Favourite Five Series: JESS FRANCO (Part One)

I have seen Seventy Jess Franco films. I have never seen seventy films from one director. It is possible I may never see seventy films from another director other than Jess Franco. Mr. Franco made a shitload of films. IMDB lists 203 films under director but according to Wikipedia Franco made “about 160”.  I do know that at this point in my viewing it has become difficult to find titles I have not seen. I was thrilled to add Mondo Macabro’s recent Blu-ray of Night has a Thousand Desires to my collection; it marked my seventieth Franco flick. Severin will be releasing Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties (1980) August 29th; which I seen, but it was a very sketchy copy. And apparently if you order through the Severin store you will get yourself a pair of flowered panties and/or other related goodies with your film. I had to watch some pretty grungy versions of the Maestro’s resume to get those seventy stroked off my list. A few VHS rips on YouTube and XHamster were bordering on unwatchable. Some were rented from Zip before they ended the service, Bluemoon Streaming and Fandor. And some were purchased; I plan on adding as many Franco DVD and Blu-rays to my library as possible. When you watch multiple films from any one director you will notice similarities in style, technique, cast, music etc. Franco knew how to get bang for his buck and would often make more than one film on a set, using the same actors, actresses and costumes. Several actors and actresses made multiple appearances in Franco films. You could almost break down the films based on that. That is a post itself! I will be focusing on at least a few of the Franco regulars in my Goddesses of Underground Cinema posts. Franco has made films of every possible genre; horror, spy, comedy, action, documentary, etc and one thing they all have in common is sex and nudity in varying degrees. Even his early films like The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) were controversial for their time. Franco loved a bush shot. Long, lingering shots of bush are plentiful in his post 60s stuff. Sometimes there is nothing else going on in the shot, it is just bush. Seems to me there are more long lingering shots of bush than there is tits and/or ass. A bush zoom was used to segue way into the next scene in a few films. Quite often that bush belonged to Lina Romay. Film’s greatest love story! Franco made over a hundred films with Romay and the two were together until her death in 2012. Franco himself passed away just a little over a year later in 2013.

There were periods where Franco’s work felt a bit redundant, but when you’ve made “about 160” films you are bound to repeat yourself to some extent. I have enjoyed the hell out of a good chunk of Jess Franco’s filmography and consider him a favorite director. As long as folks like Mondo Macabro and Severin keep unearthing lost Franco films I will continue to buy and enjoy them. I love you Jess xo

I shortlisted twenty-two Franco films for THREE lists of Favorite Five Films; Here is Part One in no particular order…

SINNER/DIARY OF A NYMPHOMANIAC (1973)

Starring: Montserrat Prous, Anne Libert, Kali Hansa, Jacqueline Laurent, Howard Vernon, Manuel Pereiro, Francisco Acosta

Jess Franco made a lot of films with female revenge plots. Strong, resourceful, sexy women unapologetic about who they are and what they do. Linda Vargas is the film’s Sinner. The opening scene in a club ends with Linda calling the police, slashing her own throat and falling on top of a man. The balance of the film explains why. The lovely Montserrat Prous who plays Linda was in seven Franco films but this one, bar none was the jewel in her crown. She is picture perfect; I felt so sorry for Linda! I had more empathy for Linda then I have ever had for any character in a Franco film. Every guy she meets is a piece of shit. The cast of regulars have never been better, especially Kali Hansa who plays Maria, Linda’s best friend and lover. Although I noted the films are not in any particular order, there is no doubt about it, Sinner is definitely my number one Franco flick.

Linda Kills herself at the beginning of the film and frames degenerate Mr. Ortiz (Manuel Pereiro) for her murder.

Linda (Montserrat Prous) with her friend and lover Maria (Kali Hansa).

Rosa, Ortiz’s wife (Jacqueline Laurent) clutching Linda’s diary.

Read my full review of Sinner HERE.

FACELESS (1987)

Starring: Helmut Berger, Brigitte Lahaie, Caroline Munro, Gérard Zalcberg, Anton Diffring, Howard Vernon, Telly Savalas

Faceless is more or less an eighties version of Franco’s 1962 film The Awful Dr. Orlof. Dr. Flamand’s wife has acid thrown in her face early in the film and the good doctor aims to do something about it; namely get her a pretty new face. With the assistance of his lover Nathalie (Brigitte Lahaie) and goon Gordon (Gerard Zalcberg) there is much face ripping and re-attaching. A cameo from Howard Vernon as Dr. Orloff, Anton Diffring as a Nazi doctor, and Telly Savalas as the father to a coke-snorting,  big-haired model played by Caroline Munro; not much to dislike here! Great cast, well-paced, gory action that screams the eighties.

Dr. Flamand (Helmut Berger) examines a new “patient” while Nathalie (Brigitte Lahaie) looks on.

Brigitte Lahaie as Nathalie “assisting”.

A gory face removal.

Read my full review of Faceless HERE.

NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND DESIRES (1984)

Starring: Lina Romay, Daniel Katz, Carmen Carrión, Albino Graziani, José Llamas, Alicia Príncipe, Mari Carmen Nieto

Irina and her lover Fabian tour nightclubs with their psychic act. Irina is plagued with terrible nightmares that she believes to be real. Fabian played by Daniel Katz is one of Franco’s all time biggest dick characters. He even looked like a weasel. That weaselly hair and those douchy clothes. I hated him. But I loved hating him. Lina Romay on the other hand plays one her most likable characters and gives a really solid performance; one of her best I think. Fabulous locations and set pieces and an intriguing story with lots of groovy surreal imagery.  Night has a Thousand Desires has everything I enjoy about Franco films and more.

A hysterical Irina (Lina Romay) in one of the film’s many trippy moments.

Lorna (Carmen Carrión) kisses the forehead of Irina in another trippy scene.

Irina (Lina Romay) finds blood on her hands and cannot remember how it got there.

Read my full review of Night has a Thousand Desires HERE.

VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971)

Starring: Soledad Miranda, Dennis Price, Paul Muller, Ewa Strömberg, Heidrun Kussin, José Martínez Blanco, Andrea Montchal

One of the first Franco films I ever seen and 70 films later it is still a favorite. Franco throws out the rules of vampire lore for this salacious outing. Linda (Ewa Strömberg) travels to a remote island to settle an estate with a wealthy Countess. The lonely, blood-thirsty Countess has other plans for Linda. Symbolism runs rampant in this sexy, psychedelic and surreal vampire love story.  Fabulous sets, beautiful cinematography and a badass soundtrack. Soledad Miranda as Countess Carody and Ewa Strömberg as Linda Westinghouse have fabulous chemistry; both are superb in their roles. Truly a shame that the talented Soledad Miranda died so young.

Countess Nadine Carody’s (Soledad Miranda) performance at a club at the beginning of the film.

Countess Nadine Carody (Soledad Miranda) working on her tan.

Linda Westinghouse (Ewa Strömberg) splashed with blood.

Read my full review of Vampyros Lesbos HERE.

EUGENIE… THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1970)

Starring: Maria Rohm, Marie Liljedahl, Jack Taylor, Paul Muller, Christopher Lee

Based on the work of Marquis De Sade, the title really says it all. The fresh faced Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl) is a guest at the palatial manor of Madame Saint Ange (Maria Rohm) where her daisy like virtue is plucked petal by petal. Madame and step brother Mirvel (Jack Taylor) waste no time corrupting the young woman who by the story’s end is stripped bare both physically and emotionally. This is worth watching for Maria Rohm’s performance alone. A gorgeous, confident, classy and well-dressed degenerate of highest rank. Who wouldn’t do whatever the hell she asked? Certainly not Eugenie’s father; who sold his daughter for the opportunity to fuck Madame. I can’t imagine anyone better than Rohm in this role; in the Franco fold or otherwise. She is perfection. Marie Liljedahl still looks like a bloody teenager and fits well here as does the Lego-coiffed Jack Taylor. Amazing sets and costumes, a fabulous soundtrack and just an overall slick-looking film. Franco’s masterpiece.

Madame Saint Ange (Maria Rohm) helps Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl) with the suntan lotion.

Mirvel (Jack Taylor) taking care of business.

An epiphany for Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl).

Favourite Five Series: RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER

What I’ve Seen: Katzelmacher (1969), Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970), The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Satan’s Brew (1976), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Lili Marleen (1981), Whity (1971), Martha (1974), Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), The American Soldier (1970), Beware of a Holy Whore (1971), In a Year with 13 Moons (1978), Querelle (1982), Chinese Roulette (1976), I Only Want You To Love Me (1976), Lola (1981), Love is Colder Than Death (1969), Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1971), Veronika Voss (1982), World on a Wire (1973), Gods of the Plague (1970)

I posted a list of my favourite directors in July 2012 and Rainer Werner Fassbinder made the forty-seven hole. If I was to do this same list today it would look considerably different; Fassbinder would easily make my top ten. Since compiling that director list I have seen fifteen additional titles from the Fassbinder. I have now seen a total of twenty-two films from the director. While I would hardly say that makes me a Fassbinder expert it certainly gives me enough titles to compile my favourite five. Many of the same talented faces turned up again and again through my Fassbinder journey; Irm Hermann, Günther Kaufmann, Volker Spengler, Ulli Lommel, Ingrid Cavan and Katrin Schaake to name a few. Fassbinder himself is in the vast majority of the films on my list in both main roles and brief appearances. When I think of the cinema of Fassbinder I think style, drama, humor and a one of kind presentation that makes his films a viewing experience quite unlike any other. And perhaps, above all, I think of the performances of Hanna Schygulla and Margit Carstensen. Both actresses have been cast in lead roles and the strength they bring to their characters is something phenomenal. Fassbinder’s 1972 film The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant was the first I seen from the director and it made a lasting impression on me. The film takes place in one room; the bedroom and studio of Petra Von Kant. Petra is a successful clothing designer but an unhappy woman. She spends most of her time alone with the exception of her assistant Marlene who she consistently berates and abuses. We learn early in the film that Petra’s marriage ended badly, she has a strained relationship with her mother whom she supports financially and a teenage daughter who lives at boarding school. Her cousin Sidone visits one afternoon and introduces her to Karin. Petra is immediately smitten with Karin who she takes under her wing. Karin is new in town and Petra intends to help her embark on a modelling career. There is an unspoken commitment expected from Karin who is painfully aware of Petra’s love for her. Karin promises nothing and makes no apologies for her aloof behavior; she really appears quite detached from the situation. This drives Petra crazy and when Karin inevitably leaves her it pushes Petra right over the edge. Every one of the all-female cast puts their best foot forward in this emotionally-charged melodrama. Petra’s eccentric dwelling and designs reflect her personality in this wonderfully organized yet chaotic way. It is easy to write Petra off as a crazy bitch but I don’t think that is entirely fair. Petra is a smart, successful woman who has allowed her own drama to get the better of her. Margit Carstensen’s performance is intense and poignant but never sympathetic; you do not feel sorry for Petra. It is very much what makes the film work for me, no empathy just bitter tears as its title suggests. Twenty-two Fassbinder films later and The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is still ultimately my favourite by the director which is why it is the first film on this list. Running a very close second in my heart is another Margit Carstensen lead role from 1974; Martha. Officially Martha was actually a made for TV movie; despite this I feel it is some of Fassbinder’s best work so I have no problem with including it on this list. Martha, like Petra, is a troubled, lonely woman who is not immune to emotional hysteria although this is where the parallels end. Martha is a quiet woman approaching middle-age and unmarried. She has been charged with the care of her ungrateful and nasty mother after her father dies during a trip to Rome. Martha’s boss is in love with her but she does not reciprocate and turns down his offer of marriage. However, as her mother’s insults and taunts escalate she becomes increasingly desperate. Martha dreads the idea of becoming an old spinster left to care for an icy and uncaring mother. She finds solace in the arms of Helmut; he eventually proposes and she accepts. Martha’s unhappiness spirals into a nightmare of mental and physical abuse as Helmut takes over every last aspect of Martha’s life. Helmut has her mother committed, offers her resignation to her employer (a job she loves) and forces her to move from her family home. Helmut essentially keeps Martha prisoner with threats and subtle mind games and she eventually falls apart. It all ends in the worst way possible that had me cursing Fassbinder and calling him a bastard! That bloody ending! Helmut is worse than any villain in a horror film; he is one of the most unlikable characters I have ever stumbled upon. Karlheinz Böhm is brilliant in the role of Helmut and Margit Carstensen is absolutely devastating as Martha. There was no doubt in my mind what three of the five films on this list would be and Martha holds a firm placing for me right behind Bitter Tears. The aforementioned third film also features Margit Carstensen but in a more minor role; Fassbinder’s 1973 sci-fi odyssey World on a Wire. World on a Wire is based on the novel Simulacron-3 by Daniel F. Galouye and stars Klaus Löwitsch as central character Fred Stiller. The film was initially made for TV and was presented in two parts. The film itself is over three and a half hours long; and yes, I have included two made-for-TV films on my list. What of it? Professor Vollmer is the technical director of a new supercomputer program created for the Institute of Cybernetics and Future Science. The program is a simulation of an alternate universe whose inhabitants interact as human beings in a world not unlike our own. Vollmer begins to suspect other forces are controlling the project and becomes increasingly paranoid when he suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances. Vollmer’s colleague Fred Stiller is charged with taking over Vollmer’s position. Disconcerting events begin to surface the minute Stiller is in his new position. Gunther Lause, who worked with Vollmer has valuable information to share with Stiller but suddenly disappears. The deeper Stiller investigates the more surreal and threatening the program becomes forcing him to flee his position. Eventually the two worlds collide in the most fantastical way. World on a Wire may be Fassbinder’s most impressive film visually. Without any special effects he manages to construct sets and set pieces that perfectly capture a futuristic and other-worldly feel. Modern sterile fixtures including plenty of mirrors and other reflective surfaces are used to great effect. The performances, especially Klaus Löwitsch are fantastic and the outstanding story kept me intrigued every last minute of its runtime. Paranoia, betrayal and love in a futuristic hell like only Fassbinder could create. Choosing the last two films for this list of five was more challenging than I expected it would be. I volleyed around six films and was so torn I re-watched four of them (I will discuss the films I left off the list a little later). The next film to make the cut was Fassbinder’s 1973 film Whity starring Günther Kaufmann. Kaufmann had minor roles in several Fassbinder films but this is the first I watched that had the actor in a lead role. After completing my fifty favourite director list, Fassbinder was one of the first I embarked to see more from and Whity was the beginning of that journey. One could argue that they find something undiscovered in every subsequent viewing of a Fassbinder film; I could not disagree with this statement. Whity, for me, is the film in Fassbinder’s oeuvre that I discover something new each time I visit it. Kaufmann plays Whity; Butler and servant to the depraved and dysfunctional Nicholson family. When not servicing the Nicholsons Whity spends his time at a saloon in the company of his lover Hanna who performs there nightly. Whity is in fact a Western melodrama; a period piece that resembles something akin to a warped version of Dallas. Whity is humiliated and abused by the Nicholsons much to the chagrin of Hanna who does not understand his loyalty to this most heinous of bloodlines. The colors used in Whity are particularly lush even inside the gloomy Nicholson’s residence. The Nicholsons themselves however look like death warmed over! The foundation chosen for the family members gives their skin tone the look of a walking corpse. They look as sickly on the outside as they are on the inside. The Nicholsons played by Ron Randell, Katrin Schaake, Harry Baer and Ulli Lommel are convincingly nefarious and perfect but the spotlight belongs to Günther Kaufmann. Kaufmann plays Whity with a subtle pathos relayed through gestures more than words that I found wholly compelling. The lovely Hanna, played by Hanna Schygulla, is the only light in Whity’s life and she shines bright. Whity is betrayal, perversion, delusion, influence, dominance and at the end of it all, love; a beautifully warped and wicked bit of cinema. Hanna Schygulla is the titular character in the final film on my list; Fassbinder’s 1979 film The Marriage of Maria Braun. To truly appreciate Hanna Schygulla as an actress I think that The Marriage of Maria Braun is mandatory viewing. The Marriage of Maria Braun is the first in Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) a trio of films that focus on the life of a German woman during (and/or following) World War II. Maria marries a soldier named Hermann Braun whom is called to duty immediately following their union. Maria restlessly awaits her husband’s return but instead is informed of his death. Maria takes a job as a hostess where she meets Bill. Meanwhile, Hermann has returned from the dead and catches Maria and Bill post-coitus. The two men fight and Maria smashes a bottle over Bill’s head inadvertently killing him. This does not bode well for the newly reunited Brauns. Once again they are separated when Hermann takes responsibility for the death and goes to prison. Maria meets a wealthy industrialist who offers her a job and becomes his lover; Maria also continues to make regular visits to Hermann in prison. Fassbinder has written some truly awesome roles for female characters; this list is a testament to that. Schygulla’s Maria character is an intelligent and sassy woman who easily adapts to the business world and becomes a success. Maria is as strong as she is sentimental and despite everything, in her way, she stays faithful to Hermann. Schygulla is confident and poised as the bold Maria. And that ending! Again a Fassbinder ending that left my mouth agape. What is with Fassbinder and those nasty, crazy finales? To recap, my five favourite Fassbinder films with cast list and images:

THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972)
Cast: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Irm Hermann, Gisela Fackeldey, Eva Mattes

MARTHA (1974)
Cast: Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Böhm, Barbara Valentin, Peter Chatel, Gisela Fackeldey, Adrian Hoven

WORLD ON A WIRE (1973)
Cast: Klaus Löwitsch, Barbara Valentin, Mascha Rabben, Karl Heinz Vosgerau, Wolfgang Schenck, Günter Lamprecht, Ulli Lommel, Adrian Hoven, Margit Carstensen

WHITY (1973)
Cast: Günther Kaufmann, Ron Randell, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Harry Baer, Ulli Lommel, Elaine Baker

THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (1979)
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gottfried John, Hark Bohm, George Eagles

I mentioned earlier that there were four other titles that were strong candidates for this list. The first of the four is Fassbinder’s 1971 film Beware of a Holy Whore; which made my list of favourite films watched in 2014 (Fassbinder’s Martha and World on a Wire also made the same list). The film is about the making of Whity and the drama on and especially off set. Beware of a Holy Whore is full of humor, colorful sexy sets and costumes and jam-packed full of Fassbinder regulars. A favourite among Fassbinder fans and well worth checking out. The second candidate is Fassbinder’s 1978 film In a Year with 13 Moons; chronicling the last few days of cross-dresser Elvira. Elvira visits a slaughterhouse, the convent where she grew up, and an old lover among other interactions. It is very sad and beautiful and Volker Spengler gives a heart-aching performance as Elvira. Kudos also to Ingrid Cavan who is especially charming as Elvira’s best friend. The third candidate was Fassbinder’s 1976 film Chinese Roulette. It was really tough leaving this one off of the list. Chinese Roulette is a guessing game the family and acquaintances play together in the film’s final chapter. Ariane and Gerhard Christ have both been engaged in long term affairs and make arrangements to meet their lovers at their house in the country. Needless to say things get awkward when the two couples meet face to face. They make the best of the situation at least until their manipulative pre-teen daughter decides to also join the party. A solid story with smart and seething dialog and outstanding performances from Anna Karina, Margit Carstensen, Ulli Lommel, Volker Spengler, Alexander Allerson, Macha Meril and Andrea Schober. The final consideration was Fassbinder’s 1982 film Veronika Voss. The film is loosely based on the career of Sybille Schmitz. Veronika Voss was a formerly successful actress who now struggles to get roles. She meets a reporter named Robert who becomes caught up in the complicated emotional rollercoaster that is Ms. Voss’s life. This is the second film in Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy (The Marriage of Maria Braun was the first and Lola is the third) a trio of films that focus on the life of a German woman during (and/or following) World War II. A gorgeous black and white masterpiece with a poignant performance from Rosel Zech as Veronika Voss. In reality, I have enjoyed every Fassbinder film I have seen with the exception of I Only Want You To Love Me (1976) and would recommend checking out any and all of them! I bought myself Criterion’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant a new release from this past January. I also treated myself to the Criterion Eclipse series Early Fassbinder set. Fassbinder is a force of nature whose work can affect my emotional state unlike any other.

I Kill Them – Antiteater: Music from Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Western Melodrama WHITY (1971) – played during the opening credits.

Favourite Five Series: PAUL NASCHY

With the exception of the favourite fives I did for a recent Something Weird Video feature I have been concentrating on directors. Paul Naschy will be the first actor to grace my favourite five series. Paul Naschy has one hundred and four acting, forty-four writing and fifteen director credits. The Spanish Lon Chaney as he is sometimes referred has played a host of classic monsters but he is best known for playing the wolfman; a role he played eleven times. Naschy was born Jacinto Molina Álvarez in Madrid Spain in 1934; his stage name is Paul Naschy but his birth name is what he uses when he is in the director’s chair. Naschy had a long career in the film industry and sadly, died in 2009 at the age of seventy-five with several unfinished projects on the go. Naschy never lost his enthusiasm for his work in the industry despite receiving little if any critical acclaim. Finally in 2001 he received one of Spain’s highest honors; the Gold Medal in Fine Arts. I have met many folks online with similar taste in film to myself and even much of this crowd are barely familiar with the films of Paul Nashcy. Paul Naschy was a multi-talented, charismatic tour de force who loved his fans and his work; I hope that this list will at least pique your interest in checking out his films. As well as the five films listed below I love and adore and love some more: Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973) directed by Carlos Aured, A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1974) directed by León Klimovsky, Death of a Hoodlum (1975) directed by León Klimovsky, The People Who Own the Dark directed by León Klimovsky, Inquisition (1976) directed By: Jacinto Molina (Paul Naschy) and The Traveler (1979) directed by Jacinto Molina (Paul Naschy).

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THE MUMMY’S REVENGE (1973)
Directed By: Carlos Aured

Amenhotep rules his kingdom with an iron fist and kills in order to provide blood as a sacrifice to his god. Tiring of Amenhotep’s bullshit his servants poison him. In present day a relative Assad Bey is determined to bring back his relative. Along with his lover Zanufer they make the sacrifices necessary to bring back Amenhotep. Meanwhile they have befriended a young woman named Helen who bares a striking resemblance to Amenhotep’s lover Amarna and Professor Nathan Stern and his assistant Abigail threaten to ruin their plans. When I compile these lists I simply pick the films I enjoyed most; it ain’t brain surgery. It is purely a coincidence that three of the five films here were directed by Carlos Aured; I obviously dig the director’s stuff. Aured directs with style. The sets are simply superb and the colors are lush and appealing. I loved how the draping of the sacrificial maidens matched the gauzy fabric of the curtains that adorned the room. The costumes and makeup were as vibrant and creative as the sets and there is plenty of unnaturally red blood to adorn the films multiple throat cuttings and head squishing. The amount of throat-cutting and head squishing is not insignificant. Naschy plays two roles; Amenhotep and his distant relative Assad Bey which he plays with a cocky menace. Jack Taylor is excellent as Professor Stern, María Silva is charming as Abigail, Helga Liné gives her usual oozingly sexy performance and Rina Ottolina who plays both Helen and Amarna is empathetic and gorgeous. Aured’s yummy and stylish take on the mummy mystique is made that much more delicious by the presence of Paul Naschy.

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BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL (1974)
Directed By: Carlos Aured

An escaped convict named Gilles is hitchhiking his way across Spain in search of work. A woman named Claude offers him work at her home where she lives with her two sisters; Nicole and Yvette. Gilles arrival coincides with the grisly murders of women who have had their eyes plucked out, making him the most obvious suspect. But Gilles is not the only one with secrets in this sordid tale including the trio of lovely ladies, the doctor, the suspicious new nurse, the bitter barmaid and even the police captain. Blue eyes of the Broken Doll or more appropriately House of Psychotic Women (It’s alternative title) is a Spanish Giallo. It has all the adornments of your classic Italian Giallo including sexy women, grandly staged deaths, red herrings and a great soundtrack. It also has an excessively macho Naschy striking Captain Morgan-like poses. Of course all three of the sisters have their eye on Naschy’s Gilles. The interaction between Gilles and the ladies is quite entertaining! Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll has a fabulous cast! The trio of sisters played by Diana Lorys, Eva León and Maria Perschy were perfectly chosen. Naschy is in top form as the mucho macho maintenance man. There is sex, nudity and violence all delivered with considerable style. There are some well-executed moments of suspense and a particularly fabulous finale. I especially enjoyed Gilles dreamy flashbacks where he strangles a woman in an empty room as well as the shots of two black gloved hands dumping two freshly-plucked eyeballs into a bowl of water! It keeps you guessing right up to the end. Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is terrific, trashy, Giallo-licious fun; Naschy is simply the cherry on top.

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THE NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF (1981)
Directed By: Jacinto Molina Alvarez (Paul Naschy)

Waldemar Daninsky is staked to death and Elizabeth Bathory executed for the crime of practising witchcraft. Fast forward to modern-day 1981 and we meet three attractive female college students who are seeking the grave of Countess Bathory as part of their studies. Little do the trio know that the gentleman who has invited them to stay as guests in his home is the wolfman Daninsky who was awaken a short time before by grave robbers. Meanwhile one of the women intends to bring Countess Bathory back from the dead. This is one of Naschy’s eleven appearances as the wolfman. Naschy does double duty as director and lead actor in The Night of the Werewolf. The Night of the Werewolf has a werewolf and a vampire; vampires, plural to be precise. Naschy does a fabulous job of directing and the film looks great! The werewolf makeup and transformations are top-drawer and there is a decent amount of blood spilled throughout. It is loaded with cool sets and props, groovy wardrobes and nudity. Paul Naschy also gives a bang up performance as the strong and troubled Daninsky. The Night of the Werewolf is one of my very favourite werewolf films and was number four on my top ten favourite werewolf films list.

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PANIC BEATS (1983)
Directed By: Jacinto Molina (Paul Naschy)

After Paul Marnac’s wife is diagnosed with a heart condition they move to the Marnac family castle in the countryside. The castle once belonged to a relative by the name of Alaric De Marnac who murdered his wife and children, practised the black arts and terrorized the population with his trusty flail. That’s right, a flail! I learned something new today; I learned what a flail is when I looked up medieval weapons! You do not want to get hit with a flail; and you certainly do not want to get bashed to death by a flail. Not a nice way to go my friends. The Marnac Castle is the ideal location at least until the nasty dead relative starts to make appearances. It is a pretty straight-forward story that services the film quite well and a really electric atmosphere with some primo moments of intensity. Best of all it has some amazing gore! Some of the best gore I have seen in any Naschy film. Alaric De Marnac sports a suit of armour and beneath that suit of armor is one ugly rotted sonofabitch (I posted a grand set of Alaric on my tumblr page)! Panic Beats is well shot, bloody, gory, sleazy, sexy and has superb effects and makeup. Naschy is in the director’s chair and once again boasts dual roles as Paul and the brutal and sadistic Alaric. Naschy is a force of nature in this 80s-licious gore fest!

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CURSE OF THE DEVIL (1973)
Directed By: Carlos Aured

Countess Elizabeth Bathory swears vengeance on her executor Irineus Daninsky warning him that one of his descendents will befall a terrible accident and will be forever cursed. Several years later the accidental shooting death of a gypsy man by Waldemar Daninsky results in the gypsy’s people scarring him with the “mark of the wolf”. Simultaneously an escaped serial killer is knocking off women all over the countryside. This is good news for Waldemar as the murders he is committing as a werewolf have gone unnoticed; unnoticed, that is until the serial killer’s dead body is found. Another one of Naschy’s eleven wolfman roles and this one also has Satan-worshipping gypsies, a serial killer and a Countess Elizabeth Bathory tie in! The way that Waldemar is marked with the wolf curse was pretty unique. Paul Naschy gives another angst-ridden, hand-wringer of a performance as the wolfman Waldemar Daninsky and is particularly animated in this turn. The scenes where he transforms are a real treat with Naschy knocking shit over right left and center and clutching at himself furiously as he turns into the thing he hates. Waldemar falls in love with two of the film’s female characters instantaneously and love is a strong theme in the story. Love apparently can save a man from a werewolf curse; doesn’t happen, but it could. Curse of the Devil boasts lovely location shots, delightful makeup and transformations, gore, nudity and a particularly spirited and excellent performance from Paul Naschy.

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Favourite Five Series: DAVID CRONENBERG

David Cronenberg has forty director credits listed on IMDB; twenty-one of those credits are feature films. I have seen twenty of those feature films; Maps of the Stars has not yet been released. I think they outta start naming some Canadian monuments after David Cronenberg, or at very least a school or two. David Cronenberg Elementary; they can do a musical version of The Brood each year in his honor. Before compiling this list I went to the effort of seeing Cosmopolis, which I found Comme-ci, comme ça. It certainly wasn’t changing anything on this list. The only film I feel really strongly about from Cronenberg’s last decade of filmmaking is Eastern Promises. Don’t misunderstand, I have actually quite enjoyed Cronenberg’s entire body of work but it is his horror films that will always have a special place in my heart. Cronenberg’s early horror films are the perfect combination of the physical with the psychological. The term body horror or venereal horror has been used to describe his early genre films and an apt description it is. The term body horror basically represents a complete and graphic breakdown of the human body from any number of causes; disease, parasite, cerebral manifestation to note a few. Cronenberg’s films are complimented by strong stories, perfect casting, amazing performances and gag-worthy visuals. This was the easiest list I have ever put together; the only real struggle was leaving Dead Ringers off the list. As much as I love Dead Ringers and Jeremy Irons brilliant performance it is not a film that I revisit nearly as often as the five included below.

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VIDEODROME (1983)

Videodrome is about a struggling cable television station run by Max Renn. Renn is always on the lookout for programming not offered by the competition and shows soft-core adult films late nights. Renn is looking to step up his game and one night his engineer stumbles upon a grainy barebones production called Videodrome. Videodrome appears to be simulated snuff but as Max soon discovers it is all very real. Videodrome is more than torture, it is an addictive mental mindfuck with the ability to transform the human body. Videodrome is both a warning about the dangers of technology taking over our lives and our desensitization to violence. It also has really bloody amazing effects by Rick Baker that hold up as well today as they did back in 1983. Really ghastly and original stuff. Despite a mainstream cast and major distribution Cronenberg holds back nothing and creates a gritty, disturbing and uncompromising film. James Woods is pitch-perfect as station owner Max Renn. Woods Renn character is cocky, tactless and intense; watching him lose his grip on reality is Shakespearian. Deborah Harry was an impeccable choice as Nicki Brand; she is sexy, kinky and completely believable in the role. Renn has a sexual relationship with Brand who becomes drawn into Videodrome and eventually becomes one of its victims. Videodrome is without a doubt my favourite David Croenberg film and one of my favorite horror films of all time. “Long live the new flesh!”

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THE BROOD (1979)

The Brood is about Nola Carveth who is being treated by Psychotherapist Dr. Raglan. Dr. Raglan is using an unconventional treatment called Psychoplasmics. The method encourages the patient to work through their emotion until it physically manifests itself. Nola has become a primary focus of Dr. Raglan’s therapy due to her extraordinary adaptation. Nola receives weekend visits from her daughter Candy important to her therapy; but after her ex-husband Frank finds Candy bruised and scratched he puts an immediate end to the visitations. Shortly after, Nola’s abusive mother is found brutally murdered. Even more disconcerting they discover the dead body of a mutated child who appears to be the one responsible for the death. The ability to materialize your anxiety, fear or anger would be a pretty unsettling ability to have. I can’t imagine what mad nastiness my mind would concoct! The little mutant children featured in The Brood are creepy as hell. The effects are impressive and the makeup on the mutant kiddies is beautifully grotesque. Large groups of children in snowsuits scare me to this day. One of my favourite scenes in the film takes place in a kindergarten class with a bunch of child actors who probably grew up seriously traumatized thanks to Cronenberg. The best visual effects assault however is courtesy of Nola Carveth in the film’s finale. You can find pictures of it all over the place, but I am not going to be the one to spoil it for you. It really is freaking spectacular! Another top-notch cast that includes legend Oliver Reed who plays Dr. Raglan with charisma, strength and authority, the exquisite Samantha Eggar who plays Nola Carveth with disturbed psychosis, rage and a touch of empathy, Cindy Hinds who plays Candice Carveth a quiet, solemn little girl with an adult-like numbness that is chilling and Art Hindle who plays the voice of reason Frank Carveth. Mood and atmosphere, well paced, steadily building tension, amazing effects and stunning performances; The Brood is a suspenseful, intense and chilling experience.

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NAKED LUNCH (1991)

Naked Lunch is loosely based on William S. Burroughs’ novel of the same name. Cronenberg turns the story into a semi-autobiographical account of Burroughs life. Characters are based on Burroughs real life acquaintances Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Vollmer and Paul and Jane Bowles. Bill Lee is an exterminator whose wife Joan is addicted to the insecticide he uses to kill bugs. Bill too is affected by the substance which causes him to have severe hallucinations. So severe are his hallucinations that Bill believes he is a secret agent for an organization called Interzone and is assigned tasks by a giant insect! Although I included Naked Lunch on my top ten horror film list for 1991 it really is not a horror film; although Cronenberg definitely includes horrifying images in the film. There are some downright gross visuals that are on par with any of the horror films on the list. As noted, Cronenberg never intended his film to be a straight up adaptation of Burroughs book but I think he does a superb job of capturing the general vibe while maintaining a distinct David Cronenberg flavor. I love Cronenberg’s approach with the inclusion of facts from Burroughs fascinating life. The shooting death of Burrough’s girlfriend Joan Vollmer is worked into the plot of Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch. Burroughs says of the incident “I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would have never become a writer but for Joan’s death”. Naked Lunch is a strange, hypnotic, and sublime trip into another world. The film is accented by some truly exceptional performances from Judy Davis, Roy Scheider, Ian Holm, Julian Sands and Nicholas Campbell and most notably Peter Weller who plays Bill Lee. When I think of the most iconic acting roles of the past few decades Weller’s Lee is one of the first that comes to mind. Naked Lunch has withstood countless viewings and always leaves me feeling a little disoriented but awestruck. It is truly a one of a kind experience that, like a lot of Cronenberg’s films, elicits strong opinions of love or hate; I happen to think it is a masterpiece. “Exterminate all rational thought. That is the conclusion I have come to.”

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RABID (1977)

Rabid focuses on Rose, the victim of a serious motorcycle accident. Rose becomes the beneficiary of a radical surgery performed by Dr. Keloid involving tissue grafting. The surgery has an unexpected side effect in the form of a vagina-like orifice in her armpit that craves human blood. Rose runs amok in an effort to sate her cravings. Rose’s feedings not only cause bodily harm but they infect her victims causing them to go into a rabid state and attack and infect others. Doctors in horror movies have caused so much mayhem over the years haven’t they? If Rose had been taken to a regular hospital instead of a plastic surgery clinic none of this would have happened. Needless to say the infection spreads like wildfire and martial law is declared. The infected move quickly and attack viciously; fortunately they are easy to kill. The effects are solid although Rabid is not especially graphic. Rose’s armpit vagina is the film’s coolest effect and it is quite a unique one too! There are some particularly well-executed action sequences. My favourite is a scene that takes place in a mall during Christmas time and a security guy goes on a crazy shooting spree and kills Santa! Another scene that takes place on a subway is also delightfully chaotic. Marilyn Chambers does not speak much in her role as Rose but she is lovely and intense and a pleasure to behold. Chambers brings a good balance of strength and vulnerability to Rose. Frank Moore is natural and likable as her boyfriend Hart. Rabid is well-paced with evenly distributed violence throughout. Rabid is smart, well-written, intense and seriously entertaining.

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THEY CAME FROM WITHIN (1975)

They Came from Within aka Shivers is about an experiment conducted by Dr. Emil Hobbes using parasites. The parasites cause the patient to have an overwhelming sexual appetite. Hobbes implants his girlfriend Annabelle with the parasite who is living in The Starliner a self-contained, exclusive high-end condominium. Annabelle quickly spreads the parasite throughout the building. Hobbes then kills his Annabelle and himself and the case is closed. Meanwhile residents of the building are getting sick and parasites are running loose and attacking the residents. The condominiums on-site Doctor Dr. St. Luc uncovers information about Hobbes research and tries to contain the parasite in the Starliner condominium, but will it be too late? Shivers is an intense, intelligent, claustrophobic tale full of sexuality and violence. Shivers opens with the death of a very young woman by the hands of a middle-aged man who then cuts his own throat. The next bit of yuckiness comes from a resident named Nick who leaves work early feeling sick. He vomits out a parasite and it is not long before all hell breaks loose in the enclosed space of the condo. The violent and deviant scenes to follow are unique and effective in that very special Cronenberg sort of way. Shivers has sex, nudity, incest, violence and even cannibalism. There is a ton of crazy shit going on here! Repulsive, erotic, nasty, “even dying is an act of eroticism”. As is the case with all the films on this list there are great performances here from Paul Hampton as Dr. St. Luc, the feline-esque Lynn Lowry as Nurse Forsythe, Allan Kolman as Nicholas Tudor, Susan Petrie as Janine Tudor, Joe Silver as Rollo Linsky and Barbara Steele as Betts. Cronenberg creates an excellent mood of paranoia and includes plenty of subtle and not-so-subtle commentary on contemporary 70′s culture. Shivers was Cronenberg’s first horror film and is one of his best.

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Favourite Five Series: Something Weird Video Triple Features

This is it, my final Stepping Into Something Weird and The Films of Michael Findlay post! This has genuinely been the most fun I have ever had doing a feature for Goregirl’s Dungeon! Seventy-five Something Weird titles watched and nineteen Something Weird DVDs added to my personal collection; a collection I intend to grow. I look forward to continuing my journey through the rest of Something Weird Video’s catalog in the months and years to come. I hope I was able to turn you on to some of these gorgeous grindhouse gems and early exploitation extravaganzas!

Thank you to my good friend and Co-host David Arrate over at My Kind of Story and My Kind of Story Images for his contributions and assistance during Stepping into Something Weird and The Films of Michael Findlay.

Let us just get right down to business here shall we? Here is My Favourite Five Something Weird Video Triple Features! All five of the triple features on this list should be in every single exploitation fans collection!

The Touch of her Flesh/The Curse of her Flesh/The Kiss of her Flesh

Michael Findlay’s Flesh trilogy received my highest combined rating of all the triple features on this list. The Curse of Her Flesh received a perfect rating and made my favourite five something weird films (part two), The Kiss of Her Flesh was not far behind with a 4.5/5 and The Touch of Her Flesh a 3.5/5 for a combined 13. The trilogy follows weapons expert Richard Jennings who flips a switch after catching his voluptuous wife in bed with another man and goes on a three film killing spree where numerous broads (and a few men too) are killed in a number of creative ways that include various weapons, poison and a booby-trapped dildo! The Touch of Her Flesh seems so conservative in comparison to The Curse of Her Flesh and The Kiss of Her Flesh but all three are an absolute shitload of fun! I can say the same thing about this entire trilogy that I said about The Curse of Her Flesh; outrageous, nasty, hilarious, naughty, sleazy, entertaining brilliance! Having seen six Findlay efforts offered through Something Weird Video I can say with confidence that Findlay is one of the most outrageous and entertaining directors in their library! I said it before and I am going to said again right freaking now; every film on this list is a must have for exploitation fans but none of them more so than Michael Findlay’s Flesh trilogy!

For more images from The Touch of Her Flesh click here.

For more images from The Curse of Her Flesh click here.

For more images from The Kiss of Her Flesh click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Get ready to be Shocked and Appalled with an All Out Assault on Humanity! Here’s the infamous “Flesh Trilogy,” three of the most outrageously insane Sexploitation Sickies of the 60s from husband and wife filmmakers Michael and Roberta Findlay which mix sex and violence into a malignant cocktail still potent today.

The madness starts with The Touch of Her Flesh where Richard Jennings discovers his wife Claudia in bed with another man, goes berserk, and is promptly hit by a car. In a classic case of overreaction, the now-crippled Jennings not only vows revenge on his wife but on all women everywhere, slaughtering strippers, hookers and go-go girls in a series of psycho killings which climax with a lovely little buzzsaw beheading.

Next Jennings extends The Curse of Her Flesh to the man he caught with Claudia as well as “everyone connected with him,” leading to murders by machete, a poisoned cat’s paw, and even a lethal G-string!

Finally in The Kiss of Her Flesh, Jennings fights the ultimate Battle of the Sexes with a tire iron, blowtorch, and, believe it or not, a lobster claw. Yipes! Hilariously depraved, deranged, disturbing, and definitely not part of our PC-world, here are three gruesome gems sure to make your jaw hit the floor!

Special Features
• Original Findlay Trailers for The Curse of Her Flesh, Satan’s Bed, The Touch of Her Flesh and The Ultimate Degenerate
• Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities

Submission/Vibrations/Fluctuations

This triple feature was a no-brainer for the list. It contains two films that I gave a perfect rating to and made my favourite five Something Weird Video lists part one and part two! Submission is a little tale about an infantile woman named Vickie and her violent criminal boyfriend Barry who keeps her submissive with toys, candy and sex while bumping off and robbing rich broads. The unique and spellbinding Submission also received the full review treatment. Vibrations is about the complicated relationship between two sisters with an incestuous past; a sexy, well-acted masterpiece! The weak link in this trilogy being Fluctuations. Fluctuations had me hypnotized for the first 15 minutes, than it started to get tedious, and tedium turned to irritation and irritation turned to anger and then I wanted to take the disk out and stomp on it 40 or 50 times and then set it on fire. And then I remembered that Submission and Vibrations were on the same disc so I didn’t. It has a sound loop of two people having sex and the woman sounds like she has asthma and every 8 or 9 minutes or so a male voice says “I’m cumming”. It is the sort of thing you would put on to torture someone. In fact, the only reason I would ever put Fluctuations on ever again is if I was torturing a man in my apartment. And I’ll tell ya one thing, I’d be taping headphones to the bastards ears so I didn’t have to listen to it. On the plus side some of the imagery is interesting briefly and Findlay favourite Kim Lewid is in it. Submission and Vibrations are so freaking brilliant I could not possibly leave this trio off the list; despite the inclusion of Fluctuations. You can look at Fluctuations as a historical curio, or endurance test; whatever. You are buying this set for Vibrations and Submission. Do it now! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!

For more images from Submission click here.

For more images from Vibrations click here.

For more images from Fluctuations click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

It’s a triple bill of sexploitation skin and sin mixing Joe Sarno sophistication with sleaze and schlock, exactly as they played Times Square back in 1970!

Good VIBRATIONS go in ultra-kink when sex-happy Julia moves in with her uptight young sister and becomes irresistibly drawn to a next-door storage room where mistress Georgia holds nightly orgies with an oddball sex cult. Armed with a giant joy buzzer, Georgia likes to turn herself on, turn her fiends on and, ultimately, turn Julia and her sister on: “I specialize in pleasure. Pleasure so intense, it’s akin to torment, exquisite torment…” An offbeat, psychologically twisted skinflick from the always excellent Joe Sarno!

Plus: The kink-a-thon continues with FLUCTUATIONS, a Bizarre don’t-even try-to-make-sense-of-it bombardment of sexual imagery that plays like stream of-consciousness from a degenerate: threesomes, foursomes, lesbians, bondage, hair-whipping(!) and, believe it or not, even kung-fu. Avant garde masterpiece or pure gutter trash? Perhaps both…

AND: A psycho sex-fiend keeps his infantile girlfriend Vicky (Jennifer Welles) in SUBMISSION with candy bars, toys and, yes, hot wax. But when they plan on killing a wealthy lesbian, Vicky discovers she likes a woman’s touch and plans a nasty surprise for her boneheaded boyfriend.

Special Features
• Digitally Remastered!
• Bonus Deleted Scenes: 7 minutes of never-before-seen footage deleted form the final cut of SUBMISSION
• Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities!
• Total running time: Over 3 1/2 hours of Grindhouse guignol!

Olga’s House of Shame/White Slaves of Chinatown/Olga’s Dance Hall Girls

Olga’s House of Shame is one of those films I always instantly associate with Something Weird Video. For years I have meant to watch it and for some unexplainable reason just never did. It was the first set during this feature that I added to my personal collection and it was worth every last penny too! I enjoyed the hell out of all three of these films. I actually re-watched the entire trio a week back. On my initial watch I was all about Olga’s Dance Hall Girls. It does after all have a Satan worship subplot and two of my favourite goddesses of exploitation; Uta Erickson and Linda Boyce! What it is missing; and this is important, is Audrey Campbell who plays Olga in all three of Joseph P. Mawra’s films. Dance Hall Girl’s director is unknown and for some strange reason this unknown director decided not to use Ms. Campbell. I didn’t mind Lucy Eldredge as Olga but she is certainly no Audrey Campbell! I still enjoyed the film but on a re-watch I felt even more warmly towards White Slaves of Chinatown and Olga’s House of Shame. Audrey Campbell is a solid actress as she proves in both Sin in the Suburbs and One Naked Night (not an SWV film) and she brings something special to this series that should not have been replaced by anybody. The three films are done in a sort of documentary style with narration and in some cases a wee bit of improvised dialog. The series is exploitative to be sure, but didn’t entirely live up to its bad-ass reputation; the idea and themes are nastier than the actual execution. That said the imagery is incredibly memorable. Some of my most popular tumblr posts have been for these films. I must give a thousand thanks to my tumblrgasmic friend over at the aptly named Olga’s House of Shame who generously reblogged many of my Olga sets. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME! The bad-ass Olga tortures, blackmails, hooks on drugs and prostitutes countless young damsels over the course of the films. So many of my favourite exploitation godesses turn up like the aforementioned Erickson and Boyce and my girl Gigi Darlene is here getting her blonde ass in trouble again! Audrey Campbell’s co-star Judy Young who plays her daughter Kathy in Sin in the Suburbs has a feature role in Olga’s House of Shame! Young’s character Elaine is tortured mercilessly before Olga molds her into her Doppelganger! How could you Olga?! She’s your own daughter! Another absolutely positively must own trio that also features my very favourite supplements of any of the triple features listed here!

For more images from Olga’s House of Shame click here.

For more images from White Slaves of Chinatown click here.

For more images from Olga’s Dance Hall Girls click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Meet Olga: a woman who “possessed a mind so warped she made sadism a full-time business,” and the maniacal character in five of the most notorious, hilariously twisted sexploitation films from the sic, sick sixties.

In the first of the series, Olga uses pot parties and comic-book violence to turn Gigi Darlene and other female captives into her WHITE SLAVES OF CHINATOWN before putting them to work as drug-addicted hookers. But Olga has her tender side too and, in the mood for romance selects an occasional slave for a little lesbian loving: “The disease called Olga cannot be fought!”

Then, after relocating to New Jersey, OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME is open for business! With the help of Nick, her malignant brother and a sweet-faced Elaine, a victim-turned-protégé, Olga runs a crime syndicate while gleefully engaging in such extracurricular activities as bondage, torture, and the always popular “horse discipline.” The most outrageous of the series, OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME also features a surprise announcement for an unmade Olga with a truly mind-boggling title…

Finally, things take a bizarre turn with the most obscure Olga of them all, OLGA’S DANCE HALL GIRLS, in which a new brat-faced Olga recruits suburban housewives as “hostesses” for a dance hall which is really just a front for – are you ready? – a satanic cult!

SPECAIL FEATURES:
Digitally Remastered!
Olga Trailers for the entire Olga series: WHITE SLAVES OF CHINATOWN, Olga’s Girls, OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME, Madame Olga’s Massage Parlor, and OLGA’S DANCE HALL GIRLS!
The Olga sequence from Mondo Oscenita featuring rare footage from the “lost” Olga film, Madame Olga’s Massage Parlor!
Special Booklet Interview with Olga star Audrey Campbell!
A pre-Olga Audrey poses for Byron Mabe in the Nudie-Cutie Shortie, Audrey Campbell, Art Lover!
Gallery of Sexploitation Ad Art with Exploitation Audio!
Total Running Time: Over 3 1/2 Hours of Pain & Pleasure!
OUCH! For maximum effect, view while shackled.
Warning: This program contains nudity, violence, and bullwhips.

Aroused/Help Wanted Female/Rent-a-Girl

This one is a real mixed bag of nuts! Extra salty nuts! Aroused made my top ten favourite horror films of 1966;a feature I did November 2012. I felt much warmer towards Aroused on this re-watch and upped its score a full point to a 4.5/5! This is a must see for fans of William Lustig’s Maniac as I pointed out in my short blurb I wrote for the film. Look at the shot I posted below that David included in a tumblr post he did! Almost identical to a shot Lustig included in Maniac. It also features mannequins and a killer who offs prostitutes! Aroused is one of Something Weird’s best horror films and one of their best films period; it is sleazy-creepy perfection! The wacky Help Wanted Female is a charming companion piece to Aroused. Help Wanted Female is funny and quirky with a touch of violence and a few surprises as well as a very appealing group of characters and performances. Friends Jo-Jo and Luana are a couple of hustling babes; Jo-jo a Kung Fu master and Luana a prostitute. Luana doubles her price for regular customer Sebastian Gregory but ends up getting more than she bargained for. I did a full review of Help Wanted Female so you should read it and it has lots of pretty pictures to go along with it. Unfortunately I found Rent-a-Girl to be a bit of a weak link in the set. It certainly isn’t Fluctuations but it has a pretty muddy pace and some unnecessary and exceptionally long and dull scenes. There was a scene of two people painting a woman that was especially dull. I wonder if whoever came up with the expression “It was like watching paint dry” came up with that after watching Rent-a-Girl. It isn’t completely without some charm however. Rent-a-Girl had a great opening scene that got me really excited for the film and it has a game of strip billiards featuring Darlene Bennett, June Roberts and Judy Adler (I “think” that is Judy Adler in that scene). I’d actually probably squeeze this film in for a pass for having just enough memorable moments. The trio is certainly worth owning for Aroused, Help Wanted Female and the bonus features.

For more images from Aroused click here.

For more images from Help Wanted Female click here.

For more images from Rent-a-Girl click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

RENT-A-GIRL
Pretty New Yorker Karen Anderson becomes involved with a shady modeling agency. She is easily persuaded to do cheesecake poses and soon asked to reveal all. Little does she know, in her infinite innocence, that her employers actually procure young nymphets as sexual playthings for their wealthy clientele. The girls are whipped, beaten, painted, sprayed and burned. Poor Karen eventually gains first hand knowledge of the gang’s sick practices and flees (with a newly-branded buttock) to the cops.

AROUSED
“There’s a maniac loose out there! He’s gonna kill again! He’s probably ripping some girl apart right now!”

Fact of Life: you can’t go wrong with any film that features the two major cornerstones of big-screen entertainment — hookers and a psycho killer. Which means, of course, that you can’t go wrong with Aroused, a grim and gritty little piece of primo Sixties exploitation — nestled somewhere between a skinflick and a horror film — that still holds up remarkably well today.

A “sex killer” prowls the streets of Manhattan preying on prostitutes. “This guy’s a nut! He’ll grab any woman he thinks is a whore!” And why exactly does he pick on hookers? Because — “Nya, nya,nya, nya.nya…” — his mama was a ho! Now, as another deeply disturbed resident of The Big Apple, the killer — whose identity is slowly revealed during the course of the film — sits on a fire escape silently watching working girl Pat Wilson turn a trick. Finally, when she’s finished, he climbs in the window, attacks Miss Wilson while in the shower, wraps the shower curtain around her head, and strangles her. Then he…well…yeah. He does. He climbs on top of her….

Young Detective Johnny (STEVE HOLLISTER, who also plays the doomed young man in the color inserts added to Love Hunger) is so upset by the crime — “What a way for a human being to die!” — that he tries to catch the killer by joining forces with Ginny Smith (JANINE LENON, whose first name is billed as “Djanine”), the seen-it-all, done-it-all, knife-wielding hooker-without-a-heart-of-gold-slash-lesbian-lover of Pat: “We’re just pieces of meat hanging on a hook waiting for a butcher!” But when one of Ginny’s galpals agrees to act as psycho bait — oops! — it all goes wrong and she gets hacked up before Johnny can get to her.

Ginny, meanwhile, is suspicious of one of the lugs who work at Gus’ Bar, the Official Hooker Hangout, sneaks into his loft, and finds it decorated with mannequin parts! In an ending that bears a striking resemblance to the climax of Bill Lustig’s Maniac, Ginny returns to the creep’s apartment with some of her prostitute pals, surrounds the screaming loon on his bed and, with her trusty knife, turns him into “a boy soprano….”

Set in a New York that’s eternally at night and choking in sleaze. Aroused is a surprisingly fun piece of filth: the murders are nasty, there’s plenty of skin and, believe it or not, we actually care about the characters — especially when Johnny’s dutiful wife finds herself unwittingly sipping coffee with the killer: “You’re a whore like all the others….” Sure, they’re all cardboard cliches spouting crime-magazine dialogue but, hey, that’s what B-movies are all about. You’ll also recognize most of the music as library cues used endlessly by Doris Wishman. lt’s a shame director ANTON HOLDEN didn’t make more like this. Though Something Weird has sold Aroused from day one, it’s now finally been digitally remastered from a crisp 35mm print.

“And the moral is…no moral.”

HELP WANTED FEMALE
Don’t be fooled by the innocuous title. Happily hiding behind it is a delightfully demented, luridly loony, off-kilter sexploitation gem that mixes LSD and murder with two sexy mankillers.

Jo-Jo runs a karate school — “Jo-Jo’s Kung Fu” — and robs middle-aged men in her spare time. Her galpal, Luana, is a high-priced hooker who goes on a 5200 date with SEBASTIAN GREGORY who stars as… well… Sebastian Gregory. She strips and dances as Gregory gobbles down a sugar cube: “LSD? Say, you won’t start going ape on me, will you, Daddy?” Ape, no; babble, yes. “I might start talking too much. I might tell you things I don’t want you to hear….’ And talk he does, telling Luana what happened to his ex-girlfriend Barbara as the film takes a definite turn for the weird….

“Barbara had a wild erotic imagination,” says Gregory by way of explaining why cat-eyed Barbara deliberately burns him with an ember from the fireplace: “My pain aroused her!” She then takes out a knife and asks him to slice her thigh. “To inflict pain with pleasure only led to the inevitable: to kill for pleasure!” Next thing you know, the two pick up a high-school hitchhiker and have her pose for nude photos before Barbara stabs her in the gut and Gregory slits her throat. On a roll, Gregory then strangles Barbara with a plastic bag over her head and cuts up her body. All of which he calmly relates to Luana who doesn’t believe a word he says. Until she sees blood in the bathroom, an aluminum-wrapped “head” in the fridge, and a trunk full of bones. Oops.

Freaking, Luana bonks him on the noggin and runs home to Jo-Jo, but Gregory follows, leading to a karate-chopping battle of the sexes (“I could rip your arm off if I choose but instead I’ll just rip the back muscles a little!”) and a wacky twist ending….

The sexploitation market of the Sixties was aimed primarily at middle-aged men, and Help Wanted Female is both a cautionary tale warning that audience of the perils of predatory females, and a victory by one of their own over such women — sort of a instruction manual and dream-fantasy all in one. As the ultimate surrogate for that audience, Sebastian Gregory is perfect as the man who’s both the mark and the menace. With his gruff looks and the tough-guy attitude of a barroom brawler, Gregory starred in such skinflicks as Hollywood After Dark (’68). Like Mother like Daughter (’68), and The Hangup (70). Like contemporaries John Alderman and William Kerwin, Gregory is very much a “real” actor giving very much a “real” performance, though one that requires him to be more silly than scary. At one point, he’s underneath the sheets with Luana — meaning they both have the bedsheets pulled over their heads — as he frantically jabbers on about World War II in a voice that sounds like a parody of Richard Burton!

With an offbeat sense of humor, a couple of luscious bodies, and a smattering of the macabre. Help Wanted Female is a kookie cult film just waiting to be discovered — with or without acid. From an original 35mm theatrical print.

Special Features
• Digitally Remastered!
• Original Theatrical Trailer for Aroused!
• Bonus Kink-O-Rama Short: Lesson of the Strap!
• Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities!
• Total Running Time: Over 3 and 1/2 Hours of Sex and Psychological Sickness!

Warning: This Program Contains Nudity, Sexual Situations and a Unique Way of Bathing Darlene Bennett!

Blood Feast/Two Thousand Maniacs/Color Me Blood Red

Well…duh? You can’t have a Something Weird Video collection without Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Blood Trilogy! Yeesh! Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs and Color Me Blood Red; three Gordon horror classics! The infamous Blood Feast which has made appearances all over the place in the Dungeon including my top ten horror films for 1963 and my favourite five Herschell Gordon Lewis films not to mention getting the full review treatment. Blood Feast is a long time favourite of mine! A caterer is murdering women all over Miami and swiping body parts to prepare for a feast to honor his goddess Ishtar. Blood Feast is good old-fashioned hilarious gory fun! Two Thousand Maniacs is a personal favorite of Lewis himself and another film from the director that made a top ten list, this time for my favourite horror films of 1964! A Southern town, population 2000 lures tourists to their yearly centennial celebrations where they become unwilling participants. Each death is a creative and unique masterpiece and its got Blood Feast’s William Kerwin and Connie Mason! Hee Haw! Rounding out the trio is Color Me Blood Red. Unhinged artist Adam Sorg discovers human blood makes great paint after his girlfriend cuts herself. When his blood-red painting is a hit he starts slicing and dicing to get more supplies. Lewis’s leads are usually a lot of fun and Gordon Oas-Heim’s Sorg is no exception. He is crazier than a rabid weasel! Color Me Blood Red is an enjoyably gory and darkly humorous Gordon offering. This ain’t called The Blood Trilogy for nothing! When the Godfather of Gore puts the word blood in the title you know he is going to deliver! Go buy this now.

For more images from Blood Feast click here.

For more images from Two Thousand Maniacs click here.

For more images from Color Me Blood Red click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

THE BLOOD TRILOGY Blu-ray

Three Time the Gore for One Low Price! In High Definition!
See the world’s first three gore films from legendary exploitation film pioneers Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman – Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs!, and Color Me Blood Red! Experience every splat, every slice and every drop of fake blood and guts in full 1080p glory!

BLOOD FEAST
Most people think America lost its innocence when JFK was assassinated. Actually, it happened four months earlier when BLOOD FEAST opened at a Peoria, Illinois, drive-in. With its bright colors, bubbly babes, and minimal production values, Blood Feast resembled the average nudie flick. However, the pretty young beauties in Blood Feast didn’t get naked. They got dismembered. Yes, folks, the infamous, notorious, ultra over-the-top Blood Feast is the world’s first “gore” film. Less a horror movie than extreme exploitation, it may even be argued that Blood Feast is the first horror roadshow since 1934’s Maniac.

Shot in five days in Miami for under $25,000, Blood Feast’s simple-minded script and wildly overwrought Amateur Night theatrics also helped transform it into the world’s first gore comedy. Blood Feast is, in fact, simultaneously disgusting and hilarious. It’s as if the local loony bin had made a home movie and got a little carried away with the killings.

TWO THOUSAND MANIACS
The TWO THOUSAND MANIACS of a small town celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Northerners to serve as “guests” for a variety of macabre, blood-crazed fun and games.

The festivities include a screaming man placed in a rolling barrel lined with nails, a hit-the-bull’s-eye carnival game with a pretty gal and a boulder, and a blonde sexpot whose arm is hacked off and barbecued! But before they can slaughter the only smart Yank (Thomas Wood), he and the lovely Terry Adams (Connie Mason, “Playboy’s Favorite Playmate”) try to escape…

A marvelously perverse cult classick, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! is also the second of the infamous “blood trilogy” (which includes Blood Feast and Color Me Blood Red) from producer David F. Friedman (Trader Hornee) and director Herschell Gordon Lewis (The Wizard of Gore). Yeeeee-Ha! Oh, the South’s gonna rise again!

COLOR ME BLOOD RED
When his girlfriend, Gigi, cuts her finger on a frame, maniacal artist Adam Sorg discovers a new shade of crimson that will make his artwork so special – human blood!

He stabs her in the head and smears her face on a canvas and – voila – a macabre masterpiece is created. His bloody new painting causes a sensation on the local art scene, a crazed Adam continues creating sanguine specialties by extracting art supplies from victims outside his beach house. It all goes bad, however, when he zeros in on April (Candi Conder) whose scarlet pugment he plans to remove with an axe…

A witty mix of dark humor and gory horror, COLOR ME BLOOD RED is also the third installment of the Blood Trilogy (following BLOOD FEAST and TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!) from director H.G. Lewis (THE GORE GORE GIRLS) and producer David F. Friedman (SHE FREAKS). Starring Don Joseph and Candi Conder.

Special Features:
Original Theatrical Trailers!
Audio Commentaries by HG Lewis and D.F. Friedman!
Rare Outtakes!
Campy Classic Carving Magic, with William Kerwin and Harvey Korman!
Rare Gore Short Film from 1964, Follow That Skirt!
Lewis and Friedman Exploitation Art Galleries!

HAVE A GORETASTIC WEEKEND ALL!

Cheers,
GG