A Lizard in a Woman's Skin

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin 1971 (remastered edition, 2007 Shriek Show)

Revisiting one of my favorite Fulci gialli, the psychedelicly-inclined A Lizard in a Woman's Skin.  Absence does make me remember what drew me to this movie in the first place (the dreamlike quality of Carol's "trips"), although the eviscerated dog sequence still is unnecessary. Yeah, typical too-much Fulci sadism (the dogs are fake but they are a very convincing fake)...that moment is the one flaw in this otherwise awesome whodunit.

And Florinda Bolkan and Jean Sorel as wife and husband? Hell yes.  Bolkan's Carol has "dreams" about her hippie neighbor Julia Duer...and remembers details about Duer and her flat a bit too clearly after Julia is found murdered. So are these details Carol spills to her psychiatrist her wishful envy -she's a repressed daughter of a politican and married to a lawyer- or are the details relaying something much worse?

Lizard... is perhaps Fulci's most inventive and off-the-wall murder mystery. I love all the wonky shit with the hippie characters.  I've said this before, Lizard... would be even better if Fulci had the typecast Ray Lovelock as the male hippie.

Still, I'm appreciating the inventive storyline and the whole psychedelic flavor of the film. For awhile there, I was burnt out on ALIWS, but now I see it's Lucio's most linear and clear storyline (as happily convoluted as it gets.) It's one of the best  gialli not made by Dario Argento.






For the record, my favorite non-Argento gialli are:

What Have you Done to Solange? 

All the Colors of the Dark

and

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin.

I would admire Lucio a lot more had he stuck with giallos and westerns, I know both genres were all but dead when the ultra violent zombie craze hit Italy and the world in the late '70s.


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City of the Living Dead

City of the Living Dead (a.k.a. the Gates of Hell) - 1980, special edition released by Blue Underground, 2010.



As Lucio Fulci moved into the zombie horror arena, his films made less sense as time went on. Unlike his brilliant early giallo turns from the Hitchcock-like Perversion Story, and the awesomely dark A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Fulci's zombie horrors tossed aside logic for supernatural apocalypse. 


The first time I saw City of the Living Dead was in 1988 on home video. At that point, I was a newly christened gorehound (awakened by Tom Savini's gruework in Romero's Day of the Dead), and looking for the most disgusting, over-the-top stomach churning gore I could handle. 


Fulci and Umberto Lenzi (with his awful cannibal horrors) fit that bill perfectly. Strange, I avoided Dario Argento until 2006, but I digress. 


Fulci's zombie horrors Zombie and City were in top rotation back in the late 80s,  I was still ignorant of the grand Italian police films, westerns (beyond Leone) or gialli. 


City of the Living Dead is the tale of the pending armageddon wrought by a priest (Father Thomas) who hangs himself in the cemetery of the New England town Dunwich.  Dunwich sits upon one of the Gates of Hell and the cleric's suicide was key to opening the Gates. Dunwich prided itself on being a town of witch-hunters (Salem is often referenced), making the locals think that Father Thomas' suicide might very well be the revenge of evil upon the current inhabitants.


Meanwhile in New  York, a young psychic, Mary witnesses the priest's suicide during a seance. Mary "dies" of fright setting up one of the scariest set pieces Fulci ever lensed. A nosy reporter played by Christopher George winds up saving Mary from being buried alive. The scene of Mary desparately trying to claw her way out of the coffin is claustrophobic and harrowing. Still awful some 30 years after it was shot. 


The reporter teams up with Mary to find Dunwich to stop the impending apocalypse.   Mary's mentor claims that stopping armageddon on All Saint's Day (in which no dead body will ever rest and the dead will overrun the earth) will require the closing of the Gates of Hell. 


What follows are a series of utterly disgusting kills, the smothering by worms freaks me out more than other more gruesome deaths,  as time slips closer to All Saint's Day.  


The film ends abruptly. This remained the frustrating element  of City, but I seem to finally think it means that our 'heroes' were unable to close the gates of hell. Just a word of caution, only two characters, Mary and the psychiatrist Jerry, are vaguely worth rooting for. Fulci always populated his movies with unlikable characters, but City... like Zombie before it, is filled with scum. 


For me, the concept for City... is the strongest of Lucio's zombie films.  I also think that Fulci and his cowriter got the idea for this film from one pivotal line in George Romero's awesome Dawn of the Dead: "When there's no more room in Hell, the Dead will walk the earth." 


City... was the first in Fulci's supernatural zombie trilogy and set the stage for the unnerving sequel, The Beyond.



Back to this dvd release, Blue Underground's special edition, like so many of their releases is top shelf. Several interviews, a documentary and other such extras make this an essential purchase for gorehounds who want more gore with their zombies. And not just the gut-munching kind.


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The Sergio Martino Fest continues: 2019: After the Fall of New York

2019: After the Fall of New York (1983), released by Shriek Show 2002.


Key:


SF
G
T
FF (If you love Escape from New York give this a whirl, and be prepared to have fun.)


With the successful release of John Carpenter's seminal Escape From New York, the Italians rushed to create knock-offs. The most successful was Sergio Martinos' cheap quickie penned by awesome giallo scripter Ernesto Gastaldi.  I adore some of Enzo Castellari's crime and western output, but his E.F.N.Y. knock offs are beyond awful.


Former model Michael Sopkiw is 2019's de facto Snake Plissken, the snarky Percival.


 2019... is a fun, o.t.t. trash exercise in flattery.  Ignore, if you will, the $1.99 models and sets and roll with it. After the third world war renders all women sterile, mankind is close to extinction.


Enter Percival who is forced by the head of the Euracs to rescue the last fertile woman on Earth.


 Guess where she is? Yep, New York.


Sopkiw handles the Plisskenisms with a charm and edge that make getting through the silly moments a blast. If you're a fan of Eurocult and Italian films/horror in particular, you'll note Italian thesp "George Eastman" in a classic cameo as Big Ape.


To Gastaldi's credit, 2019 retains a lot of the New York dark humor that makes the original Escape such a blast. Imprisoned, Percival's quip to a Eurac babe coming onto him is "You're my last cigarette, huh?"


And when Big Ape meets Percival and co., he says: "They've been combing the city for you guys like bunches of bananas." Big Ape is NOT the Duke of New York. 


If you don't like rats, old buses, or mootants...you might want to skip this. The film still has a lot of low budget charm. I often like to watch this and then follow with Escape From New York.  Unlike Escape From L.A. which is pretty darn bad, 2019 feels more like a happily crude answer to E.F.N.Y. 


Martino's flair for action and character set pieces remains alive and well after his glorious early days swirling in the giallo gore-pool. Unlike some of his contempories, Sergio Martino could direct more than crime and gialli. It's too bad Michael Sopkiw faded into obscurity after the four films he shot in Italy (I still haven't seen Blast Fighter with Eastman), the guy had a lot of charisma, but was also aware of how loopy filmmaking can be.


Shriek Show's dvd is quite good: featuring interviews with Eastman & Martino. You can still find it alone, and as part of the company's post apocalyptic bundle featuring more George Eastman in two of Enzo Castellari's worst films.


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Sergio Martino Fest: All the Colors of the Dark

Sergio Martino Fest Part 1:



All the Colors of the Dark / a.k.a. Day of the Maniac / They're Coming to Get You (1972) released by Shriek Show, 2004.


Key:


SH

G

N

T

FFF


Sergio Martino's first giallo entry (the ultra violent/stylish Italian murder mysteries made famous by Dario Argento) is an effective exercise in early '70s Satanic horror and proto-slasher doings.


Young Englishwoman Jane (portrayed by the stunning Edwige Fenech) is plagued nightmares after enduring a miscarriage suffered during an automobile accident. Her dreams are truly WTF highlighted by the appearance of a sinister man (the brilliant Ivan Rassimov) who kills with a stiletto blade.

Jane's husband Richard (the perpetuately yawn-inducing George Hilton) insists she take her vitamins to quell these awful dreams. Meanwhile, Jane's sister Barbara (Susan Scott) has other ideas. Jane should see Barbara's boss (a psychiatrist) to help the young wife get through the loss of a baby.

All fine and dandy right? Not.

As Jane is waiting for the psychiatrist, Stiletto man is in the office waiting room with her. She is whisked away by Barbara for her appointment before anything can happen. Prodding the psychiatrist to come see the awful man from her dreams results in nada.

This is where the film really begins to pick up. A frustrated Jane attempts to get home using the London Underground. What results is one of the scariest and most unnerving stalkings I've watched: Jane watches as the subway car she's in becomes progressively more empty until only she and another passenger remain. I'm sure you can guess who that second passenger is.



Narrowly escaping, Jane is let into her apartment complex by the mysterious tenant Mary. The two become friendly, particularly when Mary explains that she, too, is troubled but took a different route in banishing her nightmares. Mary asks Jane to join her for the meetings she goes to. With no support from Richard, Jane agrees to this arrangement.


Let it be said that you should never trust a mysterious woman who goes to 'meetings.' Jane finds out that Mary's group are Satanists. Jane joins them (!!!) in order to find peace. 


Yet before Jane can politely leave, she's forced into killing Mary. And, yes, the Stiletto man is a member. 


Hearing Rassimov's 'british' dub of "It's impossible to renounce us" as he grips Miss Fenech still freaks me out.

I'll stop here, but watching Jane try to escape her increasingly dangerous predicament is a lot of fun.


Sergio Martino's occult flavored giallo is very moody, with a few scares and a brilliant set piece (the tube stalking). I still can't understand why the boring George Hilton was always the star of these films when Rassimov's charisma (even with fake contact lenses) was always so much more prominent.


Outside of Hilton, everyone else plays their parts with a sense of urgency and menace.


As for Mister Martino, he's my second favorite giallo director. Sergio's care about characters is the key. There's also something more vibrant about Martino's work than that of Dario Argento.


And like every good giallo, Martino's films are full of interesting and unnerving killers.


I wish Shriek Show would start releasing blu rays. This needs the deluxe treatment. 


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The Deathmaster

The Deathmaster - (1972), Released by Retromedia 2002 and 2008. 





My allergies to romantic vampire material is the reason why I had never heard of America's answer to Christopher Lee, the late, great Robert Quarry.  The Deathmaster is the exact type of early '70s Satantic/Hippie Horror film I adore. Despite its' flaws, The Deathmaster works so darn well simply because Quarry kicks all kinds of ass as Khorda, a vampiric twist on Charles Manson. 


Now if that isn't enough to make you rent (or buy this movie), I don't know what would. Manson scares the shit out of me, yet when Hollywood presents an alternate take on Charles Manson, I can't help but get suckered in.   I stumbled across a review of this while reading a blog. Manson was a vampire of sorts, and to see this literally played out is quite inventive. 


The concept was Quarry's idea, who sketched out what he wanted to see in the film, but the screenwriter (or lack there of) wasn't quite there. As I suspected, all of Khorda's dialog was improvised by Quarry himself.  Quarry  plays the charismatic guru type to the hilt without being campy. I liken him to Severen Darden's creepy Satanic High Priest (One) in the awesome Werewolves on Wheels. Both of these gentlemen are great actors who improvised their dialog, thereby taking their characters very seriously. 


So what's the story?


A coffin washes ashore and some sorry surfer dude makes the mistake of looking inside. A zombie-like West Indies hippie Barbado throttles the surfer for his curiosity. Not unlike Franco Nero's Django, Barbado drags the coffin toward destiny....(well okay...how can I not spoil this...)


Meanwhile, Pico and Rona are two hippie kids looking for more than the usual highs and commune living with their squatting, lovely chums. After a confrontation with biker Monk and his old lady Esslen, Monk kowtows to Pico's kung fu (yes, I'm serious) and the biker couple follow our flower children leads to the house where they join their hippie buddies  in squatting, smoking and singing. The young cast are slinging laughably bad, dated dialog (even for 1970)... making Quarry's character all the more potent when he finally appears. 


In the midst of the hippie business, Pico goes off on a downer trip. Like most people he wants more out of life. At this point, Khorda makes the first of two killer entrances. For the first, we only focus on right hand and the awesome little magical flourish. This bit made me think Khorda wasn't an ordinary vampire (and true to Quarry's genius, Khorda is not some Bela type). 


Inside the commune house, Barbado joins the hippies for some bad musical revues (he's been working into their good graces)  before Khorda finally puts himself into play. Slipping into the house, Khorda stays hidden in the shadows talking a bit of the guru business before we finally see him. 


Let's just say his double talk about eternity and pure blood is genius. Let's just say all the hippies fall for him fast, except for Pico who becomes our hero. 


With all kinds of neat variations upon vampire lore: cross, the mirror (what Khorda says) and Khorda's history,  I have not  been this enthralled by a vampire's origin since Near Dark.  I'm not quite sure about the climax of the film (though the ending is quite good. It really does have a sort of Italian horror  flare to it). 


This flick is not without it's flaws: the acting from just about everyone else besides Mister Quarry is woefully bad, same goes for the dialog. Even the '70s folk music sounds more like sitcom music. All that said, the atmosphere, concept and vampire make this one really special in my book.  Mister Quarry succeeded in showing the dangers in following a cult leader and, too, in making a Manson-like vampire. 


Highly recommended (esp. if you're not high)

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The Visitor

The Visitor  a.k.a. Stridulum (1979) - released by Code Red 2010* Note: Alamo Drafthouse have made this available on blu ray and digital as of 2014. 

Where to begin with this Italian-American Omen - The Fury - Star Wars headscratcher? It is too bad the Visitor's awesome Star Wars-like opening announcing John Hustons' Obi-Wan-like Spock dude didn't constitute the vibe and look for the bulk of the film. After this cool moment, we get to my reason for buying this wonky flick:  the one and only Franco Nero as Christ. Just imagine chumming around with Jesus as he tells the legend of 'Sateen' to a room full of bald children. Yep, this serves as the backstory of celestial anti-christisms from the  "moo-tant" Sateen. Neither of those words are  typos (and for the record, that isn't Franco Nero performing his own dub  Strange, since he'd been working in English for over a decade at this point). 


 Seems that Sateen needs a descendant to keep his evil going on earth. Alas, Christ would sit on his particularly handsome duff and let an old angel handle the business at hand.


The business for the decrepit celestial is killing the essence of Sateen within his current descendant (a scowly, foul-mouthed  8 year old Katy) but making sure Katy lives. Two minutes into meeting Paige Conners' nasty little witch you want to drop kick her off the tallest building.  


Katy wants her mother to marry creepy Lance Henriksen (even in 1979 Lance spooked me) so mom can have a boy who will also have the powers of Sateen. 


For some script-determined reason, Katy's mom is one in a billion who can pass on the evil genes of Sateen. Somehow, 8 year old Katy knows this, and wants a brother so they can one day continue the bad bloodline. 

The movie revolves around nudging Katy's mom to comply with the brat's command for a brother, and stopping Katy and her mom from furthering the bloodline. 


If you rent this, the above is enough to get you through. I will say the introduction to John Huston's 'angel' and the revelation of Katy being the spawn of "Sateen" was terrific.  Katy's fate was a good twist too (along with the use of both hawks and doves.) Mister Huston seems to be amused by the part, but stumped when it comes to his Close Encounters of the Third Kind imitation. He does roll off a spot on Spock-like voice.  Sam Peckinpah also appears as Katy's dad. 


All in all, if you can stick through this thoroughly confusing film (I saw a bootleg while on my Franco Nero binge several years ago), you might find a couple of things to like. I liked the science fiction take on good vs. evil and lol the director's "name" being Michael J. Paradise. Sure... ;)


Trailer here

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Death of a Snowman

Death of a Snowman (1978) - released by Synapse films 2010






Sometimes you can judge a film by its promo art. And Death of a Snowman's cover pulled me right in. I'm sure you can guess why.


Beyond the hot assassin portrayed by screenwriter Bima Stagg (whose name I must steal for a character), this South African grindhouse number is a choice bit of blaxploitation. Steve Chaka is the journalist's journalist who becomes involved with an all-black vigilante group known as the War on Crime. WoC's motive is to clean up the streets of Johannesburg. Pooling all the money from corruption and drug deals into helping kids.


Chaka's friendship with a white detective Deel(played by Nigel Davenport) becomes strained as the journalist gets information on the WoC's "hits" before they occur.


It's obvious Chaka is not the mysterious leader of the WoC because the two men actually meet. The reveal of who the WoC actually are is so good I am not going to ruin that here. I found myself getting sucked deeper into the film while I waited for Stagg's hairy hitman to show up. When he finally does materialize, I found it worth the wait.


The music is perfectly funky and the cinematography is  good too. While Stagg's screenplay contains some of the most groan-inducing lines I've heard recently (seemingly nice journalist Chaka tries to growl "If there's anything you know baby, it's how to make a man come!"), it also has some of the coolest dialog for Stagg's character, the hitman Johnson. When asked if he feels anything while killing another person, Johnson casually responds: "Nothing…except a part of me the rest doesn't listen's to."


Nigel Davenport makes a decent go at being a cop's cop and tries to maintain his friendship with Chaka despite the racial tensions and rampant corruption going on in Johannesburg society.

Make no mistake ,this is a blaxploitation film (the opening sequence would have fit nicely into the hilarious blaxploitation ode Black Dynamite), complete with dicey editing, wooden acting and a great soundtrack. The reveal of the War on Crime and the interesting journey Chuka embarks upon makes Death of a Snowman worth a viewing.


For the record, I'm not an expert on film or sound quality. I will say, if you like '70s grindhouse crime and/or blaxploitation films, you'll dig this.

A second viewing resulted in my higher rating.


Catch the trailer here.

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