Tag Archives: Ruggero Deodato

En Pointe with six more trailers

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The grindhouse is like ballet — truly appreciated by only a few blessed and special individuals.  And for those individuals, here’s a picture of my legs…

And, because I really, really love all of you, here’s an added bonus: six more of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation trailers…

1) The Child (1977)

I’ve got this one on DVD, actually.  Considering that it was produced by the notorious Harry Novak, it’s actually fairly entertaining and not just in a “WTF” sorta way.  Still, I have to admit that the main reason I like this trailer is because of that “I don’t have to tell you anything,” line because I used to say that a lot when I was a child (actually, I still say it a lot).  Unfortunately, I never had undead followers to help back up my words.

2) The Children (1980)

Now, admittedly, some claim that I was occasionally a just a tad bit bratty when I was a child.  (The running joke, among my sisters, is that LMB stands for Little Mean Brat.)  However, I was never quite this bad…

3) A*P*E (1976)

Speaking of being bratty…A*P*E was originally entitled The New King Kong until a lawsuit changed the title.  By all reports, A*P*E was meant to be a “serious” film but it was advertised as being a spoof after the film’s distributors saw the final results.  A*P*E shows up on AMC occasionally.

4) Tanya’s Island (1980)

While we’re on the amorous monster front…I haven’t seen this one but it appears to be some sort of Swept Away With Big Foot type of film.  The vibe here is definitely grindhouse pretentious.

5) Mysterious Monsters (1976)

Bigfoot was also one of the stars of Mysterious Monsters, one of the many faux grindhouse/drive-in documentaries of the 70s.

6) Mondo Cane (1963)

And finally, here’s the grindhouse documentary that started them all — the Italian Mondo Cane!  None other than Giovanni Lombardo Radice has described this film as an example of “lingering fascism.”  It also inspired Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust.  Also, much like An Inconvenient Truth, it was nominated for a best original song Oscar.   (Note to self: Write a future post on how much An Inconvenient Truth has in common with Mondo Cane…)

Finally, in conclusion, here’s one final scene from A*P*E…

6 Trailers Designed To Induce Hysteria

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers was meant to have a theme.  I was only going to include trailers of films that have been reviewed on the Hysteria Lives! website.  Unfortunately, I ran in to some trouble with the New Year’s Evil trailer and I ended up going with a different trailer of a movie that hasn’t been reviewed on the site.  So, yes, the theme kinda falls apart at the end.  But anyway, let’s get things started…

1) The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1970)

Sergio Martino doesn’t get as much attention as Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Mario Bava but he made some giallo classics and this is one of them.  Yes, the trailer’s in Italian but stick with it anyway.  Also, the person who uploaded this to Youtube, included another trailer — this one for Lucio Fulci’s Lizard In A Woman’s Skin — after the end of the Mrs. Wardh trailer.

2) Happy Birthday To Me (1981)

You can tell that this trailer from 1981 isn’t messing around because the birthday cake gets it!  I saw this movie on TV a few years ago.  The brain surgery scenes really freaked me out.  Another thing that freaked me out was a scene where all the high school snobs decided to spend their night at a special showing of High Noon.  Why couldn’t I have gone to high school with a bunch of film snobs?  Seriously, life sucks.

3) Don’t Open The Door (made in 1975, released in 1979)

All together now: “Don’t.  Don’t.  Don’t.  Don’t.  Don’t…”  With all due respect to the very hot Eli Roth, that was my favorite of the fake trailers from Grindhouse.  Anyway, Don’t is not a real film but Don’t Open The Door is.  Exploitation film of the 70s and the 80s were always trying to tell us how to live our lives.  Don’t stand by the window, don’t look in the basement, don’t go in the house, don’t go into the woods…alone, and now, apparently we can’t even open the freaking door.  This actually reminds me of this time that we were visiting my grandma and I was up in the attic exploring and I heard my sisters downstairs calling out my name because they couldn’t find me so I tried to open the attic door and I accidentally yanked off the door knob.  Agck!  That was scary.  But I survived and here’s the trailer…

4) Body Count (1987)

I haven’t seen this one so all of my information on it comes from what I’ve read online.  Apparently, this was Italian director Ruggero Deodato’s attempt to make an American-style slasher film so, of course, it takes place at a summer camp.  David Hess is in this one and apparently, he’s not playing the killer for once.  Former Russ Meyer star Charles Napier is in this one too.  As for why I love this trailer, just listen to narrator at the end of the trailer when he starts tossing out various taglines.  It’s as if the film’s producers were arguing about which tagline to use and finally someone said, “Fuck it, just toss them all in there!  Now, shut up and behave!  It’s time for dinner!”

5) Scalps (1983)

Horror will surround you … and we’re not just talking about the acting.  I love it when trailers dare you to actually sit through the entire movie.  (And, I should add, that I own Scalps on DVD and, bad acting aside, it’s actually a surprisingly effective little horror movie.)

6) Bloody New Year (1987)

I wanted to include the trailer for a film called New Year’s Evil here but the only one I could find had this huge advertising logo across the bottom of it.  But while I searched, I came across the trailer for another New Year’s horror film, Bloody New Year.  And you know what?  I’ve seen New Year’s Evil and it sucks and it had a really nasty sort of sadism to it that makes you feel dirty after you watch it.  So, fuck New Year’s Evil.  Now, let’s all have a Bloody New Year!

Finally, since that Lizard in a Woman’s Skin extra actually means that there were 7 trailers in this edition as opposed to 6, I’m going to add one more bonus trailer so that we can end things on an even number.  There’s no way I couldn’t take the opportunity to include Edgar Wright’s brilliant fake trailer, Don’t.

6 of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Cinematic Dances

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always loved to dance.  Before I embraced the movies, my life was about dancing.  I was going to be Prima Ballerina and my mom paid for several years of ballet class to help me reach that goal.  I obsessed on it the way that I obsess, today, on Lucio Fulci and Jean Rollin.  However, my brilliant career was cut short by two things — 1) I’m about as graceful as a Clydesdale and 2) I ended up tumbling down a flight of stairs when I was 17 and essentially shattering my ankle.  Actually, I guess those two things might be connected.  Anyway, I can’t complain because giving up my affected love of ballet allowed me to discover my very true love of film.  I was never really a great dancer (though I was, and am, very enthusiastic) but I’m very good at watching movies.

However, I still love to dance and I still love movies — even mainstream movies — that feature dancing.  That’s why I’m so looking forward to seeing Black Swan next month.  Until then, here’s 6 of my favorite dance scenes from the movies.

1) Giovanni Lombardo Radice and Lorraine De Selle in The House On The Edge of the Park

Let’s start off with one of my favorite “dance” scenes of all time, my man Giovanni Lombardo Radice and Lorraine De Selle breaking it down in Ruggero Deodato’s The House On The Edge of the Park.  The man in yellow is David Hess.

2) Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer

If anyone’s ever wondered why I was crushing on Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception (as opposed to Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, or Leonardo DiCaprio), it was largely because of this scene from (500) Days Of Summer.

3) The Cast of Murder Rock

Murder Rock is kinda sorta like my own personal Holy Grail — it’s a grindhouse dance movie directed by Lucio Fulci!  Plus, it costars Christian Borremeo, who co-starred in The House on the Edge Of The Park and Dario Argento’s Tenebrae.

4) The Metropolis Dance Sequence

From Fritz Lang’s silent, expressionistic classic, here’s the infamous dance.

5) Kate Hudson in Nine

Okay, so I think Nine was definitely the worst the movie of 2009.  Yes, even worse than Avatar.  However, I love this scene and I love the song featured in it, Cinema Italiano.  Yes, technically, it’s a really terrible song that displays an astounding ignorance of Italian cinema.  If anything, the lyrics appear to be describing the French New Wave.  True, the song do make reference to “neo-realism” but you get the feeling no one involved with Nine ever saw Open City or The Bicycle Thief.  But the thing is do damn catchy that I still find myself singing it in the shower.  Like me, Kate Hudson is obviously not much of a singer or a dancer but she’s very enthusiastic.

6) Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman

An Unmarried Woman was apparently very groundbreaking in 1978.  Seen now, it seems like a better title for it would be An Unmarried Woman Who Can Still Afford A Penthouse Apartment In New York City.  Still, the late, great Jill Clayburgh’s performance holds up well and I like the film if just because it’s still one of the few movies out there that’s willing to acknowledge that an unmarried woman can still be a sensual, happy woman.  The scene below captures perfectly the exhilarating joy of just surrendering to the music and dancing.  Plus, for me, this is one of those “Hey, I do that too!” scenes.  In fact, my ankle is still hurting as a result of rewatching this film last Friday.

 

Song of the Day: Cannibal Holocaust Main Theme (by Riz Ortolani)

Posted on by Arleigh

The second song in the week-long special edition of the “Song of the Day” feature I’ve chosen the main theme to the infamous and controversial Italian horror film Cannibal Holocaust from Italian filmmaker Ruggero Deodato. The song is part of the film score composed wholly by Italian film composer Riz Ortolani.

The main theme to this greatest of film in the cannibal horror subgenre always take new listeners by surprise. For a film which shows some extreme examples of violence towards people and animals the theme is actually quite gentle and serene with just a hint of sadness in the suite. This theme really doesn’t prepare the viewer for what they’re about to see (though anyone watching Cannibal Holocaust for the first time should at least have an inkling what the film will be about just from the title alone).

It’s a testament to Ortolani’s talents that he was able to create a synth-based theme which has only gotten more popular with the passage of time. The theme could almost be considered the unofficial theme to the glory days of grindhouse cinema of the 70’s and 80’s. It’s even become the theme song to the greatest film (both long and short form) ever made: Treevenge. Just watch for yourself right below and you’ll understand why I say it’s the greatest thing ever put on film.

6 Trailers For A Sick, Sick World

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to the latest installment of Lisa Marie’s Grindhouse Trailers.  Since I’ve been battling a pretty bad cold for about a week now, I thought I would use this installment to highlight a few trailers that prove that the rest of the world is just as sick.

1) Massacre at Central High

I’ve read so much about this 1976 film but — for whatever reason —  it has never officially been released on DVD (though there all bootlegs out there as well as an “all-regions” DVD that apparently is not “all-regions.”)  From what I’ve read, this is apparently a political satire disguised as a high school revenge film.  The trailer has an oddly off feel to it.  Maybe it’s just the exploding locker…

2) Class of 1984

 I first saw this film (directed by Mark Lester) on DVD about three years ago.  I was expecting to see a silly, urban vigilante film from the early 80s so imagine my surprise when I discovered that Class of 1984 is a seriously dark and oddly disturbing movie.  Tim Van Patten (he’s the one going, “I am the future…”) is now a pretty succesful television commercial.  He actually gives a pretty good performance in this film, something that’s not necessarily obvious from this trailer.

3) Savage Streets

Yes, another high school revenge film.  In this one, Linda Blair’s sister is raped so Linda tracks and down and kills the Class of 1985.  Usually, this is where I’d make my standard argument that this is a case of exploitation serving to empower.  Honestly, though, it would be more empowering if the film’s villains weren’t so silly and stupid (you get the feeling that they’re all going to die soon anyway regardless of what Linda does) and if the avenging angel was played by someone other than Linda Blair. 

4) The Warriors

The Baseball Furies always make me smile. 🙂

For extra fun, imagine the “gang” from Savage Streets trying to fight any of the gangs in this trailer.

5) Sweden: Heaven and Hell (not available from Amazon.com)

The previous trailers paint a pretty grim picture of America.  According to the “documentary” Sweden: Heaven and Hell, the best thing about America is that it wasn’t Sweden.

Sweden: Heaven and Hell is actually an Italian mondo film, a rather vile form of “documentary” that was big from the mid-60s up until Ruggero Deodato did the world a favor and satirized the genre out of existence with Cannibal Holocaust.  It was released in the States in 1968 (I think).  This is one of those movies that I know by reputation as I’ve never actually seen the actual film.  However, the trailer is grindhouse tackiness at its absolute best.  Everything from the narrator’s leering tone to the “shocking” footage (a woman dancing with another woman — gasp!) makes this trailer a perfect time capsule of the Grindhouse Era.

6) Skatetown USA (not available in any format on Amazon. com — how odd)

But, as sick as Sweden apparently was, can it possibly be sicker than whatever it was that was going on at Skatetown, USA?  Seriously, what was wrong with this country in the 70s?  That said, I do like this ludicrous trailer if just for the sight of a young and dangerous Patrick Swayze.  Plus, how can you dislike any trailer that claims to be advertising “the greatest story ever rolled?”

Seriously, the 70s were fucked up.

SPECIAL BONUS TRAILERS FOR A SICK, SICK WORLD

7) Roller Boogie

Seriously, what was the deal with people roller skating at a disco?  Is that what passed for fun back in the 70s?  Weird.  Maybe it was all the cocaine.  I came across this trailer while I was downloading the Skatetown USA preview and I just had to include it.  Not only is the movie called Roller Boogie but it’s directed by the director of Class of 1984 and it stars the star the Savage Streets.  So, everything ties together.

8 ) Finally, since I hate to end things on an odd number, here’s a silly little trailer that I made for my DVD collection.

6 More Exploitation Trailers: The Late Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, Lisa Marie here.  I apologize for being a day late in continuing my series of posts devoted to some of my favorite exploitation and grindhouse film trailers.  Unfortunately, I got caught up having a fight with a troll over on my other blog and I ended up running behind.  The lesson here is that trolls are not worth the trouble.

But enough time wasted on dumbfugs and toadsuckers.  Let’s talk exploitation with six more of my favorite trailers.

1) The Candy Snatchers

Sadly, this DVD is now out-of-print and the people selling it on Amazon want you to pay something like $80.00 for it.  That’s a shame because The Candy Snatchers is, arguably, one of the greatest films ever made.  This is one of those movies that I desperately need to review but I’m still struggling to find the right words to express just how brilliant this movie is.

2) Django Kill

This trailer doesn’t really do justice to Django Kill which, quite frankly, is probably the strangest, most surreal western ever made.  Yes, this film is even stranger than El Topo.  However, I still like the pop art feel of this trailer.

3) The Raiders of Atlantis

This is one of Ruggero Deodato’s non-cannibal movies.  It’s actually surprisingly enjoyable in a very silly sort of way.

4) Burial Ground

Also known as The Nights of Terror, this is one of the more infamous examples of the Italian zombie genre.  To be honest, this is an amazingly trashy, stupid movie but once you start watching, you can not turn away.  This is another film I’ve been meaning to review for a while as I think it’s actually the most political of all the Italian zombie films.  People tend to get some caught up with the whole incest subplot that they miss the whole Marxist subtext.  And yes, the movie does include a title card that contains the word “profecy.”

5) The Teacher

I love this trailer.  It is such a relic that I almost feel like it should be put in a time capsule.  Plus, that whole “She corrupted the morals…” tag line is just so priceless.

6) Boss

When this 1975 movie was released on DVD, it was titled Boss.  Well, that’s only half of the original title.  I’ve never seen this movie (as the only westerns that interest me are Italian-made) but this trailer has always stuck with me because of the whole “Did I just hear that?” factor.  However, after I first saw this trailer, I did some research and discovered that the movie was actually written and produced by the film’s star, Fred Williamson.  So, that makes me a bit more comfortable with it.

6 More Exploitation Film Trailers That I Love

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Back in May, I posted 6 old school exploitation trailers that I love.  At the time, I said that even though I only posted 6 of them, I could have easily listed 666.  While I don’t have the space to put up quite that many, here’s 6 more exploitation film trailers that I love.

1) A Black Veil For Lisa — There’s several things that I love about this trailer.  I love the faux-noir narration.  I love the teasing tone.  I love the old school femme fatale attitude of lead actress Lucianna Paluzzi.  But, to be honest, the main reason I love it is because it’s all about a redhead named Lisa.  That and the line “Every man wants a Lisa…”

2) The Italian Stallion — This is the trailer for the re-release of Sylvester Stallone’s porn debut, A Party At Kitty and Stud’s.  I’ve never seen the movie nor do I have much desire to see it but this trailer just amused me to no end.  Whether its the awesomely phony line readings of Gail Palmer or the catchy and empty theme song, this trailer feels like a genuine time capsule.

3) The House On The Edge of the Park — Speaking of catchy but empty theme songs, Ruggero Deodato’s The House on the Edge of the Park features my personal favorite, Riz Ortolani’s infamous Do It To Me (Once More).  It can be heard at the end of this trailer and once it gets stuck in your head, it’ll stay there forever.  As for the trailer itself, it’s a perfect example of how a well-edited trailer can actually make a somewhat draggy film seem exciting (that said, this movie is one of my all-time guilty pleasures, as misogynistic and wrong-headed as it ultimately is).  A few things I love about this trailer — the blue-tinted views of New York City, David Hess’s iconic psycho performance, the sight of my man Giovanni Lombardo Radice dancing, and the fact that the trailer actually manages to 1) get the movie’s name wrong and that 2) nobody ever bothered to fix it.

(Author’s note: Whoops!  Before you watch this, I have to admit that I’d forgotten just how explicit, violent, and exploitive this trailer really is.  So, consider this to be definitely NSFW — not that you should be watching any of these trailers at work, to begin with — and seriously, no joke, don’t watch this trailer if you are easily upset or offended.  Honestly, if I saw this trailer without having any knowledge of how silly the actual movie really is, I would probably find this trailer to be deeply offensive.  Well, no, actually, I probably wouldn’t.  For the most part, I’m only offended by things that happen offscreen in the real world. — Lisa Marie Bowman)

4) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — Yes, I know everyone’s probably seen this trailer a hundred times but it’s still probably one of the best and most effective trailers of all time.  Plus, I’m from Texas so you know I had to mention this movie at some point.  (I may have mentioned this in the past, but seriously — try to imagine this movie being as effective if it was called The Vermont Chainsaw Massacre.)

5) Mindwarp (a.k.a. Galaxy of Terror) — I’ve been eagerly awaiting the chance to buy this film on DVD ever since seeing this trailer on the latest 42nd Street Forever compilation.  Rumor has it that this film was actually directed by James Cameron, back when he was still interesting.  Supposedly, this film features a very aggressive tentacle but, to be honest, I mostly just want to see Sid Haig’s arm get cut off.  (Seriously, who doesn’t?  Take that, Capt. Spaulding!)

6) Stage Fright — This is the wonderfully intense and claustrophobic trailer to the great Michele Soavi’s 1st film, Stage Fright, a movie I’m going to watch as soon as I finish up this post.  So, with no further delay…