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

Review: Bill Huckstabelle – Serial Rapist

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet

Bill Huckstabelle: Serial Rapist
Written, directed and edited by Jerry Landi
Fiona Studios / Amuck Duck Films
56 minutes, 2015
www.Vimeo.com/

Since even before the days of Hostel (2005), the Roughie genre (pre-Sexploitation) has been coming back. Early versions of the style from the 1960s, for example, include Scum of the Earth (1963) and Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965). It’s the kind of film that feminists (rightfully) were up in arms about. It has resurged with the likes of the Japanese Guinea Pig series, or indies by those such as Dustin Mills (e.g., Her Name Was Torment [2014] and Applecart [2015], though to be fair, both genders are the objects in his releases).

Director Jerry Landi, known for his Blood Marsh Krackoon (2014), is back; his latest deals with, well, you-know-who, if you couldn’t tell by the name of the films. Y’know what is the difference between “Based on a true story/incident” and “Ripped from the headlines”? The former is predicated on something you’ve probably never heard of before, and the second has a foundation in someone or something infamous. Y\know what the two of them have in common? At least 95 percent bullshit. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, just the truth (pun intended). The major divergence with the second is you have a better chance to recognize the real bits, such as here.

Landi takes “America’s Dad” head on, albeit in a near completely fictionalized version of one of the most beloved / reviled actors in recent history. Although fictionalized, it does well to also make some fine points about the entire event, such as denial and blaming the victim (“it was so many years ago, why now?” as a co-worker recently said to me, about origin story). Throughout the review I will refer to the real person as Cos, and the fictitious one as Bill, just to keep them straight.

Having formed a friendship with director/actor Sean Weathers, Landi directs him in the first feature that Weathers stars in but has not directed. I was looking forward to seeing someone else lead point for Sean’s actions at least once to see some acting stretches.

Rather than the early 1960s, the back part of the story here takes place in 1990, so when they catch up to “now,” rather than being in his 80s, Bill is only in his supposed ‘50s (Sean looks way too young for that, being 35, but this is given as a compliment). The unfunny standup comedy routine (intentionally?; personally, I found the Cos stuff from his early career, before the revelations, hysterical) of Bill reflects back to Cos, with monsters and Skinny Vinny, both referencing a bit about Od Weird Harold. There is even a veiled indication of Cos’s first television show, I-Spy (1965-1968).

After the black and white flashback, we brought to the present, where Bill hosts a program called Kids Say the Dumbest Things, a not very hidden reference to the Cos’s own remake of Art Linkletter’s Kids Say the Darndest Things (1998-2000). Never saw the Cos version of the show, so I can’t speak to its accuracy. Bill’s show and endorsements, however, are in jeopardy thanks to the hounding by daytime television show host Cindy Marie (Weathers’ regular Sybelle Silverphoenix, giving the strongest performance I have seen her do so far). She has even interviews some of his alleged victims, such as the self-lip-lickin’ Casey (Sara Rosenberg).

Sybelle Silverphoenix

Bill is supported in public by his long-suffering wife, Leeanna (b-movie regular Erika Smith, playing a white version of Cos’s wife, Cam…let’s stop there) and his manager Schlomo Rosenberg (Landi regular and scene stealer Sal Amore); he is also helped in his evil, hidden side by sidekick Louie (Brian Martin) and the occasional others.

One of the references in the film is the Bill sit-com, “Safe at Home,” where he teaches his son about responsibility using fake money (a bit taken directly from the first episode of “The You-Know-Who Show”). But despite that, there is a lot of mixing up of timelines by changing the order of events, which is not a complaint in any kind of way, just an observation. But there are also some interesting little bits here and there, such as some anti-religious statements (not that I’m a fan of organized religion), and a negative mention of Kim Jong Un, my guess is to possibly raise The Interview (2014) level-reactions and publicity. Nice try, even if it ends as only a commentary on those events.

The following comment has nothing to do with anything, but this is filmed in the New York area, most likely Landi’s home turf of the Bronx, and Weathers’ locus of Brooklyn (Silverphoenix is also from da Bronx), and some of the accents are beautifully thick (I say that without sarcasm) as can be, especially Amore’s. Having grown up in Bensonhurst, with a Bronx-bred dad, it made me feel at home.

There is one thing regarding this film about which I felt a bit uncomfortable. In Weathers’ films, women are often mistreated, but there is either retribution, such as with They All Must Die (1998), or his own characters are treated more harshly in the long run, like in Act Jackson is a Dead Man (2015) or Scumbag Hustler (2014). It is the violence against women that is on display here, be it via beating, skinning, etc., that feels unbalanced. Even during the many rape scenes, the women are naked and the men are fully clothed. Heck, Weathers has been shown a propensity to be naked to show off the muscles at the drop of a lens cap in his own films, but that does not happen here. This one-sidedness is, to me, the biggest drawback of the film.

Brian Martin and Sean Weathers in the titular role

As the film proceeds and veers ever further from the latest reports on our 24-hour news cycle about Cos, by the end it’s (hopefully; who knows what really happened with Cos) completely over the top, and that is actually a somewhat good thing, because it helps with the “not based on any real or living person…” disclaimer thingie that goes at the end of every film.

The extras are the trailer, a 13-minute unrated “Making Of” that is a mix of gag reel, deleted scenes, and behind the camera stuff, and a really good 8-minute film called Rex Baily by Landi about a has-been and bitter baseball player, who signs autographs in a bar in the Bronx for a living (made me think of Mickey Mantle on many levels).

Honestly, this is not the most shocking film name I can think of off the top of my head – that would go to Bill Zubub’s similarly titled Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist (2004) – but this is definitely up there in the Troma-level Whaaaaaaaaah? class. It’s also pretty brave, if you think about it, because Cos could pos – er – I mean possibly find offense and do a law action (not saying the sue word, but cease and desist do come to mind).

If you like serial killer films or just human monsters in general, this might interest you. There is a lot of female nudity and violence, some decent acting, and a nice level of bang for the production buck. Den dere are doze axcents…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqP_8XIKaaA