Murder Obsession

Ok...this is not one of my favorite giallo films. Not by a long shot. It's ponderous, super slow, all over the place....but the ending is somewhat comical and amusing, so it MAY be worth a watch for some of you true genre fans.

The plot is rather straight forward. A movie star named Michael Stanford goes back to his home with some movie folks and his girlfriend to spend the weekend at the family villa. But, of course things can't just be simple, right? He doesn't want his mother to know about his girlfriend, so he has her pretend to be his assistant. Odd, right? People start dying - that's never good. And...there was something else. OH!  Michael stabbed his Father to death! That's it! :)

Some of the standout items in this fun little romp are the way Michael and his mother interact - cringe inducing for sure. He's talking to his mother and she's nearly falling out of her shirt all the time. :::cringe:::   The beautiful Laura Gemser is mesmerizing. And then there's the other star of the film - Stefano Patrizi's FUCKING MUSTACHE! HOLY COW is it distracting! heheheheh It's like that thing some folks do to look older, but in this case he just ends up looking like a five year old boy with a mustache. heheheheh

The film stumbles and limps along, but does manage to ramp things up to 11 for the thrilling climax. I had to really make an effort to push through this one, starting and stopping it a few times over the course of a month or so. However, it hit a stride at one point and I was able to make it through. And boy was I happy that I did. hehehe. What a nutty flick.

Check it.

Uh....say what?

All the Colors of the Dark (1972 aka Tutti i Colori del Buio)

And we're into another Sergio Martino classic with All the Colors of the Dark starring the :::heavy sigh and swoon:::  wondrous Edwige Fenech. So lovely. Those eyes. :::sigh:::   AHEM! Uh....

A CLASSIC....that's where I was. :)

Edwige plays Jane Harrison who has lost her unborn child after a car accident. She is having SUPER strange nightmares and is really slipping into a state of depression and madness. Her husband pushes her meds on her, but her sister Barbara (the awesome Nieves Navarro) wants her to try some less medicinal ways of dealing with her loss by talking to a Dr. and leaving the pills behind. But, who is the mysterious man (Ivan Rassimov) that is following her around town...and peeking at her? Is her neighbor really trying to be her friend...or is she involved in some other way herself?




We have a lot of Martino goodness in here as well. Handheld, kinetic camera movements and dramatic shots with great lighting make this a great giallo sampling, though it's not one to start with if you're new to the genre. It's pace and sometimes confused storyline may turn off those that are not obsessed with gialli.





This film is wacky for sure, but it has some fun moments. And...you know...I'll stare at Edwige on the screen no matter what she's up to! heheheh.  The film runs off the tracks a few times, but manages to stay on course for a fun and diabolical ending.

Well worth a viddy!

It Comes At Night

While the film is very well made, well shot, well written, and features some great acting, it's "not what's on the tin".  Everything about the films marketing and media - from the trailer to the poster - is just not what the movie is. As others have said, this is a slow, SLOW burn, post apocalyptic human drama about the lengths people will go to protect their family and just how horrid those lengths may be. Grand, but far from a creepy, "what's in the darkness?" film.

Even with the heads up about the trailer being nothing like what the film turns out to be, I kept waiting for what the IT COMES AT NIGHT title meant. Yeah, nothing in that as well. It was a disappointing distraction.

The film should have been called IT COMES WITH RISKS or IT COMES WITH LOSS. Something that hits the nail more on the head.

All that aside, the film seemed like a 30 minute film crammed into and hour and thirty-three minute runtime. While it was good, it just wasn't worth the ride time.

The film does deliver some creepy visuals and tense situations. It has a cool look to it overall and, like I said earlier, the acting is fantastic.  So, if you go into it with the insight that it's really just a drama with some "don't catch the sickness" undertones, you might just walk away with an enjoyable experience. It's worth checking out for sure. Just don't expect monsters or high energy. If you want that, check out POD instead.

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!

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

Ok, I'm warning you folks in advance here - there will be spoilers in this review. I have to. This movie is nuts.

I thought, "Wow...written by Fabio "The Red Queen Kills Seven Time" Pittorru and Massimo "Strip Nude For Your Killer" Felisatti?!  And Directed by Massimo as well?! This has to be gold! No wonder people talk about it all the time!"

In with the spoilers.

Yeah...I can see why they talk about it all the time. It's bonkers, that's why. Our lead Alan (Anthony Steffen) straight up kills women. He's messed up about his beloved Evelyn, so he kills women. Several women. His friend George tries to get him to settle down and get remarried. Alan eventually finds Gladys and gets married...after knowing her for 24 hours or so. And, like that, he's all better. For the most part. He doesn't kill Gladys. All is well.

Little does Alan know that there's a plot against him. Gladys and George and...evil redhead...are out to get Alan committed or killed.  Gladys dresses up like Evelyn, Alan goes bonkers, and all is well! HURRAY! The bad guy is out of the picture and people screwed him over...the MURDERER...and took his money!

BUT...that's not all. George is also and asshole. He poisons Gladys. Gladys and Evil Red go toe to toe as Gladys is dying and Gladys stabs Evil Red and kills her before dying herself. George tries to make his escape, but is stopped by Alan's shrink and...Alan himself! Alan and George fight, Alan wins, and the cops take George away. What a twist!

BUT FUCKING WAIT!  ALAN still KILLED several fucking people and he walks away without a scratch! heheheheh . I was screaming at the screen while watching the conclusion.

"So...dude killed all those women, but gets away with it and is a hero now?!"   I couldn't believe it! heheheheh

The film is a pacing nightmare. It's like watching two films - one about a crazy, Marquis de Sade like fiend, and another about an odd murder plot. It's super slow and tedious at times. The odd 70s world of Italian sleaze is hard to fathom.  Another club where women strip and men and woman watch like it's some sort of floor show. I've seen this in several films of the era.

The script is also a mess, jumping around like a drunk monkey.

The direction seems like an afterthought. Definitely not like Miaglia's work on THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES, but maybe he was working up to that piece seeing that it was his last Director outing.



But, all of that aside, the film is a fun watch and the big ending is a ton of fun. If you can make it through all the madness...like the maids all being dressed alike with blonde afros...then I think you'll have as much fun with this one as I did!

Check it.

The Horror At Gallery Kay

I saw this film a while back and sat with it for a long while...pondering. Then, I had to send my computer away (long story) and thought about it some more while waiting for a new computer to arrive. Lots and lots of thinking. I enjoyed this film and truly think others will like it as well, but I'm not sure many people will give it a fair shake.


There are artistic horror films like THE PASSION OF PAUL ROSS and THE MOOSE HEAD OVER THE MANTEL that I really enjoyed, but that might not play well with a wide audience due to the vision being presented. This is a total shame. THE HORROR AT GALLERY KAY is one of those films for sure and I believe the only fix is to get it into the right people's hands. Maybe this somewhat long winded review will help to do so.





I'm a huge fan of The Night Gallery. Like...massive. I also love Lovecraft and Richard Matheson. Horror at Gallery Kay feels like Lovecraft and Matheson getting together and writing a Night Gallery feature film. Like some of Night Gallery's offerings, the film makers choose to let much of the visuals play in the viewers imagination instead of trying to work up a visual with a small budget that would completely take away from the film. Let me envision something - when it's done properly, it's WAY better than showing me some silly, low rent visual effects that will just come off as silly and sad.

We have several stages of story here that leads the viewer along a fun, odd little tale. Petra and Olive are having relationship issues. Things are rocky and rough and it seems like only one of them cares to try to make it work - the other opting for more of a "oh well, we gave it a go" attitude. Dr. Bozill is kind enough to work with their schedules and fits them into an evening counseling session to see if he might be the bridge to saving their relationship. This is phase one of the tale.



Phase two has us breaking away from Bozill's office and venturing out into the world to see just what is going on at Gallery Kay.

And Phase Three...is off the rails in wild, Lovecraft-like glory.





I had seen the trailer for the film, but didn't read up on it or research before seeing it. I didn't want things to be spoiled. As the film unfolded, I let myself get caught up in the character arcs and storylines. The play between the couple and therapist was wonderful and I found myself getting very caught up in things. I even had a few giggles at well placed humor bits here and there. I let things go, thinking that I might have misunderstood what I was going to be seeing, but I was ok with it because I was having such a good time viewing it.

When the "second phase" kicked in, I smiled a wide smile and thought, "Oh...here we go. I see what you did there. Nice!"  The storytelling and writing really made this for me. Like a great play, I was swept up into the story in a wondrous way. Things go from 30 mph to around 240mph and I enjoyed every moment of the ride.

I think many people will be put off by the "first phase". It really is a relationship story and sets up our characters is great detail with some fantastic performances and camera moves. However, it's not horror or horrifying. The more ADD of viewers will be bouncing in their seats and growling at the screen. However, I found it fascinating. The three actors in the scene are playing their roles to perfection and the kinetic and interesting camera moves help to tell the tale as well. I loved this - letting my idea of horror slip around a bit as I waited for things to play out.

That's what all of these more artistic ventures into horror tend to do for me. They take the genre and weave it in a little different way.  You can even see it in classic genre films like The Iron Rose by Jean Rollin. There are no chainsaw waving, masked madmen. No monsters. No ghosts. But, the ideas and worlds created send shivers up the spine and get the mind working. While I love my maniacs, creatures, and ghosties, I also love a film that gets me thinking and involved in what's going on. Gallery Kay did just that.

The team up of Abe Goldfarb and Mac Rogers was fantastic. I hope that they continue to
work together and get higher and higher budgets to play with. I'd love to se this film play out with a real heavy hitter amount of cash behind it. I loved it at this level and seeing more bells and whistles added into the mix would be a ton of fun.

This is a "thinking person's" horror film.  It's meant to be thought about and if you are not wanting to do that, don't bother with The Horror At Gallery Kay - you won't enjoy it. However, if you like really diving into a film with both feet and your brain on, I believe you'll have a blast with this film.

WELL worth a viddy! 






Abe Goldfarb - Director
Mac Rogers - Writer
Bryan Enk - Producer
Maine Anders - “Petra”
Rosebud - “Olive”
Brian Silliman - “Bozill”
Kristen Vaughan - “The Receptionist ”

Website: https://www.thehorroratgallerykay.com/


The Horror at Gallery Kay (2018) - Official Teaser from Third Lows Productions on Vimeo.

My Favorite DREW DAYWALT Horror Shorts

One of my favorite horror creators is Drew Daywalt. Around 8 years back, I started seeing a bunch of his horror shorts and loved them. I'd get so much pleasure in not only watching them myself, but rewatching them with others to see their reactions to the freaky tales.

I believe Drew was a script writer for a long while and branched out into doing these shorts to escape. heheh  He wrote them and Directed some of them as well. I love his pace and the fact that none of the shorts overstay their welcome. They get in, get creepy, then get out after delivering a punch or two. He's gone on to write two lovely children's books!

I wanted to share some of my favorites here, but feel free to check out his page for the full offering of shorts and his horror series.


https://www.youtube.com/user/DaywaltFearFactory/videos








And we get a little AJ Bowen in this one!




And lastly, this is some of my favorite "ghost footage" stuff. So well done. So creeeeeepy.




Dread Central Interview can be found here:
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/13978/drew-daywalt-talks-fewdio-and-camera-obscura/