To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which Italian Western was taken by star John Ireland, who re-edited the film and changed the title for U.S. release?
When I first saw LA SFIDA DEI MACKENNA, it was on the Movie Greats TV syndicated package as AMEN. Imagine my surprise when a little while later it showed up on the USA Network as CHALLENGE OF MACKENNA. AMEN had an opening theme song not heard in CHALLENGE, which had also been re-edited and John Ireland's name added as a producer.
Which two Italian Westerns feature an hero who makes a living as a demonstrating shooter?
Tom Betts and Angel Rivera knew of BANDIDOS and E TORNATO SABATA... HAI CHIUSO UN'ALTRA VOLTA!, aka RETURN OF SABATA. I was also thinking of IL PISTOLERO SEGNATO DA DIO, aka TWO GUNS AND A COWARD.
In which Italian Western does our hero shoot five men dead through the eye hole of a prop skull?
Tom Betts knew that it was UN UOMO CHIAMATO APOCALISSE JOE, aka APOCALYPSE JOE
In which Italian Western does our hero shoot the villain into the eye through a telescopic scope?
Tom Betts knew that it was PER IL GUSTO DI UCCIDERE, aka FOR THE TASTE OF KILLING.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Who is the "lanky gunman"?
Which Italian Western is based on a book entitled ADIOS?
By what name is Giorgio Stegani better known?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Julian Ugarte and Karen Yeh in EL KARATE, EL COLT Y EL IMPOSTER, aka THE STRANGER AND THE GUNFIGHTER.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Michael Lane in ULISSE CONTRO ERCOLE, aka ULYSSES AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Maria Grazia Buccella and Terence Hill in LA COLERA DEL VIENTO, aka THE ANGER OF THE WIND, aka TRINITY SEES RED.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one identified the above frame grab.
Can you name from what movie it came?
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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:
Highly enjoyed:
Icons Unearthed: The Lord of the Rings (2024) - This excellent six part history of director Peter Jackson's monumental achievement is now available on YouTube and is highly recommended.
Enjoyed:
John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky (2018) - During the making of the Imagine album, the Lennons must have had so many film cameras going that future "reality" TV would be envious. This program also highlights how the lyrics to "Imagine" all originated in Ono's 1964 book Grapefruit.
Revival 69: The Concert That Rocked The World (2022) - While the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival show has been documented in other programs, like SWEET TORONTO, this program goes behind the scenes to discuss how it call came together. It can be called "the concert that rocked the world" because it was during this show that John Lennon decided to leave The Beatles.
Did not enjoy:
BLOOD MANIA (1970) - Perhaps the title SEX MANIA would have been more appropriate as there is just about no blood in the film until close to the very end. There is, however, quite a bit of female nudity. The film starts with a woman in a skimpy nightgown running down an hallway pursued by a man. This turns out to be a fake out, as it is only a dream that the bed ridden Eric Allison is having. Allison is the owner of a medical clinic and he is being tended to by the promising young Dr. Peter Carpenter. Allison's daughter, Maria De Aragon, has the hots for Carpenter, but the young doctor has a girlfriend, Reagan Wilson. When De Aragon strips naked in front of pool boy Reid Smith, the boy runs away in fear. "I've heard of people like you." Having performed an abortion while in medical school, Carpenter finds that he is being blackmailed by Arell Blanton, who wants $50,000. Sensing that Carpenter needs money, De Aragon promises to get it for him if he has sex with her. Meanwhile, Wilson figures out that Blanton is blackmailing her lover, so she has sex with Blanton. "You're good, but not that good." Figuring that she will inherit her father's wealth, De Aragon over stimulates Allison with amyl nitraite, causing his death. However, lawyer Alex Rocco brings in De Aragon's estranged sister, Vicki Peters, for the reading of the will, in which Peters gets the bulk of the estate. So, Carpenter begins a campaign of seduction on Peters. Not surprising, this leads to the film's violent ending. When this film was sold to television, a lot of footage was added inorder to fill up the running time which had been shorted by the excision of all of the sex. This version can be seen on YouTube, which makes the theatrical cut seem a little better. However. both versions have the same non-ending, but at least the theatrical has some attractive naked women - both Peters and Wilson appeared in Playboy. Dramatically the film is a dud and long stretches of dull dialog and confused motivation don't help.Former prop master on EASY RIDER Robert Vincent O'Neill became the director after the original fellow dropped out. Reportedly actor/producer/co-writer Peter Carpenter came up with the original story, so perhaps he should get the bulk of the blame. Original director of photography Robert Maxwell was replaced by Gary Graver halfway through production.
BLOOD OF DRACULA'S CASTLE (1969) - Having seen Castle Ranch in Lancaster, California, producer Al Adamson probably felt it necessary to make a Dracula movie. Co-producer Rex Carlton gets the credit for the screenplay which features three or four young women chained in the basement with their arms above their heads. So far only writer/director/actor Dee Snider's STRANGELAND dealt with the problem of how do tied up women urinate and defecate when bound. Adamson probably didn't want to think about it. Vicki Volante car breaks down and she is quickly captured by hunchback Ray Young. Chained up in the castle basement, Volante has blood drawn out with a syringe by butler John Carradine who then serves it in fine glasses to vampires Alexander D'Arcy and Paula Raymond. Going with the name Count Townsend, D'Arcy is actually Count Dracula. It turns out that D'Arcy is renting this castle in the U.S. desert. The owner dies and leaves the property to his nephew Gene O'Shane. O'Shane is a professional photographer who plans to marry his model Barbara Bishop (aka Jennifer Bishop). Bishop and O'Shane decide that they want to live in the castle and would prefer the D'Arcy and Raymond move out. The vampires have other ideas. A unique element of this tale is that the vampires and potential werewolf (who never changes into a beast) Robert Dix worship the god Luna, aka the Moon. They end up sacrificing Volante to Luna by burning her at the stake. Needless to say, O"Shane and Bishop survive at the end. For such a low budget flick, BLOOD OF DRACULA'S CASTLE looks good. Give the credit to director of photography Laszlo Kovacs. Ewing "Lucky" Brown gets a credit as "supervising editor". When I helped to cut Michael Engel's short film The Love Song Of Leo Bloom, we used an editing room at Brown's Movie Tech Studios.
DEATH RACE (2008) - In 2008, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson took a break from making RESIDENT EVIL movies to reboot DEATH RACE 2000. Dropping the time designation, Anderson changed the cross country race of the original to something more like ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK with everything happening inside a very large prison. Toss in more than plenty of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001) elements, in addition to Tyrese Gibson from 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (2003), as well as a bit of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994), and you got a very loud and stupid mess. Everything that made DEATH RACE 2000 a great film is missing here. Jason Statham is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to Terminal Island Penitentiary, where his skills as a driver will be put to the test as the new masked "Frankenstein" champion for the televised Death Race game, which is a big money maker for the now privately owned "correctional system". It eventually comes out that Warden Joan Allen (whose unfortunate face lift in real life works well to make her a hissable villain) had her head guard, Jason Clarke, set-up Statham so that she could get Statham for her race. Eventually, Statham and Gibson figure out that in order to beat Allen, they should stop trying to kill each other, and work out a way to escape the prison. There is some relief from all of the testosterone with the presence of Ian McShane as Statham's mechanic who brings his usual sardonic wit to the proceedings. Roger Corman got an Executive Producer credit, while the writers of DEATH RACE 2000 are listed at the very end of the closing credits. There is no mention of the earlier film's director Paul Bartel, whom many credit for that film's outrageous humor. in 1978, the year 2000 seemed like the future. I guess that was also true in 2008 when this film was set in 2012. Even though DEATH RACE was considered a box office disappointment, it did well enough for Universal to put out three "direct to video" followups.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S (2023) - I've yet to see a film from Blumhouse Productions that I've liked, and there are very few movies based on video games that I can stand. So, I watched this not expecting to enjoy it. But, after its great box office success I figured that I should see it. At first it seems that the premise is that the animatronics at a sort-of Chuck E. Cheese have become possessed by the ghosts of murdered children. Eventually, it becomes clear that the dead childrens' bodies have been entombed inside the robots, and that they are being controlled by their murderer, who is also inside an animatronic robot. Josh Hutcherson plays our hero, who was traumatized when his younger brother was kidnapped. Hutcherson needs a new job in order to prevent his aunt, Mary Stuart Masterson (who is unrecognizable),from gaining custody of his young sister, Piper Rubio. Matthew Lillard hires Hutcherson to be a night security guard at the ruined Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a job we saw lead to death in the pre-credit sequence featuring the previous guard. Hutcherson keeps having a nightmare re-enacting the kidnapping of his brother, but now a number of children appear in the dream. Eventually, one child says that he knows who took our hero's brother, and will give over the information if Hutcherson agrees to let them have Rubio. A lovely police officer, Elizabeth Lail, pops up occasionally to fill our hero in on the history of Freddy's, and, will eventually, reveal the secret of what's going on. The video game's creator, Scott Cawthon, helped to write the screenplay for this, which was directed by Emma Tammi. She ended up being hired to direct the sequel, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2.
MISS JUNETEENTH (2020) - Writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples developed her feature film debut at the Sundance Institute after schooling at Baylor University and USC. Set in South Fort Worth, Texas, sometimes refered to as "Black Texas", the movie tells of a woman who won the local Miss Juneteenth beauty contest with its prize of a college scholarship. The woman ended up leaving college when she became pregnant and is now working menial jobs to make ends meet. As her daughter grows up, the single mother hopes that the young one will also win the beauty pageant and go on to get a college education. Determined that her daughter will not make the same mistakes that she made, the mother ignores the young one's own aspirations, fixating on the prize she wants for her daughter. Needless to say, she finds that no man in her life is helping in any way. With a radiant performance from Nicole Beharie, the film has some light moments, but is mostly convincing in portraying the difficulties these characters have in achieving their goals. The film does not have a triumphant finale so much as a realistic sense of accomplishment in any case. While I found the resulting film admirable, I didn't much enjoy the experience of watching it. Alexis Chikaeze played the daughter and would later join the cast of the CW series All American.
THE PINK ANGELS (1971) - Perhaps inspired by the homo erotic elements found in most movies about motorcycle gangs, the makers of THE PINK ANGELS imagine a gang of homosexual bikers on three motorcycles with side cars. Heading to Los Angeles to participate in a ladies cotillion, the six engage in a playful food fight at an A&W Drive In and fend off a bar filled with horny woman looking for some action. When a macho biker gang intrudes upon their candle lit picnic, our bikers send a fellow to bring in the horny women so that the heteros can have an orgy. This allows this R-rated "Drive In Movie" to have some expected female nudity. When the heteros awaken from the orgy, they are outraged to find that the other guys had "dolled them up" with hair ties and make-up. Meanwhile, Army General G.J. Mitchell rails against subversives undermining the American way of life. When the hetero gang meets up with the "pink angels", the "angels" are in full drag at a night club. The heteros think that they are women and pick them up for a party at the General's house. The General thinks that he's captured bikers, but when he finds out that the girls are men in drag, he proclaims "faggots" and has them all hanged on his front lawn. An unanswered question - if there are only six "pink angels", how come there are ten people hanging from the tree? While obviously intended as an humorous movie, this movie has few laughs. The "angels" are never seen being sexual in any way - no kissing or passionate hugging. Margaret McPherson is credited as the writer, though the film is so disjointed that it feels that it was completely improvised. This was the feature film debut of director Larry G. Brown, who went on to get three more credits - the next being the Horror film AN EYE FOR AN EYE. The only members of the cast to achieve any kind of fame were Dan Haggerty, before TV's Grizzly Adams, and Michael Pataki, before his other 185 credits on the IMDb page.
THE REINCARNATE (1971) - Writer/producer Seeleg Lester's movie is a bit odd. Tagged as an "Horror" movie, it has few of the tropes of such a film, generating no suspense and no scares. How much of this is the result of Canadian director Don Haldane's TV career and how much is the result of the screenplay, is hard to judge. Lester's script supposes that there is an organized religion which has figured out not only that human consciousness goes on after death through reincarnation, but that some have developed the ability for the reincarnates to remember all of their past lives - thus ensuring their own mental immortality. Now most people who believe in reincarnation suppose that after one dies, one's life force comes back when a new life is born. No one has the ability to choose in what form that new life will be. Here, Jack Creley decides that he want's his 8,000 years or so lifetime of memories to be implanted inside the body of young sculptor Jay Reynolds. He won't possess Reynolds body. His identity will just be added to Reynold's own. When it becomes clear that the reincarnates also need a virgin young woman to be part of the process, one begins to feel that these guys have an aspect of a Satanic cult, though they believe that there is no God or Devil, just nature. Just how a murderous black cat helps them to achieve their goals is never explained. The cat murders Trudy Young's boyfriend when it seems that he will succeed in taking the young woman's virginity. The cat also causes the traffic accident that kills Reynolds' married lover's husband. Eventually, Reynolds agrees to go through the process after the reincarnates have set him on the path for a successful career. After drinking some kind of drug, Reynolds takes Young's virginity, and then the long dead head of the cult appears in order to burn Young's body in a pire. Years later, a girl child is born to Reynolds and his lover, which Reynolds insists on naming after the dead young woman.
SCARY MOVIE 5 (2013) - Back in 2010 there was a series on the CW called Hellcats during which I found that I enjoyed watching Ashley Tisdale. Unfortunately, I've not enjoyed her in anything else I've seen - including this dumb flick. Spike Lee's cousin Malcolm D. Lee is the credited director of this movie, of which he said, "It was just a bad movie. Believe me. Don't bother going to see that movie. Or renting it, or anything. It's not worth your time." Co-writer David Zucker helped to get the parody movie type started with the excellent AIRPLANE!, but on that he worked with Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams. While working on the Police Squad TV series, Zucker started to share credit with writer Pat Proft, with whom he shares the credit on this movie. For a period of time actor/writer Greg Norberg was an uncredited "gag" writer for Proft, but it appears that they parted company after the failure of JANE AUSTIN'S MAFIA!, on which Proft is not credited. In any case, SM5 is not funny. There is some fun in playing "spot the stars" in the cast which includes Charlie Sheen, Darrell Hammond, Snoop Dog, Molly Shannon, Terry Crews, Sarah Hyland, Heather Locklear, Lindsay Lohan, Jerry O'Connell, Jasmine Guy, Usher and Mike Tyson.
SEND IT! (2021) - Were you aware that there was such a thing as "professional kiteboarders"? Were you aware the actor Andrew Stevens was now also a producer/director? Were you aware that this movie suggests that professional kiteboarders are all hypersexual heterosexuals? Rarely do I respond positively to sports movies, and this is no exception. Orphaned Kevin Quinn was raised by Coach Michael Jai White who isn't certain that the young man is ready to compete in a professional kite boarding contest, but he allows him to leave on a road trip to Mississippi. Having broken up with Alexandria DeBerry, Quinn is making the trip solo, until he stops at a roadside diner and rescues Claudia Lee from two threatening guys. Lee joins Quinn on this trip, and, eventually, the two fall in love. There is a lot of kiteboarding footage before the end of the contest. Quinn doesn't place among the three winners, but gets a special prize for innovative maneuvers. The film ends six months later with him and Lee among the other performers on tour in Spain aboard a very expensive yacht. Patrick Fabian puts the boat on autopilot and everyone heads off to spend time with their significant others, including Denise Richards. Sir Richard Branson puts in a cameo as the new sponsor for these sporting types.
SPACEBALLS (1987) - I gave up on films from Mel Brooks after suffering through SILENT MOVIE, but as a new sequel to SPACE BALLS is about to come out, I figured that I should finally give this a look-see. Oy! This is worse than I thought it would be. I guess if you saw this as a child, it might be a fond memory for you - especially if you saw it again and again over the years. I found it as obvious and lacking in wit as I feared. One positive aspect is that it reminded me of how attractive Daphne Zuniga was, and still is as captured on film.
TARZAN AND THE JUNGLE BOY (1968) - In 1959, Sy Weintraub gained control of the Tarzan franchise and the hero became a bachelor, though Cheeta still showed up. In 1966, former L.A. Rams player Mike Henry took on the role for three films, JUNGLE BOY being his last. Reportedly he was to star in the TV series, but he quit, citing unsafe working conditions, and the role went to Ron Ely. There is no question that JUNGLE BOY takes place in Africa, as the frequent 2nd Unit shots of the wild life attests, though the movie, like the other Henry films, was shot in Brazil. Interestingly, all three Henry Tarzan movies had wrapped production before the first, TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD, was theatrically released in 1966. Wrapping his 7 year old son in a sleeping bag along with a baby cheetah, a geologist sets off down a river in a canoe. Not surprising, he hits rapids which over turns the canoe. Five years later, National Geographic photojournalist Aliza Gur, with her assistant Ron Gans, lands a plane in the African jungle because photographic evidence indicates that the boy may have survived his father's drowning. She seeks out our hero, Mike Henry, who also had a miraculous survival story of being orphaned in the jungle. Henry agrees to help find the boy, but fails to convince Gur and Gans not to follow him. It turns out that the boy is in a section of the jungle belonging to a tribe that will not allow those not born in their land to enter. In an effort to get permission. Henry goes to the competition being held in neutral territory to elect a new king, as the old fellow is dying. The king's sons, Rafer and Ed Johnson, are competing, and it soon become apparent that Rafer is evil, trying to sabotage Ed's efforts. Because of this, the king elects Ed to be the next king, so when Rafer hears that Henry wants to find the white boy in the jungle, he promises to kill the boy as soon as he can. Ed tells Henry that he can not enter the tribe's land, but that he will find the boy for him. Not surprisingly, Rafer ambushes Ed and stakes him to the ground hoping that he will be killed by a lion. Henry sets off to secretly look for the boy, and against our hero's instructions, Gur and Gans hire a guide to take them into the jungle to also look for him. Luckily for Ed, the boy, Steve Bond, finds and frees him from the staking. Bond then helps the wounded Ed to the cave where he has been living all these years with his now grown up Cheetah. Eventually, Henry finds Bond, and Henry convinces Ed to not kill him because a good king will change unjust laws. Meanwhile, Gur's expedition is set upon by Rafer and all of the men are killed. Luckily, Henry overhears Rafer's ceremony to kill Gur and, or course, he and Ed arrive to see that justice is done. Rafer Johnson was an Olympian before he became a football player and Ed Johnson was his real life brother. Aliza Gur was Miss Israel in 1960 and made her feature film debut wrestling Miss Jamaica Martine Beswick in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Perhaps the highlight of TARZAN AND THE LOST BOY is seeing Gur tied spread eagle while being prepared for death near the end.
WAYNE'S WORLD (1992) - I am not a Mike Myers' fan, but I figured that I should get around to watching this. I was pleasantly surprised to see Ione Skye in the first sequence, but then she never appeared again. When the plot, credited to Myers, Bonnie and Terry Turner, kicks in, the film really becomes annoying. TV producer Rob Lowe thinks that he can turn the public access show by Myers and Dana Carvey into a money maker if he can get video game arcade owner Brian Doyle-Murray to sponsor it. Things get complicated when Myers falls in love with Tia Carrere, who is the singer of a rock band called Crucial Taunt. Lowe also takes an interest in Carrere. Not surprising, Myers can not function under professional circumstances and he now has to figure out a way to get Carrere away from Lowe's efforts to make her a star. Director Penelope Spheeris offers up three very different endings, none of which are very much fun. While it is nice to see Colleen Camp in a small role, it isn't much satisfying. That can be said for the entire movie. If you enjoy Myers' schtick, you may enjoy this. I don't and I didn't.
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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:
"SOME LIKE IT HOT" (1959)
Great film to watch over again and again; with fine performances from Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Joe E. Brown, George Raft, Pat O'Brien and of course MM.
"THE MISFITS" (1961)
A bit more serious for an MM film, but it has good performances from Eli Wallach, Monty Clift, and of course the king, Clark Gable. MM is great to watch in any thing she does.
"THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL" (1957)
Not a film I watch over again, but after seeing "My Week with Marilyn" it was interesting seeing the real deal. Interesting to watch for MM's performance.
"THE SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD" (1962) Spanish and English dubs
Interesting to watch Sean in his first starring role. The Spanish dub is letter-boxed and has a few scenes lasting a bit longer than on the American dub. The American dub is in pan and scan.
"CAPTAIN BLOOD" (1935) (Colorized version)
Enjoyed the colorized version better than the B/W version. Errol and Olivia light up the screen regardless of the format.
"TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT" (1964) English dub and Italian dub w/ English sub-titles
Sean Flynn is watchable in this colonial Indian adventure which has some interesting scenes and for fans of these kind of action films it is not too bad.
Enjoyed:
"TARZAN GOES TO INDIA" (1962)
Jock Mahoney's first turn as the Lord of the Jungle is better than expected as he is in amazing shape for a man in his early forties. (He still holds the record for being the oldest actor to play Tarzan.) Tarzan then went to India to save herds of elephants from drowning as their stomping grounds are flooded to make way for a dam.
"RIDE THE WILD SURF" (1964)
I remember seeing this as a kid, but what I really remember is the theme song, "Ride the Wild Surf" performed by Jan and Dean. The film stars three major teen heart throbs from the sixties; Fabian, Tab Hunter and Peter Brown (the deputy on the TV series "Lawman" and also the White racist villain who gets castrated by Pam Grier in "Foxy Brown" (1974). They come to Hawaii to "ride the wild surf". The trio meet a trio of girls played by a young Shelly Fabares, a slightly over the hill for these roles, Barbara Eden (at the time she was 33, at least ten years older than any of the female stars. This would be her last theatrical released film until some years after her hit TV show, "I Dream of Jeannie" was cancelled.) and Susan Hart. This movie tries to be more like "The Endless Summer" than a "Beach Party" movie.
"AIRPORT" (1970)
Still packs a wallop in the action department with stand out performances by: Burt Lancaster; Dean Martin, Barry Nelson (the first actor to play James Bond); Jacqueline Bisset; Van Heflin; Whit Bissell; George Kennedy and Oscar winning actress for her role in this movie, Helen Hayes.
Mildly enjoyed:
"FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOUNG" (1964)
With the success of the "Beach Party" movies from AIP, other studios tried to get into the act.This one released thru United Artists. I remember seeing this movie as a kid when it first played on TV. But what came back to mind when I re-watched it after all these years, was that it starred the very hot Pamela Tiffen and some guy named "Woody Woodbury" a night club performer who owns a club where he goes around saying its "Woody" Weeding time". (I remember it as "Woody raiding time"). The film also starred the original "Moondoggie" himself, James Darren who doesn't sing in the movie but does perform the opening theme song. Also in the film are: Bob Denver; a dark haired Nancy Sinatra in her film debut and Tina Louise as a burlesque performer who doubles as a math tutor. (Although she and Denver are in the same movie, they share practically no scenes together.) Unfortunately the film is a poor imitation of a "Beach Party" type movie.
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David Deal Enjoyed:
THE MONSTER MAKER (44)
THE SEVEN-UPS (73) - I saw this in the theater when it came out so I have a nostalgic attachment to it. Still, I think it's a worthwhile entertainment for the more objective viewer if one likes a gritty cop thriller from the 70s.
MY DEAR KILLER (71)
BLACK SUNDAY (60)
SONG SUNG BLUE (25)
Mildly enjoyed:
THE TROJAN HORSE (62)
AUDIE & THE WOLF (08) - Derek Hughes is a werewolf in reverse - a wolf that turns into a murderous man at the full moon. Derek ends up in an LA mansion killing multiple people whom he throws into the basement as he unravels his personal mystery. His touch-and-go, newfound girlfriend Audie (Tara Price) wants to understand. An horror comedy that is genuinely amusing and occasionally funny. You could do worse.
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (64) - Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo seem to be star-crossed lovers but her pregnancy and his departure to the Algerian war bring an end to their love affair. Years later, both have reconciled to their respective fates. Famous for its operatic approach (all the actor's lines are sung [Michel Legrand was nominated for the score]) and its colorful milieu. I found it interesting for the characters' practical approach to devastating loss.
FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR (68) - From 2007: "Gorgeous and Gothic, the visuals outclass all performances and plots in this silly horror film. May be the best looking Naschy flick of all time and the stolen tunes from Bruno Nicolai (specifically EUGENIE) add another level of appreciation."
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Un angelo per satana (1965, Camillo Mastrocinque)
The tell-tale heart (1960, Ernest Morris)
Diabolik – Ginko all'attacco (2022, Antonio et Marco Manetti)
The socceritos (short) (2025, Reto Salimbeni)
Mildly enjoyed:
La ragazza con la pistola (1968, Mario Monicelli)
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