Film Review: When Ruggero Deodato Says “Action” it’s Time to ‘Cut and Run’ (Inferno in diretta – 1985)

 Crime, Exploitation, Horror, Italy, J. Felton, Revenge  No Responses »
Sep 202007
 

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After the notoriety of Cannibal Holocaust it must have been tough for Ruggero Deodato to live up to his reputation as a maker a extreme movies. Let’s face it, it would be tough for him to even come close to the brutality and intensity of that movie. With Cut and Run it would appear that he didn’t attempt that, although saying that this is no walk in the park. There are scenes in this movies that will definitely have some viewers squirming in their seats.

Once again Deodato returns to the jungles of South America for the setting of this movie. No cannibals this time though, but some of the characters are just as savage. The story is set around a reporter and cameraman that are investigating the murder Continue reading »

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Film Review: Night Train Murders (L’ultimo treno della notte – 1975)

 Crime, Exploitation, Italy, J. Felton, Rape/Revenge, Revenge, Thriller  No Responses »
Sep 052007
 

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Night Train Murders was made shortly after The Last House on the Left, in fact it is sometimes known as New House on the Left, the similarities between the two movies is plain to see on the screen. However, before I get ready to slam this as another shameless European ripoff though, I’ll just remind myself that Last House on the Left was indeed a reworking of Ingmar Bergmans 1960 movie The Virgin Spring. Let’s face it there aren’t many original ideas left.

Night Train Murders is about two friends, Margaret and Lisa, who plan to make the journey from Germany to Italy by train to spend Christmas with Lisa’s parents. However right from the start there is an underlying sense of dread as we also follow the exploits of a couple of petty criminals Blacky and Curly) who mug Continue reading »

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Beyond the Darkness (Buio Omega – 1979)

 B. Harris, Exploitation, Horror, Italy  No Responses »
May 202007
 

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When I have a hankering for some good old fashion gore and sleaze nobody hits the spot quite like Joe D’Amato (Aristide Massaccesi). The man does sleaze like nobody’s business! He gives us some skin, he gives us some blood and guts and on occasion…he gives us a story. Buio Omega or Beyond the Darkness is one such offering.

Buio Omega starts off with a bang as we’re introduced to an ailing Anna (Cinzia Monreale) who lies sick and dying in a hospital bed. Meanwhile, her beau Frank (Kieran Canter) is working on a way that they can be together, even after death. Lucky for Anna because somewhere across town, Iris (Franca Stoppi), Frank’s housekeeper, is sticking a pin deep into the heart of a voodoo doll Continue reading »

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Film Review: Argento’s ‘Trauma’ (1993) Misses The Gialli Mark with Bloody Inaccuracy

 Dario Argento, Gialli, Horror, Italy, Thriller  No Responses »
Jul 242006
 

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Being a Dario Argento fan is a lot like being a Chicago Cubs fan. When he’s at the top of his form, whee doggies! You can’t beat the man. But sometimes, even when he has great players aboard, you have to sit and watch him commit stupid errors and lose the whole ballgame. Trauma is a good game until about the sixth inning, when Argento reaches too far back into the bullpen and pulls out Shoeless Joe Jackson. I know. Wrong team. I hate sports analogies anyway.

It’s a rainy night in an unspecified American town. A lovely chiropractor is meeting her last patient of the evening. Handing Continue reading »

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Film Review: Argento’s ‘Tenebre’ (1982) is a Bloody Classic with a Razor-Sharp Cast

 Dario Argento, Gialli, Italy, Thriller  No Responses »
May 222006
 

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Hardcore fans already recognize director Dario Argento as one of the absolute masters of Italian horror. Even if you aren’t a major horror maven, you should still drop to your knees and praise his name to the stars for being the father of Asia Argento. That is one screamingly hot woman. If you watch Tenebre, you won’t see Asia Argento. I know. Points off already. But you will see her mother, Daria Nicolodi, a skinny little hottie in her own right, and you will see an example of Dario Argento at the top of his form. This movie, in a word, is kick-ass.

Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa), a horror writer with world-wide popularity, has arrived in Rome to pimp his new book Continue reading »

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