many of the Italian actors, even the ones speaking English, they are dubbed over in that language. This is made a bit obvious in a scene with Johnson, where the people he is talking to sound normal (dubbed), and his voice is echoey, as he obviously did not sign up for dub sessions. 

Van Johnson, Audray

Thing is, while Arthur is the good guy, Joan’s father, Mulligan (Johnson) is a drug and antiquities smuggler, though she is unaware of that part of their lives. Following the fruition of her dream, Joan travels to Italy with a work companion who has the hots for her, Mike (Paolo Marco). There, they meet the wonderfully named Contessa Maria Volumna (Marilù Tolo, who I remember as the whip-wielding Conchita in the 1968 classic, Candy). The Contessa hosted Arthur when he was murdered at her villa. Also helping in trying to figure out what is happening is Venessa Hull (Wandisa Guida, who starred in numerous Italian Sword and Sorcery films in the 1960s; this was her last film), and Nick (Jacques Stany, nee Stanislaski).

Joan is determined to investigate Arthur’s demise, and of course, this being a giallo, nothing is as it seems and neither is anyone. Who is the good guys, who is the dangerous ones? What is the meaning of the titular piece of ancient jewellery? In the meanwhile, we get to see some really amazing ancient sites and carvings in their natural settings.

As Joan scopes out events and people are turning up dead (again, giallo), as we slowly but surely delve into criminal activity, psychic dreams, and possibly reincarnation (shades of 1932’s The Mummy!). This could have gotten away with just the smuggling story and still be giallo, but that there is a supernatural element is a bonus for my worldview (wheelhouse?).

Like an Agatha Christie novel, there are way more characters than seem necessary, making the story a bit convoluted at times. This tends to drag the story out a bit, as one tries to follow who everyone is, and how they are associated with the main plotline. I believe this is a way to produce red herrings and exposition, but it sometimes feels ponderous. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more of the supernatural element than the smuggling.

The soundtrack is perfectly moody and has strong ties to the giallo genre, with a score by the well-recognized Fabio Frizzi (who did the same for a number of Fulci films, and even recently with Nightmare Symphony in 2022).

Giallos tend to have some of the best and long titles, and this is definitely one of them. Also as in many giallos, much of the dialogue is fraught and at high drama (I call it Telenovela style), like it is something out of an Anne Rice book (an expository example: “He opened the door! He walked inside the room!!”). There is also the nearly mandatory assassin in a motorcycle helmet or mask. This would be carried on in giallo-styled films such as Maniac Driver (2020) and Nightmare Symphony..

Extras for the Blu-ray and DVD are a Deleted Scenes section (19 min), which contain parts that were excised for the television version; it is in Italian with subtitles, including Saxon’s voice dubbed into Italiano. Also included are a bunch of Euro Trash Trailers. Skimpy, but good. I just wish they included English subtitles.

This is the first time this has been released in North America on Blu-ray and DVD, obviously taken from the original print, as the occasional film “noise” is present. It is also not “crispy clean,” having a slight fuzz to the original (yet still better quality than a VHS, where I originally saw it decades ago). Full Moon said this version was, “taken from the best source material available.” Previously, this was an 8-part miniseries on Rai Television (Radiotelevisione italiana}, and was cut down to this film length before being released in Europe outside Italy.

One of the oddities I have found is the random Confederate flag in the home of photographer Gianni (Franco Garofalo; d. 2019). All that being said, this is a fun film, drenched deep in the giallo formula. Being a giallo B-film, that is more than fine as I have an affection for films below the “A” grade.

IMDB listing HERE

Trailer is HERE