MAGGIE MAY - Etheria Film Festival on Shudder

Reviewing the amazing MAGGIE MAY from Director Mia Kate Russell starring Katrina Mathers and Lulu McClatchy!

The short film is part of the Etheria Film Festival and is currently up on SHUDDER.

Bliss (2019)

QUICKIE REVIEW: BLISS

Writer director Joe Begos (Almost Human, VFW) brings us more goodies with BLISS - a modern tale of work, blood, drugs, and bad friends.

Artist Dezzy is under pressure to complete a painting. A lot of pressure. She's out of cash and out of time with her landlord wanting cash and the gallery wanting their goods. She needs a break from it all, so she goes to see her dealer. And that's when all hell breaks loose! A dark and bloody hell.

I kinda see this film as being THE HUNGER meets MANDY. It just came to mind. And I loved it. This sexy and visually stunning little trip goes all out with sex and violence at the forefront, but never overshadowing it's wild and twisting storyline of a persons decent.

Dora Madison turns in an amazing performance, just tearing things up like a little tornado. We even get fun little scenes with George Wendt and Abraham Benrubi as she starts to fall further and further into her new world and further down the path to some really dark areas.

Begos' story is fantastic and super solid. It's a very interesting take on a theme that can often be dull and dripping with tropes no one really wants to see anymore. He really took things to interesting areas and at a rocketing 80 minute runtime, it feels like a fantastic horror rollercoaster ride.


Check it!   AVAILABLE ON SHUDDER at the time of this posting! 

Death Laid An Egg (1968)

DEATH LAID AN EGG has to be one of the most odd of the gialli films. There's a special level for some of these films. They have all the aspects you'd expect to see in a giallo film, but they also have a few extra bits and bobs that push things into a very strange space. That's Death Laid an Egg for sure.

We have a group working on a sort of...super chicken project. They are trying to create the perfect chicken on this high tech chicken farm. We have the husband, Marco (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and wife, Anna (Gina Lollobrigida) - scientists working on the project. And they have a lovely little beauty staying with them - the alluring Gabrielle played by Ewa Aulin. Of course, a love triangle forms and things go off the rails rather quickly. However, there are other aspects of the film that come up that are just...bonkers. Chicken talk turns to wild ramblings about chickens in smoking jackets. The "perfect chicken" is created at one point, but it's a headless, legless, living chicken mass that's a mutant. Very odd. The music is odder still - discordant and grating. It really helps to create a on-edge atmosphere.

All the odd chicken madness aside, it's actually a rather interesting little mystery with a lot to offer. Big thanks to the DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS PODCAST for their coverage of the film in their three part, art giallo series FOOTPRINTS IN DELIRIUM: Exploring the Art Giallo! If you have not heard it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's fantastic. (linked above)

Eye In The Labyrinth

Now this was a fun little giallo for sure! I'm not going to say a whole lot about this one for fear of spoiling it.

EYE OF THE LABYRINTH is the tale of Julie (played by the enchanting Rosemary Dexter) and her search for her missing husband. She follows a series of clues and the guiding hand of Frank (the awesomeAdolfo Celi of Bond villain fame)  that eventually leads her to a lovely beach house occupied by an odd little cast of characters including the curvy Sybil Danning (billed as Sybil Dunning) and SUSPIRIA's Alida Valli.

The film is a complex "who-done-it" that worked really well for me. Poor Rosemary Dexter is really put through the ringer on her hunt - slaps and unwanted affections abound. The story zips along and things unfold in a fun way. Trope upon trope is piled on to wonderful effect. Characters interact with each other in nasty and fun ways as the tensions build to the thrilling conclusion.




The look of the film is grand. We're treated some some lovely vistas and a fabulous beach house that I'd love to visit. The actors and actresses chew the scenery and move through the story in a highly entertaining way. All in all it's one of my favorite mystery heavy giallo films.

I definitely have EYE IN THE LABYRINTH on my re-watch list. It was a fun one.

Worth a viddy! Check it out!

Trailer does have some spoiler elements in it - be warned! 

A Virgin Among the Living Dead

There's gourmet chocolate. It's refined and delicious. It melts in your mouth bursting with wondrous flavor combinations and sensations. Think SUSPIRIA or BLOOD AND BLACK LACE or DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING.

Then there's A Virgin Among the Living Dead - the M&Ms brand of chocolate that's not magical or expensive, but still tastes pretty darn good and makes you happy.

A young woman's relative is ill, so she pays a visit to her estranged family at their villa in the country to see her before she passes away. She makes it just in time to say her goodbye and gets a sinister warning. "Run. Run far away!"

It took me a while, but I'm a big Jess Franco fan now. I kinda get him. He loved horror. He loved women. He loved film making. He just went up to 11 on everything. Nude women romping through horrific situations as his wild camera followed them kinetically. They are so much fun. And this "Old Dark House" style film delivers all of the above and more as the mystery unfolds. And of course, Jess is right in there as one of the family members, so that's fun too.


And the film as some fantastic, Franco dialogue as well as his wild storyline and convenient situations.

"Poor soul! Beyond words! You must get away from here. You'll fry in your own hell, believe me. Ask me no questions, just get away from here."

"Run! Get out of the valley! Can you see everything here is dead?! Get out of here!"
"Come on. You're not going to believe a crazy old man."



"Come and try it. There's nothing like the taste of blood. Try it. Try it, Christina. hahahahahahah" 

It's a warm blanket of a film that delivers up some crazy characters, giggles, lot and lots and lots of camera zooms, and....yeah...a lot of nudity.  The film does have a great, shadow filled look to it that makes me happy. Everything is lit by candles and dim, but then you'll enter a room and it's bright as day in the middle of the night! heheheh  I love it.

Seventies horror lovers need to check this one out for sure. I don't know what else to say here. Is it a good movie? Well, it's very entertaining and fun, so I'd say yes. But, it's not good in that "good" way. It's good in a "what the hell am I watching here?!" sort of way that I love. You watch things unfold and giggle as you mutter little quips and jokes as the film plays on. I dare you to give this a go!

I think I might have to snag a Franco box set. His films are so strange and interesting.

In The Folds Of The Flesh (1970)

Oh my goodness. Lordy.

This is another fantastic gem of a giallo. Another OLD DARK HOUSE like situation here with a family up to no good. Twists and turns after twists and turns.

I have to admit, I was confused - happily - through most of the film. Long and the short is there is a family with a secret. A dark and sad secret. It looks like the Father was a bit handsy with the daughter, so the daughter killed him. Mom goes and buries him, but....yes, bare with me....and escaped convict sees her bury the body. He's caught, but keeps the place in mind for future endeavors.

Everything slips into normalcy and 13 years go by. But, something isn't right with the daughter, Mom seems a bit off as well, and old brother seems to keep forgetting sister is sister and not girlfriend.

It all keeps getting more and more insane as we have the return of the escaped convict from the beginning,  wild police goings on, murders all over the place, and twist after twist as we watch things play out.

I had a fantastic time with this madness. The screenplay by the films director Sergio Bergonzelli is all over the place crazy and I love the idea supplied by Mario Caiano and Fabio De Agostini. If you are fond of madness and mystery with a bit of the holocaust slipped in for good measure, you'll want to check out this wild ride.

Check it!

Bad Apples

<< no spoilers >>

Now remember, I have a strict "IF YOU DON'T HAVE SOMETHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL" policy, but this film needs to be talked about because there is good stuff within it. I don't want it to come off as mean, bashing, or hurtful. If I didn't enjoy the film, I wouldn't write about it.


Ok....this is what I think happened with BAD APPLES.

Honestly, I think they found these awesome masks. They put them on in a store - hell, maybe they even made them from scratch - and said, "MAN! These are creepy masks, right?! We have to use them for a movie!"

Bryan Coyne (writer / Director) went off and wrote the film at once, thrilled by the masks and how creepy they were. However, once he started filming, he really didn't have enough script to fill out the runtime. So, he started patching things up a bit to make things work and got the film made.

That being said, I wasn't bummed that I spent time watching it. The masks are really off-putting and the way they are used in the film is fantastic.





The acting is good overall. All the leads are solid and things don't seem like a low budget production. Brea Grant is fab, Graham Skipper is his charming and funny self, and Alycia Lourim and Heather Vaughn were GREAT as the sisters. ( Though, part of me was hoping the TWISTED TWINS would have been the reveal! heehe )





The thing that hit me was the fact that there were SO MANY OTHER THINGS that could have been put in here from a plot perspective. It made me a little sad, really. The opening was ripe for a really wild and interesting yarn. Something - maybe with supernatural overtones - that could have been revealed early in the third act and carried through to the conclusion. A modern folk tale sort of situation. A new Halloween tale to be told down through generations. Or, maybe just a really "BAD APPLE" tale of two sisters that were just doomed from birth to be bad. I'd take that, too. I think that's in here for sure.

"Better Play on Halloween or the Sisters Will Get Ya!"

Something.

But, it ramps to a shuddering conclusion, presents something that had real potential, but even that is let loose for an ending that just re-tells what we saw in the beginning. Honestly, I didn't understand that. Like I said, it really did make me a little sad. heheheh 

But wait! Don't write this off. This is a good film! 

The film is good. It's solid film making. The sound was a bit dodgy in parts, but it really held my attention. I just wish Mr. Coyne asked someone ( maybe even me! ) what could be added to the story to seal the deal. It wouldn't take more cash, just a few more script revs.

ANYWAY....I wasn't asked.   :)

BAD APPLES is a fun watch. It's a worthwhile watch. I think that horror fans will enjoy the ride and the creep factor of the masks and the acting behind them. GINGER SNAPS-like in many ways from a nutty sister perspective.

Well worth a viddy. Let me know if you agree with my assessment!

Bad Apples is released on VOD through Uncork’d Entertainment on February 6, 2018.

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

I just watched THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES (La dama rossa uccide sette volte) for what must have been the fifth time and it still holds up wonderfully. The ARROW blu ray is fantastic, as usual. It was fun to see the film without horrid compression finally.

This is a classic, gothic tale of Family dramas and dark histories. We start by seeing two children playing. "Playing" - really one is playing, then another runs up and starts messing with her. The little dark haired girl steals the blonde girl's doll and runs into their massive castle home and to the room where their Grandfather is resting and reading. He calms the girls down and they get lost in staring at an awful painting one woman killing another with a knife. We find out that these are the Red Queen and Black Queen - a dark part of their family history. The Black Queen killed the Red Queen, but the Red Queen came back and settled the score, killing six people who were involved and killing the Black Queen last.

The small, brunette girl says that she's the Red Queen and destroys the doll with the same knife seen in the painting. The Grandfather orders that the painting be destroyed after seeing the effect it has on the little girl.

Kitty and Fraziska Wildenbrück

Now, I know I usually keep these short, sweet, and to the point, but this was a key issue for me with the film. From this child scene, we cut to the future. The Grandfather is being taken care of by a blonde woman I assumed was the blonde girl from the beginning of the film, but later after the Grandfather is dispatched by a mysterious woman in a flowing red cape, we see TWO blondes talking about how their sister - Evelyn - in in America. This totally through me for a loop the first time I saw this film. I thought, "Where was this third child in the beginning?" That aside....


The story flows seamlessly through as this Red Queen character starts killing people left and right, leaving Kitty and Fraziska Wildenbrück wondering if their sister is really in America at all. The Grandfather's will still needs to be read. Perhaps there is something worth killing for within it? And what about Kitty's boyfriend Martin?  He seems to be gaining a lot with each passing murder. The police inspector is on the case and Kitty's co-workers all seem to have some involvement in one way or another.

So good. 😁 #TheRedQueenKillsSevenTimes #giallo #mystery

A post shared by Malcolm (@malcojojo) on Nov 11, 2017 at 8:29pm PST

And so it goes to the films wondrous conclusion.

The pace of the film is fantastic. We're shot from one event to another and characters are moved around like pieces in a chess match. Emilio Miraglia's Direction is fantastic, but the real star here is his work with Fabio Pittorru's story on their screenplay.  It's tight and super solid. The gothic nature of the plot and location makes me very happy every time I watch it. And the mystery elements keep you guessing and guessing all the way through.

I love this RED QUEEN killer. It just comes off as wicked and cruel and mean with a fantastic, cruel laugh. It's a stylish, wraith-like vision. 






I also had a blast J&B whiskey spotting in the film. Not as much as STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER, but it's up there! :)








The lovely Barbara Bouchet isn't given a whole lot to do here as Kitty, but she is still extremely interesting when she's on screen.










Ugo Pagliai is great as Martin. He has just the right amount of bite without coming off as mean and overly macho. The can be an issue in these films for sure. The only issue I have with him is the fact that he looks a lot like Harry Shearer and I find that a bit distracting. hehehehe

Sybil Danning is in the film as well and people seem to swoon over her, but I found her to be in a rather awkward phase of life looks wise. She had a strange makeup thing going and didn't have her smoldering stare down yet. She just comes off looking angry and confused.



I was watching my new copy of the film and thought, "AH! Now I remember why I wanted to get this film on Blu - I LOVE IT!" 

It's a great giallo and a fun mystery. WELL worth a viddy!

Blade of the Ripper

Blade of the Ripper aka The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is a 1971 giallo film directed by Sergio Martino and staring the fabulous....Edwige Fenech. :::sigh:::

Ok, now that that's out of the way. :::grin:::

When the film started, I had a bit of an eye roller moment. A woman is killed horribly with a razor and I wasn't sure I wanted to see another TORSO-like hack and slash film. This film was directed by Sergio Marino of TORSO fame, so I wasn't sure if it was in the same arena. Then, poor Edwidge gets slapped around and her dress ripped off and I did another eye roll. However, once that business is out of the way, things started getting rather interesting.

Edwige plays Julia Wardh - the wife of a diplomat. They get along, but are not fab together. Not as well as she gets along with George Hamilton - her lover George Corro. She plays the game of being the good wife and even better lover, going from one man to the other in a kind of dance. When her old lover resurfaces, she's scared of just what he's capable of. As more murders happen around her, she starts to think that one of these men may be madman with the blade. But, which one?

I don't want to say much more about the plot here. It would be rather easy to spoil.  Suffice it to say that this is a great offering and well worth a watch. It's shot well, there are some fun set pieces, and there is a lot going on.

This film really turned around for me. I was half paying attention through much of the first act, but as things start to shift, I got a happy little smile on my face. "Ahhhh...I see what you're up to, movie. I see." I loved the shifts through the film and it's definitely a new gialli fave.

Night Train Murders

NOTE: CONTAINS SPOILERS


I picked up the KILLER THRILLERS COLLECTION a while back to get a copy of STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER - a favorite of mine. I figured I get the film I want and two others I have not seen before. Maybe I'd like them. I love STRIP NUDE, though the title is still cringe-worthy. :)

Baba Yaga was a ton of fun as well, so I was way up on my purchase.

Then...I watched NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS and HATED it. I thought it to be mean spirited and cruel. Yes, I understood that it, too, was based on the Ingmar Bergman classic The Virgin Spring like Last House on the Left (also mean spirited), but I had not stomach for it and just wanted it to end.


Later I posted this on the DARK DISCUSSIONS PODCAST PAGE (a great podcast, by the way!) and one of the leaders basically said that he loved it and thought that I would as well. I thought I missed something - stuck on the violent aspects instead of the story, perhaps. I made note to return to it at some point in the future. Seeing as this is GIALLOctober at the Horror Show, it seemed like a good time to do a re-watch. And, I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is very "Virgin Spring". Two girls are heading home to visit and run into some bad folks. Very bad folks. Blackie and Curly are scoundrels. They are train hopping and avoiding the ticket master when they run into the girls and "The Lady on the train". The girls are friendly enough with them and the Lady is VERY friendly with them - having sex with Blackie in the lavatory in a heated rush.

The girls jump trains when a delay threatens to hold them back from their destination and the dastardly trio also hops trains.  Now, all five of them are in a train car in a rather deserted train and the girls lovely holiday dinner goes horribly wrong. They are raped and defiled and eventually - sadly - killed.

In Virgin Spring fashion, the evil trio ends up at the same house as one of the girls parents after the Father sees them at the train station as he's trying to pick up his daughter and her friend. After the parents figure out that these people have hurt their daughter,  revenge is dealt out by the Father and his shotgun. I found this to be very satisfying indeed. heh

Simple plot well executed. But, on this viewing I found several things that I found to be very interesting. Namely the Lady and her arc.

Now, the two men are very cartoon-like. We see them stealing from people and bashing things and scooting around trying to avoid paying for their train trip. Curly (with curly hair)  plays a harmonica and is a little creep while Blackie (with black hair) seems to have a BIT of a heart, but not much. But, the woman is a far deeper character. 



When we first see her, she's wearing a veil on her hat. A bag of hers falls and naughty, sadistic photos are hurriedly pushed back into her the case quickly. Then, at one point, she lifts her veil - maybe sometime around meeting the evil duo.  From that point on, she's as evil as the two men. She's mean and a full sadist with the two girls. She eggs on the men and even holds the girls for them at one point. She's loving the mean spirited games and is all in.

When they get to the girl's Family Home and things go sideways for the trio, she quickly says that she was also taken advantage of by the two men and that she tried to help, but couldn't. The parents assume that she must be telling the truth. I mean, another woman wouldn't do that to two college girls - right?

The men are dispatched and she stands there like a grim statue, then she lowers her veil again as if to tell the viewer, "I've had my fun and now it's time to replace the mask I wear in society."  I loved that aspect of the film. It was grand.

On the whole, I don't think I'll be returning to this as often as I return to Strip Nude for your Killer of Baby Yaga, but I don't hate it like I did on my first viewing. It's well worth a watch even if you only watch it once.

If you loved and return to Last House on the Left, you'll love this film. Check it.